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) 
 
 THE LIEE OF GEOEGE THE EOUETH. 
 
THE LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 GEORGE THE FOURTH 
 
 INCLUDING 
 
 HIS LETTERS AND OPINIONS 
 
 WITH 
 
 A VIEW OF THE MEN, MANNERS, AND POLITICS OF 
 HIS REIGN 
 
 BY 
 
 PERCY FITZGERALD, M.A., F.S.A. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 HARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE 
 1881 
 
 {Stereotyped and Printed by S. W, Green's Son) 
 
^ yj 
 
 TO LORD HOIJOHTON. 
 
 (y 
 
 is 
 
 Dear Lord Houghton: One of the pleasures associated with the 
 conclusion of this labor of many years, is that of inscribing the fol- 
 lowing pages to you, by whose kind suggestions they have materially 
 ])enefitted. Believe me, always sincerely yours. 
 
 Fane Valley. PERCY FITZGERALD. 
 
 to 
 
 7 
 
 j 
 
 i O 
 
 V 
 
 X 
 
 

) 
 
 .1^ 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 PBINCE OF WALES.— 
 
THE 
 
 LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 1762. 
 
 From daybreak on the morning of August 12th, 1762, crowds had 
 been assembled round St. James’s Palace, waiting the news of the 
 birth of a royal child, which was hourly expected. Inside the 
 palace were gathered all the great officers of state who had been in 
 attendance all the night, with the Princess Dowager of Wales, the 
 Dukes of Devonshire and Rutland, the Archbishop of Canterbury, 
 and other distinguished personages. Dr. Hunter, the great sur- 
 geon, was “in attendance,” but only in reserve in case of emergen- 
 cy, for the Queen had prejudices against calling in the assistance 
 of the accoucheur; and the office of assisting her Majesty through 
 the crisis was delegated to a simple midwife.* Twenty-four min- 
 utes past seven o’clock was the exact moment that ushered the 
 future prince, prince regent, and king into this world. At thirteen 
 minutes past three o’clock, on a Saturday morning in June, sixty- 
 seven years later, this new-born babe was to depart from it. The 
 contrast between the joyful acclamations and the splendid retinue 
 which welcomed his birth, and the desertion and indifference which 
 attended his death, was significant, and worthy of the study of 
 princes. One companion of his pleasures, and a few doctors and 
 servants, were all who witnessed that scene; while outside, the feel- 
 ing was about that of relief and satisfaction. 'He, however, was 
 now a smiling infant in Mrs. Draper’s arms. No one could forecast 
 the life that was in store for it, and there was universal joy at the 
 
 * Mrs. Stephens. Huish, “ Memoirs of George FV.,” i. 8. Mrs. Draper is men- 
 tioned in the publication, but she was the Prince of Wales’s nurse. 
 
 1 * 
 
10 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 birth of an heir to the Crown. The 3 ^oung king, in his satisfaction, 
 presented the messenger that brought the good news with a “grati- 
 fication” of five hundred pounds, and was presently drawn to the 
 window of his palace to witness an omen of excellent augury. The 
 Park guns were still firing, when loud rumbling announced the 
 passage of a train of tumbrels known to contain the treasure cap- 
 tured from a Spanish galleon — a prize of enormous value, now on 
 its way to the Tower. Twenty wagons descended St. James’s 
 Street, and passed before the King and Court. Under these cir- 
 cumstances, then, came into the world the future George IV., the 
 Prince Regent, and “first gentleman of Europe.” 
 
 Not until August 17th, the royal infant, who was born Electoral 
 Prince of Brunswick-Lunenburg, Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay, 
 Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles, and Great 
 Steward of Scotland, was created Prince of Wales and Earl of 
 Chester by patent.* 
 
 The royal pair v^ere anxious to encourage access of all comers to 
 the new hope of the kingdom. Before the infant was a fortnight 
 old, public notice was given that all who desired it might visit St. 
 James’s Palace, “on drawing-room days,” between one and three 
 o’clock, an offer of which abundant advantage was taken. The 
 crowd of ladies thus tempted to flock to the Court, to see the child 
 and taste her Majesty’s caudle and cake, soon became enormous, 
 the daily expense for cake alone being estimated at forty pounds, 
 while the consumption of wine was “greater than could have been 
 expected.” f 
 
 The christening took place on September 8th, in the great coun- 
 cil-chamber of the palace, and was performed by Seeker, the Arch- 
 bishop of Canlerbur^^ — “that right reverend midwife,” as Mr. Wal- 
 pole styled him, in allusion to his presence at the Queen’s accouche- 
 ment. The names chosen were George Augustus Frederick, and 
 
 * Thus, for this most familiar of his designations, the heir-apparent is in- 
 debted to the favor of the Crown. His inherited honors give him no higher 
 dignity than a dukedom. It was noted that George IV. held no Irish dignity, 
 but the present Prince of Wales was created Earl of Dublin w'hen nine years 
 old— a dignity which is to be enjoyed by him and his heirs forever. 
 
 t Many stories were told of the free-and-easy behavior of the eager throng. 
 Two Jewish ladies sent their footman to the palace, “ to know how the Queen 
 did?” and were told by Lady Northampton that they should have come in 
 person. “That’s good!” said the fellow, “why she lies in herself;” if she 
 had not, I suppose she would have expected the Queen to send to her.— Wal- 
 pole “ Letters” (Cunningham), iii. 18. 
 
THE LIFE OF OEOROE IV. 
 
 11 
 
 the godfathers were the Dukes of Cumberland and Mecklenburgh- 
 Strelitz — the latter represented by the Duke of Devonshire — the 
 Princess of Wales being godmother. At this ceremony, which was 
 held at night, there was shown the same eagerness to gratify the 
 loyal aspirations of the crowd. All who came were admitted; but 
 this, fortunately, had not got abroad, so but few used the privilege, 
 and not more than half-a-dozen ladies of title attended. But, in 
 spite of all these efforts, the royal pair were not popular, and when 
 the Queen showed herself in public at an installation, there was an 
 outcry against ‘’ the indelicacy of so early an appearance,” and the 
 matter was warmly controverted. Her friends had to defend her 
 on the ground of her German training and habits.* 
 
 The usual addresses and loyal demonstrations were offered by 
 the Parliament, universities, and the leading cities of the kingdom. 
 Later on, fresh offence, however, was given when it was known 
 that the royal child was to be submitted to inoculation, then a nov- 
 elty, and the preachers protested that it was interfering with the 
 order of Providence. The King and Queen, however, were firm, 
 and had the courage to adopt the new preservative in the case of all 
 their children. Lady Charlotte Finch was appointed governess, and 
 Mrs. Henrietta Coulsworth deputy governess, f 
 From his birth set in that long series of portraits in which the 
 figure and features of the young prince and maturer regent were 
 being portrayed on the canvas. No one was painted so frequently. 
 We are told that "soon after his birth the Queen had a whole-length 
 portrait modelled in wax. He was represented naked. The figure 
 was half a span long, lying upon a crimson cushion, and it was 
 covered by a bell-glass. Her Majesty had it constantly on her toilet 
 
 * A preacher of note— Mr. Simpson— inveighed from the pulpit against this 
 “indelicacy;” and a Dr. Vandegucht, a Dutch clergyman, who defended the 
 Queen, was roughly handled by the mob.— Huish, i. 9. 
 
 t The two selected nurses, “ wet and dry,” it was solemnly announced, were 
 Mrs. Scott and Mrs. Chapman; the “necessary woman” was Mrs. Dodson, 
 and the two “ rockers ” were Jane Simpson and Catherine Johnson. The 
 person who had enjoyed the honor of suckling the Prince was a lady— Mrs. 
 Scott, of Scottshall— of an old Scotch family but much reduced, and to whom 
 the office was very welcome. “ She is much liked by our King and royal 
 family,” wrote Mrs. Montagu, who looked to the children obtaining little 
 places in the household; “ and I hope the scheme, which I have forwarded to 
 the utmost of my power, will save an ancient, honorable family from ruin. 
 Her royal nursling is as fine and healthy a child as can be.”— Dr. Doran, “ A 
 Lady of the Last Century,” p. 131. 
 
12 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 at Buckingham House. At the decease of her Majesty it was ex- 
 hibited ; the likeness was still palpable, though the original had out- 
 lived the date of the fairy model more than half a century. Few 
 years passed, it is believed, without her Majesty having his portrait 
 either in miniature, enamel, silhouette, modelled in marble or wax, 
 or in some other style of art. One of the latest, if not the very last, 
 was a miniature head of his royal highness, enamelled by Mr. Bone, 
 which he had the honor of placing in her Majesty’s hands at Wind- 
 sor the year before her death. ” * Another picture of the young 
 prince was painted about this time by Cotes. It represented him in 
 his mother’s arms; a rather large-faced child, a singular anticipation 
 of the features of his future child, the Princess Charlotte. The hand 
 of the Queen is raised as if to enjoin quiet and silence. This was 
 always a favorite with the King, as representing the two persons to 
 whom he was most attached. 
 
 Evidence of his promising condition was soon given when a 
 deputation from a society styled the Ancient Bdtons presented 
 him with an address. It seems scarcely credible that an infant, 
 not three years old, should have to acknowledge such a compli- 
 ment either vicariously or otherwise, but he was said to have done 
 so in a set speech: “I thank you for this mark of your duty to the 
 King, and wish prosperity to the charity.” These words, we are 
 told, were, according to the delighted courtiers, delivered with sin- 
 gular propriety, and a grace that even then almost warranted the 
 adoption of his well-known sobriquet.^ 
 
 In the following year, on August 16th, a second son was born — 
 the Duke of York, whose christening, fourteen months after his 
 birth, was attended by some curious ceremonies. Within seven 
 months the King had appointed the infant to be Bishop of Osna- 
 burg, a promotion that caused some scandal as well as much angry 
 contention with the chapter of Cologne, who contended that the 
 appointment lay with them. The dispute went on for some years, 
 until it was compromised through the mediation of the great 
 Frederick, and the young prince was allowed to bear the title and 
 revenues of his office, j; The first formal introduction of the young 
 children to the public was on the occasion of a drawing-room, held 
 
 * Huish. 
 
 t He was “ tutored ” in the speech for days before. But the Ancient Britons 
 were told that they would not be received again. 
 
 X One loyal writer, Burgh, actually dedicated a work “ To the Right Rev- 
 erend Father in God,” of three years old. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEOMOE IV. 
 
 13 
 
 by them in their own name in October, 1769. The Prince of 
 Wales, we are told, was assisted by his sister, the Princess Royal, 
 then two years old.* The order of their daily life and the arrange- 
 ments for their education were creditable to the good sense and 
 care of the royal parents. The old house at Kew, which had 
 belonged to Secretary Molyneux, had now been settled on the 
 Queen, and was called the Queen’s House, later to be the scene of 
 many painful trials. The Bower Lodge and the houses on the old 
 Green were given up to the children, f who did not reside under the 
 same roof with their parents. Their day was after this pattern. 
 If they had become a little indisposed, the King was afoot at five in 
 the morning, and, going down to their house, would tap at their doors 
 and inquire how they had rested. At eight the Prince of Wales, 
 Prince Frederick, the Princess Royal, and the princes William 
 and Edward, were brought from their several apartments on the 
 Green at Kew to the Queen’s house to breakfast with their parents. 
 “At nine the youngest children attended, and whilst the eldest 
 were closely plying their tasks, the little ones with their nurses 
 passed the morning in Richmond Gardens. The King and Queen 
 frequently amused themselves with sitting in the room while the 
 children dined; and once a week, accompanied b/ the whole 
 group in pairs, they made a tour round these extensive plantations. 
 In the evening it was the custom for all the children again to pay 
 their respects at the Queen’s house before they retired to rest; and 
 
 * Some ridicule attended this proceeding, which was borrowed from Ger- 
 man etiquette, and caricatures were published representing the children 
 going through the ceremonies with their tops, kites, etc. They at last rebelled ; 
 and a story went that the boys had refused to leave their cricket, saying the 
 company might wait. 
 
 tWhen making arrangements, the careful monarch thus wrote to his 
 minister: “ I take this opportunity of enclosing you a list of the servants that 
 I find absolutely necessary to place about my third and fourth sons.” He 
 adds, he has brought the expense as low as the nature of the thing would 
 admit. 
 
 Preceptors ^ Hooke 300 
 
 Pages of the | Mannerlay j Each: Salary, £80 } onA 
 
 Backstairs f Miller ( Morning, 20 ) ^ 
 
 Housekeeper 50 
 
 For keeping three hounds, each £20 60 
 
 Porter 30 
 
 Watchman 25 
 
 Writing Master 100 
 
 £1115 
 
14 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEOROE IV. 
 
 the same order was observed through each succeeding day, with- 
 out any deviation, while at that place of residence. On Sunday 
 every member of the family of a proper age was required to attend 
 public worship; and in the evening his Majesty himself made it a 
 rule to read a discourse from the writings of some of our best 
 divines.” * 
 
 This is an agreeable family picture, though the impression abroad 
 was that the discipline was far too severe. The Duke of Sussex, 
 nearly seventy years later, complained to Dr. Holland of the too 
 great strictness of his royal father, and described himself as being 
 then afflicted with an asthmatic breathing, which his tutor “re- 
 quired him to stop and which, after various rebukes and threats, 
 ended in sound flogging. This, he added, was by no means a rare 
 occurrence. A tutor would scarcely have ventured to have thus 
 indulged his temper unless he felt that he would be supported. f 
 
 The Duke of York also retailed painful impressions of this 
 period, describing how the tutor would hit them with his pencil on 
 the head if they were inattentive, j: 
 
 * Watkins, “ Mem. Duke of York,” p. 28. 
 
 t Ticknor’s “Life,” ii. 152. 
 
 X In what kind of family circle the children were reared may be conceived 
 from the training their mother had to pass through. “ Except the Ladies of 
 the Bedchamber,” says Mrs. Harcourt, in her Diary (pp. 45, 4C), printed by 
 Mr. Locker, “for ^ an hour in a week in a funeral circle, or a ceremonious 
 drawing Rm she never had a soul to speak to but the King. That this con- 
 tinued till her first child the P. of Wales was born, that then the nurse & his 
 Governess Lady C. Finch coming into the Room was a little treat, but that 
 they had still for years no other society till by degrees the Ladies of the Bed 
 Chamber came more frequently, and latteidy the Society for various reasons, 
 the Children growing up, the journies &c. was much encreased. . . . Ex- 
 pecting to be Queen of a gay Court, finding herself confined as in a Convent, 
 & hardly allowed to think without the leave of her husband checked her 
 spirits, made her fearful & cautious to an extreme, & when the time came 
 that amusements were allowed her her mind was formed to a difft manner 
 of life.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 15 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 1771—1776. 
 
 This early stage, however, was soon passed. In the year 1771, 
 when the royal child was nine years old, it was considered time 
 that a scheme for his education should be formally arranged. The 
 second brother was to receive a thoroughly German education. A 
 system of complete and careful English instruction was determined 
 upon. Accordingly, in February, Dr, Markham, lately Master of 
 Westminster School, and now Bishop of Chester, was appointed 
 preceptor. Dr. Cyril Jackson, sub-preceptor, while Lord Holder- 
 nesse became governor. The latter was the real director of the 
 children, and was to look after their conduct generally. For the 
 post of sub-governor — a highly important office — there were many 
 candidates. 
 
 Among the candidates for this office were two clergymen of a 
 doubtful notoriety. One was Kidgell, who had done dirty work 
 for Lord Sandwich, and had been a sort of bludgeon-man on the 
 press. He had contrived to get permission to dedicate some fables 
 to the young princes; but when the King read the book he was so 
 disgusted at the mixture of levity and gross flattery that he was at 
 the expense of buying up the whole impression. The other clergy- 
 man, who had greatly attracted the Queen, was the unfortunate 
 Dr, Dodd. She was in his favor, but the King positively declined, 
 not relishing the style and manner of the candidate. 
 
 But the person chosen was Mr. Smelt, a well-known figure in 
 Madame D’Arblay’s memoirs; a man of signal uprightness and 
 virtue, but “a violent revolution whig.” As assistant tutors. 
 Lord Holdernesse selected two foreign refugee Protestants, Bude 
 and Salzes, the latter a Swiss of much worth, while Dr. Majendie, 
 the Queen’s reader, attended them for Latin and English. The 
 King and Queen added their exertions; the former being considered 
 to read with propriety and grace, while the Queen imparted instruc- 
 tion in French, German, and even English, which ghe could 
 scarcely as yet have been very familiar with. 
 
16 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 The sub-preceptor gave lessons, while the bishop supervised and 
 controlled the whole. Markham was a highly-successful school- 
 master, who had been promoted to the deanery of Christ Church, 
 and afterwards, as was becoming a prince’s instructor, received the 
 rich prize of the archbishopric of York. He was a pert, arrogant 
 man, by Mr, Walpole’s account, and owed his recommendation to 
 Lord Mansfield, Dr. Jackson was a person of a rather unique 
 type, having refused bishoprics three times.* He seems to have 
 been a worthy and conscientious man, spoken of with much 
 respect by his contemporaries. Lord Holdernesse, Mr. Walpole 
 tells us, “owed his office to his insignificance and his wife,” who, 
 it was supposed, prompted her husband to use the opportunities 
 afforded by his residence at the Cinque Ports for smuggling, f A 
 board composed of such heterogeneous elements was not likely to 
 work harmoniously, and almost at once the Court was agitated by 
 what might be considered a scandal. 
 
 It became known that the governor and sub-preceptor were at 
 open war. Late in 1775, the former, from “a violent humor” in 
 his face, which struck in upon his breast and affected his hearing, 
 had been obliged to go to the South of France. On his return he 
 found that advantage had been taken of his absence to prejudice 
 the minds of his pupils against him. “They had treated his 
 authority with contempt, and often ridiculed him to his face.”j: 
 The juvenile Bishop of Osnaburg “set on” his elder brother; what 
 he was to do very often later, even when both were old men. The 
 latter, however, was always showing himself self-willed and head- 
 strong to his father as well as to his mother, who could not control 
 him. Lord Holdernesse accused Jackson of setting his pupils 
 against him. There were suspicions that the bishop was at the 
 bottom of the confusion, while Jackson declared the governor to 
 be “most trifling and unfit for his charge.” In this general 
 wrangle the only course was to provide a new set of instructors. 
 The King, indeed, wished to retain Lord Holdernesse; but the 
 latter declined to stay, on the ground, it would seem, that he had 
 
 * Hurd, his successor in the tutorship, declined the primacy of Ireland, as 
 Jackson was said to have done that of England, 
 t It was stated that in a single “venture ” she introduced one hundred and 
 fourteen dresses. 
 
 t “ Last Journals” of Walpole, ii. 51, which see also for an account of the 
 whole incident. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 17 
 
 lost all control over his charge. Smelt, whose character Mrs. 
 Delany declared, with some exaggeration, “to be of the most noble 
 and delicate kind, and deserving the pen of a Clarendon to do 
 justice to it,” followed his patron, refusing a pension from the 
 King. De Salzes, the refugee, also insisted on retiring, significantly- 
 giving as a reason the “ungovernable temper of his charge, the 
 Prince of Wales.” * 
 
 This was told by Lord Holdernesse himself to Lord Hertford, 
 who reported it to Walpole. It speaks badly for the system that 
 the humors of a headstrong child should have had a share in such 
 changes. 
 
 But the most painful part of this transaction was this early antici- 
 pation of future discord between the King and Prince; for it seems 
 certain that between the boy of fourteen and his father there was 
 already implanted a reciprocal dislike; and Lord Hertford declared 
 that the boy stood in no awe of either his father or his mother. 
 The King was seriously affected by this discovery ; and it was noticed 
 that he was wasted with the anxiety. In a letter to Lord North, he 
 says it had made him forget important business. It will be seen 
 from the following how harassed he was, and what steps he took. 
 The passage that his sons “would secretly feel a kind of victory, if 
 the bishop remained,” is significant. 
 
 “My dear Lord” (he wrote from Kew, on May 27th, 1776), — 
 “. . . . I mentioned the Lord[s] Dartmouth, Ashburnham, and 
 Bruce as the only persons that occurred to me in the least from 
 their characters, as fit to succeed Lord Holdernesse. ... I also 
 mentioned that from principles of honor I could not press Mr. 
 Smelt to continue Sub-Governor with any other Governor than 
 Lord Holdernesse; that Mr. Jackson, knowing he was to be removed 
 prior to my receiving any intimation of Lord Holdernesse’s inten- 
 tions to retire, the Bishop of Chester was the only one of the estab- 
 lishment concerning whom it was necessary for me to take any 
 decision; that on principle I think the Governor is my representa- 
 tive, and as such no one about them must have more hold on them 
 than him, therefore that on the new appointment of a Governor I 
 must produce a new preceptor: when to this is added the want of 
 regard of my sons to Lord Holdernesse has made him resign, though 
 he will put it on his health, they would secretly feel a kind of vic- 
 
 Last Journals ” of Walpole, ii. 53. 
 
18 
 
 THE LIFE OF OEORQE IV. 
 
 toiy if the Bishop remained : I therefore yesterday took the painful 
 task of sending for the Bishop of Chester, and with kindness and 
 frankness told him that, as Lord Holdernesse meant to retire, I should 
 at the same time appoint a new preceptor. ... On Thursday I 
 saw Lord Bruce, and used every argument to compell him to step 
 forth to my assistance. . . . On Saturday he wished to decline, 
 but after a very full conversation, seeing my distress of mind, he 
 very handsomel}'" consented to accept, provided the Bishop of 
 Litchfield came to his assistance. He has by my direction spoke 
 this morning to that Bishop, and on Wednesday I hope to be able 
 to say to you that I have secured those two, which will restore my 
 mind to a state of ease, which you cannot think a tender father can 
 possess unless satisfied of the moral principles of men to whose 
 care he intrusts his children.” 
 
 In another letter he writes: 
 
 “Lord North, — The letter I received this day from you, in 
 answer to mine of yesterday, is the most ample proof of your affec- 
 tionate feeling for me. The Bishop of Litchfield has with great 
 modesty and propriety agreed to come as preceptor to my children. 
 I shall therefore direct Lord Bruce and him to come and kiss hands 
 at the levee on Friday.” 
 
 For sub-governor the King found “a highly proper person ” in 
 Colonel Hotham. The new preceptor owed his post directly to 
 Lord Mansfield, who brought under the King’s notice some “ Dia- 
 logues on the British Constitution.” He brought with him his own 
 chaplain. Dr. Arnald, as sub-preceptor; a man of much reputation 
 at the university, and “ whose mildness, morals, and cheerfulness,” 
 according to the King, were as conspicuous as his talents.* 
 
 Hurd recommended himself much at Court, and the King always 
 displayed a particular affection to him, writing to him in the 
 warmest terms, and when invasion was apprehended selected his 
 palace as the place he was to retire to. He was, no doubt, an 
 excellent man, and the fact that he was disliked by his royal pupils, 
 by whom Markham was preferred, is scarcely to his discredit. 
 Years after, at a great dinner given by the Duke of Norfolk in St. 
 
 * Letter to Lord North, ii. 33. But about 1782 his wits became unsettled, and 
 his delusions seem to have been oddly connected with pi’eferment, for he used 
 to wear a mitre about the house. 
 
19 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 James’s Square, where were the Prince, Fox, Sheridan, Erskine, 
 Dr. Parr, and other persons of note, a discussion took place on the 
 comparative merits of the two preceptors, and which is even dra- 
 matic in its illustration of the character of the Prince and of the 
 resolute Parr. 
 
 , “ The Archbishop of York,” writes one who took down a descrip- 
 tion of the scene from Parr’s own lips, then in a declining state of 
 health, “being alluded to, the Prince observed; ‘I esteem Markham 
 a much greater, wiser, and more learned man than Hurd, and a 
 better teacher. You will allow me to be a judge, as they were both 
 my preceptors.’ Said Dr. Parr: ‘Is it your Royal Highness’s 
 pleasure that I should enter upon the topic of their comparative 
 merits as a subject of discussion? ’ ‘ Yes,” said the Prince. ‘ Then, 
 sir,’ said Parr, ‘ I totally differ from your Royal Highness in opinion.’ 
 ‘As I knew them both so intimately,’ replied the Prince, ‘you will 
 not deny that I had the power of more accurately appreciating 
 their respective merits than you can have had.’ The Prince then 
 spoke of Markham’s natural dignity and authority as compared 
 with Hurd’s smoothness and softness, ‘and, with proper submission 
 to your authority on such a subject, his experience as a school- 
 master and his better scholarship.’ ‘ Sir,’ said Parr, ‘your Royal 
 Highness began the conversation, and if you permit it to go on must 
 tolerate a very different inference.’ ‘Go on,’ said the Prince. ‘I 
 declare that Markham understands Greek better than Hurd, for 
 when I hesitated Markham immediately explained it, and then he 
 went on, but when I hesitated with Hurd he always referred me to 
 the dictionary; I conclude he therefore wanted to be informed him- 
 self.’ ‘Sir,’ replied Parr, ‘ I venture to differ from your Royal 
 Highness’s conclusion. I am myself a schoolmaster, and I think 
 that Dr. Hurd pursued the right method, and that Dr. Markham 
 failed in his duty. Hurd desired your Royal Highness to find the 
 word, not because he did not know it, but because he wished you 
 to find by search and learn it thoroughl}^’ ‘ Have 5'^ou not changed 
 your opinion of Hurd ? ’ exclaimed the Prince. ‘ I have read a work 
 in which you attacked him fiercely.’ ‘ Yes, sir, I attacked him on 
 one point which I thought important to letters, and I summoned 
 the whole force of my mind and took every possible pains to do it 
 well, for I consider Hurd to be a great man. . . . There is no com- 
 parison between Markham and Hurd as men of talent. Markham 
 was a pompous schoolmaster; Hurd was a stiff, cold, but correct 
 gentleman. Markham was at the head of a good school, tutor of a 
 
20 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 good college, and finally became an archbishop; in all these stations 
 he had trumpeters of his fame who called him great, though he 
 published one “Concio” only, which has already sunk in oblivion. 
 From a farmhouse and village school Hurd emerged, the friend of 
 Gray and a circle of distinguished men, and sent from the obscurity 
 of a country village a book, sir, which your royal father, sir, is 
 said to have declared made him a bishop. And perhaps, sir, a por- 
 tion of the adroitness and power you have manifested in this debate 
 might have been owing to him.’ Fox, when the Prince was gone, 
 exclaimed in his high tone of voice: ‘He thought he had caught 
 you, but he caught a Tartar.’ The argument was maintained with 
 some heat.”* 
 
 The shallowness of the Prince’s reasoning — which had yet a 
 specious air — may be contrasted with the doctor’s intrepid vindica- 
 tion of Hurd, to whom he bore no good-will ; as indeed his adver- 
 sary, with some malice, took care to remind him.f 
 
 Though the new' preceptor started hopefully on his course, writ- 
 ing to his friends that his pupils were “extremely promising,” he 
 was not long in forming a judgment of the character of the eldest. 
 Indeed, it seems that the Prince exhibited, at this early age, many of 
 those ungracious qualities which were to distinguish him when he 
 w'as grown up; and his new master augured but badly of his future 
 career. To his cousin, Mrs. Parsons, the bishop said one day in 
 reply to a question as to the progress of his pupil: “ My dear,” he 
 replied, laying his peculiarly small white hand upon her arm, “I 
 can hardly tell; he will be either the most polished gentleman or 
 the most accomplished blackguard in Europe; possibly an admix- 
 ture of both .” X 
 
 Perhaps the most interesting event of his childhood was the meet- 
 ing with Hr. Johnson, who met with him one day when he was 
 reading in the royal library. The doctor, w'ho spoke to him some 
 grave words of encouragement, had thus been in some sort of com- 
 munication wdth five sovereigns. He had been touched for the evil 
 by Queen Anne; he must have often seen the first and second 
 
 *Parr, “Life,” i. 322. 
 
 + In testimony of his regard for Markham, he included his portrait in the 
 collection he had made of his friends’ portraits, and on that prelate’s death 
 went to the expense of having it engraved. — “Memoirs of the Prince of 
 Wales,” 1808. 
 
 tKilvert, “ Life of Hurd,” p. 378. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 21 
 
 Georges in the streets of London ; with the third and fourth he had 
 spoken. 
 
 It is not surprising, therefore, to find that with these appoint- 
 ments the king’s troubles were only to recommence. Lord Bruce 
 was barely established in his place, and had dined once with his 
 pupil, when he abruptly retired to the country. It was said, indeed, 
 that he left it to the Bishop of Litchfield to tell the King that he 
 would not return. The cause was said to be his wife, who thought 
 she'would be deprived of his society. The poor worried King thus 
 unfolds his distress to his counsellor: 
 
 “Lord North” (he wrote on June 2nd, 1776), — “I thought by 
 the step I had taken yesterday that my distress was at an end; but 
 after you left me this day I saw the Bishop of Litchfield, who 
 brought me the melancholy news that some difficulties from Lady 
 Bruce had so agitated her husband that he was come to acquaint 
 me from him that he could not think of being Governor to my 
 children. The Bishop broke it with the greatest gentleness. I 
 instantly sent Lord Ashburnham, whose secrecy I could depend 
 upon, to acquaint the D. of Montague of this event, and to desire 
 the Duke to come to me. I have so powerfully shewn that my 
 fresh distress arose from his family, that I have persuaded him to 
 supply the place of his brother, which he does on the following 
 conditions — not to be appointed until Wednesday, by which he 
 avoids appearing on the birthday, for which he has no cloaths, and 
 that Lord Bruce may still have the Earldom of Ailesbury.” 
 
 The Duke of Montague agreed to take the place on these valuable 
 considerations. 
 
 In connection with this matter, a curious scene occurred between 
 the King and the Bishop, which is reported by the Duke of Leeds 
 in his MS. memoranda: “ The King sent for him, and told him that 
 ‘he had determined on making an entirely new establishment.’ 
 The other seemed surprised, and not very respectfully said, ‘ Has 
 your Majesty consulted Lord Mansfield?’ The King, astonished 
 at so strange a question, replied he surely was master to appoint 
 whom he pleased to overlook the education of his children, and 
 repeated his determination. The Bishop, from the imperious tone 
 with which he had just addressed his sovereign, now changed to 
 the most abject humility, and with tears begged the King to con- 
 sider his numerous family. His Majesty assured him it should 
 
22 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEOROE IV. 
 
 make no alteration in his future preferment. The Bishop retired 
 confused.” 
 
 Walpole, however, did not at this moment know of the story 
 that was circulated at Lord Bruce’s expense — viz. that his lively 
 pupil, the Prince of Wales, had maliciously led him to expose his 
 ignorance in Homer and Greek generally. The Prince, it was 
 added, was able to set him right in a quotation, as well as to point 
 out a false quantity. This was questioned by the tutor, on which 
 the pupil appealed to better authority, and it was decided against 
 Lord Bruce, who was much laughed at. Such was the story. 
 
 The new governor was probably indulgent enough, though it is 
 difficult to arrive at a true estimate of his disposition; for Mr. 
 Walpole tells us he was one of the “weakest and most ignorant 
 men living,” while Hurd’s obsequious biographer extols him as a 
 nobleman of singular worth and virtue, of an exemplary life, and 
 of the best principles in Church and State. He was very attentive 
 to his charges, and executed that trust with great propriety and 
 dignity. The preceptor {i.e., Bishop Hurd) was honored with his 
 confidence, and there never was the least misunderstanding between 
 them;* this last reason may account for this cordial estimate. 
 
 Under this new direction the education of these princes was 
 started afresh. They were now removed to Kew Palace, and were 
 directly under the eye of the King and Queen. A course of study 
 was marked out for them. Eight hours a day were given to classics 
 and languages. Cicero’s Offices was a favorite work of study, and 
 there was an attempt at carrying out a sort of German ideal by 
 instructing the youths in husbandry and such matters.f 
 
 We are told that a spot of ground, in the garden at Kew, was dug 
 by his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales and by his brother the 
 
 *Kilvert, p. 365. 
 
 t In the British Museum is to be seen a translation made by the Prince 
 about this time, of which the following is a specimen : 
 
 “As soon as I heard your daughter Tullia was dead, I confess I was ex- 
 tremely concerned, as it became me to be at a loss which I regarded as com- 
 mon to us both ; and if I had been with you I should not have been wanting to 
 you, but should have openly testified the bitterness of my grief. ’Tis true this 
 is but a poor and miserable consolation, because those who ought to admin, 
 ister it, I mean our nearest friends and relations, are almost equally affected 
 with ourselves, nor can they attempt it without shedding many a tear, so that 
 they appear more to be in want of comfort themselves, than perform that 
 duty to others.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 28 
 
 Duke of York, who sowed it with wheat, attended the growth of 
 their little crop, weeded, reaped, and harvested it solely by them- 
 selves. “They threshed out the corn and separated it from the 
 chaff, and at this period of their work were brought to reflect, from 
 their own experience, on the various labors and attentions of the 
 husbandman and the farmer. The Princes not only raised their 
 own crop, but they also ground it, and having parted the bran from 
 the meal, attended to the whole process of making it into bread, 
 which, it may well be imagined, was eaten with no slight relish. 
 The King and Queen partook of the philosophical repast, and beheld 
 with pleasure the very amusements of their children rendered the 
 source of useful knowledge.” 
 
 The Prince’s instructor in the graces of elocution was Mr. Bartley, 
 one of the last of the good old school of actors, who had deserved 
 Charles Lamb’s praise. His drawing-master was a Russian named 
 Cozens, while Angelo taught him fencing. Kothing, indeed, was 
 more remarkable than the elegant tastes of this royal family, pursued 
 with thorough conscientiousness ; and it was no doubt owing to his 
 being brought up in such an atmosphere that the Prince owed his 
 tone of connoisseurship. The number of masters and professors 
 engaged at the palace was considerable. The Queen herself took 
 lessons from Gainsborough; the King himself was taught architec- 
 tural drawing by Sir William Chambers, perspective by Kirby, and 
 gi'ammar by Mrs. Trimmer, Quin had instructed him in elocution, 
 and Denoger was the drawing-master for the princes. The Princess 
 Elizabeth published a folio of etchings ; while the walls of Frogmore 
 were hung with her pen-and-ink drawings, and decorated in the 
 “ Asiatic style,” whatever that was then considered to be. She even 
 tried her skill at mezzotint engraving. 
 
 Little wine was allowed, and great regularity of hours was insisted 
 on. This, however well-intentioned, seemed hardly judicious, and 
 it was only natural to suppose that the Prince should look eagerly to 
 the time when he should be emancipated. The preceptor was, of 
 course, entirely on the side of the patron who had favored him, and 
 is described as “a little plausible man, affecting a singular decorum 
 that endeared him highly to devout old ladies.” So that here were 
 severe and arbitrary parents, a weak preceptor, and “the most fool- 
 ish man in England ” as governor — influences not likely to operate 
 favorably on a self-willed, self-indulgent, and hot-tempered youth. 
 The tutor being thus engrossed with “currying favor” with the 
 King, the pupil was left to the company of servants and grooms. 
 
24 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEOROE IV. 
 
 The story went that the King did all he could to protract his son’s 
 nonage, and keep him a schoolboy. He was made to wear a child’s 
 frilled collar, to which he one day called a servant’s attention, say- 
 ing: “ See how they treat me!” * It was not wonderful that he took 
 every means to elude the vigilance of his guardians. The worthy 
 Mrs. Chapone, however, gives a highly favorable picture of the 
 interior of the royal family circle. This occurred in the year 1778- 
 “Mr. Buller,” she says, “went to Windsor on Saturday; saw the 
 King, who inquired much about the Bishop [of Winchester], and 
 hearing that he would be eighty-two next Monday, ‘ Then,’ said the 
 King, ‘ I will go and wish him joy.’ ‘ And I,’ said the Queen, ‘ will 
 go too.’ Mr. B. then dropt a hint of the additional pleasure it would 
 give the Bishop if he could see the Princes. ‘ That,’ said the King, 
 ‘ requires contrivance ; but if I can manage it, we will all go. ’ On 
 the Monday following, the royal party, consisting of their Majesties, 
 the Prince of Wales, Duke of York, Duke of Clarence, the Princess 
 Royal, and Princess Augusta, visited the Bishop. The King,” con- 
 tinues Mrs. Chapone, “sent the Princes to pay their compliments to 
 Mrs. Chapone ; himself, he said, was an old acquaintance. Whilst the 
 Princes were speaking to me, Mr. Amald, sub-preceptor, said, ‘ These 
 gentlemen are well acquainted with a certain ode prefixed to Mrs. 
 Carter’s Epictetus, if you know anything of it.’ Afterwards the 
 King came and spoke to us, and the Queen led the Princess Royal 
 to me, saying: ‘ This is a young lady who, I hope, has much profited 
 by your instructions. She has read them [“Letters on the Improve- 
 ment of the Mind ”] more than once, and will read them often;’ and 
 the Princess assented to the praise which followed with a very modest 
 air. I was pleased with all the Princes, but particularly with Prince 
 William, who is little of his age, but so sensible and engaging, that 
 he won the Bishop’s heart, to whom he particularly attached himself, 
 and would stay with him while all the rest ran about the house. His 
 conversation was surprisingly manly and clever for his age, yet, with 
 the young Bullers, he was quite the boy, and said to John Buller, by 
 way of encouraging him to talk, ‘Come, we are both boys, you 
 know.’ All of them showed affectionate respect to the Bishop; the 
 Prince of Wales pressed his hand so hard that he hurt it.” 
 
 A yet more pleasing picture of the simple tastes of this excellent 
 King and his Queen was the mode of commemorating the birthday 
 of the young Prince of Wales. In these happy times Windsor and 
 
 ’•‘Walpole, “ Last Jom-nals,” i. 108. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 25 
 
 Weymouth, were favorite places of mlleggiatura for the royal 
 family. At the former place the morning was ushered in so early as 
 six o’clock by the ringing of bells, and a feu dejoie was fired. Before 
 nine the young princes arrived from Kew to wait on their father, 
 and at ten a procession was formed of all the royal family and the 
 attendants, who walked in state to the church. The Prince and his 
 six brothers walked two and two, sumptuously arrayed in blue and 
 gold; the three young princesses followed. In the church, all 
 marched up to the table and made their offerings of gold and silver. 
 On their return a procession was formed again; which was swelled 
 by the canons and clergy, who attended them to the door of the 
 palace. Later in the day the royal children appeared on the terrace, 
 where they were greeted with a salute of three volleys from the sol- 
 diers ; this was with the good-natured purpose of showing themselves 
 to the loyal Windsor folks, who thronged in crowds to look at them. 
 They retired to dine, and at half-past six the Prince and his brothers 
 took leave of their father and returned to Kew. So simple and 
 innocent a mode of celebrating a birthday might seem strange and 
 old-fashioned in our time. And it may be said that this custom of 
 royal personages exhibiting themselves to the public in the “walks 
 at Windsor, ” and which was persevered in all through that long reign, 
 would seem to have been a very wise and laudable one. For in this 
 fashion was loyalty fostered. But this patriarchal system was not to 
 last much longer. 
 
 2 
 
26 
 
 TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 1779. 
 
 The Prince op Wales was now approaching his nineteenth 
 year, when he was to become legally of age, as heir to the throne. 
 Complaints of the rigorous sj^stem of discipline began to be heard. 
 It was stated that he was not allowed to appear at balls until the 
 summer of the year 1779, and then only because the Spanish 
 minister asked it as a favor. He himself began to protest loudly. 
 “The Prince of Wales,” so ran a paragraph in one of the papers, 
 “with a spirit which does him honor, has three times requested a 
 change in that system. Time will show whether the junta have 
 laid their foundations upon a rock or upon sand.” He had already 
 begged to have a commission in the army, and to be allowed to go 
 about as he pleased, like other young men of the day. It hap- 
 pened at this time that the King was busily engaged in visiting the 
 forts and dockyards, and in further kindling the public enthusiasm 
 by tours of inspection and reviews. The two young men earnestly 
 begged to be allowed to attend him on these occasions. Their 
 request was refused, but, instead, they were taken out to Kew 
 Gardens to receive lessons in fortification and gunnery. They were 
 also allowed to shift their residence occasional!}^ from Windsor to 
 Kew. This pedantic restraint overshot the mark, and the young 
 princes seized eagerly the opportunity of their father’s absence to 
 cultivate an intimacy with the gay nobles of the day, who quickly 
 instructed them as to how they were to break loose from this disa- 
 greeable bondage. These lessons they almost at once bettered, as 
 the King was presently to learn, and within a few months the 
 forebodings of the worthy bishop, their tutor, were to be realized. 
 
 It is probable that if sounder instruction had been given he 
 would not have followed; but still it must be owned that the stupid, 
 odious, German, sergeant-system of discipline that had been so 
 rigorously applied was, in fact, responsible for the blemishes in the 
 young prince’s character. It will be .seen, as we pursue the course 
 of his life, that an indifference to truth was one of these blemishes; 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 27 
 
 and this, as may be conceived, vs^as owing to childish terror of 
 those above him. There are two simple anecdotes connected with 
 this matter which are almost convincing. Lord Essex, riding out 
 with the King, met the young prince arrayed in a wig, and asked 
 him sharply the reason of his wearing it. No doubt in some alarm, 
 the Prince answered hastily: “ That he was ordered to do so by the 
 doctor as he was subject to cold,” On which the King turned to his 
 companion, and said: ‘‘A lie is ever ready when it is wanted.” 
 This shows what the feeling of the father was, and how little he 
 cared to show his respect for his son.* Many years after, the son, 
 becoEne,Prince Regent, consulted Lady Spencer as to the choice of 
 a governess for his daughter. “Abovie all,” he said, “I must 
 teach her to tell the truth.” Then he added this remarkable decla- 
 ration: ‘‘You know that I don’t speak the truth and my brothers 
 don’t, and I find it a great defect, from which I would have my 
 daughter free. We have been brought up badly, the queen having 
 taught us to equivocate.”! No one corroborated this candid con- 
 fession and defect so heartily as the Duke of Wellington, who again 
 and again seems to declare that he could not believe a word the 
 Prince said. Let the blame, however, or an important share of it, 
 be placed Mdiere it is properly due. Yet the young prince was good- 
 natured ; and had he been properly directed might have turned out 
 more creditably than he did. He was after heard to say: “ I wish 
 every one would tell me what I ought to do; nobody gives me any 
 instructions.” 
 
 It is melancholy, too, to trace another result of this system. 
 Being jealously shut up in the palace, and deprived of rational 
 amusements, he had contracted a habit of private drinking, which 
 told upon the scrofulous humors which, it was said, the Princess 
 of Wales had introduced into the family, and which now broke out 
 all over his face. To these excesses he was incited by his wild, 
 ever-favorite brother, the youthful bishop, who had the most spirit, 
 and put him on to acting with spirit. Unfortunately, too, at this 
 time, the King was harassed by the insubordination of his brothers; 
 and, in the dissensions that followed, the young princes found them- 
 selves encouraged to take part with them. The Duke of Cumber- 
 land, a man of depraved character, was not slow to profit by this 
 spirit, and became the guide and prompter of his nephews. We 
 
 * McCullagh Torrens’s* “ Life of Lord Melbourne,” i. 156. 
 tibid. p. 157. 
 
28 
 
 TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 find the young prince taking sides against his father in some of the 
 exciting questions of the hour, such as the Keppel-Palliser episode 
 — congratulating Miss Keppel on the result, and “ declaring it the 
 happiest event he had ever known” — and then “cutting” various 
 persons who were on the side of the Court. In the question of the 
 Duke of Gloucester’s marriage, he vehemently espoused his uncle’s 
 side, assuring him “though he could not come to see him now 
 without the King’s leave, that in a short time he would be of age, 
 and his own master. That now he would give out that he intended 
 to visit him.”* 
 
 All this was as unpromising as it was unbecoming. But the 
 unlucky, if injudicious father, worried by brothers and sons, was 
 now to feel shame at the discovery that this precocious youth had 
 been secretly engaged in a scandalous intrigue with a notorious 
 personage, iVlrs. Kobinson. This lady has left memoirs and poems, 
 in which the whole transaction is set out at length in a romantic 
 high-flown strain; but in which the prosaic and businesslike issues 
 to w^hich she conducted it, viz. the extorting of a bond for twenty 
 thousand pounds, is lightly touched upon. The King had to undergo 
 the humiliation of having to enter into a transaction with this person 
 to save public exposure. 
 
 “I am sorry,” he wrote on August 28th, 1781, “to be obliged to 
 open a subjeet that has long given me much pain, but I can rather 
 do it on paper than in conversation : it is a subject of which I know 
 he is not ignorant. My eldest son got last year into a very improper 
 connection with an actress and woman of indifferent character 
 through the friendly assistance of Ld. Malden; a multitude of 
 letters past, which she has threatened to publish unless he, in short, 
 bought them of her. He had made her very foolish promisses [sfc], 
 which, undoubtedly, by her conduct to him she entirely cancelled. 
 I have thought it right to authorize the getting them froni her, and 
 have employed Lieut. -Col. Hotham, on whose discression [sfc] I 
 could depend, to manage this business. He has now brought it to a 
 conclusion, and has her consent to get these letters on her receiving 
 £5000, undoubtedly an enormous sum ; but I wish to get my son 
 out of this shameful scrape. I desire you will therefore see Lieut. - 
 Col. Hotham and settle this with him. I am happy at being able 
 to say that I never was personally engaged in such a transaction, 
 which perhaps makes me feel this the stronger.” 
 
 * Walpole, “ Last Journals,” p. 417. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 29 
 
 Of the bond engagement the King does not seem to have been 
 aware, fancying all was arranged when the letters were secured at 
 such an enormous price. Mr. Fox, at this time one of the most 
 reckless cf the London Q'oiies and a chosen companion of the Prince, 
 undertook the arrangement of this delicate matter, and succeeded 
 in recovering it in return for an annuity of four hundred pounds. 
 This is more disastrous record than the career of this hapless crea- 
 tui-e, who, forsaken and paralyzed, sank into misery and beggary, 
 from which she appealed to her former admirer. 
 
 THE PEINCE OP WALES TO MES. EOBINSON. 
 
 “Dear Mrs. Kobinson, 
 
 “I have receiv’d your letter, and it really quite overcomes 
 me, the scene of distress you so pathetically paint. I will certainly 
 wait upon you, but I am afraid it will be late before I can come 
 to the Ship, as I have company wuth me. Should it be within the 
 compass of my means to rescue you from the abyss you apprehend 
 that is before you, and for which you mention Mr. Brent, I need 
 say that the temptation of gratifying others, and at the same time 
 and by the same means making one’s self happy, is too alluring to 
 be neglected a single moment; however, you must allow me to be 
 thus explicit and candid, that it must in great measure depend 
 upon the extent of what will be necessary to be done for your ser- 
 vice, and how far my funds may be adequate, as well as my power 
 equal to attain that object. In the meantime only rest assured of 
 my good wishes and good intentions. 
 
 “I am, dear Mrs. Robinson, very sincerely yours, 
 
 “ George.* 
 
 “To Mrs. Robinson, Ship Inn, Brighton.” 
 
 There is some feeling and good-nature in this reply, which is at 
 the same time significant. For all through his life he was found 
 ready to answer an immediate and instant appeal to his sympathy 
 and affection. But after a delay, when these had time to grow 
 cold, nothing would be done. Benevolence on such principles is 
 simply gratifying an appetite, and is worthless. 
 
 As the secluded prince was presently to be enlarged, it was 
 natural that some of the nobility should have expressed a wish that 
 
 * MS. in the possession of Sholto Hare, Esq. 
 
30 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 he should visit their houses in different parts of the country, and 
 thus become acquainted with his future associates. The young 
 man eagerly hailed the notion of what was, in truth, a respectable 
 and sensible mode of introduction; but the King refused to sanction 
 the proposal. The best opinions seem to point to the Queen as the 
 person most accountable for the whole course of treatment adopted 
 towards the Prince.* 
 
 * During the Gordon Riots, he set his guardians at defiance, and hurried up 
 to London to join his father, attended by a friend and a servant. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEOMGE IV. 
 
 31 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 1780. 
 
 It was now the year 1780, ^and the King felt that he could no 
 longer refuse his eldest son his freedom. In the summer it was 
 noted as significant that their Majesties had drunk tea at Carlton 
 House, and it was assumed that this mansion was to be got ready 
 for the Prince. As a first step, however, it was determined to send 
 away the Prince Frederick (the Bishop of Osnaburg) to the Conti- 
 nent, as it was imagined that his aid and advice would not be of 
 advantage to the Prince of Wales. This was the view taken by the 
 public at the time. The P^rince was really distressed at losing his 
 companion, and begged to be allowed to go with him. The scene 
 of the parting is described as very affecting, “the Prince being so 
 moved that he stood in a state of entire sensibility, unable to speak, 
 or to express the concern by which he was agitated.” * 
 
 The establishment now set on foot was but a “bit of one,” as 
 Walpole called it, for the Prince was to be kept at Buckingham 
 House still under the royal eye. The King’s letters will show how 
 anxiously and equitably he proceeded to arrange this important 
 matter. After declaring that he had been turning to his own old 
 accounts, he says that he “considered that in addition to my eldest 
 son’s establishment I must furnish the incidental expenses to my 
 second son’s travelling and education, and the taking the three eld- 
 est boys now in the nursery and placing them with me: this I felt 
 would require much deliberation, the result of which I will now 
 fully state. . . . 
 
 “I have, therefore, in this view formed an honorable establish- 
 ment, and given my son for Robes and Privy Purse the exact sum 
 I had. His stables will be more expensive in point of saddle-horses, 
 I keeping at that time but four, he will have sixteen; but by 
 appointing a Groom of the Stole instead of a Master of the Horse, a 
 
 * Lloyd, “ Life of George IV.,” p. 33. 
 
32 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEOBGE IV. 
 
 set of horses and two footmen are diminished, which alone attended 
 that officer in the first establishment of my late father. As my son 
 will live in my house, he cannot have any occasion for those ser- 
 vants, necessary only if he kept house. . . . The difficulty I 
 
 find of having persons whose private conduct I think may with 
 safety be placed about a young person is not surprising, as, I thank 
 Heaven, my morals and course of life have but little resembled 
 those too prevalent in the present age; and certainly, of all objects 
 in this life, the one I have most at heart is to form my children that 
 they may be useful examples and worthy of immitation [sfc]. I 
 shall therefore be scrupulous as to the private lives of those I place 
 about my son, though in other cases I never wish to be informed, 
 unless of those great enormities that must make every man of prin- 
 ciple shun the company of such persons; but in the case of my 
 children, my happiness, as well as the good of the public, is mate- 
 rially concerned in this investigation. 
 
 “ Lord North seemed to insinuate that, if the -whole additional 
 expense of my children did not exceed £30,000, he thought the 
 money could be found. I have tried to keep it to £20,000, because 
 from the very numerous familly [szic] I have, it is impossible to lodge 
 them, and I must make some alterations for that purpose in the 
 wings of the Queen’s House.”* 
 
 It is amusing to see the fixed purpose of the father to keep his 
 son still in leading-strings by “serving him out ” supplies as they 
 were wanted, and making him live in his own house. The young 
 Prince, of course, cordially accepted the arrangement, but as an 
 instalment.! 
 
 * The reader will bear this in mind later when the question of the Prince’s 
 “ arrears ” come to be considered. Here we find the King declaring that the 
 cost for all his children would not exceed the sum named. 
 
 tThe prudent king made the following calculation of the expenses of Prince 
 Edward’s table for twelve months: 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 Kitchen 1519 3 0 
 
 Spicery 93 11 0 
 
 Beer and ale 92 8 0 
 
 Bread 107 4 1^ 
 
 Dessert 357 0 0 
 
 Wines 115 18 0 
 
 Butter and cheese 37 6 0 
 
 2322 10 IJ^ 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 33 
 
 But it IS curipus to note the misgiving the King entertained, and 
 the rather tortuous mode wiiicli he adopted to obtain public 
 approval. “ Some one,” he wrote to his ministers in February, 
 1781, “of the P. of Wales’s family may be authorized, if it should 
 in the debate be thought right, just to drop that he is satisfied with 
 the arrangements I have made for him; for it would be highly 
 indelicate for me to speak to my son on the subject; indeed, I have 
 done for him all that could in reason be expected from me, and I 
 have already grounds to judge the extraordinaries, from his love of 
 expence, will be great, besides some other calls for money that will 
 come from that quarter, which convinces me the more that if the 
 allowance had been greater that would not have prevented this 
 other article.” 
 
 Colonel Hotham was to be Treasurer, and a second son of Lord 
 Dartmouth, who was to be Groom of the Chamber, had, indeed, the 
 drawback of being a young man, but the King waived the objection 
 in consequence of “the known piety of the father.” There was a 
 dulness and a lack of knowledge in these provisions which might 
 make us augur the worst. 
 
 Thus appointed and thus emancipated, the young prince was 
 launched upon his new career. We shall now see what qualifi- 
 cations he was fitted with on entering on the world of fashion, and 
 what figure he presented to admiring society, eager to welcome 
 him, and indulgently condone as well as encourage his follies. 
 
 On New Year’s Day, 1781, the Prince appeared at Court, enfran^ 
 chised, in his new capacity, attended by his retinue. He received 
 the congratulations of all the nobility and foreign ministers. From 
 the pictures of him at this time by Cosway and others, he appears 
 as a good-looking youth of a highly fiorid tone, made more con- 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 Carried forward from page 32 2322 10 1% 
 
 Supposing H. R. H. to dine at home every day: 
 
 In these twelve months H. R. H. dined at Windsor 42 
 days, which makes a deduction of 267 3 0 
 
 Total expense of the last twelve months £2055 7 134 
 
 £5000 per annum for my dearly -beloved son P. Frederick. 
 
 2500 per annum for my dearly-beloved sons P. William and P. Edward. 
 
 3500 per annum for my dearly-beloved sons P. Ernest, P. Augustus, and 
 P. Adolphus. G. R. 
 
 The Duke of Sussex told Mr. Adolphus that till he was twenty-one his 
 pocket-money never exceeded a guinea a week. When he was thirty he was 
 allowed £2000 a year. 
 
 2 * 
 
34 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 spicuous by the powder he wore and his high neckerchief. His 
 coat was of pink silk, with white cuffs; his waistcoat of white silk, 
 embroidered with various-colored foil, but adorned with a pro- 
 fusion of French paste; and his hat was ornamented with two rows 
 of steel beads, five thousand in number, with a button and loop of the 
 same metal, and cocked in the new military style. “ The King at 
 the same time commanded all the domestics of his kitchen to sub- 
 mit their heads to be shaved, and wear wigs, on pain of being dis- 
 charged; forty complied with the royal mandate, how many proved 
 refractory does not appear.” 
 
 “The graces of his person,” says one of his admirers — Mrs. 
 Robinson — “the irresistible sweetness of his smile, the tender- 
 ness of his melodious yet manly voice, will be remembered by me 
 till every vision of this changing scene are forgotten. The polished 
 and fascinating ingenuousness of his manners contributed not a 
 little to enliven our promenade. He sang with exquisite taste, and 
 the tones of his voice, breaking on the silence of the night, have 
 often appeared to my entranced senses like more than mortal 
 melody.” He was free and “offhand ” in his manners, but already 
 had acquired the coarse language which was in vogue among the 
 bloods and bucks of the day.* He was considered to be a young man 
 of great accomplishments and education, and when he chose could 
 assume that pleasant graciousness and interest in the person he was 
 addressing for which the present heir to the crown is remarkable. 
 He could speak French, Italian, and German with ease, and par- 
 ticularly affected a knowledge of all points relating to art and the 
 helles-lettres. He took pleasure in coming forward as arbiter on a 
 question of a disputed quotation or classical allusion. For music 
 he seems to have had a genuine relish, and he could sing and play 
 respectably. The following description of his gifts is amusing, as 
 a specimen of the “valet” style of panegyric, which admiration 
 for the Prince invariably inspired. 
 
 “He could perform on the violoncello, having been instructed by 
 a w^ell-known professor named Crossdill; Parsons, of the King’s 
 band, taught him singing, and it must be said that he was con- 
 sidered to have a good voice, and could take his part in a glee or 
 catch.f He was an assiduous patron of the various musical socie- 
 
 * Walpole, “Last Journals,” ii. 458, for a specimen. 
 
 + He is. the reputed author of the second verse of the glee of “The Happy 
 Fellow,’ “I’ll ne’er,” etc., and also of a verse in the song, “ By the gayly circling 
 glass,” which he was accustomed to sing in his convivial moments with great 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 35 
 
 ties, the Concerts of Ancient Music, for which he selected pieces, 
 the Philharmonic, the opera; though from the Ancient Concerts he 
 withdrew, owing to a slight shown to a lady in whom he was inter- 
 ested.” 
 
 Unfortunately, in company with these elegant and praiseworthy 
 tastes were found others of a low and vulgar description. He took 
 delight in “rowdy ” escapades and riotous jests, later to be in high 
 fashion, and described in works like “Tom and Jerry” and “The 
 Finish.” He was fond of Eanelagh and Vauxhall, where he was 
 often engaged in scuffles and broils, being prudent enough, how- 
 eyer^ to retain a number of “bruisers” to attend him, and rescue 
 him^ if overpowered; for among other accomplishments he had 
 been instructed by Angelo in pugilism. In the pleasures of the 
 turf, owing to the strict injunctions of the King, he could not yet 
 indulge himself. 
 
 Thus equipped, this gay young prince “came upon town,” and, it 
 may be conceived, stimulated the current of gayety and extrava- 
 gance. Balls and masquerades of the most brilliant kind attended his 
 course. His wardrobe alone for a single year was said to have cost 
 ten thousand pounds. Under his direction, one of the most brilliant 
 masquerades was given at a club in St. James’s Street, opened by 
 the Prince and the Duchess of Devonshire. At these entertainments 
 the fairest and most aristocratic dames were not ashamed to mix 
 with courtesans who enjoyed the royal patronage; indeed, there 
 was a general obsequious acceptance of public scandal which now 
 seems incredible. 
 
 This new and riotous mode, as may be conceived, was to be a 
 source of fresh trial to the King, and widened the breach between 
 him and his son. The hopeful prince showed his disrespect and 
 contempt by ignoring the offlcers who had been so recently placed 
 about his person, studiously affecting' never to address them ; he 
 looked on them as spies set to watch and report hirm To Lord 
 
 effect.— Huish, i. 46. As a critic he could not rank so high, to take as a speci- 
 men his comparison of Crossdill and Cervetto. Speaking of the performances 
 of these eminent men, his royal highness was heard to say, that the execu- 
 tion of Crossdill had all the fire and brilliancy of the sun. whilst that of Cer- 
 vetto had all the sweetness and mildness of the moonbeam. It wrs the 
 delight of his royal highness to attend the Italian Opera, merely to hear Cer- 
 vetto’s accompaniments of the recitatives, which were acknowledged to be 
 unrivalled. “ It was a banquet for the ear,” he said, ‘‘at which the appetite 
 increased in proportion as it was administei’ed to.” 
 
36 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 Chesterfield he made the objection “ that he had hanged his tutor, 
 the unfortunate Dr. Dodd,” that he had for patron so depraved a 
 person as Lord Sandwich. Yet, not long after, with characteristic 
 uncertainty, he soon took as violent a penchant to this very noble- 
 man, and drove him publicly in the park in his own chaise.* 
 
 The town, indeed, was full of stories of his wild doings. No 
 sooner had the King gone to bed, than he and his brother broke out 
 of the palace in search of riotous adventures. One of these out- 
 rageous scenes may be taken as a specimen of the rest. One night, 
 with his chief favorite and the worthy Duke of Cumberland, he set 
 off for Blackheath, to sup with Lord Chesterfield, where the whole 
 company presently got so drunk that the Prince was obliged to lie 
 down. One of the party actually proposed a toast, “A short reign 
 to the King,” which the inebriated prince felt was in bad taste, or 
 perhaps an affront to himself. He rose and gave his father’s health. 
 The next exploit was to let loose a large and ferocious dog, with 
 whom Mr. George Pitt, a man of uncommon strength, engaged in a 
 fight, attempting, we are told, “ to tear out his tongue.” The enraged 
 animal broke from him, flew at Mr. Windham, tore his arm, then 
 mangled a footman, on which the whole party assailed him en masse. 
 He had just seized the coat of the Prince when he was felled to the 
 ground. At six in the morning the Prince was setting off for home, 
 when his host, attempting to light him to his coach, fell down the 
 steps, and all but fractured his skull. The story of this orgie soon 
 got abroad, f The poor king was so shocked at the prospect that all 
 this opened that he fell ill, and told the Duke of Gloucester that he 
 had not slept for ten nights. But there were other family discussions 
 raging which helped to trouble the unhappy monarch’s slumbers. 
 His brother, the Duke of Cumberland, a vicious and ill-conditioned 
 prince, was now at war with the King, whom he insulted in public 
 and private. He and his wife acquired a sort of influence over the 
 heir-apparent, and fostered and encouraged his excesses. The duke 
 would insolently ignore the King and go to the Queen’s House every 
 day to see his son. The King would complain that if he met the 
 
 *See Walpole, “Last Journals,” ii. 451. 
 
 t Walpole would appear to have written these lines in the papers: 
 
 Then stupid rise, and with the rising sun 
 Drive the high car, a second Phaeton. 
 
 Let these exploits your fertile wit evince; 
 
 Drunk as a lord and happy as a prince. 
 
 Last Journals,” ii. 469. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 37 
 
 duke, the latter would take off his hat and turn on his heel. “lam 
 ashamed,” he would say piteously, “ to see my brother paying court 
 to my son.” With the same object the duke would go to the Court 
 balls, though not invited. He himself gave a ball to the Prince, 
 which the King forbade his son’s retainers to attend. The duke then 
 invited his household to a dinner-party to indemnify them, at which 
 the King again forbade their attendance. 
 
 We can scarcely credit the story told by Mr. Walpole, that 
 within earshot of the King the duke and his nephew talked of him 
 in the grossest terms. People wondered why his Majesty did not 
 forbid the graceless pair to see each other; but he frankly owned 
 that he feared his son would not obey him. The duke as frankly 
 owned that, by means of his influence over the Prince, he meant to 
 intimidate his sovereign into recognizing the duchess.* 
 
 At the Queen’s drawing-room the Prince drank too much, and 
 in consequence was seized with a fever, which seems to have 
 brought him to a penitent spirit, for he told Lord Graham that he 
 never thought of the night at Lord Chesterfield’s without sorrow, 
 and that he was determined never to be drunk again. 
 
 Indeed, the treatment with which the King had to put up with 
 amounted to outrage. Out hunting, neither would speak to him. 
 So once, at an out-of-the-way village, they both seized on the only 
 postchaise, and left the King to get back to London as he could. 
 If he asked the Prince to dine, he, with studious contempt, always 
 arrived one hour late, so that all the servants saw the father wait- 
 ing for the son. Such were the King’s complaints to the Duke of 
 Gloucester, and reported by him to Walpole. 
 
 To pander to their nephew’s tastes, the Duke and Duchess of 
 Cumberland kept a faro-bank, and when he did not go out brought 
 confrhes to the Queen’s House, where he lived. They even pur- 
 sued worse excesses. But soon the fickle youth grew tired of this 
 violent friendship, even though the duke had carried him to com- 
 mon places of debauchery, where they got dead drunk and were 
 often carried home in that condition. The uncle had grown famil- 
 iar, and was so free as to call him “ Taffy,” in allusion to his Prin- 
 cipality. The Prince haughtily begged that he might not be 
 addressed in such fashion, but without the least effect. 
 
 A friendship which he had contracted with a foreign visitor who 
 came to England — the Duke of Chartres, the notorious “ Egalite ” — 
 
 * Walpole, “ Last Journals,” ii. 457. 
 
38 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 was not without its effect. With this companion — the most depraved 
 man in Europe — he appeared at every place of amusement and pub- 
 lic resort. The Frenchman flattered him by copying his dress, and 
 pressed him to visit him in Paris, a plan which the Prince pressed 
 with passionate eagerness on his father. The latter refused his conv 
 sent, but discreetly proposed a visit to Hanover instead. 
 
 The Duke of Chartres’s grooms, costumes, and equipages were 
 all English, and heralded that Anglomania which set in on the eve 
 of the Revolution. Other friends of a more respectable type — and 
 it must be said that from the first he always cultivated the society 
 of men of parts and position — were Lords Rawdou, Hastings, Corn- 
 wallis, Hugh Seymour, the Dukes of Norfolk, Bedford, Devonshire, 
 with Messrs. Erskine, Coke, Crewe, Fitzpatrick, Francis, Grey, 
 Plumer, Pigot, Taylor, Windham, and others. The most familiar 
 and intimate of all was Fox, who, combining wit, talents, and 
 influence to an extraordinary degree, was for more than twenty 
 years to exercise much influence, and at the present time held him 
 by a sort of fascination. 
 
 In the following year, 1782, the King had been compelled to dis- 
 miss the North miiustry, and in a sort of agony of reluctance to 
 accept Lord Rockingham and the Whigs. A year later the death of 
 this nobleman had brought Fox into power as foreign secretary. 
 Fox, as is well known, was particularly odious to the King, who 
 looked on him as the counsellor and instigator of his son’s excesses. 
 It may be conceived what torture it was to the father’s heart to 
 find the son whom he could not control thus fortified by the assist- 
 ance of a man whose power was based on his subjection. The 
 humiliation before the nation, to whom this unfortunate relation 
 was notorious, made the matter worse. It will be seen how 
 envenomed was the hostility to the Crown and the Government 
 of the Crown, from the significant fact that Fox and his friends 
 wore a dress copied exactly from Washington’s uniform,* and by 
 the “parricide joy ” of a patriot duke — no doubt the Duke of Port- 
 land, who actually gloated over the loss of an English ship of war 
 sent to America.f At this time Mr Fox was about thirty-three 
 years old — a brilliant debauched creature, the idol of his friends, 
 already too a ruined gambler, and his health impaired by excess. 
 “ His features, in themselves harsh, dark, and saturnine, like those 
 
 * Wraxall, “ Hist. Mem.” ii. 229. Third edition, 
 t Life and Letters of Sir G. Elliot,” i. 74. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 39 
 
 of Charles II., from whom he descended in the maternal line, 
 derived nevertheless a sort of majesty from the additions of two 
 black and shaggy eyebrows. Even these features, however seem- 
 ingly repulsive, yet did not readily assume the expression of anger 
 or of enmity, whereas they frequently, and as it were naturally, 
 relaxed into a smile the effect of which became irresistible. His 
 figure — broad, heavy, and inclined to corpulency, appeared desti- 
 tute of all elegance or grace, except the portion conferred on it by 
 the emanations of intellect, which at times diffused over his whole 
 person when he was speaking with the most impassioned animation. 
 In his dress he had become negligent to ar degree.” * Such was the 
 friend of the young prince, for whom he was now affectionately 
 “my dear Charles,” and over whom he exercised the most un- 
 bounded influence. At this time he was lodging in St. James’s 
 Street, so as to be near the great gaming club, Brookes’s; and here 
 of a morning, when he had just left his bed and was making his 
 toilette, was he obsequiously attended by the young heir to the 
 crown, together with a crowd of followers and admirers, “all his 
 disciples.” Walpole describes the scene. “His bristly black per- 
 son and shagged breast, quite open, and rarely purified by any 
 ablutions, was wrapped in a foul linen night-gown, and his bushy 
 hair dishevelled. In these cynic weeds and with epicurean good 
 humor did he dictate his politics, and in this school did the heir 
 of the crown attend his lessons and imbibe them.” f 
 Fox’s followers were quite unrestrained in their conversation 
 about the sovereign. At Brookes’s they laid wagers on his life, 
 and it is not unlikely that the irreverent talk at the club was re- 
 ported to the King as having been uttered at that morning levee in 
 the presence of his son. The graceless youth, when the King was 
 resisting the Whig ministry then forced upon him, was heard to 
 exclaim in the public rooms of the palace, “that his father had 
 not yet agreed to take them, but he should be made to agree to it. 
 Indecent as this was, some excuse might be found in the rebellious- 
 ness of youth, and the inconsiderate folly which made him the 
 tool of counsellors old enough to have known what was becoming. 
 But party passions were intensified by the attitude of the King, 
 who was contending with his own subjects. If the King joined 
 their enemies, they held it to be quixotic not to use the son against 
 the father. 
 
 ♦ Wraxall, mp. 
 
 t Walpole, “ Last Journals,” ii, 599 
 
40 
 
 TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 
 It was, therefore, at this time that the unhappy monarch con- 
 ceived that bitter hatred to Fox which, as was well said, in time 
 became “a rankling ulcer.” In his anguish he implored the rough 
 and surly Thurlow to tell him what to do. The reply was that “he 
 would never have peace till he put both in the Tower.” Such at 
 least was the story. On the other hand, at a supper given by the 
 Duchess of Cumberland, the Prince caHed out loud that he hoped 
 
 “ that d d fellow, the chancellor, would be turned out.”* This 
 
 influence of Fox, disastrous because that of a clever, much-ad- 
 mired man, was to endure for many years, though it became 
 enfeebled as the Prince’s character was revealed. Not unexpectedly 
 
 do we find that within a few years “the d d fellow ” was to 
 
 become the Prince’s trusted counsellor and choice companion. 
 
 His friends were now installed in office, To what a degree Fox 
 had become his dme damnee will be seen from a few letters wiitten 
 by the young prince to his friend. In the first there is almost a 
 nervous and passionate eagerness to show his affection and devo- 
 tion. 
 
 THE PRINCE OF WALES TO MR. FOX. 
 
 “ Wednesday evening, 10 October. 
 
 “ Dear Fox, 
 
 “ Nothing could give me more satisfaction than the message 
 you were so good as to send me this morning. You know how 
 sincerely you have my good wishes, and therefore will be con- 
 vinced that I shall rejoice not a little if I again see you in admin- 
 istration, as I look upon it as the most fortunate event that can 
 happen to us all. I mean not only to myself in particular, but 
 to the nation in general. With respect to your friendly kindness to 
 me I shall ever be happy to acknowledge it with the gratitude it 
 so justly deserves. I will not take up any more of your time at 
 present than merely to ask you whether it will be convenient to 
 you or not, my calling upon you between court (if it is over in 
 proper time) and dinner to-morrow. You may depend upon my 
 coming the moment I am released. I can assure you no one can 
 be more anxious than I am to see you at the present moment, as 
 no one has your interest more sincerely at heart, and I hojDe you 
 will ever look upon me as 
 
 “Your most affectionate Friend, 
 
 “George P.” 
 
 * Walpole, “Last Journals,” ii. 600 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 41 
 
 In others will be noted a boyish anxiety to be of use, and to 
 receive direction from his friend. 
 
 THE PRINCE OF WALES TO MR. FOX. 
 
 “ Queen’s House, 4 o’clock. 
 
 “Dear Charles, 
 
 “I am now returned home, and if you have anything par- 
 ticular you wish to say to me, I am ready either to come to you or 
 to receive you at the Queen’s House, whichever is most convenient 
 to you. But if you should have nothing to say to me, I intend 
 going out of town early this evening. 
 
 “ I am most sincerely yours, 
 
 “George P.” 
 
 THE SAME. 
 
 “ % past 2 o’clock. 
 
 " ‘ Dear Charles, 
 
 “I am waiting for you at your own house; pray come 
 directly if you can, as I wish very much to speak to you. I will 
 not detain you three minutes. Yours most truly, 
 
 “ George P.” 
 
 “If you have not got your own carriage you had better take 
 somebody else’s.” 
 
 It is creditable to him that he did not forget his old tutor, and 
 at the first opportunity used his interest for him. 
 
 THE SAME. 
 
 “ Queen’s House, 12 o’clock, Ap. 30, 1783. 
 
 ‘ ‘ Dear Charles, 
 
 “ I did not return home till it was too late to answer 
 your kind letter last night. I cannot express to you how happy 
 you made me by the contents of it, as I have always enter- 
 tained the highest opinion of Dr. Cyril Jackson, and have always 
 had the greatest friendship for him. You may easily conceive 
 how much pleased I shall be at seeing him in so eligible a situation, 
 and in a situation he must so wish for himself. Before I conclude, 
 allow me to thank you, my dear Charles, for your kind attention 
 to me on this and every other occasion, and believe me, 
 
 “Ever sincerely jTDurs, 
 
 “George P.” 
 
42 
 
 THE LIFE OF QEOBQE IV. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 1783. 
 
 But now the formal emancipation of the Prince was at hand; in 
 June, 1783, he wanted hut a couple of months of being of age. He 
 was to have a suitable establishment and an allowance voted by 
 the nation, and, what his harassed father brought himself reluc- 
 tantly to entertain, a recognized portion of authority and independ- 
 ence. It will be seen how painful this question must have been 
 for the King, since an unfortunate turn in the political cards had 
 placed its settlement in the power of the Prince’s devoted friends, 
 and of those whom the King disliked. As a matter of course these 
 had made lavish promises to their young patron, and he might look 
 for bountiful treatment at their hands. Already he was largely in 
 debt, and it was natural that from his boon companions he should 
 expect relief ; but this was not to be done without a serious diffi- 
 culty, and the question well-nigh overturned the new ministry. 
 
 The Shelburne party during their brief tenure of office had prom- 
 ised him the magnificent allowance of one hundred thousand pounds 
 a year! When Fox came into power he felt himself bound to do as 
 much, though he and the Duke of Portland and Lord Keppel were 
 the only members of the Cabinet that favored so extravagant a sum, 
 Lord North and the rest being strongly opposed to it. When the mat- 
 ter came to be laid before the King, on June 2nd, he appeared to 
 accept this plan, allowed it to be discussed by the ministers, and suf- 
 fered the arrangement to be made for its being submittted to the 
 House on the 16th. Suddenly on the 15th, when the duke came to 
 make the final settlement for the following day, he announced that 
 the ministry had thought it better to make the allowance an addition 
 to the Civil List, as being more palatable to the House of Commons. 
 But he was thunderstruck to hear the King angrily declare that 
 this was a departure from the first proposition, and that he there- 
 fore declined to sanction the business. The duke, alarmed, said that 
 they would then go back to the first arrangement; when the King 
 declared warmly that he had not changed his bad opinion of the 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 43 
 
 ministry, that lie disapproved of the whole. He proceeded to 
 make a violent attack on them; with all their professions of econ- 
 omy, here they were, he said, ready “to sacrifice the public inter- 
 ests to the wishes of an ill-advised young man.” Finally, he would 
 never forgive or forget their conduct, and would therefore him- 
 self give out of his own slender allowance half the sura. 
 
 This burst produced no less astonishment than consternation. It 
 really manifested not a movement of petulance, but the long pent- 
 up agony of his subservience and hatred of his masters. It was 
 obvious, too, that the stroke was politic enough, for he appeared 
 to the nation as the patron of economy, and ready to sacrifice him- 
 self, while he held up the ministry as favoring extravagance and 
 profiigacy. A letter of Fitzpatrick’s to Lord Ossory sets out the 
 view of the party as to the treatment they had received : f 
 
 “June 17th, 1783. 
 
 “This letter will inform 3 ^ou of the fate of the present adminis- 
 tration, and the short account of it is this: The King originally 
 agreed that the whole business of the Prince of Wales’s establish- 
 ment should be settled by the Duke of Portland; and his first plan 
 was that Parliament should be applied to for the whole £100,000. 
 This was consented to. But upon further conversation it was 
 thought that a part from Parliament, and a part from the Civil List, 
 would be more palatable in the House of Commons. The Duke of 
 Portland apprised the King of this in a letter the day before yester- 
 day, in answer to which he wrote a very angry letter, complaining 
 of the departure from the first proposal. In answer to this the 
 Duke of Portland wrote, that he did not mean the latter should 
 supersede the first plan, which he was ready to propose to Par- 
 liament. The King answered this by saying, that he had not 
 changed his opinion of their (his ministers’) conduct by this letter; 
 that he totally disapproved of the whole of their proposal; that he 
 could not think of burthening the public, but was ready to give 
 £50,000 a year from the Civil List, which he thought sufficient; and 
 that he found, notwithstanding all the professions of the present 
 ministers for economy, they were ready to sacrifice the public inter- 
 
 *Here are exactly the tactics pursued by the King when, in 1806, he dis- 
 missed another ministry equally odious to him. The parallel is curious. The 
 same devices were adopted by his son when the Catholic question was sub- 
 mitted in 1829. 
 
44 
 
 THE LIFE OB GEORGE IV. 
 
 ests to the wishes of an ill-advised young man; that he vrould 
 never forget or forgive the conduct of the present ministers towards 
 him. This, we suppose, has been settled with the enemy, and no 
 measures are yet determined upon; but as we have a good attend- 
 ance of friends in town, the wish is to do something to-morrow, 
 and at least to die handsomely. Everybody thinks they cannot 
 form any government that can have the appearance of lasting. 
 This is coming to you by express, to hope you will come at any 
 ate for to-morrow, though it is qjiite uncertain what may be done. 
 
 “Yours, R. F.” 
 
 The secret of this sudden change in the King’s tactics is thus 
 explained: A day or two after he had seen the Duke of Portland, 
 Lord Temple, the Lord Lieutenant, arrived suddenly from Ireland, 
 and to whom, as a chosen confidant, the King revealed his trouble, 
 imploring his aid. But Lord Temple shall himself relate what 
 took place. “ He spoke,” says Lord Temple, “ wdth strong expres- 
 sions of resentment and disgust of his ministers, and of personal 
 abhorrence of Lord North, whom he charged with treachery and 
 ingratitude of the blackest nature. He then stated the proposition 
 made to him by the Duke of Portland for the annual allowance of 
 £100,000 to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. I gave to 
 him, very much at length, my opinion of such a measure, and of 
 the certain consequences of it: in all which, as may reasonably be 
 supposed, his Majesty ran before me, and stated with strong dis- 
 gust the manner in which it was opened to him — as a thing decided, 
 and even drawn up in the shape of a message, to which his signa- 
 ture was desired as a matter of course, to be brought before Parlia- 
 ment the next day. To all this he assented; but declared his inten- 
 tion to resist, at all events and hazards, the proposition for this 
 enormous allowance to his Royal Highness, of whose conduct he 
 spoke with much dissatisfaction. He asked, what he might look 
 to if upon this refusal the ministry should resign: and I observed, 
 that, not having had the opportunity of consulting my friends, I 
 could only answer that their resignation was a proposition widely 
 differing from their dismissal, and that I did not see the impossi- 
 bility of accepting his administration in such a contingenc 3 q pro- 
 vided the supplies and public bills were passed, so as to enable us 
 to prorogue the Parliament. To all this he assented, and declared 
 his intention of endeavoring to gain time, that the business of Par- 
 liament might go on; and agreed with me that such a resignation 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 45 
 
 was improbable, and that it would be advisable not to dismiss 
 them unless some very particular opportunity presented itself.” * 
 Such was the rather disingenuous game played by the King. 
 But he was not prepared for what followed, though he fancied he 
 might indulge his feelings in thwarting the ministers. The latter, 
 indignant at such treatment — for they declared that the King had 
 actually agreed to their whole scheme — insisted on resigning, being 
 pressed by the Prince to do so, who had nearly got a fever from dis- 
 appointment and annoyance. It was soon shown to the King that 
 such a step would leave him in the helplessness and contemptible 
 position of having to sue to them to come back. The cautious 
 Scotchman saw it would not do, and Lord Bute shrank from mak- 
 ing himself odious to the Prince, as he felt that the whole change 
 would be set down to him. Lord Thurlow was too sagacious not 
 to see the danger. “This shiftiness in high places engendered an 
 equal shiftiness in those who depended on the King’s favor, and 
 the double-dealing of Lord Weymouth, the son’s officer, was spe- 
 cially noted. The most shallow of men, he was the one in whom 
 the King had most confidence. Into his bosom he poured all his 
 complaints of his son’s behavior, and from him he heard welcome 
 abuse of that son.” It was remarked, Walpole adds, that not a day 
 passed without a secret interview between this nobleman and the 
 King, though the former was actually holding office under Fox and 
 his friends. This subserviency had attracted the suspicions of the 
 Prince, who gave due notice to his friend. Certainly here was an 
 edifying situation. 
 
 THE PRINCE OP WALES TO MR. FOX. 
 
 “ Monday night, ^ past 12 o’clock, 
 
 “ Dear Charles, 
 
 “When I left the Queen’s House this evening, Weymouth 
 was with the King. I wish you would tell me in a short note 
 how you interpret his frequent visits, and let me know whether you 
 have heard anything fresh this evening. 
 
 “I am most sincerely yours, 
 
 “ G. P.” 
 
 The King’s device therefore was not to succeed. He became 
 almost terror-stricken at the sudden embarrassment that was open. 
 
 Court and Cabinets of George ni.,” p. 305. 
 
46 
 
 TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 ing before him. When, on the 16th, the ministers had met to 
 arrange their resignation, the Duke of Portland was sent for to the 
 King. In an agony of tears, he fell on the duke’s neck and owned 
 that he had gone too far. He implored him to rescue him, which 
 the duke was well disposed to do, for his own sake.* 
 
 The difficulty was now small; a retreat was to be managed, as 
 the ministry was pledged to the Prince, and he, as we have seen, 
 had set his heart on the arrangement. It will be found how com- 
 pletely he was in the hands of his friend Fox, and how ductile he 
 was. The skilful Loughborough was the first to suggest this mode 
 of operation. He wrote to Fox ; 
 
 “ Bedford Square, Tuesday, 6 p.m. 
 
 “Deah Sm, 
 
 “. . . . I really do not see that there are two lines to take, 
 whether successful or not. Submission for the present is the 
 only reasonable’ course. But it would be much better, and much 
 handsomer, if it were possible to dispose his Koyal Highness to 
 give way respectfully, and with a dutiful remonstrance profess 
 himself ready to show his obedience, and to wait until his Majesty 
 entertains another view of the matter. If my idea appears just to 
 you, would it not be of great consequence that you should, as soon 
 as possible, try to persuade the Prince ot Wales to make a virtue 
 of necessity, and gain the public favor by declining cheerfully 
 any appearance of contest, which makes better ground for him 
 hereafter and can do him no prejudice at present? Excuse me 
 throwung out thus hastily what has occurred to me, and believe me 
 
 “ Most sincerely yours, &c., 
 “L.” 
 
 With what good grace the Prince yielded will be seen from his 
 letters to Fox : 
 
 “ Queen’s House, 1 o’clock. 
 
 “Dear Charles, 
 
 “I have a thousand excuses to make to you for not having 
 answered your letter immediately, but I am only this instant 
 awake, and therefore have only just had time to read your letter. 
 I saw the Duchess of Portland yesterday, and took the liberty 
 
 *Mr. Jesse, in his admirable “Memoirs of George IH.,” speaks of the 
 King’s “ independent and resolute conduct” (ii. 437); but the reader can judge 
 whether it deserves such a compliment. 
 
THE LIFE OF QEOBGE IK 
 
 47 
 
 of desiring her Grace to deliver a message from me to the Duke 
 of Portland, desiring him, if it was not inconvenient to him, to 
 allow me to come to him to-morrow at eleven instead of to-day. 
 I ought to have explained this to you at Carlisle’s when I desired 
 you to meet me in Downing Street, on Sunday, at eleven o’clock, 
 but it really quite slipped out of my memory. I must therefore 
 entreat you to clear up the matter to the Duke of Portland, and 
 make all proper apologies for me. I cannot, however, conclude 
 without seizing the opportunity of thanking you for the part you 
 have taken in bringing this essential business to me so near a con- 
 clusion, which, I can assure you, I shall never forget as long as I 
 live. I remain, my dear Charles, 
 
 “Ever most sincerely yours, 
 
 “George P. 
 
 “ P. S. — You may depend upon seeing me to-morrow at eleven.” 
 
 “Queen’s House, June 18th, 1783. 
 
 “Dear Charles, 
 
 “ After what has already passed, I did not require this addi- 
 tional proof of your friendship and attachment; and you will see by 
 a letter I have this instant written to the Duke of Portland, how 
 ready I am to take your advice, and that I leave it entirely to the 
 Cabinet. Yours most sincerely, 
 
 “George P.” 
 
 “ Cumberland House, 14 pa-st 9 o’clock. 
 
 “Dear Charles, 
 
 “I have this instant received your kind letter. I am most 
 exceedingly sensible of the kind and friendly attention you have 
 shown me throughout the whole of this business, which is of so much 
 importance to my happiness. Should anything arrive that you wish 
 me to be immediately apprised of, pray send it to the Queen’s House. 
 I shall leave a servant there to bring me any letter that may come 
 from you, wherever I am. James Luttrell I sent an express for 
 immediately, but have not as yet sent to Lord Herbert, and according 
 to your advice, the step not being as yet taken, I shall not send for 
 him at all. I remain, dear Charles, 
 
 “Ever most sincerely yours, 
 
 “ George P.” 
 
48 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEOBGE IV. 
 
 By the 17tli all was happily arranged, as the following extracts 
 from Fox’s letters will show :* 
 
 ]Vm. FOX TO LORD NORTHIXGTON. 
 
 “ St. James’s, June 19th, 1783. 
 
 “Dear Northtxgton, 
 
 “There is reason to think that the storm is for the present 
 dissipated, and therefore I hope you have not mentioned to any one, 
 except Windham, my last letter. The Prince has behaved in the 
 handsomest manner, and his reasonableness under the hardest usage 
 is likely to keep everything quiet ; for how long is a question which 
 cannot for some days at least be decided. I hope in a few days to 
 be able to write to you a detailed account of the whole business, but 
 really have not now time. Yours ever, 
 
 “C. J. Fox.” 
 
 “As to the opinion of our having gained strength by it,” wrote 
 Fox to the same friend on July 17th, “ the only rational foundation 
 for such an opinion is, that this event has proved that there subsists 
 no such understanding between the King and Lord Temple as to 
 enable them to form an administration, because if there did, it is 
 impossible but they must have seized an occasion in many respects 
 so fortunate for them. They would have had on their side the 
 various cries of paternal authority, economy, moderate establishment, 
 mischief -making between father and son, and many other plausible 
 topics. The King has certainly carried one point against us. The 
 ti-uth is that, excepting the Duke of Portland and Lord Keppel, there 
 was not one minister who would have fought with any heart in this 
 cause. I could see clearly from the beginning, long before the diffi- 
 culties appeared, that Lord North and Lord John, though they did 
 not say so, thought the large establishment extravagant, and you will, 
 I am sure, agree with me that to fight a cause, where the latter 
 especially was not hearty, would have been a most desperate measure. 
 Under all these circumstances there appeared to me no alternative 
 in common sense but to yield with the best grace possible, if the 
 Prince of Wales could be brought to be of that mind. I believe he 
 was naturally very averse to it, but Colonel Lake and others whom 
 he most trusts persuaded him to it, and the intention of doing so 
 came from him to us spontaneously. If it had not, I own I should 
 
 * “ Memorials of Fox,” ii. 109. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 49 
 
 have felt myself bound to follow his Royal Highness’s line upon the 
 subject, though I know that by so doing I should destroy the minis- 
 try in the worst possible way, and subject myself to the imputation 
 of the most extreme wrongheadedness. I shall always therefore 
 consider the Prince’s having yielded a most fortunate event, and shall 
 always feel myself proportionally obliged to him and to those who 
 advised him. In short, the only thing that ought to be said is, that 
 it was not a point upon which ministers ought to dispute his Majesty’s 
 pleasure, and that they were the better enabled to yield by the 
 generosity of the Prince, who was most ready to give up his own 
 interest rather than be the cause of any confusion, or appear to be 
 wanting in duty to the King.” 
 
 But it will be noted that there was an almost too great exuber- 
 ance of goodwill on the side of the Prince, which, perhaps, was 
 owing to a weakness of character. 
 
 The King, it would thus appear, had done both Fox and the 
 Duke of Portland — “my son’s ministry,” he called it — some injus- 
 tice in supposing that they had “set his son against him.” Fox at 
 his very first interview vindicated himself, and protested lie had 
 never said a word which he would not have been glad that the 
 King should have heard, while the Duke of Portland, during the 
 course of his trouble, had written a letter to the Prince, conjuring 
 him to submit to his father; on which the King was charmed, and 
 said “ he did not know the duke was so honest a man.”* 
 
 Accordingly, on June 23rd, Lord John Cavendish, the Chancel- 
 lor of the Exchequer, brought down the following royal message 
 to the House: “ His Majesty, reflecting on the propriety of a sepa- 
 rate establishment for his dearly-beloved son, the Prince of Wales, 
 recommends the consideration thereof to this House, relying on 
 the experienced zeal and affection of his faithful Commons for such 
 aid towards making that establishment as shall appear consistent 
 with a due attention to the circumstances of his people, every addi- 
 tion to whose burthens his Majesty feels with the most sensible 
 concern. — G. R.” And on the 25th he introduced the matter in a 
 speech, showing that the King’s Civil List was about nine hundred 
 thousands pounds a year, of which fifty thousand were set apart 
 for the King, the remainder being scarcely sufiicient for all the 
 claims that were on it. His Majesty, however, was willing to sup* 
 
 3 
 
 * Walpole, “ Last Journals,” ii. 631, 
 
50 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 ply the whole of the allowance for his son, viz. fifty thousand 
 pounds a year, provided the House voted a sum of thirty thousand 
 pounds for debts, and as much more for an outfit. His son would, 
 besides, have the revenues of the Duchy of Cornwall, the whole 
 giving him an income of about sixty-two or sixty-three thousand a 
 year. This, at the present value of money, was equal to about 
 eighty thousand a year. 
 
 This moderate addition was opposed by Pitt, who reminded 
 Lord North of his promises, given some years before, that there 
 should be no addition to the Civil List. However, the whole was 
 voted unanimously. The legislators little dreamed what painful 
 discoveries were in store for them, and how, for years to come, 
 the “Prince’s allowance” and “the Prince’s debts” would be a 
 thorn in their sides. 
 
 In this fashion, the King, who had a certain cleverness, or cun- 
 ning as some described it, contrived to secure popularity. But 
 there were no lack of warnings that the insufficiency of the allow- 
 ance would lead to future difficulties. The implied suggestion here 
 was significant; viz., that the income should be proportioned to the 
 extravagant temper of the recipient, and not to the general stand- 
 ard of what was becoming in the case of a person of his rank. 
 Considering what the value of money was a hundred years ago, it 
 was certainly a suitable provision. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 51 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 1783—1784. 
 
 The Prince op Wales came of age in August, 1783, an event 
 celebrated by festive rejoicings. By this time he was established 
 at Carlton House, the old residence of the Princess Dowager, and 
 which had been tenantless since her death. It was discovered to 
 be out of repair, and, unfortunately for himself and for the nation, 
 offered itself to the Prince as a fitting object for the display of his 
 elegant tastes and reckless expenditure. 
 
 For nearly forty years it was destined to swallow up enormous 
 sums in reconstruction and alterations, and when these were com- 
 pleted after nearly thirty years’ labor, was capriciously razed to the 
 ground. The Duchess of Devonshire and Lady Melbourne were 
 consulted by the young prince on tlie furniture and decorations, 
 while Holland, later to be the architect of one of the Drury Lane 
 Theatres, with one Nuovosielchi, furnished plans for the altera- 
 tions. This was but the beginning of that building mania — the 
 most ruinous of passions — in which he indulged to the last hour of 
 his life, and of w’hich Buckingham Palace, the Brighton Pavilion, 
 and the Ivy Cottages at Virginia Water are the rather indifferent 
 results. On the 11th of the same month he took his seat in the 
 House of Peers, subscribed the declaration of supremacy, the oath of 
 allegiance, etc., and, on the occasion of a motion relating to a proc- 
 lamation for preventing seditious meetings and writings, made a 
 speech. He said, “that on a question of such magnitude, he should 
 be deficient in his duty as a member of Parliament, unmindful of 
 the respect he owed to the constitution, and inattentive to the wel- 
 fare, the peace, and the happiness of the people, if he did not state 
 to the world what was his opinion on the present question. He was 
 educated in the principles, and he should ever preserve them, of a rev- 
 erence for the constitutional liberties of the people ; and, as on those 
 constitutional principles the happiness of that people depended, he 
 was determined, as far as his interest could have any force, to sup- 
 port them. The matter in issue was, in fact, whether the constitu- 
 
 UL OFIU. ua 
 
52 the life of OEORGE IV. 
 
 tion was or was not to be maintained ; whether the wild ideas of 
 theory were to conquer the wholesome maxims of established prac- 
 tice; and whether those laws under which we had flourished for 
 such a series of years were to be subverted by a reform unsanctioned 
 by the people. As a person nearly and dearly interested in the wel- 
 fare and, he should emphatically add, the happiness and comfort of 
 the people, it would be treason to the principles of his mind if he 
 did not come forward and declare his disapprobation of those sedi- 
 tious publications which had occasioned the motion now before their 
 Lordships ; his interest was connected with that of the people ; they 
 were so inseparable, that unless both parties concurred, happiness 
 could not exist. On this great, this solid basis he grounded the vote 
 which he meant to give, and that vote should unequivocally be for 
 a concurrence with the Commons in the address they had resolved 
 upon. His royal highness spoke, we are assured, in a manner that 
 called not only for the attention, but the admiration of the House, 
 and the following words were remarkably energetic: “ I exist by the 
 love, the friendship, and the benevolence of the people, and their 
 cause I will never forsake as long as I live.” The Prince then con- 
 cluded by distinctly saying : “I give my most hearty assent to the 
 motion for concurring in this wise and salutary address.” * 
 
 During the progress of the India Bill he made himself conspicu- 
 ous by appearing at the debates in the House of Commons, and 
 showed his sympathies and partisanship so strongly that it was 
 urged during this perilous discussion, that ‘ ‘ if the great personage 
 in question, not content with merely listening to the debates, should, 
 on any occasion, testify by his behavior or gesticulation, while in the 
 House, a predilection or partiality for any set of men, such marks of 
 his preference would be unbecoming, and might operate as a means 
 of influence.” Lord North, however, uttered a panegyric on the 
 Prince’s “eminent abilities,” expressing his personal gratification in 
 seeing “a prince, to whom the country must look up as its hope, 
 thus practically becoming acquainted with the nature of this limited 
 government, rather than taking up the hearsay of the hour, or look- 
 ing for his knowledge to flatterers.” Mr. Fox characterized the 
 charges as “pernicious and ridiculous alike, adopted by men no less 
 the enemies of free discussion in that House than the calumniators 
 of the motives of a distinguished personage, whose whole spirit was 
 honor.” “ Was,” he asked, “the mind which might, at any hour, by 
 
 * Huish, i. 86. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 m 
 
 the common chances of mortality, be summoned to the highest 
 duties allotted to man, to be left to learn them by accident? For 
 his part he rejoiced to see that distinguished personage disdaining 
 to use the privileges of his rank and keep aloof from the debates of 
 that House. He rejoiced to see him manfully coming among them, 
 to imbibe a knowledge of the constitution within the walls of the 
 Commons of England. He, for iiis part, saw nothing in the circum- 
 stances which had called down so much volunteer eloquence.” 
 At the first division he had even cast his vote for his friends, but 
 finding that this inflamed the King, he acted on the judicious ad- 
 vice of Mr. Fox and abstained from further part in the contest.* 
 As the sovereign had become himself a partisan, and was secretly 
 plotting with some of his subjects to overthrow his own ministers, 
 the praise of moderation seems to be due to the heir-apparent, f 
 General Fitzpatrick, however, writing excitedly on the night of their 
 defeat, says that “the Prince voted in the minority.” 
 
 It has been often told and retold how, within a few hours, the 
 ministry were ignominiousl}^ required to deliver up their seals, and 
 what popular execration followed them into retirement. This 
 extended to the Prince of Wales, who, when he appeared at the 
 theatre, was hissed. After this rout of his friends he fell ill, it was 
 thought from mortification, and Mrs. Montagu learned that he had 
 an abscess in his side and was suffering much. He soon rallied, 
 and, when the general election took place, joined eagerly in the 
 struggle that followed, and which ended so disastrously for his 
 friends. Fox, “the man of the people,” had now to pass through 
 the critical Westminster election, in which the fascinating Georgi- 
 ana. Duchess of Devonshire, took so conspicuous a share. Carlton 
 House became the candidate’s committee rooms. The fair can- 
 vasser — to whom a stolen picture has given a popularity that she 
 might otherwise never have enjoyed — was then in all her beauty, 
 and much admired by the Prince. One who knew her. Sir N. 
 Wraxall, draws this pleasing portrait of her : 
 
 “Her personal charms constituted her smallest pretension to 
 universal admiration; nor did her beauty consist, like that of the 
 Gunnings, in regularity of features and faultless formation of limbs 
 and shape — it lay in the amenity and graces of her deportment, in 
 her irresistible manners, and the seduction of her society. Her 
 
 * Moore, “ Life of Sheridan,” i. 403. 
 
 t It has been stated that he attended Cabinet Councils, but this is doubtful. 
 
64 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 hair was not without a tinge of red ; and her face, though pleasing, 
 yet had it not been illuminated by her mind, might have been con- 
 sidered as an ordinary countenance. Descended in the fourth 
 degree lineally from Sarah Jennings, the wife of John Churchill, 
 Duke of Marlborough, she resembled the portraits of that celebrated 
 woman. In addition to the external advantages which she had 
 received from nature and fortune, she possessed an ardent temper, 
 susceptible of deep as well as strong impressions; a cultivated 
 understanding, illuminated by a taste for poetry and the fine arts; 
 much sensibility, not exempt, perhaps, from vanity and coquetry. 
 To her mother, the Dowager Countess Spencer, she was attached 
 with more than common filial affection, of which she exhibited 
 pecuniary proofs rarely given by a daughter to her parent. Nor 
 did she display less attachment to her sister Lady Duncannon. 
 
 “Lady Duncannon, however inferior to the duchess in elegance 
 of mind and in personal beauty, equalled her in sisterly love. 
 During the month of July, 1811, a very short time before the 
 decease of the late Duke of Devonshire, I visited the vault in the 
 principal church of Derby, where repose the remains of the Cav- 
 endish family. As I stood contemplating the coffin which con- 
 tained the ashes of that admired female, the woman who accom- 
 panied me pointed out the relics of a bouquet which lay upon the 
 lid, nearly collapsed into dust. ‘That nosegay,’ said she, ‘was 
 brought here by the Countess of Besborough, who had designed to 
 place it with her own hands on her sister’s coffin. But, overcome 
 by her emotions on approaching the spot, she found herself unable 
 to descend the steps conducting to the vault. In an agony of grief 
 she knelt down on the stones, as nearly over the place occupied by 
 the corpse as I could direct, and there deposited the flowers, en- 
 joining me the performance of an office to which she was unequal. 
 I fulfilled her wishes.’ ” 
 
 The Prince’s thoughts were even thus early turning towards 
 domestic repose, and it would almost seem that so early as 1783 
 he was thinking of the serious step he was presently to take. At 
 a dinner-party at Lord Lewisham’s the Prince drank very hard — a 
 not unusual incident with him — and then fell into a sort of dejected 
 mood, in which he bewailed his condition, said he envied the 
 Dukes of Devonshire and Rutland, who were at liberty to wed two 
 clever women whom they liked. For his part, he supposed that 
 “ he should be forced to marry some ugly German.” Turning then 
 to Rigby, then Master of the Rolls and a humorist, he put the sig- 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 55 
 
 nificant question to him: “What would he advise him to do?” 
 “Faith, sir,” was the reply, “I am not yet drunk enough _^to give 
 advice to a Prince of Wales about marrying;” an answer com- 
 mended as one of the best, even to a question of this kind. For, 
 as Walpole says, there were lots of fools who thought themselves 
 sober enough to advise him on whatever subject he consulted them 
 on. It showed, however, what was in his mind at this time. 
 
 When the election was over. Fox was carried in a chair adorned 
 with laurels through the chief streets of the West End, and the 
 gates of Carlton House being thrown wide open, the whole caval- 
 cade defiled through in compliment to the new member’s august 
 patron. It was an odd procession. A banner was carried in honor 
 of the duchess, with the inscription: “Sacred to Female Patriot- 
 ism;” Mr. North, Mr. Adam, and others, being observed to be 
 mounted on the braces of Fox’s carriage. The Prince, attended by 
 a crowd of friends, appeared on the steps, while Fox made a brief 
 harangue. On the following day. May 18th, he determined to 
 celebrate the victory by a noonday fSte in the gardens of his house, 
 to which all the rank, beauty, and talent of the Opposition were 
 invited. The grounds were separated only by a wall from the 
 road that led from St. James’s Palace to the Houses of Parliament, 
 and it was noted that the King passed by in procession to open the 
 session, and could see the festival going on. On the same night 
 the triumphant party repaired to Lower Grosvenor Street, to an 
 entertainment, or rather revel, given by the fair and captivating 
 Mrs. Crewe, where the ladies all appeared, arrayed like the gentle- 
 men, in buff and blue. The Prince of course attended, wearing 
 the same colors, and after supper rose to give the well-known 
 toast — “True blue, and Mrs. Crewe!” It was received with rap- 
 ture, the lady, with the same spirit but less point, acknowledging 
 the compliment in the phrase: “ True blue, and all of you!” 
 
 Speeches were made on this happy occasion. Fox proposing the 
 Prince’s health in glowing terms, professing his “gratitude for the 
 manner in which his Eoyal Highness has been pleased to give his 
 countenance to me and to my cause. It is a circumstance of pride 
 and honor, particularly dear to me, that in pursuing the interests 
 of the people I have at the same time gained the approbation of 
 the Prince. I assure his Royal Highness that his favor and kind- 
 ness have made the deepest impression on my mind; and my return 
 to him shall be, to make it the study of my life, never to counsel 
 his Royal Highness without having equally in view the interests of 
 
56 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 the Crown and the people — interests which cannot he severed with- 
 out inj[uiy to both.” The Prince replied; '‘I will not at present 
 speak of my private regard for Mr. Fox ; I have entered into his 
 interests from a conviction, not only that his talents are the 
 brightest in the empire, but that his principles are the best, and his 
 motives the purest; and I assure him that the prejudices of those 
 who do not know him shall never alter my personal or political 
 attachment.”* 
 
 Nor was this all, the Prince himself celebrated the victory at 
 Carlton House by one of the most magnificent f^tes within recol- 
 lection. Nothing that luxury or taste could devise was absent, 
 and, with an affectation of refined politeness almost inconsistent 
 with the coarse manners of the time, the gentlemen, including the 
 host himself, waited on the ladies at table. It was said by those 
 who had often seen him in society, “that not even Louis XIV. 
 himself could have eclipsed him in a ball-room,” or while doing 
 the honors of his own house; and certainly, even if sagacity were 
 wanting, there was in all his conduct a certain ga}’- readiness, a 
 spirit and savoir fair e, that was remarkable in one so young, the 
 portraits at this time representing him as an interesting young man 
 with a distinguished air, and a face almost juvenile for its glow 
 and brilliancy. 
 
 These proceedings made the breach with his father complete. 
 No notice was taken of his birthday at Windsor. He was con- 
 sidered to be leagued with the enemies of the Court. When Mr. 
 Pitt was being drawn home in triumph from the City dinner, the 
 shouting mob passed by Carlton House and stopped the carriage 
 to hoot and groan, the minister having to look on. But when they 
 passed by Brookes’s Club they were met by an opposing crowd, 
 and a serious conflict took place, in which the minister liad a nar- 
 row escape. The Prince complained to his father and required an 
 apology, which he does not appear to have obtained, f 
 
 From these mortifications he turned to find relief in renewed 
 gayeties and entertainments. The alterations at Carlton House — 
 first of the series — were now completed, and the event was cele- 
 brated on March 10th by a ball. The dining-room, lit up by three 
 magnificently-gilt chandeliers, the state-room, the ball-room and its 
 
 * Reported in a private letter from a gentleman who was present,— Lloyd, 
 “Life and Reign,” i. 122. 
 tibid., i. 126, 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 57 
 
 orchestra, all excited admiration, abundant compliments being 
 paid to the Prince’s taste. This was followed on April 18th by a 
 public breakfast at Carlton House. “About six hundred of the 
 most distinguished persons in the kingdom assembled in his beau- 
 tiful gardens about two o’clock. The preparations on the occasion 
 were full of magnificence. Covers were laid under nine extensive 
 marquees for two hundred and fifty persons, and the entertainment 
 consisted of the finest fruits of the season, confectioneries, ices, 
 creams, and emblematical designs. Four bands of instruments 
 were placed at different parts of the garden, and the company were 
 entertained with various novelties of a comic kind, some of the 
 performers at the theatres having attended for that purpose. After 
 they had taken refreshments they rose to dance. A beautiful level, 
 in the umbrage of a group of trees, was the spot which his royal 
 highness selected for their ball, and he led down the country dances, 
 first with the Duchess of Devonshire, and afterwards with one of the 
 Lady Waldegraves. The company frequently changed their part- 
 ners, and at times grouped off into cotillons. Among the ladies 
 who danced was Mrs. Sheridan.* The breakfast concluded about 
 six in the evening, when the company retired to dress.” 
 
 “ The Prince of Wales,” says Mr. Raikes, “ was a constant fre- 
 quenter of the coteries and parties at Devonshire House, which 
 was then the resort not only of the Opposition, but of all the wits 
 and beaux espriU of the day. Sheridan, Grey, Whitbread, Lord 
 Robert Spencer, Fox, Hare, Fitzpatrick, G. Selwyn, Prince 
 Boothby, Sir H. Featherstonhaugh, and a host of names which I 
 just remember in all the celebrity of liaut ton, but now swept away 
 by the hand of time, and, with only some few exceptions, leaving 
 hardly a trace of recollection behind them. The Prince of Wales 
 gave the young Count de Gramont a commission in his own regi- 
 ment, the 10th Light Dragoons, of which the officers were generally 
 his favorites and friends, among whom at that time were Poyntz, 
 W. C. Churchill, Braddyll, Jack Lee, poor little Galway (who was 
 burnt in his bed). Lords R. and C. Manners, and, though last not 
 least, our friend G. Brummell, who was beginning to establish an 
 intimacy with his royal colonel.” 
 
 Indeed, it would be impossible to give an idea of the whirl of 
 folly and extravagance in which the pleasure-loving young prince 
 
 * The lady just alluded to was then in all her bloom, and so “ fast,” as it is 
 called now, that we hear of her being brought to hear a debate in the House 
 of Commons dressed in man’s clothes! 
 
58 
 
 THE LIFE OF QEOROE IV 
 
 now lived. A strange restlessness — never absent from what are 
 called the “ votaries of pleasure” — had taken possession of him; he 
 was flying from house to house, dashing down to Brighton and up 
 again, as fast as four horses could take him; now at Tunbridge 
 Wells, or at the country mansion of some boon companion. 
 Attended by a band of roysterers and his “ three colonels,” as they 
 were called — Lake, Hulse, and St. Leger — he gamed and drank, 
 frequented races and boxing-matches and the Gardens. Indeed, 
 from this time to the end of his life, it might seem that clothes, 
 carriages, and building houses were to form his favorite minor 
 pleasures. Were a history of dress during the present and last 
 century written, the changes he inspired should be noted. Car- 
 riages he also influenced with inflnite variety. Mr. Thackeray 
 indeed professed to see nothing but clothes when he looked 
 through his life, and his judgment may be worth quoting here, as 
 one of the most mistaken and superficial of estimates. “I try and 
 take him to pieces,” he says, “and find silk stockings, padding, 
 stays, a coat with frogs and a fur collar, a star and blue ribbon, a 
 pocket-handkerchief prodigiously scented, one of Truefitt’s best 
 nutty-brown wigs reeking with oil, a set of teeth and a huge black 
 stock, under-waistcoats, more under-waistcoats, and then nothing. 
 I know of no sentiment that he ever distinctly uttered. Documents 
 are published under his name, but people wrote them; private letters, 
 but people spelt them. He put a great George P. or George R. at 
 the bottom of the page and fancied he had written the paper. 
 Some bookseller’s clerk, some poor author, some man did the work 
 — saw to the spelling, cleaned up the slovenly sentences, and gave 
 the lax maudlin slipslop a sort of consistency. He must have had 
 an individuality: the dancing-master whom he emulated, nay, 
 surpassed, the wig-maker who curled his toupee for him, the tailor 
 who cut his coats, had that. But, about George, one can get at 
 nothing actual. That outside, I am certain, is pad and tailor’s 
 work.” This view of character, founded on clothes, will be found 
 to be a complete mistake. If he could devise theselrifling things, he 
 could turn his mind with effect to what was serious and important. 
 
 The phaeton, a favorite vehicle of his, is familiar to us from the 
 caricatures. It was an unsightly thing, high, single-bodied, “ all 
 upon the fore wheels,” says the agreeable author of “The Road,” 
 “ and looking as if the hinder ones had nothing to do but to follow. 
 This was commonly driven, by such as could afford it, with four 
 horses in hand. Indeed, it may almost be said to have given birth 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 59 
 
 to our gentleman-coachmanship, as well as to the well-known epi- 
 gram: 
 
 “ What can Tommy Onslow do? 
 
 He can drive a phaeton* and two. 
 
 Can Tommy Onslow do no more? 
 
 Yes— he can drive a phaeton and four. 
 
 “ The phaeton was succeeded by the no less classically yclept 
 (^rricle — a carriage, when properly appointed, and followed by 
 two well-dressed and well-mounted grooms, of singular elegance 
 certainly. It had a long run in the fashionable world, but being, 
 like the phaeton, only calculated to carry two persons, and requir- 
 ing never less than three horses, taxation and economy put an end 
 to it. Then came the reign of thq gig, and the stanhope, so named 
 after the Honorable Fitzroy Stanhope, who planned it, succeeded 
 the tilbury, so called from the well-known coachmaker; and the 
 cost, without harness, of either may be about seventy pounds. 
 Now, ‘every dog has his day,’ and so have our prevailing 
 fashions. The buggy, stanhope, dennet, and tilbury have all, dur- 
 ing some seasons past, been supplanted by the cabriolet. Fifty 
 years ago the idea of putting a thoroughbred horse into harness 
 would have been considered preposterous. In the carriages of our 
 noblemen and gentlemen the long-tailed black or Cleveland bay — 
 each one remove from the cart-horse — was the prevailing sort, and 
 six miles an hour the extent of his pace. ” 
 
 Mr. Cyrus Redding recollected some strange varieties of vehicle 
 — “Tim- whiskeys” — some that went on three wheels. The ladies 
 went to Court in Chairs. “ There was a vis-a-vis for two, generally 
 used by gentlemen going to court, superbly ornamented, and the 
 horse richly caparisoned, with two or three footmen behind in gay 
 liveries. There was the lofty phaeton generally used with four 
 horses, high enough to look into a first-floor window. Some of 
 these carriages had silver panellings. The Prince of Wales 
 launched the most extravagant equipages, crowned with coronets 
 and plumes, the panels fitted with paintings of squabby cupids and 
 rustic nymphs.” 
 
 He once saw the Prince arrayed in deep brown velvet, silver 
 embroidered, cut-steel buttons, and a gold net thrown over all. In 
 our own day fashion takes many freaks, but does not amuse itself 
 by costly and whimsical changes in the patterns of clothes. Nor 
 was it in these departments alone that he was the leader of the town. 
 Indeed, at this period London was QH.e^ of the gayest cities of 
 
60 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 Europe, and all the ranks of nobles and gentry, and in these ranks 
 the old as well as the yoikng, seemed to be frantically devoted to the 
 pursuit of pleasure undei its most showy and even theatrical forms ; 
 while the presence and encouragement of an ardent young prince, 
 handsome, brilliant, and full of gayety, set the ball rolling, as the 
 phrase runs, with increased avidity. An interesting subject of 
 inquiry would be to discover what taste has regulated the different 
 forms of social amusement at particular eras. In our own day, al 
 fresco amusements, dancing and supping at gardens, masquerades 
 and balls at public rooms, would seem not to be in keeping with the 
 manners or tastes of the day, but one hundred years ago we find the 
 whole of London society rushing heedlessly after such pastimes. 
 Private theatres were highly fashionable, one wing of many a noble 
 mansion being built specially for this purpose; as well as the 
 Almack’s balls, the gardens at Ranelagh and Vauxhall, the splendid 
 rooms at the first-named of these places, as well as at the Pantheon 
 and Mrs. Cornelys’, which were used for concerts, suppers, and 
 masquerades — all of which offers the most curious contrast ix) the 
 habits and tastes of our own day. It will not be out of place to give 
 a review here of the pastimes with which the heau rnonde used to 
 recreate itself. 
 
 The masquerade was then in the highest favor, and might be 
 fairly considered “the note” of a popular taste; that is, the sort of 
 reckless longing for adventure which such scenes offered. We find 
 that there was such faith in this peculiar fashion that no less than 
 three magnificent places of amusement were constructed to gratify 
 it. The foremost was, of course, Ranelagh, the rotunda of which, 
 with the magnificent suit of rooms attached and its handsome gar- 
 dens, was one of the sights of London. Dr. Johnson’s visit and his 
 praise are well known. The superb circular room, its cupola sup- 
 ported in the centre by an arcade, while some fifty or sixty boxes 
 for supping in ran round under galleries, offered on gala-nights a 
 superb spectacle. People of the highest rank attended promenades, 
 supped, listened to the music, sought and found adventures. The 
 decorations of these places were of the best architecture. At old- 
 fashioned watering-places abroad, such as Spa, we see some of these 
 noble buildings, whose faded glories, tarnished gilding, and painted 
 ceilings recall these old festive times.* 
 
 * There is a whole series prints of Ranelagh and the Pantheon, finely 
 engraved, and much esteemed by connoisseurs. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV.. 
 
 61 
 
 Mrs. Cornelys, a German, came to London about the year 1763, 
 and opened a splendid building in Soho Square, for concerts and 
 masquerades. Her entertainments became the rage, and we find 
 Mr. Sterne, not long before his death, using his fashionable interest 
 to secure tickets for friends. After many vicissitudes, the fine 
 rooms passed into the possession of the eminent pickle-makers, 
 Messrs. Crosse and Blackwell, but the beautiful stucco ceilings still 
 remain to show what its other glories were. At one of her enter- 
 tainments the pavilion was ceiled with looking-glasses, while the 
 supper-room was laid out as a garden, the guests advancing in a 
 walk between hedges, behind which were ranged the tables. The 
 Soho f^tes continued in fashion for some twenty years or so. The 
 directress at last became bankrupt, and made inetfectual struggles to 
 revive the public taste. But the Pantheon had been opened, and 
 swept away all the fine company ; and the unlucky directress was at 
 last reduced to selling asses’ milk at Hampstead. One of her last 
 attempts was a sort of rural fSte, for which she sought the Prince of 
 Wales’s patronage; but there is no evidence that it was accorded, and 
 she died in the Fleet Prison in 1795. Such is too often the disas- 
 trous finale of those who are known as caterers for public amuse- 
 ments. One of her daughters, however, became a sort of reader to 
 one of the princesses, changing her name. 
 
 Here is the description of an entertainment given at Lord Ber- 
 wick’s house in Portman Square, thrown open for the reception of 
 masks. “The company were selected by tickets limited to the 
 number of five hundred, and about eleven o’clock the rooms were 
 completely filled with the fashionable world, in a great variety of 
 excellent masquerade figures; the dominoes (contrary to the gen- 
 erality of masquerades) not being very prevalent. About half-past 
 eleven his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales’s party arrived from 
 Carlton House, and consisted of a convent of gray friars, under the 
 direction of a superior; they were thirteen in number, and most 
 completely clad. The superior of these friars sung an extremely 
 witty new character-song, with a chorus by the whole fraternity in 
 a circle; which, at the request of the company, was sung a second 
 time in the same manner. About one o’clock the whole body of 
 monks unmasked, and were discovered to consist of the following 
 group: 
 
62 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 Superior of the Convent, Captain Morris, by whom the song was written. 
 
 Monks. 
 
 His Royal Highness the Prince of 
 Wales. 
 
 Hon. H. Conway. 
 
 Hon. G. Conway. 
 
 Hon. C. Dillon. 
 
 Hon. S. Finch. 
 
 Lord Strathaven. 
 
 The Prince gave another grand fete at Carlton House on the 10th 
 of June. ‘ ‘ The ball-room was fitted up in a light and pleasing style. 
 Twelve superb lustres were suspended from the ceiling, and the same 
 number of girandoles on brackets placed round the room. Two 
 orchestras were constructed, hung with crimson silk. Upwards of 
 two hundred ladies were present, some of whom were of the first 
 accomplishments and fashion. The ball was suspended at half-past 
 one, and the company repaired to supper. Five rooms were laid out 
 for the purpose. The Prince and a party, consisting of one hundred 
 ladies and gentlemen, supped in the grand escaglio saloon. The 
 Ducl^ess of Devonshire was seated on the right hand of his royal 
 highness, and Lady Beauchamp on the left. All the first families 
 in the kingdom supped in this apartment. The company amounted 
 together to four hundred and fifty. The supper consisted of eight 
 removes of the choicest dishes, and a grand display of confection- 
 ery, with the most curious fruits. 
 
 “ After supper the dances were resumed with great hilarity. The 
 Prince danced with the Duchess of Gordon, Lady Duncannon, and 
 several other ladies.” 
 
 A ball at St. James’s Palace a hundred years ago offers a contrast, 
 in many respects, to such entertainments in our time, and, since 
 those of lower degree offered nearly the same elements, the descrip- 
 tion of a royal birth-night ball may be accepted as a fair specimen 
 of this mode of entertainment. The ball began before nine o’clock, 
 when the King and Queen had taken their seats on chairs singly 
 placed on the floor. Round them rose lines of seats in “pens,” 
 while nothing could be richer or more magnificent than the dresses; 
 and, on great occasions, there was a sort of competition that made 
 the display quite dazzling. 
 
 It was the ton even to have equipages mounted for the occasion; 
 
 and the Court newsman would take care to describe “Lady ’s 
 
 chair, adorned in magnificent scarlet morocco with very rich silver 
 
 Hon. St. John. 
 
 J. Payne, Esq. 
 
 P. O’Byrne, Esq. 
 
 M. Braddyll, Esq. 
 Col. Gardener. 
 Capt. Boyle.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 63 
 
 ornaments, her ‘running footmen’ in silver lace;” or he would 
 dwell on Mr. St. Leger — one of the prince’s companions — and his 
 truly elegant equipage, “ his carriage, servants, and horses being all 
 as a young man of fashion should be.” At present this part of the 
 display is quite lost, and persons of condition have neither oppor- 
 tunity nor inclination, on arriving or departure, to criticise their 
 neighbors’ vehicles. “ Gala-suits” were often worn by the princes 
 and young nobles, the distinctive mark of which was embroidery 
 along the seams; and, in 1782, a dress of the Prince, of this descrip- 
 tion, excited much admiration. It was of the color called dauphin, 
 a sort of blush tint, embroidered with pearls and “foil stones.” 
 The Marquis of Graham appeared in carmelite-colored velvet, deco- 
 rated with “ stone clusters.” The other dresses Y^^ere nearly all of 
 velvet with fur linings. On state occasions the King wore velvet 
 embroidered with gold, and the Queen a straw-colored gown and 
 petticoat trimmed with blond and silver lace, drawn up in festoons 
 with strings of large pearls and clusters of diamonds. Tassels of 
 diamonds also hung in front relieved by azure-blue ribbons. She 
 wore, besides, flowers of diamonds. There were green gowns richly 
 embroidered with silver, as in the case of Lady Spencer; or a puce- 
 colored bodice, as worn by Lady Salisbury; “the coat of crape-gauze 
 ornamented in stripes with colored foil flowers, between which 
 were a number of the eyes of peacocks, fancifully disposed. The 
 headdress fancied was in the style of an emperor’s crown.” The 
 whole was, however, considered to have “an uncommonly novel 
 and whimsical effect.” The effect maybe conceived of such a mass 
 of rich materials and colors. 
 
 The King and Queen having given the signal, the dancing com- 
 menced. The minutes were the favorite measure. Persons who 
 proposed to dance had previously sent for dancing-tickets to the Lord 
 Chamberlain, and received numbers in regular order. These seated 
 themselves on benches on the floor, at each side of his Majesty, and 
 danced according to their rank. “ God Save the King ” was played, 
 to the music of which the royal family walked round and greeted 
 the company. The ball would be opened by the Prince of Wales 
 with the person of highest rank present, who was usually the Princess 
 Royal. This rule was carried out rigidly in all degrees of society, 
 so that it often Imppened that a gentleman and his sister became 
 partners. The Lord Chamberlain stands by with a list. The gen- 
 tleman walks out to dance, putting on his hat and handing his sword 
 to the Chamberlain to hold during the performance ; at the conclu- 
 
64 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 sion of which the lady returns to her seat, while the gentleman 
 remains and dances with the next lady. About twelve dances were 
 generally thus given. Then the more lively country dance succeeded, 
 to the favorite tunes of “Good Morrow to your Nightcap,” “La 
 Belle Catarina,” or the “German Spa,” The list of couples was 
 sometimes after this fashion: The Prince of Wales standing up with 
 the Princess Royal ; the Duke of Cumberland with Lady A. Camp- 
 bell ; the Duke of Dorset with Lady Salisbury ; Lord Rochford with 
 Lady Stormont ; Lord Graham with Lady Francis Smith ; Mr. Gre- 
 ville with Lady Aylesford; Mr. North with Miss Bradwith; Colonel 
 St. Leger with Miss Nottis; Mr, West with Lady Talbot; and Mr, 
 Lumley with Miss Woodley. 
 
 This arrangement, it will be noticed, was highly select, and only 
 allowed of but a few dancing out of a large crowd. Before twelve 
 o’clock the ball broke up and the company departed. 
 
 On the 14th of May we find that the Prince was introduced to a 
 new source of enjoyment in the shape of the “Beefsteak Club,” which 
 represented the original type of club — which, of late, has become 
 a sort of house of call — but was then the club proper. A general 
 dinner, which occurred at short intervals, with a carouse to follow, 
 was the club ideal of the day. The rules were suspended to admit 
 him, as the number was complete. “ The Finish,” “The Owls,” and 
 a host of such convivial societies, met at taverns, as did the more 
 respectable, ‘ ‘ The Club ” of Johnson preceded ‘ ‘ W atier’s, ” ‘ ‘ Crock- 
 ford’s,” and other more refined establishments. “White’s” and 
 “ Brookes’s ” answered to the “Carlton ’’and “Reform” Clubs of 
 later times. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEOMGE JV. 
 
 65 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 1784. 
 
 During this headlong race of pleasure, he had found time to 
 surround himself with a class of friends not so respectable as the 
 coterie with which he had set out, and these were of a peculiar, if 
 not very respectable, kind. As we have been considering the forms 
 of entertainment which the town atfected, it may be interesting to 
 see what was the type of ‘'man about town,” or “blood,” which 
 then obtained. These beings combined eccentricity and vice to a 
 singular degree. Indeed, the besT~md3e of giving an idea of the 
 ‘Tast life” of the day would be to present a sketch of some of the 
 more conspicuous of the Prince’s companions about this season. 
 It should be remembered, however, that at this time the Prince’s 
 jovial friends belonged to a preceding era, and were now old-fash- 
 ioned. They may be said, therefore, to have been his masters; 
 but, by-and-by, he formed a school of his own. But from his own 
 contemporaries no better specimens could be selected than the 
 
 Barrys, Hangers, “Old Q ,” Sir John Lade, and many more 
 
 The roystering nobleman or gentleman was fairly exemplified in 
 the careers of the Barrymores, the Duke of Queensberry, the Duke 
 of Norfolk, and Sir John Lade. , 
 
 Lord Barrymore, eldest of the family of Barry, ran a short career, 
 and bore the nickname of “ Hellgate.” His brother the Honorable 
 Henry Barry was lame, or club-footed, and dubbed Cripplegate; 
 while the Hon. and Rev.. Augustus Barry, even less reputable than 
 the other two, went by the name of “Newgate,” for the rather 
 illogical reason that he had been a tenant of every jail in the king- 
 dom save that. There was a sister, of whom little is known save 
 that she became Lady Melfort, and that from her ready and copious 
 use of oaths she received from the refined lips of the Prince the 
 sohiiquet of “ Billingsgate.” Lord Barrymore distinguished himself 
 by bringing a thousand pounds for pocket-money to school. He 
 came into a fortune of ten thousand a year, which in an incredibly 
 short space of time lie had contrived to charge with debts amount- 
 
66 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 ing to a couple of hundred thousand pounds, leaving but a couple 
 of thousand a 5’’ear to live upon. His extravagance took the most 
 fantastic shapes. His hunting retinue was like the French king’s, 
 and he went out with four Africans, dressed magnificently, who 
 played on the French horn during the chase. All the lowest scum 
 of boxers and cockfighters w’ere in his train. He delighted in 
 cricketing, then in its infancy, and even held a commission in a 
 militia regiment. He could turn verses and had a decided literary 
 taste; and w’as so far musical, that on returning home from a uew^ 
 opera he could give an idea of the overture. “ His lordship,” says 
 a pleasant actor who knew him well, “w^as alternate betw^een the 
 gentleman and the blackguard, the refined wit and the most vulgar 
 bully was equally well known in St. Giles’s and St. James’s. He 
 could fence, dance, drive or drink, box or bet, with any man in the 
 kingdom. He could discourse slang as trippingly as French, relish 
 porter after port, and compliment her ladyship at a ball with as 
 much ease and brilliance as he could bespatter in blood in a cider 
 cellar.” He was highly popular, the friend and companion of the 
 Prince of Wales, who, later, treated him wdth the contemptuous 
 freedom with wdiich he favored many of his boon companions. He 
 would take some “spirited companions,” and, going by night to a 
 village or country town, shift all the various signs of the public- 
 houses, transposing, say. The King’s Head and The Hed Lion, to 
 the confusion of the owners and their customers. Often as he 
 and his brothers were driving in a hackney-coach they would imi- 
 tate the screams of a w'oman struggling — “Murder, murder! Let 
 me go!” etc. — when the passers-by would be attracted, rush after 
 them in pursuit, and stop the coach to rescue the sufferer. Then 
 the last lord and his friends w'ould descend, fall on the interposers, 
 who w'ere quite bewildered to find there was no female in the coach, 
 and administer a sound thrashing on the public higlnvay. Or he 
 would be driving with a guest and his brother “ Newgate” in his 
 chaise-and-four, returning to his country place, wiien, after some 
 halt, the guest would find himself whirled along at a terrific pace, 
 and discover that the postilions were in the rumble behind, and 
 that the two brothers had taken their place. If he met an ill-condi- 
 tioned wagoner on the road, wiio w'ould not give way, his lordship 
 would descend to fight it out: if the winner, he would present the 
 man with a guinea; if the loser, he w’ould shake hands good- 
 humoredly. 
 
 At Brighton, he fitted a coffin to the back of his servant, taking 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 67 
 
 the bottom off so as to leave room for the man’s feet. This was 
 carried with great solemnity to a gentleman’s house in the Steyne, 
 and left against the hall door. When the maid opened the door 
 and saw this apparition, she shrieked and fainted away, and the 
 family rushing down, a pistol was discharged which penetrated 
 the coffin barely an inch above the servant’s head. Did a particu- 
 lar kind of mild beer run short, three chaises were sent off in differ- 
 ent directions, charged -to look for beer, each returning after some 
 hours with a cask inside. 
 
 But it was at his own house at Wargrave that he had full scope 
 for his humor. This was a sort of cottage or villa, not far from 
 Maidenhead, small and inconvenient; but for which, from early 
 associations, he had a liking. There he would collect the band of 
 roysterers and “flappers ” and butts who furnished him with diver- 
 sion, and here he was able to indulge his passion for the stage, 
 having built a handsome theatre. He brought down an eminent 
 Coven t Garden mechanist, who exhausted his skill in scenes, traps, 
 and other contrivances, so that such embarrassing works as panto- 
 mimes could be brought out successfully. Here a series of sterling 
 comedies, such as “The Merry Wives of Windsor” and “Every 
 Man in his Humor,” was brought out, supported by amateurs of 
 reputation like Captain Wathen and Mr. Wade, and professionals 
 such as Palmer, Bannister, Johnstone, Incledon, Munden, and 
 others. Captain Wathen and the host excelled in Archer and 
 Scrub, and they were painted in character. Delpini, a well-known 
 pantomimist, directed behind the scenes, and took the leading part 
 in the pantomime; the “favorite Pas Russe, as performed at the 
 Italian Opera, being danced by Lord Barrymore and Mr. Delpini.” 
 Nothing could exceed the reckless extravagance with which this 
 hobby was carried out. The professionals were asked en mafise, 
 and allowed to gratify every whim. 
 
 In the year 1788, the Prince of Wales was induced to come down 
 and occupy a splendid mansion close by; Lord Barrymore, whose 
 house was too small, providing the rest of the entertainment. The 
 performance did not begin till nine o’clock ; all the rank and fashion 
 of the county were present. The prologue was written at a short 
 notice by a son of Judge Blackstone, who roused his “fuddled” 
 intellects for the purpose by tying a wet towel round his head. 
 
 There was generally in his train a set of bruisers, and one noted 
 individual known as “Hooper, the tinman,” was permanently re- 
 tained as a sort of body-guard, This man was the hero of one of 
 
68 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV, 
 
 his lordship’s vagaries at Vauxhall, which at the time was much 
 resented. 
 
 “ Lord Barrymore,” says one of his companions, “ had, unknown 
 to us, contrived to dress Tom Hooper, the tinman (one of the first 
 pugilists at that time), as a clergyman, to be in waiting at Vauxhall, 
 in case we should get into any dispute. His black clothes, formal 
 hat, hair powdered and curled round so far disguised him, that he 
 was unknown to us all at first, though Hooper’s queer dialect must 
 soon have discovered him to the waiters. This was a ruse de guerre 
 of Lord Barrymore’s. About three o’clock, whilst at supper. Lord 
 Falkland, Henry Barry, Sir Francis Molineux, etc., were of our 
 party; there was at this time a continual noise and rioting, and the 
 arrack punch was beginning to operate. On a sudden all were 
 seen running towards the orchestra, the whole garden seemed to be 
 in confusion, and our party, all impatience, sallied out, those at the 
 further end of the box, walking over the table, kicking down the 
 dishes. It seems that Hooper was now for fighting with every- 
 body. A large ring was made, and, advancing in a boxing attitude, 
 he threatened to fight any one, but all retired before him.” 
 
 The death of this noble roysterer was sudden, and of a very 
 tragic kind. He was at Rye with his regiment — and, curious to 
 say, he was considered a very painstaking and efficient officer — 
 whence some French prisoners were to be sent to Deal under 
 escort. He applied specially for the duty of commanding the 
 party, no doubt hoping for some fun or excitement. When they 
 got outside Folkestone, the commander, always good-natured, 
 halted at a convenient public-house, where he treated the whole 
 party. Being tired of marching, he got into his carriage, which 
 was following, wishing to smoke. He had his gun with him, 
 which he had characteristically used as he marched along, to shoot 
 any stray rabbits and gulls he might see on the roadside. Lighting 
 his pipe, he handed his gun to his man, who held it awkwardly 
 between his knees, when, as the good-natured master with his pipe 
 was pointing out to him the coast of France, bidding him note how 
 clear it was, the piece suddenly exploded, lodging the contents in 
 his head. The right eye was blown out upon his cheeks, and some 
 of the brain dropped upon the wheels. He lived but half an hour, 
 groaning terribly all the while, and expired amid lamentations even 
 of the French prisoners, A cynic might find an appropriateness in 
 the scene of his last moments — that public-house where he had 
 been so cheerful but a few minutes before. He was no more than 
 
THE LIFE OF GEOMe IV. 69 
 
 twenty-three. Such was the fate of “Hellgate,” the eldest of the 
 brethren. 
 
 He was succeeded by his brother the Hon. Henry, known as the 
 lame lord, or “ Cripplegate.” This gentleman, with the worthy 
 parson, were said to be accountable for all the excesses of the elder 
 brother, encouraging him in every conceivable way. The new 
 lord had not the same bonhomie or the same love of fun. His 
 excesses and oddities also became the public talk. He was consid- 
 ered very amusing, but, as Mr. Kaikes says, from his want of prin- 
 ciple as well as his want of good taste, was avoided by persons of 
 his own station. This sort of character, too, finds itself more 
 appreciated by persons of lower degree, whose society is therefore 
 preferred. 
 
 Strange to say, this lord generally escaped chastisement, on 
 account of the buffoonery that was mixed up with these insults. 
 He had indeed a duel with a fat Mr. Howarth, at Brighton. A 
 large crowd attended to see the sport, and was convulsed with 
 laughter when he proceeded to strip himself to the waist, having 
 an idea that portions of cloth, etc., were often driven in by the 
 bullet. This comic spectacle took away the serious element, and 
 after a random shot the affair terminated. He married a girl in 
 Ireland of no family, but whose sister had made a conquest of an 
 old French emigre — the Duke of Castries. He gradually sank into 
 distress and difficulties; his house was assailed by bailiffs, whom, it 
 is said, when he gave a dinner, he used to dress up in the family 
 livery. He had finally to retire to France, where he died in great 
 poverty, his brother-in-law, the Duke of Castries, now restored to 
 his estates and honors, giving him shelter. “He was, with all his 
 follies, a man,” says one who knew him, “ of a generous nature. 
 He had nothing mean in his nature, and preserved his independence 
 of spirit amid great temptations to subserviency.” One of his claims 
 to fashionable reputation was his having invented the “Tiger,” 
 the smart juvenile servant who, in those days, was seated beside 
 the owner of the cab, and not standing behind. 
 
 Of the Hon. and Rev. Augustus Barry, “I believe,” says one of 
 his friends cautiously, “ neither the nobility nor the Church derived 
 much advantage from his being a member of both classes. He had 
 the curious faculty of exhibiting himself as a perfect gentleman or 
 a perfect blackguard. It would be invidious to say in which of the 
 two characters he most commonly appeared.” He, too, died in 
 poverty and obscurity. Of “ Billingsgate, ” the sister of the three 
 
70 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 brothers, little is known, save the faculty of uttering oaths before 
 described. Altogether a very remarkable family. 
 
 The well-known Duke of Queensberry was another of those rouh 
 of the old school. Facing the Green Park, and only a few doors 
 from Park Lane, is still to be seen a remarkable porch, consisting 
 of two tall pillars, without the usual steps, perched upon what 
 looks like a small coach-house. This arrangement was made 
 about seventy years ago to suit the infirmities of a disreputable 
 old nobleman, who, seated in his chair, was let down by ma- 
 chinery from the high level of his parlor to the street. It was, in 
 fact, “Old Q.*’ himself, whom some London old gentlemen may 
 still recollect. 
 
 “Old Q.” was the last Duke of Queensberry, and, it may be 
 added, the last of the frightful old roues whose aim seemed to be 
 to scandalize both heaven and earth by their excesses; the coterie 
 that enjoyed “ Hellfire Clubs” and Medmenham Abbeys, that “had 
 to go to Paris” to get a waistcoat fit to put on, and who brought 
 back a couple of dozen copies of Crebillon’s newest romance for 
 sale among friends. He was of the set that included Wilkes, Sand- 
 wich, Hall Stevenson, Gilly Williams, Hanger, Barrymore, and a 
 host of others. 
 
 It is recorded that even when a schoolboy (he was born in 1725) 
 he was “ distinguished by his escapades in the capital;” such was 
 the pleasant newspaper phrase. Lord March, the title “ Old Q.” 
 then bore, soon became conspicuous in the town. He was a spir- 
 ited, clever young man, with an extraordinary store of vivacity; 
 and certainly it must be said that in writing a letter the roues of his 
 time excelled. The letters of the fast young men of our day con- 
 trast unfavorably with the good English, straightforwardness, live- 
 liness, and even wit of the epistles of Lord March, Williams, 
 Storer, and Lord Carlisle. One wager made him quite a reputation 
 on account of the energy and anxiety he brought to bear on the 
 result. He made a bet with an Irish gentleman that he would 
 drive a carriage nineteen miles in an hour. Mr. Wright, “ an 
 ingenious coach-maker ” of Long Acre, was employed to construct 
 a vehicle of extraordinary lightness of wood and whalebone. The 
 harness was formed of silk, instead of leather. The noble bettor 
 practised for long before, four blood horses being driven at this 
 terrific speed ; and during the process no fewer than seven horses 
 fell victims to the severity of the training. On the 29th of August, 
 1750, this curious match against time was run and won. The car- 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 71 
 
 riage was a sort of “spider” arrangement, consisting of little more 
 than a pole and the wheels. 
 
 His lordship was conspicuous for the number and success of his 
 attachments, or, as the newspaper of his day stated it, “was not 
 insensible, if we are to credit report, to female charms.” The ob- 
 jects of his devotion were usually selected from the opera, and the 
 “Zamperini” and the “Rena” contended for his patronage. As 
 he grew old and older he grew more and more selfish, economized 
 his pleasures warily, and became self-denying, so as to have more 
 enjoyment, and not draw too extensively on his store of health and 
 satisfaction; and thus succeeded in reaching a fine span of life. 
 When near seventy, “Old Q,” “ratted” on the first regency ques- 
 tion, deserting his old master, as though he wished to secure the 
 favor of the young prince. An old Lord Essex used to tell of his 
 coming home betimes from a ball with the duke — both arrayed in 
 their stars and decorations — and of some rustics bursting into a sort 
 of horse-laugh at the sight. The duke said, simply, to his friend, 
 at the same time tapping his stars, “What! have they found out 
 this humbug at last?” He had magnificent seats in the country, 
 which he never cared to visit, and a pretty villa at Richmond, to 
 which the pious Mr. Wilberforce was once invited, and where he 
 heard his host exclaim with an admirable candor: “I can’t see 
 what they admire in this river. There it goes, flow, flow, all day 
 long,” The predominant feature of his character was “ to do what 
 h<e liked, without caring who was pleased or displeased with it;” a 
 simple and agreeable rule of life. As years passed on, and he grew 
 . more and more decayed, there was left to him the pastime of sitting 
 in a cane chair, in his balcony, a parasol held over his head, in his 
 Low-window at Piccadilly — “an emaciated libel on manhood,” 
 says one who had seen him ogling the ladies of all degrees who 
 passed by — and a groom ready mounted. Jack Radford by name, 
 waiting below to ride after such friend or acquaintance as the duke 
 recognized. In the afternoon, he was to be seen tottering down the 
 little iron staircase to his vis-d-vis — a dark green vehicle, with long- 
 tailed black horses. During winter he carried a muff, two servants 
 sat in the rumble, while the indispensable Jack Radford rode be- 
 hind. A buck of fifty years ago recalled him as “ a little sharp- 
 looking man, very irritable, who swore like ten thousand troopers.” 
 There was indeed a suggestion of Voltaire’s face. Still, we are told 
 that, “viewed from behind,” he appeared surprisingly youthful; a 
 rather ambiguous compliment. A physician enjoyed an annuity 
 
72 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE TV. 
 
 of five hundred a year for the duke’s life, with the understanding 
 that nothing was to be expected after death. But he did not rest 
 on the arts of legitimate pharmacy. A French quack, named P^re 
 Elisee, was in his grace’s service, whose duty it was to compound 
 strange drugs, supposed to have an elixir-like virtue, and to supply 
 the vital power that was departing. At one time a rumor was rife 
 in London that the aged duke was in the habit of taking milk 
 baths! Thus the old man struggled on, now becoming deaf of one 
 ear, now blind of an eye, now supplying its place with a glass one ; 
 a perfect ruin, but still preserving what were called his “elegant 
 manners.” At last, when eighty-five years old, and in the year 
 1810, this selfish and uninteresting specimen of an old epicurean 
 was to be called away from his three superb “ places,” his hoarded 
 wealth, and his pleasures. 
 
 His testament was found to be a curious document, consisting of 
 a will formally executed, and no fewer than twenty-five codicils, 
 more irregularly drawn. His ready money was found to amount 
 to nearly a million sterling, and the disposition of it caused a uni- 
 versal flutter. Lord Yarmouth (later one of the Regent’s choicest 
 and most favored companions), with his wife, inherited all the vast 
 estates; a disposition revoked in the codicils, and reduced to two 
 hundred and fifty thousand pounds in cash. This jovial boon 
 companion was familiarly styled by his friends, from the peculiar 
 tint of his whiskers, “Red Herrings;” while his wife was the well- 
 known heroine of George Selwyn’s insane devotion. 
 
 A vast number of his friends were left either ten thousand or five 
 hundred a year. Three French ladies received a thousand pounds 
 apiece, with which they were, no doubt, but ill-contented. Some 
 of the other legacies were marked by a strange oddity: a Mrs. 
 Brown was allotted an annuity of only five guineas a year; while 
 Jack Radford, his well-known groom, received an annuity of two 
 hundred pounds, together with all his horses and carriages. His 
 steward, confectioner, and other important attendants had each the 
 same; the female servants were nearly all passed over. The French 
 compounder of mysterious drugs had five thousand pounds. The 
 legacy duty on the whole was calculated at about one hundred and 
 twenty thousand pounds. But the old epicurean passed over the 
 apothecary who attended him until he w’as himself brought to the 
 verge of the grave. He had attended him for seven weary years, 
 had paid nine thousand three hundred and forty visits, besides 
 sitting up some seventeen hundred nights! He claimed ten thou- 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 73 
 
 sand pounds. Tlie heirs were just enough to admit his claim, and 
 at the trial came forward to support him; and though the judge 
 declared that an apothecary had no right to recover fees, the jury 
 found for him to the amount of nearly eight thousand pounds. 
 Unfortunately, all these splendid legacies belonged to the twenty- 
 five codicils,, written on sheets of note-paper and improperly pre- 
 pared. This was to the advantage of the Yarmouths, who, indeed, 
 would lose a legacy in specie, but in its place receive a vast estate. 
 The only resource was Chancery, and for six years the Jack Rad- 
 fords and other humble annuitants were tortured by suspense, until, 
 -at last, the Yarmouths consented, on some certain shape of indem- 
 nity, that the legacies should be paid. 
 
 He was interred, rather inappropriately, under the communion- 
 table of St. James’s Church. He was attended to the grave by his 
 male servants only; the unremembered female servants, probably, 
 not caring to attend. The heiress, who had been George Selwyn’s 
 pet and had sat on his knee, now more than a hundred years ago, 
 lived until the year 1856, dying when nearly ninety years old. 
 
 The Duke of Norfolk, then Lord Surrey, and the friend of Fox, 
 was another of this odious school of rakes. He was not devoid of 
 political talent, and took a leading and spirited part in the contests 
 that preceded and followed Fox’s India Bill. Gross in his tastes, 
 addicted to low pleasures, heartless — a characteristic of convivial 
 intercourse — in his old age he became a sort of bloated voluptuaiy, 
 delighting in the company low places offered. It is difficult indeed 
 to realize the state of society, when noblemen of the highest rank 
 were found sitting night after night at taverns about Covent Gar- 
 den, meeting their frequenters on terms of equality. He was 
 described as “a vulgar, heavy, dirty mass of matter, that could swill 
 wine like a Silenus and gorge beefsteaks like a buckhorse.” “ In his 
 youth,” says one who knew him (Sir N. Wraxall), “ he led a most 
 licentious life, having frequently passed the whole night in excesses 
 of every kind, and even lain down when intoxicated, occasionally, 
 to sleep in the streets or on a block of wood. At the Beefsteak 
 Club, where I have dined with him, he seemed to be in his proper 
 element. But few individuals of that society could sustain a con- 
 test with such an antagonist when the cloth was removed. In 
 cleanliness he was negligent to so great a degree that he rarely made 
 use of water for purposes of bodily refreshment and comfort. He 
 even carried the neglect of his person so far, that his servants were 
 accustomed to avail themselves of his fits of intoxication for the 
 4 
 
THE LIFE OF OEOHQE IV. 
 
 Y4 
 
 purpose of washing him. On those occasions, being wholly insen- . 
 sible of all that passed about him, they stripped him as they would 
 have done a corpse, and performed on his body the necessary ablu- 
 tions, JSTor did he change his linen more frequently than he washed 
 himself. Complaining one day to Dudley North that he was a mar- 
 tyr to the rheumatism, and had ineffectually tried every remedy for 
 its relief, ‘Pray, my lord,’ said he, ‘did you ever try a clean 
 shirt?’ 
 
 “Drunkenness was in him an hereditary vice, transmitted down, 
 probably, by his ancestors from the Plantagenet times, and inherent 
 in his formation. His father indulged equally in it, but he did not 
 manifest the same capacities as his son in resisting the effects 
 of wine. It is a fact, that after laying his father and all the guests 
 under the table at the Thatched House Tavern in St. James’s Street, 
 he has repaired to another festive party in the vicinity, and there 
 recommenced the unfinished convivial rites.” At these taverns and 
 houses of call were met an abundance of low revellers, such as 
 Felix Macarthy, who did political service for his friends, Billy 
 Hew-ardine and Jemmy Bibb, the original of “Jeremy Diddler” — 
 types now likely to be found at the music-halls.* 
 
 His companion and 'protege. Captain Morris, who used to delight 
 him and the Beefsteak Club with his convivial and amatory songs, 
 sank into old age, and would have died in want and destitution 
 unless the pressure of friends had shamed the duke into making him 
 a small allowance. 
 
 Sir John Lade was, w^e are told, the Prince’s tutor in the art of 
 driving, and, on his coming of age in 1780, was honored by John- 
 son with some prophetic verses. The sage repeated them on his 
 death-bed. The are indeed admirable : 
 
 Long-expected one-and-twenty, 
 
 Ling’ring year, at length is flown ; 
 
 Pride and pleasure, pomp and plenty, 
 
 Great Sir John, are now your own. 
 
 Loosen'd from the minor’s tether. 
 
 Free to mortgage or to sell. 
 
 Wild as wind and light as feather. 
 
 Bid the sons of thrift farewell. 
 
 * For an account of these worthies and others of their class, the reader may 
 consult Bernard’s “Retrospections,” Adolphus’s “Memoirs,” and that curious 
 miscellany, “Records of My Life,” by John Taylor, editor of The Sun. 
 Another strange and mixed picture of manners at the commencement of the 
 century is given in Richardson’s “Recollections.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 75 
 
 Call the Betseys, Kates, and Jennies, 
 
 All the names that banish care; 
 
 Lavish of your grandsire’s guineas. 
 
 Show the spirit of an heir. 
 
 All that prey on vice and folly 
 Joy to see their quarry fly; 
 
 There the gamester, light and jolly, 
 
 There the lender grave and sly. 
 
 Wealth, my lad, was made to wander, 
 
 Let it wander as it will ; 
 
 Call the jockey, call the pander. 
 
 Bid them come and take their fill. 
 
 When the bonny blade carouses. 
 
 Pockets full, and spirits high— 
 
 What are acres? what are houses? 
 
 Only dirt, or wet or dry. 
 
 Should the guardian friend or mother 
 Tell the woes of wilful waste: 
 
 Scorn their counsels, scorn their pother, 
 
 You can hang or drown at last. 
 
 He married a lady said to have been drawn from St. Giles’s, 
 under the favoring patronage of Rann, or Sixteen-string Jack, a 
 notorious criminal, at whose execution at Tyburn she secured the 
 notice of persons of high degree. At the Windsor hunt, her skill 
 in riding attracted the Prince’s notice. She excelled her husband 
 in the art of driving, and her curricle and four excited the admira- 
 tion of all.* 
 
 These persons — and there were many more like these — will give 
 a sufficient idea of what “the bloods” of the day were like. They 
 were to be succeeded by the Yarmouths, Brummells, Jack Paynes, 
 and many more. The wonder is that the young prince did not 
 become a thorough-paced reprobate. 
 
 Another of these friends was the Hon. George Hanger, after- 
 wards Lord Coleraine, who was a noble author. Thi^ eccentric 
 being entered the Guards, which he left to join the Hessians abroad. 
 
 * Her skill was celebrated in the well-known lines: 
 
 More than one steed Letitia’s empire feels. 
 
 Who sits triumphant o’er the flying wheels; 
 
 And as she guides them through th’ admiring throng. 
 With what an air she smacks the silken thong 1 
 Graceful as John, she moderates the reins. 
 
 And whistles sweet her diuretic strains. 
 
76 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 and after some service in America, returned to town, w^here he 
 made the acquaintance of the Prince of Wales, then in all the riot- 
 ous flush of his early career, Mr. Hanger became his boon com- 
 panion, and for sixteen years “enjoyed his protection, having 
 viewed him in every stage — ^health, on a sick-bed, etc.” It was 
 in this connection that he acquired celebrity by his geese -and - 
 turkey wager with the Prince. This singular transaction is thus 
 described : 
 
 “During one of the convivial parties at Carlton House, 3Ir. 
 Hanger designedly introduced the subject of the travelling powers 
 of the turkey and the goose, and declared that the turkey would 
 outstrip the goose. The Prince, who placed great reliance on his 
 judgment in subjects of this nature, backed his opinion. A match 
 was made with Mr. Berkeley of twenty turkeys against tw’enty 
 geese, for a distance of ten miles; the race to be for five hundred 
 pounds. And as 3Ir. Hanger and the turkey party hesitated not to 
 lay two to one in favor of their bird, the Prince did the same to a 
 considerable amount, not in the least suspecting that the whole was 
 a deep-laid plan to extract a sum of money from his pockets. The 
 Prince deputed Mr. Hanger to select twenty of the most wholesome 
 and high-feathered birds which could be procured ; and, on the day 
 appointed, he and his party of turkeys, and Mr. Berkeley and his 
 party of geese, set off to decide the match. For the first three 
 hours, everything seemed to indicate that the turkeys w’ould be the 
 winners, as they w^ere then two miles in advance of the geese; but, 
 as night came on, the turkeys began to stretch out their necks 
 towards the branches of the trees w'hich lined the sides of the road. 
 In vain the Prince attempted to urge them on with his pole, 
 to which a bit of red cloth Avas attached; in vain Mr. Hanger dis- 
 lodged one from its roosting-place, only to see three or four others 
 comfortably perching amongst the branches; in vain was the barley 
 strewn upon the road. In the meantime, the geese came w’addling 
 on, and in g short time passed the turkeys, whose party were all 
 busy among the trees attempting to dislodge the birds; but further 
 progress was found impossible, and the geese were declared the 
 winners.” 
 
 This nobleman, a few years afterwards becoming more eccentric, 
 declined to sign himself by his title, and made it a matter of offence 
 to be addressed by it. He later wTote some strange confessions, 
 and indeed must be pronounced to have been altogether mad. 
 
 Such was the curious assemblage of friends that attended the 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 77 
 
 young prince on his entering life, and in such hopeful company the 
 only surprise is that he was not more hopelessly corrupted than he 
 proved to be* 
 
 Yet it would be as unreasonable to judge of his taste from this 
 type of associate, as it was in Mr. Thackeray to write him down a 
 tailor’s block and nothing more. Men of low tastes, as they are called, 
 may show lack of refinement, but not of intellectual power, and the 
 Prince would as often be found presiding over a gathering of men 
 like Fox, Sheridan, Erskine, Francis, and others. Among his 
 friends, too, was the wonderful and brilliant Hugh Elliott, a name 
 little known now, yet during his career enjoying a European repu- 
 tation. The story of his marriage with Mdlle. De Krauth and his 
 duel with Kniphausen were the talk of diplomatists; but more 
 remarkable was his bold interference in Sweden in 1788 — his unau- 
 thorized assurances to the king of English support at a most critical 
 juncture. Nothing indeed is more remarkable than the mixed char- 
 acter of the Prince’s circle. 
 
78 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 1785. 
 
 One result of such monitors and their wild courses may be con- 
 ceived. He was found to he prematurely steeped in debt, and, 
 before he was five-and-twenty, was as fairly crippled and “ruined” 
 as the most abandoned spendthrift. It was curious to find to what 
 a sum his debts had reached in so short a time ; and the result of 
 the first attempts of those periodical “liquidations,” which were to 
 recur so frequently, now comes before us. 
 
 “This morning,” his Majesty wrote to Mr. Pitt on March 24th, 
 ‘ ‘ I received the enclosed note from Lord Southampton, on which 
 I appointed him to be at St. James’s, when I returned from the 
 House of Peers. He then delivered to me the letter from the Prince 
 of Wales. All I could collect from him was, that there are many 
 sums, but it cannot be honorable to explain ; that Lord Southampton 
 has reason to believe they have not been incuiTed for political 
 purposes ; that he thinks the going abroad is now finally resolved 
 on ; and that perhaps the champion of the Opposition has been con- 
 sulted on the letter now sent. I therefore once more send all that 
 has passed to Mr. Pitt, and hope to hear in the course of to-mon-ow 
 from him what answer ought to be sent to this extraordinary epistle, 
 which, though respectful in terms, is in direct defiance of my whole 
 correspondence. I suppose Mr. Pitt will choose to consult the Chan- 
 cellor.” * 
 
 The phrases, “incurred for political purposes,” “the champion 
 of the Opposition,” showed what was in the King’s mind. It has 
 been said indeed, that ‘ ‘ it would almost seem that, instead of his 
 having turned a deaf ear to his son’s solicitations, he was ready to 
 place the settlement of the business in the hands of Pitt and the 
 Chancellor.” But the later proceedings show that the minister was 
 equally disinclined to consent to arrangement. Taking this let- 
 ter, with Sir J. Harris’s account of his interviews, the inference is 
 
 * Earl Stanhope, “ Life of Pitt,” i. 30, Appendix. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEOROE IV. 
 
 79 
 
 that the Prince was right in his view that the other side was not 
 really anxious to come to his assistance, save on the terms of a com- 
 plete political surrender and submission, and of breaking with the 
 Opposition ; and that the objections made as to not disclosing the 
 nature of the debts were a convenient pretext for refusal. The 
 Prince had given up his idea of going abroad, and was willing to 
 retrench, to set aside a portion of his income for payment of his 
 debts; so that his outburst to Sir J. Harris — “I cannot abandon 
 Charles and my friends ” — showed the sacrifice that was required of 
 him. But he himself shall now tell what his desperate condition 
 was and what his grievances. In a curious conversation with his 
 friend Harris, in April, 1785, he unfolded the steps that had been 
 taken to set him free. 
 
 ‘ ‘ The Prince began by saying that as he was convinced of my 
 sincere regard for him, he wished to make me acquainted with his 
 situation; to communicate it to me fully, and to consult me upon it. 
 The original ideas of the then ministry were, to give'him £50,000 to 
 pay his debts, £50,000 to fit him out, and £100,000 a year, exclusive 
 of the Duchy of Cornwall. The King, after having apparently 
 approved of this arrangement, refused ultimately to agree to it. 
 The ministers were on the point of going out (Lord Carlisle, Mr. 
 Fox, and Lord Keppel), but the Prince of Wales being told that 
 Lord John Cavendish was against it, and that the King had referred 
 to Lords North and Stormont (as his old friends) to decide on the 
 propriety of his conduct, he (the Prince of Wales — this affair was 
 negotiated between the Prince and Charles Fox by Colonel Leake) 
 insisted that they should stay in, and that he would not be the cause 
 of a revolution in ministry, or have it said he ran counter to the 
 King’s pleasure in his first outset. In consequence of this he received 
 £30,000 to pay his debts, and £30,000 to equip him, with £50,000 a 
 year out of the Civil List. He found his house unfurnished ; that, 
 and many other expenses — some necessary to his rank, some, as he 
 confessed, incurred by the natural imprudences of a young man — 
 soon involved him in debts to a very considerable amount, 
 
 “In the autumn of 1784 * he wrote to the King, stating his embar- 
 rassed situation, and signifying his wish to travel in order to retrench. ^ 
 The idea of his travelling was reprobated, and, after several letters 
 had passed, the King desired the Prince of Wales to send in an exact 
 statement of his debts, giving him to understand he would liquidate 
 
 Diaries of Lord Malmesbury,” vii. 121. 
 
80 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 them. This the Prince did eji gros. It was kept four months, and 
 then returned on the King’s saying it was not exact. The articles 
 M^ere not specified. The Prince sent it back again with every article 
 minuted by his treasurer, except one of £25,000, which was lumped, 
 and which he could not account for. (He told ihedt was bon’owed 
 money, and that he was obliged, in honor, not to tell from whom he 
 got it.) The King objected to this reserve, insisted on its being 
 explained. The Prince persisted in his refusal, alleging the motive 
 of secrecy to be one of honor. The King replied that if it was a debt 
 he was ashamed to explain, it was one he ought not to pay. Here 
 the matter ended. The Prince’s debts increased, and with them his 
 embarrassment and distress. He now owes £160,000. He ended 
 his discourse by telling me that, circumstanced as he was, he saw 
 no means of relief left but by going abroad, that he only wanted to 
 ask me whether he should distress me or not if he was to come to the 
 Hague in a private character, and whether !• could present him as 
 such. He added, he would rather not come at all (though it was 
 his resolution to travel) than distress me, or oblige me to act im- 
 properly.” 
 
 Sir James Harris remonstrated against this step, urging that “you 
 may rest assured in that case I shall receive orders how to act 
 towards you before your arrival ; and those orders, let them be ever 
 so much in contradiction to my feelings, I must obey. 
 
 “P. — Certainly, I should be the last person to wish you to do 
 otherwise. But what am I to do? Am I to be refused the right of 
 every individual? Cannot I travel legally, as a private man, with- 
 out the King’s consent? 
 
 “ H. — I think it very immaterial for your Royal Highness to know 
 whether you can, or cannot, legally travel without his Majesty’s 
 consent; since it is evident that you cannot with any propriety to 
 the public, or satisfaction to yourself, cross the seas without it. 
 
 “P. — Why not? I wish to travel on a plan of economy ;^o be 
 unknown ; to live in retirement. 
 
 ®H. — Without entering into the almost impossibility of your 
 Royal Highness making so rapid a transition in your ways of life, I 
 confess I see no event would give me so much pain, as an English- 
 man, as to see a Prince of Wales abroad under such a description. 
 
 “P. — I feel what you say; but what can I do? The King pro- 
 posed to me to lay by £10,000 a year to pay my debts, at a time 
 when, with the strictest economy, my expenses are twice my income. 
 I am ruined if I stay in England. I disgrace myself as a man. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEOliGE FV. 
 
 81 
 
 “H. — Your Royal Higlmess, give me leave to say, will find no 
 relief in travelling the way you propose, Y ou will be either slighted, 
 or, what is worse, become the object of political intrigue at every 
 Court you pass through. 
 
 “P. — But if I avoid all great Courts? If I keep to the smaller 
 ones of Germany, can this happen? I may there live unnoticed and 
 unknown. 
 
 “H. — Impossible, sir. The title of the Earl of Chester will be 
 only a mask which covers the Prince of Wales, and, as such, your 
 actions will ever be judged. 
 
 “P. — You think I mean to go to France. I shall keep to the 
 Empire, and perhaps to Italy. 
 
 “H. — What I say applies to all countries, sir. As for France, I 
 hope never to see a Prince of Wales there on any other purpose than 
 that which carried the Black Prince ; or ever to hear of his being at 
 Calais, but to fix the British standard on its walls. 
 
 “P. — But what can I do, my dear Harris? The King hates me. 
 He wants to set me at variance with my brother, I have no hopes 
 from him. He won’t let even Parliament assist me till I marry. 
 
 “H. — But there exists so cordial an affection between your 
 Royal Highness and the Duke of York, that I should think he might 
 be employed most usefully to reconcile the King to your Royal 
 Highness. It cannot be a difficult task when undertaken by a 
 brother. 
 
 “ P. — If he thought it possible, he would come over immediately. 
 He has often expressed his concern at our disunion, and declares he 
 never will leave the Continent till he can see a prospect of bringing 
 the King to enter into my situation. 
 
 “H. — Surely, sir, the King could not object to any increase of 
 income Parliament thought proper to allow your Royal Highness? 
 
 “P. — I believe he would. He hates me; he always did, from 
 seven years old. 
 
 “H. — His Majesty may be displeased and dissatisfied with your 
 Royal Highness, but surely he cannot hate you? 
 
 “P. — It may be so, but it cannot be. We are too wide asunder 
 ever to meet. The King has deceived me, he has made me deceive 
 others ; I cannot trust him, and he will never believe me. 
 
 “ H. — I am sorry your Royal Highness thinks so. The confidence 
 and kindness with which you hear me perhaps makes me speak 
 more freely than I ought;, but I think your Royal Highness should 
 
 4 * 
 
82 
 
 TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 try every possible means before you carry into execution your plan 
 of travelling. 
 
 “P. — I will think it over, but I see no option. We will meet 
 again soon. I have gi’eat reliance on your opinion, and am disposed 
 to attend to you, because I am convinced you have no interested 
 motives in advising me. 
 
 “On Saturday, May the 21st, the Prince took an opportunity of 
 saying many obliging things to me at an assembly at Mrs. Sturt’s, in 
 St. James’s Square. I was induced, in consequence of this civility, 
 to ask permission to reclaim his promise of allowing me to wait 
 upon him again at Carlton House. He appointed the Monday fol 
 lowing at 2 p.m. My motive for requesting this interview was, that 
 I had received vague assurances from Lord Carmarthen (Secretar}" 
 of State for the Foreign Department, and who spoke after Mr. Pitt, 
 First Lord of the Treasury) that the ministry would not be adverse 
 to increase his Royal Highness’s income, providing he would consent 
 to appropriate a share of it to liquidate his debts, renounce going 
 abroad, and be reconciled to the King. 
 
 “Before I opened this subject to him I consulted both the Duke 
 of Portland and Mr. Fox; and both of them expressed their appro- 
 bation of the measure, and their wishes for me to mention it to the 
 Prince. 
 
 ‘ ‘ After waiting some time after the hour appointed on Monday, 
 he sent for me up into his dressing-room. Our conversation was 
 nearly what follows: 
 
 “ P. — If you are come, my dear Harris, to dissuade me again from 
 travelling, let me anticipate your kind intentions by telling you I 
 have dismissed that idea from my mind. I see all my other 
 friends, as well as yourself, are against it, and I subscribe to their 
 opinion. 
 
 “ H. — After what you have told me, sir, allow me to express my 
 infinite satisfaction on hearing you have given up your plan. 
 
 “P. — I am glad to have pleased you, at least, if I have not 
 pleased myself. Yet I am sure you will be concerned to see the 
 distressed and unbecoming fight in which I must appear bj’' remain- 
 ing in England. 
 
 “H. — This had better appear here (admitting it to be the case) 
 than to strangers. But, sir, the purport of my troubling your Royal 
 Highness was to obviate this unpleasant circumstance. 
 
 “ P. — How so? 
 
 “H. — I have thought, sir, with great anxiety on all you said to 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 83 
 
 me when I was last admitted to your presence, and, if you will allow 
 me, I will lay before you the result of my reflections. 
 
 “P. — Most willingly, 
 
 “H. — If your Royal Highness will give me leave, I will propose 
 to Mr. Pitt to increase your revenue to £100,000 a year on two con- 
 ditions. The one, that you will set aside £50,000 of it to pay your 
 debts; the other, that you will cease to be a man of party, and recon- 
 cile yourself to the King. 
 
 “P. — Your good-will towards me deceives you. The attempt 
 would be useless. Pitt would not carry such a proposal to Parlia 
 ment : the King would not hear of it. 
 
 “H. — This, sir, is exactly what I mean to try. You certainly 
 shall not be committed ; and the refusal shall be given to me alone. 
 
 “P. — I thank you; but it will not do. I tell you the King hates 
 me. He would turn out Pitt for entertaining such an idea ; besides, 
 I cannot abandon Charles and my friends, 
 
 “H. — Mr. Fox and the Duke of Portland have told me often, sir, 
 that they by no means wish your Royal Highness to condescend, on 
 their account, to take any share in party concerns. They have 
 repeatedly declared that a Prince of Wales ought to be of no party. 
 
 “P. — Well, but admitting this, and supposing that I can get rid 
 of a partiality in politics you seem to condemn, I tell you, Harris, 
 the King will never listen to it. Pitt dares not mention it to him ; 
 or, if he did, is he strong enough in the House of Lords to carry 
 it through? 
 
 “H. — But, sir, I presuppose a reconciliation between you and his 
 Majesty. Surely this would be grateful to the King himself, and 
 most particularly so to the Queen, 
 
 “P. — Why, my dear Harris, will you force me to repeat to you 
 that the King hates me? He will never be reconciled to me. 
 
 “H. — It cannot be, sir. If you order me, I will ask an audience 
 of him, and fling myself at his feet. 
 
 “ P. — I love you too well to encourage you to undertake so useless 
 a commission. If you will not credit me, you will, perhaps, credit the 
 King himself. Take and read all our correspondence for these last 
 six months. 
 
 “The Prince here opened an escritoire, and took out a large bun- 
 dle of papers, which he read to me. It consisted of various letters 
 which had passed between him and the King, beginning with that 
 in which he asked his leave to go abroad in autumn, 1784, as men- 
 tioned in my first conversation. 
 
84 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 “It is needless to attempt to relate precisely the contents of this 
 correspondence; it is sufficient to observe that the Prince’s letters 
 were full of respect and deference, wi'itten with great plainness of 
 style and simplicity. Those of the King were also well written, hut 
 harsh and severe; constantly refusing every request the Prince 
 made, and reprobating in each of them his extravagance and dissi- 
 pated manner of living. They were void of every expression of 
 parental kindness or affection; and, after both hearing them read, 
 and perusing them myself, I was compelled to subscribe to the 
 Prince’s opinion, and to confess there was very little appearance of 
 making any impression on his Majesty in favor of his Royal High- 
 ness. I resumed, however, the conversation as follows : 
 
 “H. — I am hurt to a degree, sir, at what I have read. But still, 
 sir, the Queen must have a reconciliation so much at heart, that 
 through her and your sisters it surely might be effected. 
 
 “P, — Look ye, Harris; I cannot bring myself to say I am in the 
 wrong when I am in the right. The King has used me ill ; and I 
 wish the public knew what you now know, and was to pronounce 
 between us. 
 
 “H. — I should be very sorry, indeed, sir, if this was known 
 beyond these walls ; for I am much mistaken if the public would not 
 pronounce a judgment widely different from that you think. It is 
 not sufficient, sir, for the King to be wrong in one point : sir, unless 
 you are in the right in all, and as long as any part of your conduct 
 is open to censure, the voice of the public (considering your relative 
 situations) will always go with the King, ' 
 
 “P. — That is a cruel truth, if it be true what you say; but it 
 is of no use to investigate it ; my case never will go to that tri- 
 bunal. You are, however, convinced of the impracticability of 
 your scheme, as much, I hope, as I am of your kind regard in pro- 
 posing it to me. 
 
 “H. — I would not willingly renounce an idea, which, by its 
 accomplishment, is to relieve your Royal Highness from a state of 
 distress, and, I may say, discredit, and place you in one of affluence 
 and comfort. May I suggest, sir, the idea of your marrying? It 
 would, I should think, be most agreeable to the King, and, I ameer 
 tain, most grateful to the nation. 
 
 “P. (with vehemence). — I never will marry! My resolution is 
 taken on that subject. I have settled it with Frederick. No, I 
 never will marry! 
 
 “H. — Give me leave to say, sir, most respectfully, that you can- 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 85 
 
 hot have really come to such a resolution; and you must marry, sir: 
 you owe it to the country, to the King, to yourself. 
 
 “P. — I owe nothing to the King. Frederick will marry, and the 
 crown will descend to his children ; and as for myself, I do not see 
 how it affects me. 
 
 “H. — Till you are married, sir, and have children, you have no 
 solid hold on the affections of the people, even while you are Prince 
 of Wales; but if you come to the throne a bachelor, and his Royal 
 Highness the Duke of York is married and has sons to succeed you, 
 your situation, when King, will be more painful than it is at this 
 moment. Our own history furnishes strong examples of the truth 
 of what I say. 
 
 “The Prince was greatly struck with this observation. He 
 walked about the room, apparently angry. I moved towards the 
 door, saying: I perceive, sir, I have said too much: you will 
 allow me to withdraw. I am sure I shall be forgiven an hour 
 hence. 
 
 “P. — You are forgiven now, my dear Harris. I am angry with 
 myself, not with you. Don’t question me any more. I will think 
 of what you have said. Adieu. God bless you !” 
 
 Such was this singular dialogue, which shows that not only the j 
 King and his minister, but the Prince’s own friends, were eager 
 that he should withdraw from political agitation, and cease from 
 presenting to the nation the scandalous spectacle of a son at war 
 with his father. The most remarkable passage in this conversation 
 was his vehement declaration that he would never marry: most 
 significant when we shall learn the strange romantic adventure that 
 he was then engaged in, which, by an awkward coincidence, was 
 contemporaneous with a general earnest desire that he should con- 
 tract a marriage. This he was presently to do ; but after a fashion 
 that was to bring discredit on himself and cruel wrong to a highly- 
 princinled and virtuous woman. 
 
86 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IK 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 1785. 
 
 A BEAUTIFUL woman, attracted and gifted in many ways, liad 
 excited a violent passion in the Prince. This was the well-known 
 Mrs. Fitzherbert, then living on Richmond Hill.* She was then 
 twenty-eight years old, the youngest daughter of Mr. Smythe, a 
 country squire, in Hampshire. She had been first married, in 1775, 
 to Mr. Edward Weld, uncle to the cardinal of that name, a family 
 held in high esteem by the King, who paid many visits to his castle 
 at Lulworth. Mr. Weld died in the very year of their marriage, 
 and she espoused later Mr. Fitzherbert, of Swinnerton, in Staf- 
 fordshire, who died in May, 1781, leaving her — then a most attrac- 
 tive person — with a fortune of two thousand pounds a year. 
 Looking at her portrait by Conway, we can see of what kind were 
 the blooming charms that so fascinated ‘'an august personage:” 
 the exquisitely-cut lips, the round features (full yet not plump), the 
 store of refined good humor and good nature without vulgarity. 
 All contemporaneous accounts agree as to her amiability and strict 
 principle. It was at Richmond Hill, as she told Lord Stourton, that 
 she in the first instance became acquainted with the Prince, and 
 “ the object of his most ardent attentions,” and thus the well-knowm 
 song was said by a number of writers, usually well-informed, to 
 have been composed in her honor. 
 
 The late Lord Stourton, to whom she confided her story, and Mr. 
 Charles Langdale, who prepared a moderate and interesting account 
 from the materials, explains the difficulties and embarrassments to 
 
 * An attempt has been made to associate her name with the well-known 
 ballad, “The Lass of Richmond Hill;” 'but there can be little doubt the song 
 has no connection with Mrs. Fitzherbert. She could scarcely be termed a 
 “lass” at the time, having been twice a widow: and the allusion in “I'd 
 crowns resign to call thee mine ” is merely a conventional phrase in amatory 
 chanting. A Miss Cropp and a Miss Janson, of Richmond, in Yorkshire, are 
 the other claimants. It was sung at Vauxhall in 1789. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 87 
 
 wliicli she was exposed from the extravagance of her admirer’s 
 passion. The lady was a woman of the first fashion, and not what 
 is called a devotee. 
 
 “For some time,” says Lord Stourton, relating her story, “her 
 resistance had been availing; but she was about to meet with a 
 species of attack so unprecedented and alarming, as to shake her 
 resolution, and to force her to take that first step which afterwards 
 led by slow (but on the part of the Prince successful) advances to 
 that union which he so ardently desired, and to obtain which he 
 was ready to risk such personal sacrifices. Kelt (the surgeon) Lord 
 Onslow, Lord Southampton, and Mr. Edward Bouverie arrived at 
 her house in the utmost consternation, informing her that the life 
 of the Prince was in imminent danger, that he had stabbed himself, 
 and that only her immediate presence would save him. She 
 resisted, in the most peremptory manner, all their importunities, 
 saying that nothing should induce her to enter Carlton House. 
 She was afterwards brought to share in the alarm; but still fearful 
 of some stratagem derogatory to her reputation, insisted upon some 
 lady of high character accompanying her, as an indispensable con- 
 dition; the Duchess of Devonshire was selected. They four drove 
 from Park Street to Devonshire House, and took her along with 
 them. She found the Prince pale and covered with blood. The 
 sight so overpowered her faculties, that she was deprived almost of 
 all consciousness. The Prince told her that nothing would induce 
 him to live unless she promised to become his wife, and permitted 
 him to put a ring round her finger. I believe a ring from the hand 
 of the Duchess of Devonshire was used upon the occasion, and not 
 one of his own. Mrs. Fitzherbert being asked by me,” adds Lord 
 Stourton, “whether she did not believe that some trick had been 
 practised, and that it was not really the blood of his Eoyal High- 
 ness, answered in the negative; and said she had frequently seen 
 the scar, and that some brandy-and-water was near his bedside 
 when she was called to him on the day he wounded himself. They 
 returned to Devonshire House. A deposition was drawn up of 
 what had occurred, and signed and sealed by each one of the party; 
 and, for all she knew to the contrary, might still be there. On the 
 next day she sent a letter to Lord Southampton, protesting against 
 what had taken place, as not being then a free agent. ” 
 
 It might be supposed that this strange scene was an artifice to 
 impose on an excitable woman. Jesse says “it was probably a 
 trick.” There can be little doubt that the whole performance, to a 
 
88 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 certain degree, was genuine ; for througli his life we find traces of 
 this extravagant sensibility, which became yet more exaggerated 
 from habits of drinking, with even traces of that excitement under 
 which his father labored. He was given to tears and violent emo- 
 tion. Mr. Moore set the story down in his diary with the addition: 
 ‘ ‘ that the Prince had fired at the head of the bed, and had then 
 tried the other weapon. ” In his agitation he had no doubt some 
 confused idea of doing himself injury with a view to make himself 
 interesting in the eyes of her he loved. 
 
 As soon, however, as she refiected on the consequence of what 
 had taken place, she saw its inconveniences. On the next day she 
 left England and withdrew to Holland, while the batfied Prince 
 retired to the country.* From that moment she was persecuted, and 
 his couriers passed and repassed with letters imploring her to return. 
 He displayed the utmost infatuation and despair. He used to repair 
 — Mrs. Fox assured her friends — for comfort to her house, and 
 behaved in the most extravagant style. Lord Holland says that 
 ‘ ‘ Mrs. Fox, then Mrs. Armistead, had repeatedly assured him, that 
 the Prince came down more than once to converse with her and Mr. 
 Fox on the subject; that he cried by the hour; he testified the 
 sincerity and violence of his passion and despair by extravagant 
 expressions and actions — rolling on the floor, striking his forehead, 
 tearing his hair, falling into hysterics, and swearing that he would 
 abandon the country, forego the crown, etc.” 
 
 Wearied out with his importunities, she at last agreed to return 
 under a solemn engagement on his part of a formal marriage, such 
 as would satisfy her conscience. This may have been an indiscreet 
 proceeding; but it was hard to expect that she was to expatriate her- 
 self for the most precious years of her life. Lord Stourton was 
 shown a letter of the Prince’s, thirty-seven pages long, in which was 
 the statement that ‘ ‘ the King would connive at the union. ” This it 
 would be going too far to call a falsehood, and may have been 
 meant as inference merely. 
 
 It was in the first week of December that she arrived. And the 
 sagacious Fox, who had not seen his patron for some weeks, began 
 to suspect what was on foot. The Prince had no doubt avoided the 
 societ}’’ of his friend, from an awkward consciousness of his secret 
 and of the step he now intended. But when the arrival of the lady 
 became known, the Prince must have been disagreeably surprised to 
 receive a remonstrance and warning from his friend IVIr. Fox, enjoining 
 him to take care, and pointing out the serious dangers of such a step. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 89 
 
 After declaring that he knew he was running the risk of displeas- 
 ing him, Mr. Fox thus appeals to him : 
 
 “ I was told just before I left town yesterday that Mrs. Fitzherbert 
 was arrived, and if I had heard only this I should have felt most 
 unfeigned joy at an event which I knew would contribute so much 
 to your Royal Highness’s satisfaction ; but I was told at the same 
 time that from a variety of circumstances, which had been observed 
 and put together, there was reason to suppose that you were 
 going to take the very desperate step (pardon the expression) of 
 marrying her at this moment. If such an idea be really in your 
 mind, and it is not too late, for God’s sake let me call your attention 
 to some considerations, which my attachment to your Royal High- 
 ness, and the real concern that I take in whatever relates to your 
 interest, have suggested to me, and which may possibly have the more 
 weight with you when you perceive that Mrs. Fitzherbert is equally 
 interested in most of them with yourself. In the first place, you are 
 aware that a marriage with a Catholic throws the prince contracting 
 such marriage out of the succession of the crown. If there be a 
 doubt about her previous conversion, consider the circumstances in 
 which you stand ; the King not feeling for you as a father ought ; the 
 Duke of York professedly his favorite, and likely to be married to 
 the King’s wishes; the nation full of its old prejudices against 
 Catholics, and justly dreading all disputes about succession. In all 
 these circumstances your enemies might take such advantages of^ny 
 doubt of this nature as I shudder to think of, and though your 
 generosity might think no sacrifice too great to be made to a person 
 whom you love so entirely, consider what her reflections must be in 
 such an event, and how impossible it would be for her ever to forgive 
 herself. I have stated this danger upon the supposition that the mar- 
 riage could be a real one, but your Royal Highness knows as well as I 
 that according to the present laws of the country it cannot, and I 
 need not point out to your good sense what a source of uneasiness it 
 must be to you, to her, and above all to the nation, to have it a 
 matter of dispute and discussion whether the Prince of Wales is or 
 is not married. If there should be children from the marriage, I 
 need not say how much the uneasiness as well of yourselves as of 
 the nation must be aggravated. If anything could add to the 
 weight of these considerations, it is the impossibility of remedying 
 the mischiefs I have alluded to. For, if your Royal Highness should 
 think proper, when you are twenty-five years old, to notify to Par- 
 liament your intention to maiTy (by which means alone a legal 
 
90 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 marriage can be contracted), in what manner can it be notified? If 
 the previous marriage is mentioned or owned, will it not be said 
 that you have set at defiance the laws of your country, and that you 
 now come to Parliament for a sanction to what you have already 
 done in contempt of it? If there are children, will it not be said 
 that we must look for future applications to legitimate them, and 
 consequently be liable to disputes for the succession between the 
 eldest son — and the eldest son after the legal mamage? And will 
 not the entire annulling of the whole marriage be suggested as the 
 most secure way of preventing all such disputes? It will be said 
 that a woman who has lived with you as your wife without being so 
 is not fit to be Queen of England ; and thus the very thing that is 
 done for the sake of her reputation will be used against it ; and what 
 would make this worse would be that the marriage being known 
 (though not officially communicated to Parliament), it would be 
 impossible to deny the assertion. In the meantime a mock-marriage 
 (for it can be no other) is neither honorable for any of the parties, 
 nor, with respect to your Royal Highness, even safe. This appears 
 so clear to me that, if I were Mrs. Fitzherbert’s father or brother, I 
 would advise her not by any means to agree to it, and to prefer any 
 other species of connection with you to one leading to so much misery 
 and mischief 
 
 “ It is high time I should finish this very long and, perhaps your 
 Highness will think, ill-timed letter ; but, such as it is, it is dictated 
 by pure zeal and attachment to your Royal Highness. With respect 
 to Mrs. Fitzherbert, she is a person with whom I have scarcely the 
 honor of being acquainted, but I hear from everybody that her 
 character is irreproachable, and her manners most amiable. Your 
 Royal Highness knows, too, that I have not in my mind the same 
 objection to intermarriages with princes and subjects which many 
 have. But, under the present circumstances, a marriage at present 
 appears to me to be the most desperate measure for all parties con- 
 cerned that their worst enemies could have suggested.” 
 
 Such was this well-reasoned appeal. The singular suggestions, 
 given in italics — and which the late Earl Russell, with some want of 
 candor, suppressed — were not meant in a cynical or offensive sen.se, 
 but as the sincere advice of ‘‘a man of pleasure,” who had himself 
 married a courtesan.* It literally recalls the suggestions of Sir 
 
 * Mrs. Fox lived till recently. She has been described to the author, by one 
 who visited her, as a rather vulgar old lady, wdth a cockney pronunciation. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 91 
 
 Pertinax Macsycophant to the clergyman in the play. To this the 
 Prince did not reply for more than a day, and then at two o’clock in 
 the morning. 
 
 THE PRINCE OP WALES TO MR. FOX. 
 
 “Carlton House, December 11, 1785. 
 
 “Sunday Morning, 2 o’clock. 
 
 “Dear Charles, 
 
 “Your letter of last night afforded me more true satisfaction 
 than I can find words to express, as it is an additional proof to me, w^ 
 I assure you I did not want, of y*" having y* true regard and affection 
 for me, w^ it is not only y® wish but y® ambition of my life to merit. 
 Make yourself easy, my dear friend; believe me the world will now 
 soon be convinced y* there not only is, but never was, any ground for 
 these reports, w^ of late have been so malevolently circulated. I 
 have not seen you since the apostacy of Eden. I think it ought to 
 have y® same effect upon all our friends y* it has upon me ; I mean 
 the linking us closer to each other; and I believe you will easily 
 believe these to be my sentiments, for you are perfectly well 
 acquainted with my ways of thinking upon these sort of sub- 
 jects. When I say my ways of thinking, I think I had better say 
 my old maxim, w^ I ever intend to adhere to ; I mean y* of swim- 
 ming or sinking with my friends. I have not time to add much 
 more, except just to say y* I believe I shall meet you at dinner at 
 Bushey on Tuesday, and to desire you to believe me at all times, my 
 dear Charles, Most affectionately yours, 
 
 “George P.” 
 
 A weak nature might be inclined to justify itself to itself by the 
 quibble that what Fox had deprecated had not yet taken place. 
 Even had it been arranged for, he might think that, having the 
 power of changing his mind, he could still fairly deny it. What 
 might be the tmth of the case is that, like many such fickle and 
 impulsive characters, he was for the moment convinced by Fox, and 
 gave in his adhesion in an exaggerated fashion, though that evening 
 he may have veered round again. No doubt, too, he believed in his 
 statement that “there not only is, but never was, any ground for 
 these reports.” It is amusing to read his affirmation of his old 
 
 Nothing shows Fox’s power, and the fascination he exercised over his friends, 
 more than the hearty receptions extended to this lady. 
 
92 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 maxim, “wliicli I ever intend to adhere to; I mean that of swim- 
 ming or sinking with my friends.” 
 
 Almost on that day week, December 21st, the marriage w^as 
 solemnized! Nor was this, unhappily, to be the last of these equivo- 
 cations. There w'as to come the denial to Grey, and, worse still, the 
 instmction to Fox to utter a more public denial, based on his own 
 solemn assurance. 
 
 “A certificate of this marriage,” says Lord Stourton, “is extant 
 in the handwriting of the Prince, and with his signature and that 
 of Mary Fitzherbert. The witnesses’ names were added; but at the 
 earnest request of the parties, in a time of danger, they w^ere after- 
 wards cut out by Mrs. Fitzherbert herself, with her own scissors, to 
 save them from the peril of the law. This she afterwards regretted ; 
 but a letter of the Prince, on her return to him, has been preserved 
 to supply any deficiency, in which he thanks God that the witnesses 
 to their union were still living; and moreover, the letter of the 
 officiating clergyman is still preserved, together with another docu- 
 ment with the signature and seal, but not in the handwriting, of the 
 Prince, in which he repeatedly terms her his wife.” 
 
 These, however, could not have been the sole witnesses of the. 
 ceremony ; for it has been stated that Mr. Orlando Bridgman — later 
 Lord Bradford — was present.* Also General Keppel, according to 
 Mr. Raikes.f This was to be expected, the general being a constant 
 favorite of the Prince, and long attached to his household. There 
 were also present her brother and cousin. 
 
 It was often speculated who the clergyman was that had taken on 
 himself so perilous a duty, and it may be conceived that here was a 
 most serious ditficulty. Application was made to one Rosenhagen, 
 a disreputable military chaplain, a singular roystering sort of clergy- 
 man. Among his papers was found the correspondence on this 
 subject. 
 
 “Colonel Gardner, the Prince’s private secretary, writes, asking 
 R. to perform the ceremony. R. replies that it would be contrary 
 to law for him to do so, and, if done, would be productive of impor- 
 tant, probably of disastrous, consequences to the w^hole nation. 
 The colonel answers that the Prince is aware of all that, but pledges 
 himself to keep the matter a profound secret, and that the Prince 
 will feel bound to reward R. for such a proof of his attachment, as 
 
 * Lady C. Buiy, “ Diary of the Times of George IV.” 
 t “ Raikes’s Diary,” i. 189, ed. 1858. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 93 
 
 soon as the means are in his power. Rosenhagen, in reply, says 
 he can trust implicitly the Prince’s promise of secrecy, but he dare 
 not betray the duty he owes to the Prince by assisting in an affair 
 that might bring such serious consequences to him. Lady Francis 
 says she ‘believes Rosenhagen declined the business because no 
 specific offer was made to him, and not from the motives stated in 
 the letters, as he was daring and unscrupulous. ’ ” 
 
 Another clergyman consented to undertake the dangerous office, 
 but, at the last moment, drew back, alarmed by warnings made by 
 one who suspected what was the fact. Parson Johnes was long sup- 
 posed to have been the, person. A clergyman was, however, at last 
 found, whose name was kept secret, though it would appear to have 
 eventually become known; for, in the year 1796, Mr. Abbott, the 
 Speaker, learned from Mr. Barton that “the Rev. Mr. Burt, of 
 Twickenham, actually married the Prince of Wales to Lady Fitz- 
 herbert, and received five hundred pounds for doing it, as he himself 
 declared to his family on his death-bed. ” * Lord Holland’s account, 
 which he received from some unnamed friend of Mrs. Fitzherbert, is 
 admittedly absurd as regards the religious portion, and, in the eyes 
 of any one at all acquainted with the Roman Catholic religion, 
 ridiculous: 
 
 “It was at the Prince’s own earnest and repeated solicitations, not 
 at Mrs. Fitzherbert’s request, that any ceremony was resorted to. 
 She knew it to be invalid in law; she thought it nonsense, and told 
 the Prince so. . . . It was performed by an English clergyman. A 
 certificate was signed by him and attested by two witnesses, both, I 
 believe. Catholic gentlemen, and one a near relation of Mrs. Fitz- 
 herbert, Mr. Errington. Mrs. Fitzherbert, from mixed feelings of 
 fear and generosity, tore off the names of the witnesses at some sub- 
 sequent period, lest they should by possibility be involved in any 
 legal penalties for being present at an illegal transaction. Before 
 George the Fourth’s accession to the throne, or, as I believe, his 
 appointment to the Regency, the clergyman was dead (for it was 
 not, as often surmised. Parson Johnes who married them); and his 
 name, I understand, remains annexed to the instrument purporting 
 to be a register or certificate of the ceremony. ” 
 
 It was owing to this statement and others of a similar kind by this 
 nobleman, that Mrs. Fitzherbert’s vindication was published by Mr. 
 Charles Langdale. 
 
 * “ Diary of Lord Colchester,” i. 68. 
 
94 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 It may be imagined that this union was for her but the opening 
 of a series of humiliations and trials. So volatile and unstable a 
 character as his — and it must be said, so little regulated by principle 
 — was not likely to insure comfort. “During the commencement 
 of her union,” we are told, “the attachment cf that fickle prince 
 still existed; few were the happy hours that she could number even 
 at that period. He was young, impetuous, and boisterous in his 
 character, and very much addicted to the pleasures of the table. It 
 was the fashion in those days to drink very hard, and Mrs. Fitzher- 
 bert never retired to rest till her royal spouse came home. But I 
 have heard the late Duke of York say, that often when she heard 
 the Prince and his drunken companions on the staircase, she would 
 seek a refuge from their presence even under the sofa, when the 
 Prince, finding the drawing-room deserted, would draw his sword in 
 joke, and searching about the room, would at last draw forth the 
 trembling victim from her place of concealment. ” * She was, 
 unhappily, to furnish one more instance of the experience that those 
 who voluntarily place themselves in a position liable to be falsely 
 construed must be content to accept the penalty in the worst con- 
 struction that can be put upon their situation. She confessed long 
 after that they were very happy and very poor, and went through 
 many difficulties together very cheerfully, f 
 
 In the spring of this year the Duke of Chartres, now Duke of 
 Orleans, forced him into a sort of rivalry of extravagance. They 
 contended in sumptuous entertainments at the Jockey Club, where 
 deep play was carried on. The Prince was said to have lost wagers 
 to the Duke of Queensberry, Count O’Kelly, and others. His present 
 style of carriage and horses was now a ‘ ‘ phaeton and six, ” a postilion 
 directing the two leaders. His stud was costing him thirty thousand 
 pounds a year, and he was living in a more reckless style than usual. 
 His situation was indeed almost desperate. 
 
 It will be seen from this that unfortunately he had now added to 
 his already expensive pursuits that most costly one — the keeping of 
 a^racing stable, with the consequent taste for betting on the turf. 
 Newmarket was his favorite resort, where he would stay at Queens- 
 berry House with its owner, and have uproarious nights with “Old 
 Q.,” Fox, and his friends. A love of horseflesh was deeply seated 
 
 * “ Raikes’s Diary,” ii. 29. 
 
 t The Duke of Wellington repeated to Mr. Greville a story of Mrs. Fitzher- 
 bert’s having to borrow money to take the Prince down to Newmarket, 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 95 
 
 in his nature, and to the day of his death he delighted in all that 
 concerned racing, hunting, and horses generally. There was in 
 those days, when racing had not been brought to a system, a more 
 passionate ardor for the sport, and a more healthy enjoyment in it. 
 than there is now. Many stories were current as to the Prince’s 
 winnings and losses ; and it was said that on the occasion of his tak- 
 ing his guest the Duke of Orleans to Newmarket, he had won a sum 
 of thirty thousand pounds. The probabilities are that at this stage 
 he lost and lost heavily. As he grew older, however, he lost his 
 taste for this perilous vice. 
 
 We now hear of Carlton House, where a grand entertainment had 
 been given to the persons who had supported the host during the 
 late crisis. Then began the series of various festivities. A curious 
 spectacle was a grand assault of arms, that took place between 
 various famous professors of fencing — St. George (the foreign artist), 
 Angelo, and others. This was followed by a match between St. 
 George and the famous Chevalier (or Chevali^re) D’Eon, who, dressed 
 in woman’s clothes, succeeded in vanquishing the victor. The 
 Prince himself then took the foils, and fenced with the Chevalier, 
 and was complimented on his graceful attitudes.* 
 
 We see him next at “ a grand match at tennis between two French 
 markers, Barcelon and Bergeron — the two best, I believe, now in the 
 world.” It is Sir G. Elliot who tells the story. “He was accom- 
 panied by a Monsieur St. George, a famous French mulatto, cele- 
 brated for his skill in fencing, music, and most other accomplish- 
 ments, beyond other men, and almost as remarkable in this sort oi 
 fame as the Admirable Crichton, whom you may have read of. The 
 Prince was also attended by Mr. Hesse, now commonly called the 
 Prince of Hesse, and who is more with the Prince than is credit’ 
 able.” 
 
 We find him also following the new craze of mesmerism — attend’ 
 ing the seances of Maimaduc, a professor of the delusion, and 
 submitting to be operated upon before a company of fashionable 
 persons. The operation was partially successful, and the Prince 
 nearly succumbed to his influence. Thus was society rushing from 
 one hobby and excitement to another, as in our own day it passes 
 capriciously from rinking to tableaux, blue china, and a hundred 
 such whims. 
 
 It was not surprising, after this round of dissipation, that at the 
 
 * There is an engraving of this curious scene. 
 
96 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV, 
 
 end of tlie year he should have been attacked by illness, “in conse- 
 quence,” the public was informed, “of having drunk some cooling 
 liquor while heated with dancing.” He was “in perfect health” on 
 the Guildford course, came up to the Duchess of Gordon’s assembly, 
 and sent on to Lady Gideon’s that he should be with her to supper. 
 On reaching her hall, after this busy day, he found himself unable 
 to go upstairs, and was transported home in a sedan-chair. He 
 could not leave his house for a fortnight. He was, indeed, all 
 through his course, subject to attacks of the kind. Boxing, too, had 
 engaged his attention, and he was, for a time, an earnest patron of 
 the “noble science.” The company such pursuits introduced him 
 to may be conceived. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 97 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 1786—1787 
 
 It will be recollected that, when the Prince contracted his engage- 
 ment to Mrs. Fitzherbert, he was engaged in appealing to his father 
 to extricate him from his dithculties. It is curious to find that the 
 earliest results of the improvident step he had taken were to be 
 involved, in a strange way, with his pecuniary embarrassments, and 
 the sagacious predictions of Mr. Fox to be verified. Here, too, was 
 to arise the first of those unseemly contests between the father and 
 son which were to be the scandal of many years. 
 
 All attempts to arrange his extrication with the King having failed, 
 it was determined to bring the matter before the House ; not by way 
 of formal motion, but incidentally. It happened, fortunately for 
 this purpose, that an application had to be made to the House for an 
 increase to the King’s allowance for payment of a large debt, and 
 Fox, with some point, called attention to the fact that while his 
 Majesty enjoyed nine hundred and fifty thousand pounds a year, his 
 son had but fifty thousand. 
 
 Pitt answered, in his coldest and most indifferent fashion, “that 
 he was not instructed to make any communication to the House 
 respecting the royal family;” adding that “he should avoid the pre- 
 sumption of expressing any private opinion on the subject.” Aider- 
 man Newnham supported the demand. Fox then threw out a 
 menace that before the session ended he would bring a motion for- 
 mally before the House. 
 
 This injudicious step -was not likely to further an arrangement. 
 Mr. Pitt, however, had declared that if he received the King’s com- 
 mands he would, as a matter of course, take up the business, thus 
 encouraging a fresh attempt. Mr. Hugh Elliott undertook, with the 
 assistance of Sheridan, to make new proposals. He repaired to Mr. 
 Pitt, with a modest demand for two hundred and fifty thousand 
 pounds; the debts amounting to some hundred and fifty thousand. 
 The minister affected to be inclined to furnish the sum, provided a 
 balance was set aside for “some specific purposes.” This, however, 
 6 
 
98 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 was declined. The King was then once more approached, and he too 
 affected to receive the proposals graciously, asking for a detailed 
 statement of liabilities. This was furnished to him, and after some 
 further delay a final answer was sent, his Majesty positively declin- 
 ing to accept the terms, and declaring that neither then nor at any 
 future time would he sanction an increase to his son’s income. This 
 communication was made in harsh terms, and ‘ ‘ not very civil. ” 
 
 “As soon as the Prince received the King’s letter from Lord 
 Southampton, he told him he must think of the answer for some 
 hours, but begged of his lordship not to lose sight of him; that let 
 that answer be what it might, his lordship should be able to assure 
 the King from his own knowledge, that he had not seen or been 
 advised in the writing of the answer by any of those people, friends 
 of his, that had the misfortune of being under his Majesty’s dis- 
 pleasure. He accordingly, after six hours’ thinking, sat down and 
 wrote to the King, telling him his determination of giving up forty 
 thousand pounds a year to the payment of his debts.”* 
 
 No doubt the King was alarmed by this threat, and wrote that he 
 had not said absolutely he would not pay his debts; but if the 
 Prince chose to take a rash step, he must likewise take the conse- 
 quences. 
 
 THE PHINCE OF WALES TO THE KINO. 
 
 ‘ ‘ SlK, 
 
 “I have had the honor of receiving your Majesty’s written 
 message transmitted to me by Lord Southampton, and am greatly con- 
 cerned that my poor sentiments cannot coincide with those of your 
 Majesty, in thinking that the former message which I had the honor 
 of receiving, in your Majesty’s own hand, was not a refusal. After 
 having repeatedly sent in various applications to your Majesty, for 
 two years successively, representing that a partial reduction out of 
 so incompetent an income as mine was to no purpose towards the 
 liquidation of a debt where the principal and interest were so con^ 
 siderable, I this year humbly requested your Majesty that you woul(j 
 be graciously pleased (having previously laid my affairs before you, 
 sir, for your inspection, and painted them in the distressed coloi-s 
 which they so justly merited), whenever it suited your conveniency, 
 
 * Letter from “ a distinguished person connected with the Court,” quoted by 
 Mr. Wallace in his “ History of the Life and Reign of George IV.,” i. 136. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 99 
 
 to favor me with a decisive answer; as the various delays which 
 have occurred, through the course of this business, have in reality 
 proved more pernicious to me in the situation in which I have been 
 for some time past involved, than the original embarrassment of the 
 debt. To not only these, but to any future delays, would I most 
 willingly have submitted, had they merely rested upon my own 
 patience; but the pressing importunities of many indigent and 
 deserving creditors (some of them whose very existence depends 
 upon a speedy discharge of their accounts) made too forcible an 
 appeal to the justice becoming my own honor, and to the feelings 
 of my heart, to be any longer delayed. Another consideration is, 
 that any further procrastination might have exposed me to legal 
 insults, as humiliating to me as I am persuaded that they would be 
 offensive to your Majesty. I therefore, previously to my having 
 the honor of receiving that message to which 3'our Majesty has 
 referred me, had determined, that should I not be so fortunate as 
 to meet with that relief from you, sir, with which I had flattered 
 mj^self, and which I thought I had the greatest reason to expect, I 
 would exert every nerve to render that just redress and assistance 
 to my creditors which I cannot help thinking is denied to me. 
 These are the motives, sir, that have actuated my conduct in the 
 step I have taken, of reducing every expense in my famil}", even 
 those to which m}^ birth and rank entitle me (and which I trust 
 will ever continue to be the principle and guide of my conduct), 
 till I have totally liberated myself from the present embarrassments 
 which oppress me; and the more so as I am persuaded that such a 
 line, when pursued with consistency, will meet with the approba- 
 tion of every candid and dispassionate mind. 
 
 “I will not trespass any further on your Majesty’s time, but have 
 the honor to subscribe myself, 
 
 “Sir, 
 
 “Your Majesty’s most dutiful and obedient 
 “ Son and Subject, 
 
 “G. P. 
 
 “July 9 th, 1786.” 
 
 Of this document the Prince made copies, and gave them a'wa}'' 
 to all his friends. Thus all negotiations ended for the present. It 
 may be conceived what evil passions were raging on both sides : 
 disappointment, mortification, jealousy, and, it is to be feared, a 
 longing for revenge and humiliation of the adversary. Prompted, 
 
100 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEOROE IV. 
 
 it may be assumed, by pique rather than by a desire to economize, 
 the Prince proceeded to carry out the undignified scheme of 
 retrenchment he had threatened, and held himself out to the nation 
 as a prince reduced to poverty and straits b}”^ the barbarity of his 
 father and his father’s advisers. Without a day’s delay, he broke 
 up his establishment, announced the sale of his stud, shut up half 
 the rooms at Carlton House, stopped all the works, and ostenta- 
 tiously proclaimed that he was setting aside forty thousand pounds 
 a year for his debts. The heir-apparent’s carriages and horses were 
 sold by public auction (the whole realizing but seven thousand 
 pounds), to the annoyance, no doubt, of the Court, Coupled with 
 this was the renewed announcement of self-expatriation. To this 
 course he was stimulated by his friend Mr, Fox, who gave him 
 great commendation. Lord Grey recollected the Prince showing 
 him this letter: 
 
 THE PRINCE OF WALES TO MR. FOX. 
 
 “Brighton, July 19th, 1786. 
 
 ‘ ‘ My dear Charles, 
 
 “ I am more obliged to you than I can possibly express for 
 the contents of y® letter I yesterday received from you, and am 
 more and more convinced of the necessity of pursuing that plan 
 w^, I assure you, I never should have adopted had I not intended 
 to have gone thr° with it. With regard to the other plan you men- 
 tion I approve most highly of it, but shall not touch upon it at all 
 at present, as I mean to be in London for a few hours on Monday 
 next, when I hope to have the pleasure of seeing you, and of dis- 
 cussing the matter fully at length. At twelve o’clock I shall be 
 ready to receive you at Carlton House. I vdll not trespass any 
 further upon y patience at present, but conclude, with assuring 
 you, that no one can feel more sensibly every mark of y friendship 
 and regard, than 
 
 “ Your sincerely affectionate, 
 
 “George P.” 
 
 “How noble, how good/ was the cry of friends and foes, 
 according to the partial view of his friends. His own immediate 
 dependants submitted cheerfully to the reductions required. The 
 only exception was Colonel Hotham, who, having one thousand 
 pounds a year in his household, with “poundage” in other salaries, 
 begged that the loss would be made up to him, as it was hard that 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 101 
 
 he should suffer. The Prince condescended even to make use of 
 his friends’ equipages, as he had none of his own. And the heir- 
 apparent was seen travelling from London to Brighton in a common 
 postchaise. 
 
 It may be conceived, after these incidents, what animosity 
 raged between the partisans of the Court and of the Prince. The 
 King had certainly behaved with harshness, and, it was stated, 
 used to make merry over the dilapidated condition of the works at 
 his son’s palace, exhibiting derisively to his courtiers, by way of 
 contrast, a model of the projected improvements which his son had 
 sent him. The Prince’s party were not slow to retort in the most 
 disrespectful fashion. They pointed out, as evidence of the King’s 
 lack of paternal feeling and dislike of his offspring, that at that 
 moment his five sons had all been sent away out of the country.* 
 
 This, indeed, has always seemed an awkward fact, ignored by 
 historians and panegyrists of the - King, that, on many occasions, 
 he had to come with heavy debts to Parliament, applying for relief ; 
 and, while he upbraided his son for his outlay, the latter might 
 have retorted that the Sovereign had received enormous sums. “ A 
 caricature represented the King and Queen coming out of the 
 Treasury loaded with money-bags, and the Prince accompanying 
 them in the poor habiliments of the prodigal son.” 
 
 These savings were the result of the almost penurious economy 
 that reigned in the royal household. From the time of the King’s 
 marriage, it had been ordered on the most careful and saving prin- 
 ciples — as we may learn from the royal ledgers, beautifully and 
 clearly kept for many years, and which are to be seen in the Brit- 
 ish Museum. There we find it set out that, in 1762, all the bills for 
 milliners, mercers, shoemakers, etc., for the Queen and family, 
 amounted to about four thousand pounds, of which nine hundred 
 and eighty pounds went to the milliner, Mrs. MacEune. This 
 moderate estimate was scarcely exceeded, even as the family 
 increased and grew up. In 1806, the establishment consisted of 
 but seven coachmen, six postilions, four helpers, eight hobby- 
 
 * The Duke of York was at Hanover, Prince William at sea. Prince Edward 
 at Geneva, the Dukes of Cumberland and Gloucester were living abroad in a 
 state of poverty and disgrace, and the remainder were at Gottingen Univer- 
 sity. “ Only the oldest,” says Sir Nathaniel Wraxall, “ remained at home, in 
 a dismantled palace, all the state apartments of which were shut up, his 
 establishment dismissed, and himself reduced, in external, to the condition of 
 a private gentleman. ” 
 
102 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 grooms, eight footmen, three chairmen, one bolleman, and the 
 total cost of salaries, etc., was about eighteen thousand pounds 
 a year. But in this year, as there were the six princesses to main- 
 tain and clothe, the bills for the wardrobe linen reached to some 
 thirteen thousand pounds. This seems moderation itself. 
 
 An incident that occurred about this time shows this view of the 
 vindictiveness of the Court. When the King’s life was attempted 
 by Margaret Nicholson, his son, who was at Brighton, was left to 
 learn the event from the letter of a friend. With good feeling 
 that did him honor, he instantly took post, and hurried to Windsor. 
 It will hardly be credited that the King, though in the next room 
 to the one in which the Queen received her son, refused to see 
 him.* 
 
 The Prince was at this time in a state of almost actual penury. 
 He lived at houses lent to him, like that of the Earl of Gloucester’s 
 at Bagshot. He was indeed reduced to such a plight that he was 
 driven to the perilous and undignified course of becoming the 
 debtor of a foreign prince. The Duke of Orleans was this year on 
 a trip to London, and with him had come the Dukes of FitzJames, 
 Coigny, and Polignac. Indeed, the people had begun to satire and 
 ridicule these visits, and a fellow had insulted the French Prince 
 at Newmarket, saying he knew he was the Duke of Orleans, and 
 that he ought to be in his own country defending his King. Eager to 
 be more English than the English, he had presented himself at a 
 dinner-party, dusty and dirty, in a morning suit, his buttons enam- 
 elled with horses and dogs, which he displayed with some pride 
 to the lady beside him. 
 
 His inflamed scorbutic face was seen everywhere — at Brookes’s, 
 at the theatre. At the Prince’s desire he had sat to Sir Joshua for 
 a fine full-length portrait, abounding in spirit and power. Being 
 rich, and seeing the distress of his friend, the French prince pressed 
 on him a substantial loan. The news of this transaction came 
 from Paris to the Duke of Portland, who wrote in much alarm to 
 Sheridan in December, 1786: “I have received a confirmation of 
 the intelligence; the particulars laried in no respect from those I 
 related to you, except in the addition of a pension, which is to 
 take place immediately on the event which entitles the creditors to 
 
 * There was a punctilio raised : the Prince assuming that his visit was a suf- 
 ficient declaration of his wishes; the King declaring that bis son had not 
 asked to see him. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 103 
 
 payment, and it is to be granted for life to a nominee of the Duke 
 of Orleans. The loan was mentioned in a mixed company by two 
 of the Frenchwomen and a Frenchman, in Calonne’s presence 
 (then Minister of Finance), who begged them, for God’s sake, not 
 to talk of it. I am going to Bulstrode, but will return at a 
 moment’s notice if I can be of the least use in getting rid of this 
 odious engagement.” 
 
 Sheridan seems to have exerted himself, for the duke writes to 
 thank him for what he had done, and seems to hope tliat the mat- 
 ter will end favorably.* Fox’s aid was also invoked, and he recov- 
 ered the bonds and brought them to the Prince. This was to be 
 but the beginning of a number of similar operations in the foreign 
 market. It is stated by Mr. Moore that when Fox came to remon- 
 strate with him on this foolish step, the Prince persisted in deny- 
 ing there was any truth in the matter, until Mr. Fox convicted him 
 by drawing one of the bonds out of his pocket. 
 
 In all these transactions public sympathy, not unnaturally, was 
 on the Prince’s side. I'or several months he pursued his plan of 
 economy, his debts under a certain amount being cleared off, and 
 nine per cent on the larger sums being paid. This praiseworthy 
 economy being known, many members of the House felt that his 
 situation was unbecoming the nation, and were eager to extricate 
 him. And proceedings now followed, which, however, were only 
 to bring fresh scandal, and further inflame the bitterness between 
 him and his father. 
 
 A meeting of the Prince’s friends, or supporters, was now held 
 at Mr. Pelham’s (afterwards Lord Chichester), at which the Prince 
 was present, for the purpose of concerting what fresh measures 
 were to be taken when the debate was renev.*ed. It was deter- 
 mined to press the matter on. But it was felt that the ground 
 was tender, and the Prince must have been disagreeably sur- 
 prised during the interval at having a very serious question put 
 to him by his friend Mr. Fox, and to which he gave only too 
 distinct and satisfactory an answer. This referred to Mrs. Fitz- 
 herbert. 
 
 It was accordingly settled, early in 1787, that the matter should 
 be brought before the House, not by the Prince’s friends, but by 
 some independent member. 
 
 This step was opposed to the advice of the Duke of Portland and 
 
 * Moore, “ Life of Sheridan,” 
 
104 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE TV. 
 
 the leading Whigs, except Mr. Fox, who all held that the interest 
 of their party must be considered, and that the advocacy of the 
 Prince’s very weak case would damage them with the country. 
 This led to a serious quarrel between the Duke and the Prince, 
 which was only made up two years later. It helps to prove what 
 was before pointed out — that the Prince’s politics chiefly were 
 regulated by his own interests. It will be seen, however, that it 
 somewhat supports his vindication of his change of politics — viz., 
 that he was not so much bound to the party as to Mr. Fox, whose 
 follower he was. Accordingly, on April 20th, Alderman Nathaniel 
 Newnham, a City merchant, put a question to Mr. Pitt: “Whether 
 he proposed taking any steps to rescue the Prince from his embar- 
 rassed and distressed situation?” He was answered by the min- 
 ister, in his usual cold strain, that he had no commands from the 
 King in reference to the matter; on which the questioner gave 
 notice that on May 4th he would bring forward a motion on the 
 subject. 
 
 This was the signal for joining battle. Mr. Pitt, a few days 
 later, required to know the shape and purpose of the motion, 
 which the other declined to furnish. While all were wondering at 
 this strange allusion, Mr. Rolle followed, alluding to something 
 which he said “involved matters of Church and State.” The 
 Prime Minister indeed threw out what was certainly a menace, 
 alluding darkly to what he called “ the delicacy of the question,” 
 adding that “the private knowledge he possessed on the subject 
 made him particularly desirous of avoiding it; but, if it were abso- 
 lutely determined to bring it forward, he would, however distress- 
 ing it might prove to him as an individual, discharge his duty to 
 the public, and enter fully into the subject; the minister seemed 
 to endorse the allusion by significant nods and gestures.* There 
 could scarcely be a mistake as to what was intended. Yet, possi- 
 bly seeing the advantage he had given his opponents, he sent for 
 Lord Southampton, who waited on the Prince the following morn- 
 ing with his excuses or explanations. The latter was adroit enough 
 to see his advantages, and told him that he never received verbal 
 messages except from the King.” From that time, we are told, 
 he was eager to declare he was not married. 
 
 On the 27th, Mr. Newnham signified to the House that the 
 motion he intended to make would be to the following effect: 
 
 * “Auckland’s Memoirs,” pp. 1-47. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 105 
 
 “ That an humble address be presented to his Majesty, praying 
 him to take into his royal consideration the present embarrassed 
 state of the affairs of the Prince of Wales, and to grant him such 
 relief as his royal wisdom should think fit, and that the House 
 would make good the same. ” Several members on both sides of 
 the House having risen to deprecate the further discussion of this 
 business, and to express their earnest wishes that it might be 
 accommodated in some other manner, Mr. Sheridan declared that 
 the insinuations and menaces, which had been thrown out upon a 
 former occasion, made it impossible for the Prince to recede wdth 
 honor. He said he had the highest authority to declare that his 
 Royal Highness had no other wish than that every circumstance in 
 the whole series of his conduct should be most minutely and accu- 
 rately inquired into, and that he was ready, as a peer of Great 
 Britain, to give in another place the most direct answers to any 
 questions that might be put to him. 
 
 Mr. Rolle observed that if the motion proposed was persisted in, 
 he should state without reserve his sentiments upon the subject he 
 bad alluded to, according as the matter struck him. 
 
 Mr. Pitt declared that he had been greatly misunderstood if it 
 was conceived that he meant to throw out any insinuations injuri- 
 ous to the character of the Prince. He added that he had only 
 referred to his pecuniary affairs and to the correspondence which 
 had passed. 
 
 It seems amazing that Mr. Pitt, and so many statesmen of the 
 same political honor, could condescend to the sort of equivocation 
 that is implied in explanations of this kind. There can be no 
 doubt that what was in his mind when he uttered the threat was 
 the ceremony that had been gone through with Mrs. Fitzherbert, 
 for there was nothing in the revelation of the pecuniary details that 
 could be of an alarming “ or delicate ” nature; or, if there were, it 
 was clear that the publication of such matters as reprisal would 
 hardly add to the discredit of the Prince. 
 
 All doubt being thus removed, when the House met again on 
 April 30th, Alderman Newnham declared that in all these insinua- 
 tions he saw no dangers, the Prince saw none, and it was by his 
 desire that he was now proceeding. Highly as he was honored by 
 the Prince’s confidence, he was not to be intimidated. 
 
 Then Fox rose, his interposition giving rise to a most exciting 
 episode, declaring that as to the correspondence there was no 
 objection to let it be seen. After dwelling on the debts, etc., he 
 
 5* 
 
106 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV 
 
 came to the real point of the whole, and, in carefully-weighed 
 words, prompted by the Prince, made this declaration as to the 
 marriage. He said: “If allusion were made to a certain low and 
 malicious rumor, which had been industriously propagated without 
 doors, he was authorized to declare it to be a falsehood. He had 
 thought that a tale tit only to impose upon the lowest of the vulgar 
 could not have gained credit for a moment in that House, or 
 with any one who possessed the most ordinary portion of common 
 sense and reflection; but when it appeared that an invention so 
 gross and malicious, a report of a fact which was actually impossi- 
 ble to have happened, had been circulated with so much industry 
 and success as to have made an impression upon the minds of the 
 member^'of that House, it both proved the uncommon pains taken 
 by the enemies of the Prince of Wales to depreciate his character 
 and injure him in the opinion of his country. He concluded with 
 adding that he was further authorized by his royal highness to 
 declare that he was read}^ as a peer of Parliament, to answer in 
 the other House any the most pointed questions that could be 
 put to him respecting this report, or to afford his Majesty or his 
 ministers any other assurances or satisfaction they might require.” 
 Knowing that the papers l3ing at the present moment in the cel- 
 lars of ^Messrs. Coutts’s bank were then in existence, we listen with 
 astonishment to this extraordinar}' declaration. 
 
 Mr. Rolle replied that “the right honorable member had said 
 that the fact alluded to was impossible to have happened. The}’ 
 all knew, indeed, that there were certain laws and Acts of Parlia- 
 ment which forbade it, and made it null and void; but still it 
 might have taken place, though not under the formal sanction of 
 law; and upon that point he wished to be satisfied.” 
 
 Mr. Fox observed, that “ though what he had said before was, 
 he thought, sufficient to satisfy every candid and liberal mind, he 
 was willing, if possible, to satisfy the most perverse. When he 
 denied the calumny in question, he meant to deny it, not merely 
 with regard to the effect of certain existing laws, but to deny it in 
 toto, in point of fact as well as law. The fact not only never could 
 have happened legally, but never did happen in any way whatso- 
 ever, and had from the beginning been a base and malicious false- 
 hood.” Mr. Rolle rose again, and desired to know whether what 
 Mr. Fox had last said was to be understood as spoken from direct 
 authority? Mr. Fox replied that he had direct authority. 
 
 Still the sturdy Rolle — having a suspicion of the truth — declined 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 107 
 
 to say that he was satisfied, though assailed by Sheridan and the 
 upright Grey, who accepted the statement. The county member 
 was, alas! justified in his incredulity. It was, of course, a com- 
 plete victory for the Prince. No one would have calculated on his 
 meeting fliese obscure insinuations by so complete, triumphant, 
 and wholesale a denial! There can be no defence and no extenua- 
 tion to be attempted beyond this, that the voluptuary’s senses 
 become so clouded by indulgence that he comes to view all that 
 brings him inconvenience as something that should not be, and 
 therefore — is not. 
 
 The effect on the friends of his own party — Sir G. Elliot among 
 others — v/as complete. Sir Gilbert had been much “ disturbed” by 
 the delicate subject of the Prince’s connection and the constituent 
 dangers and doubts belonging to this “most equivocal position of 
 things.” He thought it all too serious to be excused by “the levity 
 of youth.” He was delighted, therefore, to hear the charge denied 
 so explicitly. “Fox,” he says, “declared, by authority from the 
 Prince, in the fullest and most unequivocal manner, that there was 
 not the smallest foundation of any sort for the story of the marriage 
 with Mrs. Fitzherbert. Rolle hinted at the distinction between a 
 legal marriage and some ceremony that might satisfy the con- 
 sciences of some persons, but Fox rejected any such distinction, 
 and asserted again that there never had been the slightest ground 
 for this slander, either legally or illegally, and, in a word, denied 
 positively from the Prince himself the whole of this slander, in 
 words so strong and so unqualified that we must believe him.” 
 What were Mr. Fox’s feelings, when, on entering Brookes’s after 
 the debate, he was accosted by a gentleman,* who said: “ Mr. Fox, 
 I see by the public papers you have denied the Prince’s marriage 
 to Mrs. Fitzherbert. You have been misinformed; I was present 
 at the marriage!” No arguments or explanations could have been 
 so convincing. It was a coup dc theatre. Here was the voice of a 
 witness who had seen the transaction. Mr. Fox felt, in a moment, 
 in what a humiliating and embarrassing position he stood. 
 
 But the unfortunate lady’s position was, indeed, pitiable. Well 
 might Pitt, or Selwyn whose wit age had not withered, quote from 
 Othello: “Villain! be sure you , prove my love” etc. But the 
 Prince was not without resource. On the very next morning he 
 entered her room gayly, and said; “ Only conceive, Maria, what 
 
 * This may have been Mr. Orlandq Bridgman, afterwards Lord Bradford, 
 
108 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 Fox did yesterday! He went down to the House and denied you 
 and I were man and wife. Did you ever hear of such a thing!*' 
 She made no reply, but turned pale. The duplicity was double- 
 dyed. Having committed liis friend, and gained the advantage he 
 sought, he proceeded to disavow him. 
 
 She saw that her fate was sealed. On her indignation and 
 reproaches he was ready to make all amends, and remove the mis- 
 chief, now that his case had been made with the House of Commons 
 and the public. He sent for Mr. Gvey, and, after much preamble, 
 and pacing in a hurried manner about the room, exclaimed: 
 “ Charles certainly went too far last night. You, my dear Grey, 
 shall explain it;” and then, in distinct tones, “as Grey,” adds 
 Lord Holland, “has, since the Prince’s death, assured me, though 
 with prodigious agitation, owned that a ceremony had taken place.” 
 Mr. Grey observed that Mr. Fox must unquestionably suppose that 
 he had authority for all he said, and that if there had been any 
 mistake it could easily be rectified by his royal highness speaking 
 to Mr. Fox himself, and setting him right on such matters as had 
 been misunderstood between them. “Ho other person can,” he 
 added, “be employed without questioning Mr. Fox’s veracity, 
 which nobody, I presume, is prepared to do.” A reply such as 
 this might be expected from a man of Mr. Grey’s character. “ It,” 
 he said, “chagrined, disappointed, and agitated the Prince exceed- 
 ingly,” and, after some exclamations of annoyance, he threw him- 
 self on the sofa, muttering: “Well, Sheridan must say some- 
 thing.”* 
 
 But, unhappily, we have to go farther, and follow this compli- 
 cated intrigue into fresh deceptions. 
 
 The Prince succeeded in persuading Mrs. Fitzherbert that Fox 
 had “exceeded his instructions.” And it would seem that for 
 nearly twenty years — to the day of his death — she never spoke to 
 Fox again, believing that this gratuitous insult had come from him. 
 We might be inclined to assume, from the Prince’s letter to Fox of 
 May 10th, and its affectionate tone, that Fox had not then had his 
 eyes opened, or felt that he was bound, without being on friendly 
 terms, to carry through the Prince’s business. 
 
 It will be seen, indeed, in a moment, in what a painful and deli- 
 cate position he stood, since, to vindicate himself, he would be 
 obliged to publicly indict his principal of falsehood, and ruin his 
 
 * Lord Holland, “Memoirs of the Whig Party.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 109 
 
 interests, and expose him to certain peril. How lightly that prin- 
 cipal took the matter will be seen from the letter he wrote off to 
 him at midnight after the debate : 
 
 “April 30th, 1787. 
 
 “ Monday night, 12 o’clock. 
 
 “My dear Charles, 
 
 “I beg to see you ior five minutes to-morrow after I have 
 seen Marsham and Powys, whom I beg you will desire to be at 
 Carlton House at one o’clock to-morrow. When I see you I will 
 relate to you what has passed between my friend and me relative 
 to y® seeing you. I feel more comfortable by Sheridan’s and Grey’s 
 account of what has passed to-day. 1 have had a distant insimia- 
 tion that some sort of message or terms are also to be proposed to 
 me to-ihorrow. If you come a little after two you will be sure to 
 find me. “ Ever affectionately yours, 
 
 “ George P.” 
 
 It is stated that Mr. Fox, when he discovered the dishonorable 
 use that he had been put to, broke off his friendship with the 
 Prince, and did not speak to him for a year. And this view is 
 supported by a story told by “Coke of Norfolk” to Earl Russell. 
 Fox had been paying his annual visit to Holkliam, when, on the 
 very day of his departure, his host received a message from the 
 Prince announcing that he intended coming down next day. He 
 thus missed meeting Fox, but at the dinner he ostentatiously twice 
 gave a toast, “To the best man in England — Mr. Fox.” Mr. Coke 
 believed that he had come specially to meet his old friend.* 
 
 Fox, however, must have seen that it was idle keeping up his 
 resentment with so irresponsible a character; and, indeed, their 
 common political interests required reconciliation. Two years 
 later, at the crisis of the regency, we find Sir G. Elliot delighted 
 at Fox’s going “to meet the Prince, which he thought a comfort- 
 able circumstance.” f 
 
 * Years after. Lord Holland was waiting to see the Prince, when Sheridan 
 told him a history of some paper or letter which he had corrected or written 
 for the Prince. When both were admitted to audience, the Prince began a 
 story on the same subject, but of a totally different complexion, appealing for 
 corroboration to Sheridan, who heartily gave it. “ J could npt tell which was 
 the greatest liar!” said the listener, 
 t “ Life of Sir G. Eliot,” i. 238. 
 
no 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 Under this cruel and unmanly imputation, the behavior of Mrs. 
 Fitzherbert was admirable for its dignity. Her friends, she told 
 Lord Stourton, “assured her that, in this discrepancy as to the 
 assertion of Mr. Fox and the Prince, she was bound to accept the 
 word of her husband. She informed him that the public supported 
 her by their conduct on this occasion; for, at no period of her life 
 were their visits so numerous at her house as on the day which 
 followed Mr. Fox’s memorable speech ; and, to use her own expres- 
 sion, the knocker of her door was never still during the whole 
 day.” 
 
 She was visited with studious publicity by the Duchesses of 
 Portland, Devonshire, and Cumberland, and her position in society 
 suffered not the least change. Such was the extraordinary testi- 
 mony to her private character. Some of the meaner parasites of 
 the Prince, we are told, taking their master’s cue, went about 
 repeating the same insinuations against Mr. Fox.* That statesman 
 did all he could to repair the wrong, and, when he came to power, 
 offered to create her a duchess. 
 
 Nor was the poor lady yet to have peace. The crazed Lord 
 George Gordon, who was about being put on his trial for libelling 
 the Queen of France, unfortunately came to associate Mrs. Fitz- 
 herbert with the case. He introduced himself into her house with 
 a subpoena, but was turned out by the servants; the police had to 
 interfere to protect her. 
 
 The most extraordinary part of the transaction is, that more 
 than thirty years after we find the Prince, then King, still denying 
 his marriage. Mr. Croker, his friend and admirer, discussing this 
 question, saj^s: “We are bound in fairness to say that, on the 
 appearance of Moore’s ‘Life of Sheridan,’ George lY. deliberately 
 and distinctly declared that there was not a word of truth in it, 
 and that he never had any communication with Lord Gre}" upon 
 the subject; and he further went on to deny ‘that absurd story’ of 
 his supposed marriage.” This we need hardly say was during 
 Lord Grey’s life, and was intended by the King to be publicl}^ 
 repeated. 
 
 Nor would we consider this, in the King, an instance of unblush- 
 ing falsehood; for, at the time he made it, he had grown into a 
 habit of self-delusion of the mo.st extraordinary kind, partially 
 favored by a crowd of parasites and flatterers, wlio never ventured 
 
 * “Life and Reign,” i. 160. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 Ill 
 
 to contradict him or set him right on any subject. With this aid he 
 had come, therefore, to think that his view of an incident, where he 
 fancied he had been ill-treated, was the truth, and that what ought 
 to have been had been. To these delusions belonged the well-known 
 one of having been at Waterloo, and many others. Mr. Croker 
 was but half convinced by his assurances, and at the same time 
 doubts Lord Holland’s accuracy, who, in his memoirs, reports the 
 share of Lord Grey in the transaction. Fortunately, however. Lord 
 Grey can speak for himself; 
 
 “I do not recollect having given him any account that would 
 satisfy him. On the contrary, in a long conversation which I had 
 with him, in which he was dreadfully agitated, the object was to 
 get me to say something in Parliament for the satisfaction of Mrs. 
 Filzherbert, which might take off the effect of Fox’s declaration. 
 
 I expressly told him how prejudicial a continuance of the discus- 
 sion must be to him, and positively refused to do what he desired. 
 He put an end to the conversation abruptly by saying, ‘Well, if 
 nobody else will, Sheridan must.’ ” * 
 
 Mr. Grey, who took part in all these transactions, was a young 
 man of twenty-two, of great promise, who had just entered the 
 House of Commons, and made an extraordinary impression. Mr. 
 Addington was thus affected: “A new speaker presented himself 
 to the House, and went through his first performance with an Mat 
 which has not been equalled within my recollection. I do not go 
 too far in declaring that, in the advantage of figure, voice, elocu- 
 tion, and manner, he is not surpassed by any member of the House.” 
 
 The Prince seems to have taken an aversion to him from the 
 rebuke implied in the rejection of his unworthy proposal, and it 
 was curious that for more than forty years he was to find himself 
 encountered and checked by the same cold, if not contemptuous, 
 appreciation of his character, and the same air of reproof. Before 
 Grey he seemed to feel abashed; he had the mortification of being 
 forced to ask his aid at a crisis, when it was clearly shown to him 
 that his shifty notions were understood and seen through, and the 
 assistance was haughtily denied. It is certain that he was cordially 
 disliked by George IV. to the day of his death. General Grey, 
 indeed, speaks of those “idle stories,” and quotes a letter of 1806 
 in disproof of the statement. But there can be little doubt of the 
 fact. 
 
 Note by Lord Grey in the “ Life ” by General Grey. 
 
112 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE lY. 
 
 The management of the parliamentary transactions, of which 
 this was an incident, shows that the Prince was not unskilful in 
 a certain kind of manoeuvring. His own party were not united, as 
 we have seen, in supporting his claims to the liberality of the 
 nation. These dissentients, among whom were counted the Duke 
 of Portland and other “old Whigs,” he contrived to neutralize b}' 
 gaining the favor of the countr\’ gentlemen. The bold denial of 
 the marriage had secured this, and had, at the same time, put the 
 Prime Minister in an awkward position. 
 
 He felt that resistance could be no longer offered. He sent a 
 gracious message to the Prince, full of explanations, to which the 
 latter replied bluntly that “he did not receive verbal messages; 
 but that if the minister had any business with him he might come 
 himself.” This, however, was softened by a letter from the Duke 
 of Cumberland to Mr. Dundas, written by the Prince’s direction, 
 prompted, it was said, by the Duchess of Gordon. Dundas came 
 to Carlton House, and, over much wine, assured him of Mr. Pitt's 
 friendliness. From an interview between the Prince and minister 
 the happiest results followed. Mr. Pitt repaired to the King, a 
 Cabinet Council succeeded, and it was intimated that his wishes 
 would be complied with. 
 
 “The Prince,” writes Lord Beauchamp, “begins a most active 
 canvass of the House; applies by letter or personally to every little 
 knot of members, and indirect!}' to almost every individual, offer- 
 ing to submit his plans and his interests to the country gentlemen, 
 producing his accounts, showing every letter, and, by the specimen 
 I have seen, he has been guarded to an extreme degree. In short. 
 Marsham, Powis, Hussey, Pulteney, Astley, and others of that 
 calibre, became converts to his cause, in spite of their original 
 dislike to it. On this footing the business rested, when, the night 
 before the motion was to be made, Mr. Pitt acquaints the Prince, 
 by letter, with his Majesty’s gracious intention to comply with his 
 wishes, and only hints at previous explanations being made by the 
 Prince, by which it was understood that in future he was to be no 
 party man; but, whatever interpretation was intended to be put 
 upon them, the Prince instantly communicated his readiness to 
 acquiesce, and personally to assure the King of his resolution to 
 act in future as he would wish. The motion is, in consequence, 
 laid aside, bnt to this letter, though four days have since elapsed, 
 DO answer was given till this morning, when the King signified his 
 disapprobation to the increase of the Prince’s allowance at all 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 113 
 
 events, and also to the payment of his debts, unless the accounts to 
 be produced to him of the amount should prove satisfactory. The 
 Prince has accepted this qualified offer, and promises instantly to 
 send a precis of his affairs.” * 
 
 In the House of Commons, on the motion being withdrawn, 
 Sheridan executed the delicate commission intrusted to him, to say 
 something for the calumniated Mrs. Fitzherbert. “But, while the 
 Prince’s feelings had, no doubt, been considered on the occasion, 
 he must take the liberty gf saying, however some might think it a 
 subordinate consideration, that there was another person entitled, 
 in the judgment of every delicate and honorable mind, to the same 
 attention; one whom he would not venture otherwise to describe 
 than by saying it was a name which malice or ignorance alone 
 could attempt to injure, and whose conduct and character w^ere 
 entitled to the truest respect.” k. flowery tribute that was ridicu- 
 lous, as it could only have meaning on the supposition that she was 
 married to the Prince, and that Fox’s statement was untrue. As 
 was well said: “Mr. Fox had declared that a lady living with the 
 Prince, to all exterior appearance, in the habits of matrimonial 
 connection, had not the sanction of any canonical forms to support 
 her; whilst, on the other hand, Mr. Sheridan reversed the picture, 
 by representing her as a paragon of chastity, the possessor of every 
 virtue, and the ornament of her sex.” 
 
 To the Archbishop of Canterbury it naturally seemed all “very 
 odd,” particularly as he noted “that the lady was more received 
 than she was, I think, and stands more forward.” A singular cir- 
 cumstance in this debate was the announcement by the Prime 
 Minister that nothing had occurred on the side of the Grovernment 
 to cause the withdrawal of the motion. He meant, probably, that 
 no arrangement had been coneluded or bargain made. The Prince 
 wrote on that night to ask an explanation, on which Mr. Pitt vol- 
 unteered to come to him and give it at Carlton House. On his 
 arrival with Mr. Dundas he found Sheridan, on which he declined 
 to-enter on the business in presence of one so opposed to the Gov- 
 ernment. On this the Prince desired both the inferior agents to 
 withdraw. A long conference followed, at the close of which these 
 written proposals were submitted ; 
 
 “1st. That the Prince’s debts should be paid, at least in part. 
 
 * See “ Correspondence of Lord Auckland,” p. 416; WraxaU’s “ Hist. Mem.;' 
 Lord Cornwallis’s “Correspondence.” 
 
114 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 2nd. That a grant should be made to him for the completion of 
 Carlton House. 3rd. That such reasonable increase should be made 
 to his annual income as would prevent henceforth the necessity of 
 his contracting debts.” Mr. Pitt took his leave with these propo- 
 sitions, and immediately despatched them to the King at Windsor. 
 Much negotiation followed, and it was said that the minister him- 
 self was disgusted by the shiftiness displayed by the King.* 
 
 THE PRINCE OF WJSLES MR. FOX. 
 
 “ Carlton House, May lOth, 1787. 
 
 “Mt LEAR Charles, 
 
 “Ko answer is come as yet from Pitt, excepting y’^ he was to 
 see y® King to-night, and endeavor to get everything settled if 
 he c*^. Some sort of an answer 1 shall certainly have this evening, 
 when he quits the Queen’s House, w*' I will communicate to you 
 as soon as possible after I have received it. His own statement y‘ 
 he has made out, as expenses for every year from the time I came 
 of age, is thirty thousand pounds a quarter; consequently annually 
 an hundred and twenty thousand pounds; y« moment I get a copy 
 of y"' I will transmit it to you for y inspection. In y« meantime 
 I beg you will not think of going to Newmarket till you have heard 
 again from me; how late it may be I cannot answer for. Adieu, 
 my dear friend. Pray excuse haste. 
 
 “Ever yours, G. P.” 
 
 The King presently replied with his own hand, in a letter for- 
 warded by Mr. Pitt to the Prince, to the following effect: 1st. That 
 the King was gratified to find the Prince ready to submit his debts 
 to inspection. 2nd. That the Prince should set forth not only the 
 amount of his debts, but the manner in which each particular debt 
 was contracted. 3rd. That the Prince should engage not to contract 
 debts in future. 4th. That upon compliance with the foregoing 
 conditions would depend the King’s consent to the payment of 
 the Prince’s debts, or any portion of them. 5th. That the King 
 would not think any increase of income necessary, so long as the 
 Prince of Wales remained unmarrried. 
 
 This counter-project was not found satisfactory, and Mr. Courte- 
 nay, one of the Prince’s legal advisers, having quickened the nego 
 
 * “ Life and Reign,” i. 165. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 115 
 
 tiations by giving out that he would bring this delicate question 
 before the House, on the 21st of May the minister brought down a 
 royal message, recommending an increase to his son’s income. 
 The message added that there was “a well-grounded expectation” 
 that his son would avoid contracting new debts. He demanded 
 their aid to pay the debts, and engaged from his own Civil List to 
 add ten thousand pounds a year to his income. The Prince had 
 given his Majesty the fullest assurances of his firm determination 
 to confine his future expenses within his income, and had settled a 
 new scheme of checking the household expenses. An account was 
 furnished to the House: 
 
 Debts op the Prince of Wales. 
 
 Bonds and debts £13,000 
 
 Purchase of houses 4,000 
 
 Expenses of Carlton House 53,000 
 
 Tradesmen ’ s bills 90, 804 
 
 £160,804 
 
 Expenditure prom July, 1783, to July, 1786. 
 
 Household, etc £.29,277 
 
 Privy purse 16,050 
 
 Payments made by Col. Hotham, particulars delivered in to his 
 
 Majesty 37,203 
 
 Other extraordinaries 11,406 
 
 £93,936 
 
 Salaries £54,734 
 
 Stables 37,919 
 
 Mr. Robins, etc 7,059— £99,712 
 
 £193,648 
 
 On the following daj'’ an address from the Commons was pre- 
 sented to the King, with its vote for a hundred and sixty-one thou- 
 sand pounds, for payment of the debt, and a sum of sixty thousand 
 pounds for the completion of Carlton House.* 
 
 This schedule was said not to correspond with the one first pre- 
 sented to the King, and it was understood that the debts of honor. 
 
 * From a letter of Mr. Pitt’s, in July, 1789, it would appear that Coutts, the 
 banker, was employed as agent in the transaction. Forty thousand pounds 
 were to be paid to the general creditors through Mr. Anstruther, while Cap- 
 tain Payne was to receive so large a sum as three thousand pounds for the 
 Brighton creditors.— Rose, “Diaries,” i. 105. 
 
116 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 etc., had been kept back because the King declined to recognize 
 them. The relief indeed was of the most temporary kind; there 
 was no substantial increase to his income, the sum for Carlton 
 House was but a third of what was necessary, and his position was 
 really that of a man in hopeless difficulties, who has obtained a 
 small supply to help to tide him on for a little. Exactly like such 
 a person, the Prince was overjoyed at the relief, which might be an 
 earnest of future aid. So far from an attempt being made to ob- 
 serve this solemn engagement to the King and nation, which com- 
 mon decency might have suggested, three years had not elapsed 
 when his debts reached six hundred and fifty thousand pounds! 
 
TBE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 117 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 1787. 
 
 A RECONCILIATION immediately took place between the Prince 
 and his father. The drawing-room on May 24th, it was remarked, 
 was as tine and crowded as a Birthday. The Prince’s household, 
 now returned to their places, all kissed hands. The King was 
 quite in spirits, and the Queen and her daughters beaming with 
 delight. The impulsive Prince told every one that he was resolved 
 never again to quarrel with his father; a declaration too compre- 
 hensive not to excite a serious foreboding.* 
 
 On the following da)^ an interview, three hours long, took place 
 at the palace, at the end of which the penitent was introduced to 
 his mother and sisters, when all was made up. By the much-in- 
 jured Mrs. Fitzherbert he was also forgiven; and, at a most magni- 
 ficent ball and supper given by Sir Sampson Gideon, the Prince sat 
 at the head of the table, Mrs. Fitzherbert beside him, with all her 
 particular friends grouped near him. Every one had noticed that 
 his attentions to her in public had of late been of the most marked 
 kind. 
 
 The creditors, however, were not quite satisfied with the mode of 
 liquidation, which they thought too slow. They were paid in in- 
 stalments, a first dividend of nine per cent, being presently an- 
 nounced. 
 
 Reconciled to his son, the King was to be further gratified by the 
 return of his favorite, the Duke of York, who arrived on August 
 2nd after an absence of seven years, during which time he had con- 
 trived to impress even Mirabeau unfavorably by his uproariousness 
 and excess in wine. The Prince was then at Brighton, and the 
 news found him at a supper where was the Princess of Lamballe, 
 whence he rose to post all through the night to Windsor. He was 
 fond of this grotesque and spasmodic mode of travel, for which 
 
 * Auckland, “Correspondence,” i. 426. 
 
118 . 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 there was no necessity, and which is, in truth, characteristic of the 
 spendthrift, who loves telegraphing and expresses where mere 
 trivialities are in question. Thus an air of real business is given to 
 pleasure. 
 
 The meeting of the brothers is described as most affecting. 
 After a moment’s pause, during which they surveyed each other, 
 they embraced affectionately. Then followed a happy family din- 
 ner; and if we are to accept the reports of the various chroniclers 
 belonging to the Court, the simple raptures of the happy father, and 
 his queen and his daughters, were more like what would occur in 
 the circle of the good Vicar of Wakefield than among those recently 
 engaged in a bitter and venomous family quarrel. The Duke, in 
 truth, had returned a finished debauchee, arrayed in all the vfces; 
 he was delicate-looking and stooped, and in the splendid picture of 
 him by Reynolds, where he is presented in all the splendor of robes 
 and orders, he appears as an interesting, almost feminine-looking 
 youth, with a rather weak and volatile expression. He was now to 
 form a strict alliance with his brother. 
 
 For the Duke of York an establishment was formed at Oatlands 
 Park, Wey bridge (now an hotel), a place hereafter to be familiar to 
 London men of fashion; having also a grotesque celebrity as the 
 reign of riot and the grave of innumerable dogs, favorites of the 
 Duchess. Frolic and frivolity now set in, and the roj’^al brothers, 
 in this new-found camaraderie, were to renew the old scandals. 
 Indeed, those of the royal family who were older did not set the 
 young men a good example. The Cumberlands, as we have seen, 
 had openly encouraged the Prince of Wales in his hostility to his 
 father. 
 
 One so flattered and followed often showed a capricious humor, 
 which, in his later days, when he studied to support his character 
 of first gentleman, he would not have exhibited. Thus, when 
 dancing with the beautiful Lady Salisbury at a ball given by the 
 Duchess of Devonshire, he suddenly quitted her and finished the 
 measure with his more lovely hostess. The gay Captain Morris 
 thus WTote on the incident: 
 
 Ungallant youth ! Could ro5-al Edward see 
 "While Salisbury’s garter decks thy faithless knee 
 That thou, false knight, hadst turned thy back and fled 
 From such a Salisbury as might wake the dead. 
 
 Quick from thy treacherous breast her badge he’d tear, 
 
 And strip the star that beauty planted there. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 m 
 
 But, as the Duchess of York once said to Mr. Greville, there was 
 a rude, coarse stjde of gentility then obtaining, which gave place to 
 the good-natured manners of the later dandies. The Duke of 
 Gloucester, whose attachment to his wife and sacrifices made for 
 her are told in so sympathetic a fashion in Walpole’s journals, had 
 now transferred his admiration to Lady Tyrconnel, Lcrd Delaval’s 
 youngest daughter, “feminine and delicate in her appearance, Muth 
 a profusion of light hair.” 
 
 “ How the men of business and the great orators of the House of 
 Commons contrive to reconcile it with their exertions I cannot con- 
 ceive,” writes that most charming of public men. Sir Gilbert Elliot, 
 to his wife. “Men of all ages drink abominably. Fox drinks 
 what I should call a great deal, though he is not reckoned to do so 
 by his companions, Sheridan excessively, and Grey more than any 
 of them; but it is in a much more gentlemanly way than our Scotch 
 drunkards, and is always accompanied with lively clever conversa- 
 tion on subjects of importance. Pitt, I am told, drinks as much as 
 anybody.” 
 
 The same observer describes a scene at Mrs. Crewe’s, where three 
 young men of fashion, Mr. Orlando Bridgman, Mr. Charles 
 Greville, of the Picnic Club (a gentleman celebrated for his elegance 
 of manners), and Mr. Gifford, were so drunk “ as to puzzle a whole 
 assembly. The last was a young gentleman lately come out, of 
 good estate of about five thousand pounds a year, the whole of 
 which he is in the act of spending in one or two years at most, and 
 this without a grain of sense, without any fun to himself or enter- 
 tainment to others. He never uttered a word, though as drunk as 
 the other two, who were both riotous, and began at last to talk so 
 plain that Lady Francis and Lady Valentine fied from the side table 
 to ours, and Mrs. Sheridan would have followed them, but did not 
 make her escape till her arms were black and blue, and her apron 
 torn off.” 
 
 the model young minister, broke down in the House in the 
 folTbwing year, owing to a debauch the night before at Lord Buck- 
 ingham’s, when in company with Dundas and the Duke of Gordon 
 he took too much wine.* Indeed, the manners and customs of the 
 times might be called “ a precious school ” for young princes, and 
 there was no public opinion to check these vices. The lawlessness 
 that was abroad reached even to the young, who disdained the con- 
 
 * “ Court and Cabinets,” i. 360. 
 
120 
 
 THU LIFH OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 trol of their parents. When their consent was withheld, the result 
 was improvident marriages with footmen and actors, and numeious 
 elopements. Thus in this year the town was entertained with no 
 less than three escapades, which occurred at the same time. “ Lady 
 Augusta Campbell is married to Mr. Clavering, the youngest son of 
 General Clavering. His being only two-and-twenty, and Lady 
 Augusta being a good many years older, makes people imagine that 
 she rather ran away with him than he with her. They w^ent away 
 from the Duchess of Ancaster’s, who saw masks that night. The 
 Duchess of Argyll went home, and thought that Lady Augusta 
 would soon follow her, but after sitting up till five o’clock, and no 
 Lady Augusta returning, she sent in search of her to the Duchess 
 of Ancaster’s. No tidings were to be learned there of the fair fugi- 
 tive. She, it seems, as soon as her mother went home, left the 
 duchess’s with Mr. Clavering, and went with him to Bicester, in 
 Oxfordshire, where they were married. She, it is said, was married 
 in her domino. Accoutred as she was she plunged in. It is to be 
 hoped she dropped the mask. The lover had been the day before 
 to Cranbourne Alley, and had procured every kind of female dress 
 necessary for Lady Augusta. 
 
 “Miss Clinton had, the day before she eloped, offered to take her 
 oath on the Bible that she would not marry Mr. Dawkins without 
 Sir Henry’s consent. He, after her solemn protestations, did not 
 think it necessary to administer the oath; and she, perhaps, imag- 
 ining that at some other time he might, lost no time in escaping 
 from the sin of perjury, and likewise from her father’s house. Mr. 
 Dawkins had posted half-a-dozen hackney-coaches at the different 
 corners which lead into Portland Place, in order that he might 
 elude all pursuit; for as soon as the hackney-coach in which he was 
 set off, all the others likewise had their orders to set off too, and go 
 where thej’’ liked. 
 
 “Lady Bowes lived in Fludyer Street, which you know is very 
 narrow, and well it was, considering the bridge she passed to get to 
 her lover, Mr. Jessop. She excused herself to her father for not 
 coming down to supper, saying that it was inconsistent with female 
 delicacy to be in company with so many men as were to sup with 
 her father. As soon as everybody was gone to bed she passed a 
 ladder which had a plank laid upon it, and which reached from her 
 window to that of her lover. She must pass this bridge. She had 
 never seen this man but at his window, before she went over to 
 him.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 121 
 
 Gamblings at this time was in the highest vogue, faro and macao 
 tables being found at the fashionable houses. This vice continued 
 to rage until the dissolution of Crockford’s, within living memory, 
 when it assumed another shape, which now obtains — that of laying 
 on horses instead of on dice or cards. The French ambassador was 
 a particular votary, and, being struck down with a paralytic stroke 
 at a drawing-room, did not on that account suspend his Sunday 
 evening gaming reunions — and Sir Nathaniel Wraxall attended 
 one, when, “a faro-table being set out in one of the apartments, 
 the company gambled at it while the ambassador lay in an adjoin- 
 ing room attended by physicians.” 
 
 The King and his family, who had been in such delight at the 1 
 promised reformation, were now to find their son breaking his y 
 promises, even the one which had been the sine qua non of the agree- 
 ment, that he would no longer join in political attacks. There was 
 something most unbecoming in this violation of an honorable agree- 
 ment, but the public had long ceased to be scandalized. His friend, 
 Erskine, after making a wild attack on the Government three hours 
 long, had been forced to desist from illness; he was comforted by 
 the Prince of Wales, with whom he dined in the coffee-room at the 
 House of Commons, and, after being well primed with brandy, was 
 instigated to renew the attack. So gross was his language that a 
 burst of hisses greeted him.* 
 
 No wonder the visits to Windsor grew less and less frequent, and 
 at last Tvere totally given up. But what must have wrung the heart 
 of father and mother most was to find the youth that had just been 
 restored to them led by his brother into every vice, and competing with 
 him in the race of a degrading notoriety ; and there can be no reason- 
 able doubt but that the agitation and anguish of these days contrib 
 uted to the derangement of mind which was presently to declare 
 itself. 
 
 Two of the Prince’s close associates — Tarleton and Payne (the 
 well-known Jack Payne) — being proposed at Brookes’s, met with the 
 affront of being blackballed, though the Prince himself had put them 
 up. In disgust at this treatment, he and his brother determined to 
 found a new and special club, where they could be free from the 
 restraint of these old respectable Whigs who reigned at Brookes’s. 
 
 Accordingly, the task of organizing the club was conferred on his 
 German cook, and after the custom of the time it was called “ Welt- 
 
 * “ Court and Cabinets,” i. 556. 
 
 6 
 
122 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 jie’s.” Weltjie himself, with his broken English and familiarity, 
 became the keeper under the royal patronage. He made money, 
 and lived in one of the picturesque houses in Hammersmith Mail, 
 where he was truly hospitable. He, however, lost the favor of his 
 royal patron by his opposition to the marriage of one of his children 
 which the Prince favored, and who, crossed in his whim, dismissed 
 him. “His manners,” says Angelo, “were not very polished, but 
 at the same time good-natured, and his humorous, eccentric anec- 
 dotes (of which he had so many), with his excellent dishes, so pleased 
 his guests that they were never out of patience in listening to them.” 
 Mr. Gronow gives another account of the convivial fashion in which 
 this club was founded. 
 
 In this new locale play set in with new fury, and the royal pair 
 became the victims. “ The Prince has taught the Duke to drink in 
 the most liberal way, and the Duke in return has been equally suc- 
 cessful in teaching his brother to lose money at all sorts of play — 
 quinze, hazard, etc. — to the amount, we are told, of very large sums, 
 won by General Smith and Admiral Pigot, who both wanted it very 
 much.” This fatal passion the Duke had brought from Germany, 
 and the frantic manner in which he now pursued it filled his more 
 sober friends with apprehension. Even the Prince of Wales was 
 heard to declare gravely that his brother of York “was too bad.” * 
 
 It was during one of these riotous scenes that an amusing adven- 
 ture occurred to the royal pair. As they were passing Hay Hill, 
 hurrying to another scene of riot, they were stopped by footpads and 
 robbed of their watches and money. Mr. Rogers heard the Duke of 
 York relate the story, but seems to have misapprehended it. He 
 assumed it to have been a genuine robbery, whereas it was a pleas- 
 ant trick contrived by some of their boon companions. There was 
 much jesting on the incident, and it was declared that the sum of 
 money obtained from the pockets of both was of but trifling amount. 
 
 The Prince’s gambling was pushed to an extent which, considering 
 his recent promises, was scandalous. He was seen to lose two or 
 three thousand pounds of a night. f His brother, the Duke of York, 
 was not behindhand, his conduct being as bad as possible; “he plays 
 very deep, and loses, and his company is thought maiixais ton.”X 
 
 Like other gentlemen of the town, our Prince had recourse in his 
 
 * The Duke, at a convivial party, rising abruptly from the table, fell upon 
 the floor; on which his brother exclaimed, solemnly: “There lie, as our royal 
 father says, the hopes of the fam.ly.” 
 t “ Court and Cabinets,” i. 363. % Ibid. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 123 
 
 necessities to the usurers.* One of the most notorious money-lenders 
 who came to his aid was a personage known as “Jew Travis,” or 
 “Treves,” with whom the Prince had transactions. Later came 
 “Jew Solomon” and “Jew King.” Lord Cornwallis, who had gone 
 out to India, was, in the following year, applied to with great ear- 
 nestness by the Prince to do something for a young protege of his, also 
 out there. The warmth of his intercession may have surprised Lord 
 Cornwallis, who could not, however, set it down to the kindly feel- 
 ings of his heart. The fact was, “ young Treves” was son of “Jew 
 Treves,” which at once explained the solicitude exhibited for him. 
 
 THE PRINCE OF WALES TO LORD CORNWALLIS. 
 
 “Carlton House, March 12th, 1788. 
 
 “My dear Cornwallis, 
 
 “Tho’ I am sensible how much your time is taken up, I can- 
 not help troubling you on a subject I have already mentioned to you. 
 Having understood that the India directors have sent a species of 
 order to have young Treves removed from his present situation, and 
 feeling myself much interested in this young man’s welfare, I cannot 
 help, 1st, recalling to your mind that I took the liberty some time 
 ago of recommending him particularly to your protection, and only 
 hope that, if his conduct has not been improper in his situation, you 
 would not admit of his being an innocent sufferer. I trust to your 
 goodness in forgiving the trouble I am now giving you, and that, if 
 any application is necessary to the subject here at home, you will be 
 kind enough to inform me how I am to make it myself ; or else I 
 must trouble you once more in begging you to make it yourself for 
 me and in my name. I am ever happy in any opportunity that offers 
 itself of recalling myself to your remembrance, and assuring you 
 how sincerely I remain. Your sincere Friend, 
 
 “George P.” 
 
 * It was at this time the practice of the Jews to frequent the gaming-houses 
 in the morning for the express pui’pose of purchasing the I O XT’s of the 
 Prince. If the I O U was for five hundred pounds, a bond or some other solid 
 security was given for six hundred pounds, the Jew selling to the Prince some 
 trifling piece of plate, or an article of jewelry, for the extra hundred pounds. 
 The Prince, in some instances, expressed his high sense of displeasure at this 
 traffic in his negotiable securities. Bu*', as in some instances he could not dis- 
 charge his I O U from his immediate funds, it was a system of great conve- 
 nience to have a resource always at hand by which his honor could be saved. 
 — Huish, “ Memoirs,’’ i. 191. 
 
124 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV 
 
 The amiable feelings that had been awakened by the return of the 
 second son had by this time given place to the old bitterness, and 
 the relations between the King and his son had now come to be once 
 more on the usual disastrous footing- The blame may be fairly 
 divided between both parties, as will be evident from the harsh treat- 
 ment extended to another son. Prince William, who had been at sea, 
 and ventured to return without permission. He arrived at Plymouth, 
 as will be shown later, and was detained there by his father. His 
 royal brother hurried down to see him, and the party enjoyed them- 
 selves for some time together, in their own riotous fashion, when the 
 gay sailor got into a flirtation with a lady of the place. He was at 
 once ordered off to sea, with sealed orders, which, on being opened, 
 banished him to the West Indies. Yet with all this extravagance 
 there were evidences of a good heart, or at least of good nature. 
 
 For what was called “bruising,” the Prince of Wales early showed 
 taste; but it was “recorded to his honor” that, having witnessed a 
 dreadful prize-fight at Brighton, in the August of the following year, 
 in which one of the “bruisers ” was killed on the spot, he gave utter- 
 ance to a sort of solemn vow that he would never witness another 
 battle or again patronize the sport. This was no doubt prompted 
 by a becoming feeling; but without the catastrophe the spectacle was 
 brutal, and sufficiently inhuman.* 
 
 A little sketch of him, about this time, at an evening party, shows 
 very effectively the favorable side of his character. Among his 
 friends was Lady Clermont, a lady of the old school, who had 
 brought to a party the well-known Count Fersen.f 
 
 “ His Royal Highness took no notice of me on his first arrival; but, 
 in a few minutes afterwards, coming up to me, ‘ Pray, Lady Cler- 
 mont,’ said he, ‘is that man whom I see here Count Fersen, the 
 Queen’s favorite?’ ‘The gentleman,’ answered I, ‘to whom your 
 Royal Highness alludes is Count Fersen; but so far from being a 
 favorite of the Queen, he has not yet been presented at Court.’ 
 ‘God d— n me!’ exclaimed he, ‘you don’t imagine I mean my 
 mother?’ ‘Sir,’ I replied, ‘whenever you are pleased to use the 
 word “queen” without any addition I shall always understand it 
 to mean my Queen. If you speak of any other queen I must entreat 
 that you will be good enough to say the Queen of France or of 
 
 * Mr. Windham was employed to get a palliative account inserted in his 
 pap rs, being a great patron of the sport, 
 t Wraxall, “Posth. Memoirs.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 125 
 
 Spain. ’ The Prince made no reply ; but, after having walked once 
 or twice round Count Fersen, returning to me, ‘ He’s certainly a 
 very handsome fellow,’ observed he. ‘ Shall I have the honor, sir,’ 
 said I, ‘to present him to you?’ He instantly turned on his heel, 
 without giving me any answer; and I soon afterwards quitted Lady 
 William Gordon’s house, carrying Count Fersen with me. We 
 drove to Mrs. St. John’s, only a few doors distant, who had likewise 
 a large party on that evening. When I had introduced him to vari- 
 ous persons there I said to him ; ‘ Count Fersen, I am an old woman, 
 and infirm, who always go home to bed at eleven. You will, I hope, 
 amuse yourself. Good-night.’ Having thus done the honors, as 
 well as I could, to a stranger who had been so highly recommended 
 to me, I withdrew into the ante-chamber, and sat down alone in a 
 corner, waiting for my carriage. While there the Prince came in ; 
 and I naturally expected, after his recent behavior, that he would 
 rather avoid than accost me. On the contrary, advrmcing up to me, 
 ‘What are you doing here, Lady Clermont?’ asked he. ‘I am 
 waiting for my coach, sir,’ said I, ‘in order to go home.’ ‘Then,’ 
 replied he, ‘ I will put you into it, and give you my arm down the 
 stairs.’ ‘For heaven’s sake, sir,’ I exclaimed, ‘don’t attempt it; I 
 am old, very lame, and my sight is imperfect. The consequence of 
 your offering me your arm will be that, in my anxiety not to detain 
 your Royal Highness, I shall hurry down and probably tumble from 
 the top of the staircase to the foot.’ ‘Very likely,’ answered he; 
 ‘ but, if you tumble, I shall tumble with you. Be assured, however, 
 that I will have the pleasure of assisting you, and placing you safely 
 in your carriage,’ I saw that he was determined to repair the rude- 
 ness with which he had treated me at Lady William Gordon’s, and 
 I therefore acquiesced. He remained with me till the coach was 
 announced, conversed most agreeably on various topics, and as he 
 took care of me down the stairs, enjoined me at every step not to 
 hurry myself. Nor did he quit me when seated in the carriage, 
 remaining uncovered on the steps of the'house till it drove off from 
 the door.” 
 
 “The Prince,” we are also told, “was one day so exceedingly 
 urgent to have eight hundred pounds, at an hour on such a day, and 
 in so unusual a manner, that the gentleman who furnished the sup- 
 ply had some curiosity to know for what purpose it was obtained. 
 On inquiry he was informed that the moment the money arrived the 
 Prince drew on a pair of boots, pulled off his coat and waistcoat, 
 slipped on a plain morning frock, without a star, and, turning his 
 
126 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 hair to the crown of his head, put on a slouched hat, and thus 
 walked out. This intelligence raised still greater curiosity, and with 
 some trouble the gentleman discovered the object of the mysterious 
 visit. An officer of the army had just arrived from America, with 
 a wife and six children, in such low circumstances, that, to satisfy 
 a clamorous creditor, he was on the point of selling his commission, 
 to the utter ruin of his family. The Prince brought him the money 
 himself to an obscure lodging-house.” * 
 
 Yet, as moralists well know, such impulses, unless directed by 
 principle, have little value, and become no more than new shapes of 
 self -gratification. Presently we find him at Tunbridge Wells, where 
 he much contributed to the gayety of that place. Here, among 
 Other visitors, was Fitzgibbon, afterwards the well-known Lord 
 Clare, whose wife, “a smart lady,” and one of “ Buck ” Whaley’s 
 family, attracted the notice of the impressionable Prince. 
 
 There was another watering-place which attracted him and 
 engrossed much of his time, thought, and extravagance. The luxu- 
 rious city of pleasure, the modern “London-on-the-Sea,” unrivalled 
 for its gayety and enjoyment, is indebted to the young Prince of 
 Wales for its earliest appreciation. Almost before he was of age he 
 delighted in hurrying away from town for a brief snatch of seaside 
 enjoyment. We are told a new and fantastic equipage, consisting 
 of a phaeton drawn only by three horses, one before the other, on 
 the first of which rode a postilion, was designed to enable him to 
 reach his favorite haunt with more expedition. With all his fickle- 
 ness he was through his life constant to this fancy, and, like the 
 Grand Monarque, paid it the homage of adorning it with the quaint 
 and costly palace which still rears its outlandish pinnacles, f 
 
 * Huish, “Memoirs,” i. 157. 
 
 + In an old posting-book now before me, once belonging to a friend of Mr. 
 Sterne’s, in which are set down several notss us?ful on travel, furnished by 
 that gentleman, as “ Mr. Sterne recommended Mr. Ray of Montpellier as a 
 most worthy English banker,”— there is a MS. sketch of the place so early as 
 1767. “ Until within a few years it was no better than a mere fishing town 
 inhabited by fishermen and sailors, but through the recommendation of Dr. 
 Russel, and by the means of his writing in favor of sea- water, it is become one 
 of the principal places in the kingdom for the resort of the idle and dissi- 
 pated as well as of the diseased and infirm. There are two assembly-rooms 
 which are opened on different nights, one kept by Mr. Shergold, who keeps 
 the sign of King Charles’s Head, and lives in the very house wherein he was 
 concealed; and the other assembly-room is kept by Mr. Hicks, who keeps the 
 coffee-house. The place on which the company usually walk in the evening 
 is a large field near the sea, called the Stean, which is kept in proper order 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 127 
 
 This fancy had taken root after the time when he first visited the 
 Duke of Cumberland, in 1782, who then occupied a small, old-fash- 
 ioned house on the very edge of the sea, known as Grove House, 
 belonging to a Mr. Wyndham. This stood almost solitary, some 
 sandy downs spreading away near it, a curious contrast to the vast 
 crowds of houses which now line the shore.* * In the following year 
 he paid a second visit, on this occasion occupying Mr. Kemp’s 
 house, or rather cottage, which was close by. This, or some addi- 
 tion, was built by Weltjie, his cook, and was separated from the 
 high road by some shrubs and rose trees. Owing to the bad state of 
 his health, and the agitation produced by the events of 1783, he was 
 ordered sea-bathing by the physicians. And the excuse of seeking 
 health being thus added to the other attractions of the place, he pur- 
 sued his hobby with the ardor so often found in persons of his dis- 
 position. Thus, we learn, he would set off from London, and return 
 the same day, making the drive there and back in ten hours. The 
 next step was to build, and from thenceforth for many years he was 
 engrossed with the costly folly of constructing a country as well as 
 a town palace at the same time — a mania that brought him down to 
 the level of an impoverished spendthrift, and involved him in the 
 most humiliating shifts. Holland, the architect of Carlton House, 
 furnished plans, and in 1787, the first rough sketch, as it may be 
 called, of the Brighton Folly was completed ; for, like Carlton House, 
 it was to be altered and reshaped several times, a characteristic of 
 the self-indulgent, who build not to have a house, but for the 
 pleasure of building. It then was a plain substantial structure, low, 
 flanked by two wings, with a large rotunda in the middle, the favor- 
 ite form in those days of the nobleman’s house. One wing, how- 
 ever, was the shell of the old house. For the decorations an emis- 
 sary was despatched to Italy, to study and bring oack suitable 
 designs, f But he was not content with so homely an edifice, and 
 Nash, the fashionable architect, was called in to reconstruct the 
 whole in the fantastic form which it now exhibits. Additional land 
 
 for that purpose, and whereon are several shops, with piazzas and benches 
 therein erected, and a building for music to perform in when the weather will 
 permit.” 
 
 * A view of this old mansion, as it appeared at this date, is given in “The 
 European Magazine.” 
 
 + This agent was said to have been a common bricklayer, and his expenses 
 were charged at two thousand pounds. 
 
128 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 was bought, and for more than twenty years the chopping and 
 changing, and rebuilding went on. 
 
 Just as there was then a sort of spurious Gothic, which seemed to 
 be evolved from the brain of the scene-painter; so the pavilion 
 affected a sort of Eastern architecture, which might be Chinese or 
 Turkish, or Hindoo, the vague and cloudy term “Eastern,” being 
 used to cover the assemblage of contradictory and inharmonious ele- 
 ments. The fashionable architect, we are told, worked under ‘ ‘ the 
 direct surveillance” of the royal virtuoso, whose “facility of inven- 
 tion and taste ” was the soul of the whole. How this taste was 
 inspired may be gathered from the following fact: He received a 
 present of some beautiful Chinese papers, which he was embarrassed 
 how to dispose of. The idea of a Chinese gallery to exhibit the 
 paper suggested itself, and was carried out. This again suggested 
 a sort of transparent chamber in the middle, formed of glass painted 
 with Chinese patterns, and illuminated from behind, so that the 
 guest was delighted, and perhaps provoked, at finding himself in a 
 sort of lantern. These sort of surprises were then considered in the 
 best taste. The apartments were certainly laid out on a splendid 
 and spacious scale; and the noble music-room, banqueting-room, 
 blue and yellow drawing-rooms, offered fine proportions, though cer- 
 tainly disfigured by the Chinese monsters and ‘ ‘ gilt trellis work in 
 'imitation of Bamboo ” which was all in execrable taste. Yet there 
 were admirable models, and architects of the Adam school, who 
 could have designed a building that would have been effective and 
 in good taste ; but it was characteristic that our Prince should have 
 assumed that he could not effectively display his gifts out in the 
 style that was accepted by the nation, but only in some extravagant 
 and unfamiliar fashion. There, however, it stands to this day— the 
 Brighton Pavilion— decayed and cumbering valuable earth, an eccen- 
 tric gathering of pinnacles, without the quaintness of antiquity, and 
 having something of the effect of the tawdry decorations of a ball, 
 seen on the morning after. Unhappily, it was now to be associated 
 with scenes of revel and riot, and the Pavilion must always rise 
 to the memory when we think of the merry days of the Regency, or 
 the hot youth of George, Prince of Wales. 
 
 Arriving at Brighton from Tunbridge he brought with him the 
 usual carnival. Wonderful was the change that had taken place 
 within the two or three years since he had “taken up” the place. 
 The effect of patronage on such places as Homburg and Brighton is 
 like magic. Already it was overflowing with company. Doctors 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV, 
 
 129 
 
 had established themselves ; and Pepys, the eminent physician, also 
 found it desirable to follow his fashionable patients thither during 
 the season. There was even a playhouse. Unfortunately, the 
 example of the august patron had also the effect of drawing there 
 the most indiscriminate collection of persons, for we are told ‘ ‘ that, 
 authorized by the royal example, everybody thought himself at 
 liberty to do as the Prince himself did,” and the spectacle of a 
 crowded night at the theatre was not an edifying one. Lord Brude- 
 nell, keeper of the King’s privy purse, flung himself into the riot 
 with more zeal than discretion, acquiring the nickname of “ Cockie ” 
 to the great amusement, it was said, of his Majesty.* 
 
 But in all this frivolity and gayety he did not suspect that a crisis 
 of the most important and momentous kind was at hand. Here it 
 was that an express reached him with alarming nev/s of his father’s 
 illness. He posted at once to Windsor, and the fashionable water- 
 ing-place, as though every one was seized with a panic, became 
 deserted almost on the instant. 
 
 * Auckland, ii. 235. 
 6 * 
 
130 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 CHAPTER Xn. 
 
 1788. 
 
 In the last weeks of October some strange rumors as to the state 
 of the King’s health were current at the two great clubs, though the 
 common crowd knew no more than that the King was indisposed. 
 His physician, Sir George Baker, who had seen him on the evening 
 of October 22nd, had suspected that his mind was disordered, while 
 his strange behavior at the levee had excited the worst forebodings of 
 the ministers. Not, however, until November 4th could the malady 
 be said to have revealed itself, and for nearly a fortnight the suffer- 
 ing King had been allowed to encounter exciting duties of all kinds, 
 to ride hard, four hours at a time in the rain, to go to town and 
 hold his levee, all the time suffering from agitation and fever. 
 
 Miss Burney describes minutely the painful scenes at the palace 
 during this early stage : the queen and her daughters sitting up all 
 night “in an agony of weeping:” the unhappy King promenading 
 restlessly hither and thither, not so disordered as to warrant restraint 
 or interference: pouring out a stream of ceaseless talk, until he 
 became almost inaudible from hoarseness. The spectacle of his 
 friends and attendants, whom he encountered in every passage and 
 anteroom, whispering together, following him, while affecting to 
 hide from him, must have had the worst effect; to say nothing of 
 the Queen’s “ ghastly face ” and perpetual floods of tears, and the 
 scared manner of her ladies. 
 
 The Prince announced that he intended returning to Brighton the 
 next day; but the events of that night were to change all his plans, 
 for when that dismal family party were seated at dinner, the King 
 flew at his son — who had caused him such sorrows — in a paroxysm, 
 seizing him by the Collar and pushing him with violence against the 
 wall. He would know did he dare to prevent the King of England 
 speaking out. The Queen fell off into hysterics; and the Prince, 
 dreadfully agitated, began to cry. In a situatiou of the kind his 
 nerves seemed always to fail him. He was, indeed, so upset, as it is 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 131 
 
 called, that he had to be bled next day.* * This want of firmness was 
 only what was to be expected in one whose life was so devoted to 
 pleasure.! 
 
 The forms of these early paroxysms show what was preying on 
 the King’s heart, and reveal the causes of his madness — the loss of 
 his American colonies, and his son’s unfilial behavior and irregu- 
 larities. 
 
 During this agitating night no one in the castle went to bed. Miss 
 Burney, wandering about the galleries, accidentally opened a door 
 and found herself in a room filled with gentlemen, sitting round in 
 awful silence, among whom were the two Princes. This was the 
 ante-room, while the poor King, now quite mad, was babbling away 
 within, unconscious that such a crowd was near him. Later on he 
 suddenly opened the door and stood bewildered at seeing so many 
 faces, but was scarcely more bewildered than were the others. Even 
 then he showed his instinctive dislike of his eldest son, for he 
 exclaimed piteously, on recognizing the Duke of York, “Yes, 
 Frederick is my friend.” No one had courage or presence of mind 
 to take any steps. The Prince of Wales shrank back; the physician, 
 Baker, whose duty it was to have controlled him, lost courage; until 
 Colonel Digby went up to him boldly, and awing him with some 
 judicious words, got him back to bed. 
 
 The Prince, instead of returning to his pleasures at Brighton the 
 morning after his visit, now found himself the central figure to whom 
 all eyes were turned. The King was not expected to live; the 
 Queen, utterly crushed by the blow, was falling from one fit of hys- 
 terics into another. The future ruler took the whole direction of 
 the castle into his own hands. In every difficulty the people came 
 to him for direction. As numbers of idle persons found their way 
 to the castle to gossip with the various officials, he prudently issued 
 strict orders that, save four persons, whom he named, no one should 
 be admitted. He himself presided at the equerries’ table.! 
 
 * Buck, Pap. i. 437. 
 
 + The King did not call his son an old woman, as Lord Stanhope says (“ Life 
 
 • of Pitt ”); that speech was really addressed to his physician. 
 
 X One of these trcnblesome persons was his old tutor Smelt, who, much 
 affected at the condi Jon of the King, was insisting with much importunity 
 that he should be allowed to attend on him as his page. The Prince received 
 him good-naturedly, and told him that he had better stay and see the Queen; 
 on which the tutor was hurriedly setting off to fetch Mrs. Smelt and secure 
 apartments for her at the inn. The Prince, who purposely changed his mind. 
 
132 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV 
 
 In London it was believed that the King’s illness was of a fatal 
 kind; and even before November 5th (the day of the first outbreak 
 of the insanity) there was “a general alarm” abroad. An anxious 
 placeman at Whitehall, Mr. W. Grenville, was quick to discern the 
 exultation of his opponents, who, he said, did not disguise their 
 anticipations that the blow would happen in a few days. This 
 was to be the tone of the Tories in the bitter stmggle that fol- 
 lowed; Fox and his friends being usually described as a band of 
 unscrupulous men who wished, not to oust a ministiy, but to 
 “seize on the Government” and “overthrow the Constitution.” On 
 the evening of the 6th, an express had reached Pitt with news of the 
 scene at the dinner-table. All seemed to herald his own fall, and 
 even ruin. He waited in hourly expectation of a messenger from 
 Windsor with news of the King’s death. The Chancellor was 
 already on the spot, and came up the following morning with 
 directions for Pitt to go down and see the Prince. Mr. Grenville 
 fondly imagined that this message looked like negotiation. 
 
 Things began to look yet more gloomy when it was found that 
 Thurlow would not be disinclined to serve a new king in the same 
 capacity. Nor was there anything extraordinary or unnatural in 
 such an idea; for it was known that he cordially disliked Pitt, and 
 that his devotion was more for the Sovereign than for the party. 
 He belonged to “the King’s friends.” 
 
 An accurate and well-informed observer seems to have kept a sort 
 of diary of these melancholy proceedings, and from their record I 
 quote what follows:* * “In the violent paroxysms of his Majesty’s 
 disorder, he continually raved about the Queen; sometimes loading 
 her with reproaches, and uttering threats against her; at others 
 desiring her presence, with expressions of passionate regard. One 
 day, tired of vainly soliciting to see the Queen, his Majesty desired 
 to have her picture. He addressed it with great calmness and recol- 
 lection in these words: ‘We have been married twenty-eight years. 
 
 had so much to think of that he forgot his instructions to the gate-keepers, 
 and Mr. Smelt was denied admittance at the gate, and went away shocked 
 and overwhelmed. A few weeks later, at Kew, the Prince apologized to hinf 
 in his own gracious manner; having, as Miss Burney says, “the faculty of 
 making his peace with captivating grace.” 
 
 * These “ particulars ” are singularly interesting, and are given in an 
 obscure Life of George the Third. They seemed to have escaped the notice 
 of Mr. Jesse and other writers: but I have not been able to trace the author. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 133 
 
 and never have we been separated a day till now; and now you 
 abandon me in my misfortunes. ’ Another day, his Ma.;esty desired 
 to have four hundred pounds from his privy purse. He divided it 
 into different sums, wrapping them up in separate papers, upon 
 which he wrote the names of persons to whom he had been accus- 
 tomed to make monthly payments, with perfect accuracy and pre- 
 cision. His Majesty then wrote down the different sums, with the 
 names annexed, cast up the whole, as he formerly used to do, and 
 ordered the ffioney to be paid immediately, it being then due. After 
 this instance of perfect recollection, his Majesty began to deplore the 
 unhappy situation of London ; which, he said, had been under water 
 a fortnight. He then proceeded to explain, with the same composure, 
 that the water was making gradual advances; and that, in one 
 week more, it would reach the Queen’s House. His Majesty 
 expressed great unwillingness that a valuable manuscript, the pre- 
 cise situation of which he described, should suffer; and declared an 
 intention of going, on the ensuing Monday, to rescue it from the 
 approaching evil. This mixture of distraction and reason giving 
 way to absolute alienation, his Majesty expressed his sorrow that 
 Lord T was not present, he having prepared everything for cre- 
 
 ating him a Duke.” 
 
 The behavior of the Chancellor, from the very beginning, excited 
 the suspicion of his companions in the ministry. It must be said, 
 however, that he seemed careless what they thought, and pursued 
 his course. The “memoranda” of the Duke of Leeds give the 
 fullest account of this episode. On the visit of ministers to Windsor 
 the Prince did not see them, but he was closeted with the Chancellor 
 both in the morning and in the evening; and Mr. Pitt learned that 
 on the same evening Fox had been with the Chancellor. They were 
 not slow to let him feel that they suspected him ; for a week or two 
 later when the whole Cabinet were dining with Lord Stafford, this 
 incident took place. The host, “with much emotion,” told them 
 that the King had been struck by one of his pages, adding that the 
 King had not only been shamefully treated but had been betrayed. 
 The Chancellor, thus glanced at, said that if anything of the kind 
 had occurred, the person in question ought not to be “ suffered about 
 his person ; but he knew that, in a paroxysm, the King had hurt one 
 of the pages extremely.” Lord Stafford replied significantly that 
 “ it was not the page he alluded to when he said the King had been 
 betrayed.” The Chancellor, however, could actually bring himself 
 to assure his colleagues that, ‘ ‘ in the several conversations with the 
 
134 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 Prince there never had been anything of a political or ministerial 
 nature introduced.” A statement difficult to accept.* 
 
 In the first agitation the Prince was, as it were, bewildered, and 
 knew not whom to turn to. Fox, his adviser and counsellor, in 
 despair at any change in his political fortunes, had left England for 
 a tour, hopeless as to the condition of his party. The situation was 
 of extraordinary difficulty and delicacy, and there was but one per- 
 son of sufficient sagacity and resolution to whom he could turn for 
 advice. This was Lord Loughborough, the Chief Justice, who had 
 come an adventurer from Scotland, and yet who, though enjoying a 
 splendid office, was eager to adventure yet more. On the 6th Novem- 
 ber the Duke of York was despatched to him, with an assurance 
 that everything should be told to him, and that to him alone should 
 the Prince look for advice. But, with characteristic oddity, the 
 Prince determined that this communication should be secret and 
 mysterious. 
 
 There was now at Windsor, with the Prince, one of his favorite 
 familiars, a navy officer, known to Sheridan and others as “Jack 
 Payne.” This not very brilliant adviser, with wits confused by two 
 nights’ vigils, was the last person that should have been cast for the 
 delicate part of a negotiator, yet fancied he was of sufficient calibre 
 to direct the negotiation. Accordingly, on the 7th, Lord Loughbor- 
 ough received from him a letter that began thus solemnly : “In situ- 
 ations of difficulty and moment one generally looks to their friends, 
 who, from presuming most willing, we know also are most able to 
 give advice. Knowing the friendship and good opinion the best of 
 friends entertain for you coincides so much with my own, I venture 
 to say to you that, at a time when he sees nobody, that if anything 
 that can suggest itself that can be of use, I shall be happy to be 
 made a vehicle of it to his advantage.” The letter goes on myste- 
 riously: “The Prince talked to me of rejecting a rule where some- 
 body was not united to him. I told him he would be advised to the 
 contrary by his best friends, on the truest principles of public good. 
 If any important accident should happen, I need not say to you,” 
 concludes Jack Payne, “I beg I may not be understood to have had 
 any communication with you, as I have no authority for doing so, 
 
 * Mr. Jesse is inclined to discredit the truth of this singularly painful story; 
 but it was repeated afterwards by the King himself, when restored to reason, 
 not only to Lady Harcourt, but to Lord Eldon. To the lady’s husband the 
 King also complained of much cruel treatment. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 135 
 
 and therefore you need not acknowledge any such. Seeing the 
 Prince so much as I do, I am anxious to have the best opinions.” 
 
 What this “rejecting a rule” pointed to, is not very clear, but it 
 most likely refers to the Duke of Portland, or to Thurlow, who was 
 in attendance, and whom the Prince received with the marks of the 
 highest consideration, saying; “ I have desired your lordship’s attend- 
 ance, not only as my father’s friend, but as my own friend ; and I 
 beseech you, my lord, to give me your counsel on this unhappy 
 occasion. I have the utmost confidence in -your judgment, and shall 
 have the utmost satisfaction in acting by it.” 
 
 The King’s death was supposed to be only a question of a few 
 hours. As Mr. Payne wrote in the same letter, with ill-dissembled 
 elation, “his state is so bad, that I fear dissolution is almost the best 
 that can be hoped. The last stroke, as I hear from the best ” (under- 
 lined) ‘ ‘ authority, cannot be far off. It is what everybody, in a situ- 
 ation to see, is obliged to wish, as the happiest posdble termination to 
 the melancholy scene. The event we looked for last night is postponed, 
 perhaps for a short time.” 
 
 Thus, it is clear that the Prince was revelling in the tracasseries 
 which he considered to be diplomacy. The Chief Justice continued 
 to receive much encouragement : “Tell Lord Loughborough” (Mr. 
 Payne wrote in the name of the Prince) ‘ ‘ I am persuaded no less of 
 his attachment than I desire him to be of mine, and shall always 
 receive his advice with the same great degree of pleasure as I do 
 upon this occasion, and without which I shall not act for any mate- 
 rial decision of my present delicate situation.” And again; “ Certain 
 people, not quite convinced a reform takes place, and all active com- 
 munication where you are may be well accounted for, without a cer- 
 tain person, who sees nobody, be supposed to be informed. The 
 person I allude to said to me last night; ‘ I hope Lords L. and S. are 
 in close communication together on this occasion.’ ” In explanation 
 of this mystery and confused English, it seems that the Prince did 
 not wish to commit himself to any party, save the one which would 
 give him most power. It is wonderful that Loughborough, an old 
 ruse practitioner, could have allowed himself to be played with, or 
 “bamboozled ” by such stuff as the following; “ Before any decided 
 measure is decided on, it is necessary, I think, you should see the 
 
 Prince, and, he says, as soon as he has seen S he will contrive 
 
 it; but he is -extremely jealous of seeing more than one person at a 
 time, and that not by way of consultation, but in private friendship. 
 He said to-night he thought it had better be done by your coming to 
 
136 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 your farm and then to Bagshot; hut more of this hereafter.” * In 
 reply, the Chief Justice developed his plans in a long despatch: “ I 
 have not the least apprehension,” he wrote, “of any mischief that 
 can arise to H.RH. but from his own virtues.” He advised “not 
 dissimulation, but a certain reserve and guard upon the frankness 
 of that amiable disposition which is the ornament and delight of 
 society.” 
 
 But, actually as he was writing, the airy house of cards was top- 
 pling, The King, who at midnight “was in a situation he could 
 not long have survived,” was suddenly relieved by some strong reme- 
 dies, fell into a profound sleep, and awoke to be pronounced out of 
 danger. This was indeed provoking, and it rendered necessary a 
 total revision of their plans. 
 
 There remained one satisfaction. The mental affliction promised 
 to be permanent. He had “all the gestures and ravings of the most 
 confirmed lunatic,” and the doctors agreed “ that to the disease they 
 at present see no end in their contemplation.” “ These are their own 
 words,” writes Captain Payne eagerly, “which is all there can be 
 implied in an absolute declaration, for infallibility cannot be ascribed 
 to them.” 
 
 The idea of the King’s dying was therefore dismissed. The little 
 plotters at the castle had to deal with a new state of things. The 
 next letter of the sanguine Payne is written to Sheridan, and is 
 almost entirely taken up with consolatory assurances of the hopeless 
 state of the King’s wits. “Dr. Warren,” he said, “was the living 
 principle of this business (for poor Baker is half-crazed himself), and 
 who I see every half-hour. ” He was the doctor in the Prince’s inter- 
 est. With a view of checking the malignancy of their political foes, 
 who would do their best to excite public suspicion, “The various 
 fluctuations of his (the King’s) ravings ” were accurately written 
 down throughout the night, “and this we have got signed by the 
 physicians every day.” Thus was intrigue made to override all con- 
 siderations of feeling; and it was scarcely surprising if Lord Bulke- 
 ley heard that “the two sons of the Queen, I am afraid, do not 
 announce the state of his health to her with caution and delicacy.” 
 
 The prospect was now not nearly so brilliant. A regency, instead 
 of sovereignty, was to follow as a matter of course; and though there 
 had been some whispers that “certain persons” might attempt to 
 impose restraints on that power nothing certain had transpired, for 
 
 ♦ Campbell, “ Lives of the Chancellors,” vi. 92. 
 
THE LIFE OF OEORGE IV. 
 
 137 
 
 at this time Mr. Pitt had not made up his mind what course to 
 take. 
 
 The Prince had another agent at work — his henchman, the shifty 
 and vivacious Sheridan, who was now in London. With his affected 
 monopoly of the Prince’s confidences, and “his eagerness to display 
 his own importance,” he had, as Mr. Grenville heard, quite disgusted 
 the Duke of Portland and the more sober and dignified members of 
 the party. Indeed, those concerned in the regency struggle of 
 twenty years later, might have found a clue to the perplexing ques- 
 tions then raised in the fact that the control of the situation fell 
 naturally to the Prince’s henchmen and personal friends ; and the 
 Greys and other respectable Whigs might have learned from the pro- 
 ceedings of 1789 that their influence would be but of small account. 
 
 It would seem that the various plotters were carrying on distinct 
 intrigues, each opposed to the other. Payne and his Prince, while 
 affecting to communicate with the Chief Justice, and enjoining se- 
 crecy on him, were themselves secretly negotiating with Thurlow ; 
 while with the Duke of Portland and the official leaders there seems 
 to have been little or no communication. 
 
 Sheridan, finding the threads of the intrigue becoming entangled, 
 complained almost despairingly to his coadjutor, the Chief Justice: 
 “It is really intolerable,” he wrote, “and I mean to speak plainly 
 to him.” The Prince was sending up Payne to town on that day, 
 and Sheridan was to try and set the meddling equerry’s “head to 
 rights, if possible, for he was growing worse and worse.” He was 
 inclined to think, however, that a few words from Loughborough 
 would have more weight. It was reported that a strange sort of 
 council had been held at Bagshot, to which came secretly the Prince, 
 Sheridan, Mrs. Pitzherbert, and the indispensable Jack Payne; and 
 that Master Barry, Lord Barrymore’s hopeful brother, with some 
 Eton lads, had been called into council at Carlton House. The 
 Duke of Portland and the more respectable Whigs might have 
 learned the significant lesson that there was nothing in common be- 
 tween them and the other wing ; and that. Fox absent or Fox dead, 
 there was to be no sympathy for them in the Prince’s mind and no 
 place in his councils. This also should be borne in mind when the 
 question of “the treatment of the Whigs ” comes to be considered. 
 
 We must now turn our eyes to the opposite camp, where there was 
 hardly less anxiety. The leader himself did not at once take up this 
 later attitude of adherence to his afflicted king, but seems to have 
 been willing to take service with the new administration. For 
 
ISS 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 nearly a fortnight he attempted, in his numerous visits to Windsor, 
 to discover what the Prince’s intentions were, and it was only when 
 he found, beyond a doubt, that “we were all to be turned out,” that 
 he took up a bolder attitude. 
 
 When the crisis of the King’s disorder was past, the unpleas- 
 ant truth began to dawn on the part}’’ that they wmuld be all 
 dismissed. We find Mr. Grenville ruefully observing that there 
 was “no knowledge of the Prince’s intentions, as* no overture, 
 either direct or indirect, had been made to Pitt.” This, with the 
 eagerness with which Sheridan was consulted on all occasions, 
 was “ an index of what was to be expected.” Under this view, it 
 is amusing to find how the whole plan of hostile restrictions is 
 developed. They would enforce that there should be a ruler, or 
 “guardian,” but he was to exercise authority “in the King’s 
 name.” It was determined that there should be a Regent, but he 
 was to be invested with only a portion of the royal prerogatives, 
 to be cliecked by a Council, and not to have the power of dissolv- 
 ing Parliament. They were surely bound, thought Mr. Grenville, 
 by every tie of gratitude and honor, and, indeed, as public men, to 
 preserve all his rights for the afflicted King. This .system of offence 
 was only resolved upon when it was found that after nearly ten 
 days the Prince persisted in his reserve. The Prime Minister had 
 now therefore decided on his course of action. There were many 
 encouraging circumstances. On a visit which he himself had paid 
 to Windsor on the 14th, he found that even Reynolds and Baker 
 had begun to talk with some hope of the King’s recovery. There 
 was a general impression, indeed, that the royal patient was get- 
 ting better, and the friends of the administration were giving this 
 out industriously. The opinion of Hunter, the great surgeon, that 
 “recovery was certain,” was also circulated. The flattering offer 
 from the City merchants of a large present of money, with 
 addrcs.ses that the present Government might be continued, were 
 satisfactory proofs of the feeling of the country, though Lord 
 Sheffield heard that this clement of support was to be “artfully 
 worked up by the Government into a sort of agitation.” Arrived 
 at this conclusion, Pitt now developed his plan, which was con- 
 ceived in a spirit of just but stern hostility. The Prince was not 
 to look for the slightest indulgence, but was to be dealt with as 
 the chief of a faction. There can be little doubt that the idea of a 
 controlling council was intended, which would have made the 
 Prince’s position much about what a Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland is 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 139 
 
 now. This could not have been a secret, as Mr. Jesse thinks, for 
 it was known to his part3% as well as to the Opposition. Mr. Slorer 
 heard that it was intended to saddle the Prince with a council, 
 wliile the Duke of Richmond was quoted for a plan of the same 
 kind. Even a jest was in circulation, that it was resolved to put 
 the strait-waistcoat on the Prince of Wales instead of on the King. 
 
 When this became known, and it was felt it would be carried 
 out, the plotters and intriguers about the Prince had the incredible 
 folly to enter upon a new course, as stupid as it was unconstitu- 
 tional. They deluded themselves that a sort of coup d'etat might 
 be attempted without difficulty. They had but to declare the 
 “divine right” of the Prince to take on him the government, 
 unconscious that there was a great question involved: though 
 Payne allowed that some “ form” might be tolerated on the side 
 of Parliament, in asking the Prince to take on him the govern- 
 ment. From this dream they were destined to be rudel^^ awakened. 
 This original blunder vitiated all their plans and destroyed the game. 
 
 More surprising was it that the vigorous Loughborough should 
 have been daring enough to suggest that the Prince should declare 
 his right to rule the kingdom, and put aside, as an affront to his 
 dignity, the interference of Parliament. On the first symptoms 
 of the King’s recovery he had prepared the plan. A pencilled 
 note, found among his papers, sets out the details of the scheme. 
 The Privy Council was to be summoned, to whom the Prince was 
 to announce it formally, notice was previously to be sent to 
 trusted friends or conspirators, and a proclamation was to be then 
 issued summoning Parliament. That Lord Loughborough had 
 written a letter containing such advice later became known to 
 Pitt. There have been, of course, many supporters of this divine- 
 right theory, which, to the majority of minds, would have been 
 expected to have been a high Tor}'- doctrine; but this shows how 
 pliant is political conscience, according to times and persons. 
 This gives an idea of the strange, agitated, and desperate tone of 
 the politics of the times, which was verging near to the modern 
 French system. Lord Campbell learned, he does not s:iy from 
 whom, that this programme was read by the Chief Justice himself 
 tf) the Prince at Windsor, or, more probabl}^ in his secret council 
 at Bagshot: 
 
 “Upon the supposition of a state of disorder without prospect 
 of recovery or of a speedy extinction, the principle of the P.’s 
 conduct is perfectly clear. The administration of government 
 
140 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 devolves to him of right. He is bound by every duty to assume 
 it, and his character would he lessened in the public estimation if 
 he took it on any other ground but right, or on any sort of com- 
 promise. The authority of Parliament as the great council of the 
 nation, would be interposed, not to confer but to declare the right. 
 The mode of proceeding which occurs to my mind is, that in a 
 very short time H.RH. should signify his intention to act by 
 directing a meeting of the Privy Council, where he should declare 
 his intention to take upon himself the care of the State, and should 
 at the same time signify his desire to have the advice of Parlia- 
 ment, and order it by a proclamation to meet early for despatch of 
 business. That done, he should direct the several ministers to 
 attend him with the public business of their offices. 
 
 “ It is of vast importance in the outset that he should appear to 
 act entirely of himself, and in the conferences he must necessarily 
 have, not to consult, but to listen and direct. 
 
 “Though the measure of assembling the Council should not be 
 consulted upon, but decided in his own breast, it ought to be com- 
 municated to a few persons who may be trusted, a short time 
 before it takes place; and it will deserve consideration whether it 
 might or not be expedient very speedily after this measure, in 
 order to mark dislincllj'- the assumption of government, to direct 
 such persons — at least in one or two instances — to be added to what 
 is called the Cabinet, as he thinks proper. By marking a deter- 
 mination to act of himself, and by cautiously avoiding to raise 
 strong fear or strong hope, but keeping men’s minds in expecta- 
 tion of what may arise out of his reserve, and in a persuasion of 
 his general candor, he will find all men equally observant of him.” 
 
 This memorandum is unsigned, but in the Chief Justice’s hand- 
 writing; and, taking what occurred ns evidence for committing 
 the Chief Justice to the Tower, might have been sufficient. It was 
 characteristic of the bold Scot, who flung off his gown in open court, 
 in presence of the astonished judges, and took his way to London 
 penniless. 
 
 The self-sufficient Payne airily dismissed the notion of there 
 being any difficulty in the way. He now wrote to Sheridan quite 
 elated: “I can only add,” he says, in conclusion, “ I have none of 
 the apprehensions contained in Lord L.’s letter. I have had cor- 
 respondence enough myself on this subject to convince me of the 
 impossibility of the ministry managing the present Parliament by 
 any contrivance hostile to the Prince. Dinner is on the table. ” A 
 
 / 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 141 
 
 few days before he had written sagaciously that if “ Pitt stirs much, 
 1 think any attempt to grasp at power miglit be fatal to his interests 
 — at least, will turn against it.” This was indeed a shallow forecast. 
 
 It was at this time that party spirit began openly to divide the 
 battalion of doctors who were in charge of the King, and which 
 was already ranged as the King’s or Prince’s men. Already War- 
 ren was considered by Jack Payne and his friends as “ the living 
 principle in this business,” while “poor Baker,” because he was 
 more sanguine as to the King’s recovery, was held to be “half- 
 crazed himself.” On the other hand, the Tory view was that “ noth- 
 ing could exceed Warren’s indiscretion in giving out that the 
 disorder was incurable.” No less tha’^ seven or eight physicians 
 were called in to take charge of the unfortunate monarch. They 
 were Dr. Warren, Sir Lucas Pepys, Sir George Baker, Addington, 
 Heberden, and finally the two Willises. Warren was a fashion- 
 able doctor, remarkable for “ the amenity of his manners, and the 
 cheerful tone of his conversation.” He had cured Lord North of 
 a dangerous illness, and the minister, full of gratitude, had offered 
 to make him a baronet. This, however, he had declined, but 
 requested instead a bishopric for his brother, which was given. 
 The Prince was very partial to his society, and it was not unnatural 
 that his protege should have little hopes of the King’s recovery. 
 
 Baker seems to have been a person of feeble cast, and was pres- 
 ently dismissed with some disgrace. Addington had, oddly enough, 
 a clergyman’s experience in the treatment of lunacy, and was 
 more remarkable as having supplied the nickname of “ The Doc- 
 tor ’’for his son, the future Prime Minister.* Pepys was another 
 of the fashionable physicians; while Heberden will ever be remem- 
 bered as the affectionate friend and adviser of the revered Johnson, 
 The discord and partiality of this ^Hsculapian band became a scan- 
 dal. Their ignorance of mental disease was profound, and parti- 
 sanship supplied the deficiency. The struggle, however, was soon 
 confined to the two who had most ability — Warren and Willis. 
 By-and-by the daily bulletin came to be considered as a mere form, 
 the public having found out that the opposing doctors could not or 
 would not agree, except in some colorless report; and the only ofii- 
 cial news that was relied on came by the back-stairs, or private 
 letters from the Court. 
 
 * The more immediate occasion of this sobriquet was the minister’s having 
 suggested “ a pillow of hops ” to the Kang as a remedy for sleeplessness. 
 
142 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV, 
 
 CHAPTER Xm. 
 
 1788. 
 
 The meeting of Parliament was fixed for November 20th, and 
 both ministers and Opposition had issued the most pressing letters, 
 desiring the attendance of their friends. The roads were crowded 
 with members, hurrying from all parts of the kingdom, desirous of 
 witnessing what Sir N. Wraxall calls “so new and so interesting a 
 situation of affairs.” The same diligent observer had posted from 
 Bath, scenting intrigue from afar, and found London exhibiting a 
 scene of fermentation difficult to conceive or describe. But when 
 the Houses met every one felt that the proceedings must be purely 
 formal. Neither party were ready for battle, and the Opposition 
 were without a leader. Pitt, after alluding in terms of becoming 
 concern to the King’s malady — a malady that prevented his servants 
 from approaching his person or communicating with him — simply 
 moved that they should adjourn for a fortnight. 
 
 But a new performer was now to enter on the scene, and displace 
 the fussy persons who were confusing the situation ; and a more 
 capable mind was to take the command. Fox, it was believed and 
 hoped, was fast hurrying to England. Messenger after messenger, 
 it was said, had been despatched by the Prince in pursuit of him, 
 though no one could tell precisely where he was to be found. The 
 task, however, had been intrusted to one resolute and persevering 
 messenger, who had followed in his track like a hound, now losing, 
 now picking up the trail. Not a moment had been lost in sending 
 him away. He had been despatched on the sixth day after the dis- 
 tressing scene at dinner when the King’s malady first broke out. 
 He was detained, however, at Dover by contrary winds till the 8th. 
 Without losing an hour he traced Fox to Geneva, where he was for 
 a time uncertain what route “the chase” had taken, and finally 
 came up with him at Bologna, covering the long journey from Paris 
 in a week. Fox, who was attended by the notorious Mrs. Armi- 
 stead, had laid out for himself a delightful Italian tour, and, turn- 
 ing with disgust from politics, had purposely left no traces of his 
 
TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 143 
 
 progress. He wished, as his friend Elliot said, to be lost. Though 
 he had been absent since August, he never looked at a newspaper 
 save once, and that from curiosity to see what had won a race at 
 Newmarket. Since September he had not received a letter from 
 England, and knew nothing of what was going on. No doubt he 
 assumed that the prospects of his party were hopeless, and that the 
 record of perpetual defeat must be uninteresting. One day, at 
 Bologna, he heard from a stray traveller that a messenger had been 
 searching for him at Geneva; and Fox, having heard from another 
 tourist that Lord Holland was very ill, naturally concluded that 
 news of his father’s death was on its way to him. When the mes- 
 senger at last reach him, his affectionate anxiety was so relieved 
 that he fell upon a sofa and burst into tears. He started at once, and 
 the trusty messenger, still unwearied after his long journey, set off 
 the same day on his return, ordering horses in advance all along the 
 road for the greater traveller following, who hurried on, travelling 
 night and day. On Mont Cenis, his carriage crossed that of Pul- 
 teney, father of the great heiress of the day, and to whom he com- 
 municated the news. At Lyons, he found letters still more press- 
 ing, with the additional news of the King’s total loss of reason; 
 then, for greater speed, he quitted his companion and proceeded 
 alone, taking one of the ordinary post-carriages instead of his own 
 well-appointed chariot. 
 
 Finally, he drove up to Thomas’s Hotel, in Berkeley Square, 
 which still flourishes, arriving on the morning of Monday, Novem- 
 ber 24th, having been just nine days on the road. This was consid- 
 ered an amazing feat ; and such it certainly was, under the condi- 
 tions of travel in those times. But the immense exertion, and the 
 rudeness of the chaise for which he had exchanged his own, told on 
 his bulky person accustomed to ease, and when he was set down 
 in London he was already an altered man. 
 
 This might be considered like the presence of Napoleon with an 
 army. He was only just in time. His coming made an important 
 change in the conduct of affairs. Almost as soon as he arrived he 
 wrote to Loughborough, begging him to come to him to arrange 
 some plan of action ; but that he had not seen or heard from the 
 Prince and had no authority.* 
 
 Meanwhile, the negotiations with the Chancellor had proceeded 
 
 * Lord Campbell is surely mistaken in declaring that Fox offered him the 
 chancellorship, and that Loughborough “ clutched at the seal.” 
 
144 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE FV. 
 
 very far. It was contrived that he should have a kind of right of in- 
 spection of the King; which "gave him opportunities, as the Prince’s 
 party fancied, for an-anging with them, but as he intended it, for 
 judging day by day whether the King would recover. They had 
 determined that “ no active courtship was to be practised.” 
 
 Lord Loughborough — who had himself set his mind on the chan- 
 cellorship — was pressed to resign his pretensions, the Prince saying 
 lightly: “Well, if the Chancellor chooses to remain where he is. 
 Lord Loughborough can have the privy seal of the President of the 
 Council for the present, and settle the other arrangement afterwards, 
 if it is more to his mind.” We shall see that this partiality was a 
 whim of the Prince’s, which his followers too obsequiously favored. 
 Sir William Young writes that “this wonderful attachment to 
 Thurlow” was matter of public remark; and Sir Gilbert Elliot 
 suggested that the liking was for “ the sake of his table qualities,” 
 and that he had been “negotiating, and intriguing, and canvassing 
 him incessantly, with little discretion; and, in spite of many disap- 
 pointments and breaches of engagements, still persisted in sending 
 for him.” With this courtship — not from members of the party, 
 but from the future king — it was difficult for such a character to 
 take a firm part, and he is, therefore, entitled to some indulgence. 
 We shall presently see how and what he finally determined. 
 
 There can be no doubt, too, that the Chancellor had announced 
 to the Prince that, in any case, his views as to his (the Prince’s) 
 rights were opposed to Pitts’s. And this should be kept in mind 
 during the curious and much- debated intrigue which is to follow. 
 
 The Prince was all this time imprisoned at Windsor, and obliged 
 for decency’s sake to forego his usual round of pleasure. It was 
 noted that he fretted against this confinement, which had now 
 lasted nearly a month. Occasionally he made his escape to Bagshot 
 or to Carlton House, and when the King had been removed to Kew, 
 on November 29th, he found himself within half-an-hour’s drive 
 from the capital and the favorite scene of his enjoyments. Stories 
 were circulated of the want of feeling and rashness displaj^ed by the 
 two brothers, but as these were industriously spread by those of the 
 opposing faction, and who were virtually his enemies, they may be 
 assumed to be much exaggerated. One charge dwelt on with hor- 
 ror was that he had introduced Lord Lothian into the King’s dark- 
 ened room in order that he might hear his ravings, a proceeding not 
 perhaps to be justified on the score of good taste, but intelligible 
 when it is considered that it was insinuated that the Prince was 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 145 
 
 making out the King’s condition worse than it really was. The 
 nature of the struggle between the two contending factions made all 
 delicacy impossible. His situation was the most awkward conceiv- 
 able : credited with the worst motives by his mother and his sisters, 
 watched with jealousy, looked on as an intruder and as his father’s 
 worst enemy, he was driven, as it were, into a hostile attitude. Mr. 
 Jesse deals severely with the behavior of the two princes, but with 
 a certain exaggeration. For the instances of unfeeling conduct are 
 presented as occurring during the horrors of the first stage of the 
 King’s seizure, whereas they really belong to a period many weeks 
 later, when the worst was over and his recovery certain. On the 
 other hand, men of his own party represent his conduct during the 
 crisis as having been all that was correct. “It was universally 
 agreed,” Storer wrote, “that he had conducted himself with great 
 propriety.” Lord Sheffield declared that he gained great credit by 
 his conduct at Windsor. “ It is agreed on all sides,” wrote Storer a 
 fortnight after his first letter, “ that the Prince has acted with the 
 greatest attention to the King, and in all respects with the greatest 
 propriety, ” while Sir Gilbert Elliot wrote to his wife that both the 
 Prince and his brother had conducted themselves “in an exemplary 
 way.” Making due allowance for their partialities, this testimony 
 may be fairly accepted, especially as there is nothing to set against 
 it on the other side. 
 
 But now Fox had assumed the command, and a larger and less 
 frivolous view of the situation was to be taken. He saw the Prince 
 on the Wednesday, and suggested that the regular leaders of the 
 party should be,, as was only fitting, called into council. The Prince 
 had quarrelled with Fox’s devoted friend the Duke of Portland, and 
 during the present crisis had had no communication with him. 
 This advice had the best effect. In consequence, the Prince gave 
 Fox a message for the duke. Taking him by the hand he said: 
 “ Pray shake the Duke of Portland by the hand for me, and tell him 
 that I hope everything that is past may be forgot between us ; and, 
 as a proof that I retain no impression from it, assure him that as 
 soon as I come to town, which will be in a day or two, I shall come 
 to Burlington House, and I do not desire that my going there should 
 be kept private.” “This looks more like heart, and is done more 
 like a gentleman than one looks for from any other prince we have 
 known in England,” said Elliot. The duke was properly touched, 
 and with the help of Windham and Sir G. Elliot wrote a reply. 
 When they met, the Prince greeted him warmly and embraced him, 
 7 
 
146 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 begging that every unpleasant circumstance that had passed between 
 them might he buried in oblivion, and assuring him that he should 
 he happy to receive his aid and counsels. The Prince then begged 
 to have the advice of the party who were in the Cabinet in 1783. 
 
 Fox seems to have entered reluctantly into the plan for gaining 
 the Chancellor, who had been allowed access to the King in the hope 
 that the spectacle would have due effect. Captain Payne was to set 
 off for town immediately after to report the result to Sheridan 
 and Fox at the latter’s house. One of the physicians was despatched 
 to Pitt with the view of announcing a welcome relapse, and with the 
 rather spiteful purpose of letting him know that the King had been 
 letting out some state secrets, and brought word that the minister 
 was much taken aback. These small intriguers did not know that 
 this news had only confirmed Pitt in his plans, for that night at 
 White’s it was remarked that he was in the highest spirits. The 
 attempt on the Chancellor does not seem to have been very successful. 
 Lord Bulkeley, an enthusiastic Tory, wrote that very day that he 
 had “heard for certain that he was now firm as a rock.” 
 
 On the Wednesday night, or rather during the small hours of 
 Thursday morning, a messenger came to Pitt’s house with sum- 
 monses for a Cabinet meeting at Windsor in the afternoon. The 
 servant who opened the door, after inquiring as to the reason of this 
 unreasonable visit, asked if he had found the Chancellor, and was 
 answered “Yes,” and that “Mr. Fox was with him.” This seems 
 to have been the first time that Pitt had any direct evidence of the 
 intrigue that was going on ; and that the chief of the hostile force 
 should be closeted at midnight with his Chancellor had certainly a 
 suspicious air. But, however suspicious the transaction may have 
 appeared, the truth was Fox had as yet made him no offers. 
 
 The Duke of Leeds — then Lord Carmarthen, and one of the min- 
 istry — describes a curious message to the Cabinet from the Prince, 
 delivered on this very day. Written in his own hand, it set out that 
 “not choosing to act upon his own authority, he had thought it 
 necessary to convene the King’s confidential servants, that they 
 might learn his state and see whether it was necessary to remove 
 him to Kew.” There was something here to excite grave suspicion. 
 “ The manner in which we were convened and the style of the paper 
 rendered it necessary for us to proceed with caution in framing our 
 answer, especially in the use of the word ‘ authority. ’ ” 
 
 The answer was accordingly framed so as to offer no recognition 
 of what appeared to be thus claimed; and they announced that 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV 
 
 147 
 
 they were ready to see his Majesty, in consequence of an intimation 
 made to them that it was “the pleasure of the Prince and the royal 
 family. ” 
 
 On the next day the ministers proceeded to Windsor. The object 
 of this visit was to decide on the removal of the patient to Kew, a 
 place more suitable for his proper treatment, as being more private. 
 This matter being settled, it was proposed to exhibit the poor King 
 not to the Chancellor merely, but to the Prime Minister. Unfortu- 
 nately for Captain Payne, he was not in so favorable a state for this 
 purpose as he had been two days before. The Chancellor shed big 
 tears at the affecting spectacle, which were duly ridiculed. Tho 
 sight might, indeed, have had some effect in securing his wavering 
 allegiance. It was, indeed, piteous enough. The colder Pitt owned 
 that the King was deranged, but that his conversation was surpris- 
 ingly coherent. In concert with the Queen he had brought down 
 Dr. Addington. The Prince declined to see the ministers then, 
 contenting himself with a written message by the Duke of York, 
 couched in “rather royal style,” and which was replied to with a 
 cautiously drawn paper which did not admit his authority, and at 
 the same time did not proffer any advice. He had a positive dislike 
 to Mr. Pitt, whose respectful hostility had met him at every turn. 
 He was determined, as Sir G. Elliot wrote to his wife, “to have 
 nothing to do with him, since he had insulted him whenever he could, 
 and was arrogant to him both in manner and conduct.” 
 
 The imperious minister, before he left the Castle, was to have his 
 suspicions once more confirmed as to the fidelity of Thurlow in the 
 most curious way. As the council broke up, their hats were brought 
 to the ministers ; but the Chancellor’s alone could not be found. He 
 was in some confusion at this loss, when — Lord Stanhope heard Mr. 
 W. Grenville tell the story — a servant came running with the missing 
 article, saying that he had found it in the Prince of Wales’s room. 
 The awkwardness of this discovery, and the significant glances of 
 the party, may be conceived.* 
 
 * Mr. Moore makes an odd jumble of this story, representing Thurlow as 
 coming to the Council with the Prince’s hat instead of his own. Another ver- 
 sion of this story is told by Mr. Wilberforce, which gives Lord Camden the 
 credit of the detection. He was pressing the Chancellor to retm-n to London 
 with him, when the latter made the excuse that he had to dine with a 
 friend at Windsor. Lord Camden, having his suspicions aroused, made 
 inquiries, and found that the “friend ” was the Prince. The Chancellor was 
 certainly unlucky. 
 
148 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 Still, he was only “ rattically inclined,” to use Lord Bulkeley’s odd 
 expression; and notwithstanding all. these interviews and soundings, 
 the Prince and his friends did not find him in a sufl^ciently encour- 
 aging mood to make their offer. Meantime, the awkward discovery 
 at Windsor had circulated among his party, and looks of suspicion 
 greeted him. Grenville, however, had sagacity enough to guess 
 how matters stood; he was even indulgent. “His situation,” he 
 writes, “is a singular one. It is unquestionably true that he has 
 seen Fox repeatedly, and certainly the Prince of Wales; and, of all 
 these conversations, he has never communicated one word to any 
 other member of the Cabinet. Yet I am persuaded that he has made 
 no terms with them as yet.” He was afraid, too, that it was from 
 Thurlow that the Prince and his party had gained their knowledge 
 of Pitt’s plans; not that the Chancellor had deliberately revealed 
 them, but they were inevitably to be gathered from the tenor of his 
 conversation. 
 
 Yet in the adoption of these plans he “explicitly agreed with 
 Pitt.” His doubtful behavior had caused deep resentment, and was 
 universally reprobated by those he acted with; Pitt, indeed, from 
 his regard to the King, dissembled his knowledge of the matter, and 
 suppressed all allusion to the subject. But a Cabinet Council, held 
 on the following Saturday, must have been a mauvais quart TTieure 
 for the “beetle-browed ” Chancellor, whom the cold gaze of his chief 
 and the suspicious reserve of his comrades must have disturbed. 
 
 At once, some artfully designed inquiries were made to test him. 
 Had any one heard whether Fox had been to Windsor to see the 
 Prince? Did any one present know anything of his movements? 
 But the rough Chancellor was not to be thus put out of countenance, 
 and declined to be “drawn,” as it is called, in this indirect fashion. 
 He joined with the rest, and no doubt with truth, in expressing his 
 ignorance on the point. He even asked if any one knew what was 
 the color of Fox’s chaise. 
 
 Pitt then came direct to the point, and asked if there was any one 
 among them who desired to unite with the Opposition, and addressed 
 this question personally to the Chancellor. No doubt he also resented 
 being baited in such a style, and answered that that was an abstract 
 question. Pitt retorted that it was a plain one. He desired to know 
 would he join under any circumstances. To this no answer was 
 given. But, strange to say, Pitt seemed to gather from the ominous 
 silence of the rest that a coalition of some kind Avith the Opposition 
 would be necessary. It is Mr. Bose that reports this little scene. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 149 
 
 and it illustrates curiously the character of the leading actor, and it 
 favors Thurlow. This was on Saturday, the 29tii jSTovember. 
 
 On the Thursday Parliament was to reassemble, so there was no 
 time to be wasted in’ further coquetry. One cause of the delay in 
 making a direct offer was certainly the noted objection of Fox, who 
 felt what a doubtful gain there was in such an alliance, and how 
 disloyal it would be to put aside Lord Loughborough. Nothing 
 shows how worthy Fox was of that warm affection which his friends 
 bore to him than his scruples, and even at being obliged to take this 
 course. He had spent the whole v^eek in trying ‘ ‘ to discourage the 
 notion, ” and had actually prevented the Prince saying anything to 
 Thurlow that would commit him. But the pressure was too strong, 
 and on the Saturday he ruefully consented. Not but that Lord 
 Loughborough suspected what was going on, and a day or two after 
 the visit to Windsor he addressed a solemn warning to Sheridan 
 against the duplicity of the Chancellor. Nothing could exceed the 
 bitterness of this letter. He drew a picture of Thurlow as a false, 
 self-seeking adventurer, who “wanted to make his way by himself,” 
 and who had managed hitherto as one very well practiced in that 
 game. The plan of letting him see the King periodically, “the 
 inspection,” instead of winning him would be artfully turned to 
 purposes of trimming, as he would then have access to the Prince 
 and to the Queen. It was with this view that he actually contrived 
 that the physicians should magnify the King’s disorder so as to lead 
 to the proposal of his visits. ‘ ‘ In short, I think he will try to find 
 the key of the backstairs, and with that in his pocket take any situ- 
 ation that preserves his access and enables him to hold a line between 
 different parties.” He laughed at the tears shed over the King as 
 hypocritical, and even with a view of touching the Queen. Their 
 own “best friends,” particularly men like Lord John Cavendish, 
 were certain to be alienated, and would be reluctant to take any 
 active part, and would shrink from such an ally. Finally, the 
 Chancellor’s position at that moment virtually gave him the com- 
 mand of the House of Lords, He explained how, but the rest of the 
 sentence beginning “for” is provokingl^^ obliterated by damp. It 
 no doubt showed how his ambiguous attitude held him out as having 
 in some degree the confidence of both Prince and Queen. 
 
 Lord Loughborough must have been disagreeably surprised to 
 receive an almost supplicating letter from Fox, with a direct proposal 
 that he should waive all his own claims and make way for Thurlow. 
 Fox said he was literally ashamed to write to him; but he explained 
 
150 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 the pressure that was put on him, and in terms of humiliation owned 
 that the motive that influenced him was that he shrank from the 
 responsibility that would attach to him, should his refusal be found 
 to have endangered the chances of his party. His feelings were 
 revealed more poignantly in a letter which he despatched to Sheiidan, 
 “ I have swallowed the pill,” he said, “and a most bitter one it was.” 
 No wonder he found the pill bitter; since, according to Sir G. Elliot, 
 Fox thought worse of him than of any man in the world. With 
 true forecast, he added he was convinced that it would come to 
 nothing, and their offers be rejected. He never felt so uneasy about 
 any other political thing he ever did in his whole life. 
 
 The next point was, who was to make the proposal to Thurlow. 
 Was it to be the Prince himself, Sheridan, or — strange negotiator — 
 Warren, the doctor? which shows how much the latter was a crea- 
 ture of the Prince’s. To this point had the matter reached by Satur- 
 day night, November 29th. Fox assumed to Sheridan that Lough- 
 borough’s answer “of course must be consent,” as it proved to be. 
 The latter wrote dryly, that it appeared to him to be a strong indica- 
 tion of weakness. 
 
 But the wily Chancellor was undecided, and contrived to put aside 
 the proposal; no doubt with the excuse that he had used before, “a 
 pretence of delicacy towards his colleagues.” 
 
 The unfortunate King had now been removed to Kew, under 
 charge of the Queen, who had first received a notification or declara- 
 tion from her son that, in consequence of what had passed at the 
 Privy Council, he was prepared to accept the post of Regent ; but 
 hoped that she would take on herself “the sole and absolute care 
 of the distraught monarch.” The former office, he declared, he 
 claimed from his station and age. 
 
 A Council was held at Mr. Pitt’s, on Sunday, at noon. Upon its 
 rising, a messenger was despatched to Kew, with a letter to the 
 Queen, At nine o’clock in the evening of the same day the Prince 
 of Wales received a reply from her Majesty, in which were 
 “strongly-expressed sentiments of that prudence, good sense, and 
 maternal and conjugal affection by which her Majesty’s conduct had 
 ever been distinguished.” Her Majesty informed the Prince that 
 she had been applied to, and urged to take a share in the Regency, as 
 the only means of securing to herself a certainty of preserving the 
 care of the King’s person. “But,” her Majesty added, “ she author- 
 ized his Royal Highness to declare that she would on no account 
 take any share in the political affairs of this kingdom ; it being her 
 
THE LIFE OF GEOROE IV. 
 
 151 
 
 determination to remain at Kew, or wherever else his Majesty might 
 be, and to devote herself wholly to him as his friend and companion. ” 
 His royal highness’s answer, which was immediately returned, con- 
 tained the most dutiful and tender professions. It concluded with 
 the assurance that, “if her Majesty’s taking any share in the gov- 
 ernment of this country could give her any additional care or authority 
 over his royal father’s person, he should be the first to propose its 
 being conferred ; but, her Majesty being the only person upon whom 
 such a trust ought to devolve, she might assure herself that she 
 should be considered as his Majesty’s sole guardian, so long as the 
 unhappy malady should continue.” * 
 
 Here were there the beginnings of that unseemly struggle between 
 mother and son, when contending interests soon imparted to it the 
 bitterest rancor; for it will be seen that it was the interest of one 
 that the King should recover, of the other that he should not. 
 
 Theoretically, the Prince was a spectator of this contest; but in 
 practice he was known and accepted as the leader of one side. The 
 conflict was to be of a desperate kind — letters were written in cipher 
 for fear of their being opened ; meetings between natural allies were 
 contrived with mysterious secrecy; accusations of treachery, dis- 
 loyalty, and unscrupulousness were to be bandied to and fro. 
 
 No wonder Thurlow’s colleagues were mistrustful. Later, when 
 they were arranging the details of the Regency Bill and talking of 
 the restrictions, the Chancellor showed his discontent. After a 
 Cabinet Council, we learn from the Duke of Leeds’ MS., the Chan- 
 cellor remained behind, and discussed with Lord Carmarthen some 
 suggestions that had been made. “ He said the paper would not do 
 either for our own sakes or other people’s. He then mentioned the 
 difficulty of restrictions and the foolish one respecting the peerage. 
 He agreed there was no probability of the King’s recovery, and 
 that, for the quiet of the country, his death might not be a very 
 unfortunate event,” This was significant enough. Not unnatu- 
 rally, the Duke of Richmond, writer of the paper they had been dis- 
 cussing, had his suspicions aroused by finding that on that day Pox 
 had been closeted with the Chancellor at the House of Lords. ‘ ‘ He 
 said he thought it shameful for him to be making his terms with 
 the Opposition at the same time that he was present at all our meet- 
 ings.” 
 
 * These particulars are to be found in Holt, “ Life of George HI. 
 
152 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 CHAPTER Xiy. 
 
 1789. 
 
 On Monday, December 4th, Parliament reassembled. The Chan- 
 cellor had addressed letters of summons to all the Peers, and in the 
 Lower House a call of all the members had been directed. The 
 attendance, therefore, was very large. The appearance of Fox 
 shocked every one. “His body seemed to be emaciated,” as one of 
 the members present described him; “his countenance sallow and 
 sickly, his eyes swollen, while his stockings hung upon his legs, and 
 he rather dragged himself along than walked up the floor to take his 
 seat. ” The physicians had been examined by the Privy Council the 
 day before, and their report was laid before the House. This was 
 hazy enough, but all inclined to the idea of the King’s recovery. 
 Warren alone had declared it impossible to give any precise opinion 
 on the point, and the propriety of putting the question categorically 
 to him was debated more than an hour and a half. 
 
 Nothing, however, could be extracted from him, and he declared 
 that he had no data on which to found an opinion. This was a dis- 
 agreeable surprise for the Prince and his party, who were said to be 
 furious at an opinion which they found not sufficiently thorough, 
 and so different from what they expected from their creature. On 
 the other hand. Dr. Addington was more sanguine than his brethren. 
 Pitt moved that it should be considered at their next meeting, and 
 also gave notice that he should move for a committee to search for 
 precedents applicable to the present crisis. It was faintly objected 
 by Fox and others that the House itself ought to have an opportu- 
 nity of examining the physicians, but the matter was not pressed. In 
 the other House much the same proceeding took place. It struck 
 some observers that the Opposition were rather cast down by the 
 result of the day, while some saw in Pitt’s proposals a wish to defer 
 the appointment of a regent and make persons outside think it was 
 unnecessary. From this they might gain their first hint of the 
 inflexible mood in which the minister was to encounter them. The 
 following day he himself brought to Kew an aged clergyman who 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 153 
 
 was rector of Wapping, and who, from a strange fancy, kept a 
 madhouse, which he conducted with extraordinary success. No 
 one suspected at the time that to the introduction of this sagacious 
 practitioner the King was to owe his rapid recovery. For with him 
 he brought confidence and a cheerful hope, while his sensible treat- 
 ment began almost at once to exhibit results. 
 
 On the 10th, when the House met again, Mr. Pitt moved “that 
 a committee be appointed to examine and report precedents,” a 
 motion which was strenuously opposed by Mr. Fox, who contended 
 that it was the duty of Parliament to lose no time in proceeding to 
 provide some measure for the exigency of the present moment. 
 What, he asked, were they going to search for? Not precedents 
 upon their journals, not parliamentary precedents, but precedents in 
 the history of England, There existed no precedents whatever that 
 could bear upon the present case. There was then a person in the 
 kingdom differing from any other person that any existing prece- 
 dents could refer to — an heir-apparent, of full age and capacity to 
 exercise the regal power. He declared that he had not in his mind 
 a doubt that in the present condition of his Majesty, his Royal High- 
 ness the Prince of Wales had as clear, as express a right to exercise 
 the power sovereignty during the continuance of the incapacity 
 with which it had pleased God to afflict the King, as in the event of 
 his Majesty’s having undergone a natural demise! 
 
 The moment the fatal wmrds as to the Prince’s “right” escaped 
 Fox, Pitt was said to have struck his thigh, saying triumphantly, 
 “ I’ll unwhig the gentleman for the rest of his life.” There was an 
 inconsistency almost ludicrous in such a claim coming from Fox, 
 which was indeed appropriate in some old Tory, Starting to his 
 feet the instant Fox sat down, and with eyes flashing, he declared 
 that the doctrine they had just heard was little short of being treason- 
 able to the Constitution. He scornfully added, the truth was that 
 the Prince had no more right than any individual in the community. 
 He was prepared to admit that the Prince had a claim which was of 
 course entitled to the greatest respect. Then this master of resource 
 proceeded to turn the opening to account, artfully declaring that 
 now or never a question had arisen which must be settled. The 
 great privileges, “our own rights,” had been questioned by one of 
 themselves. And with a haughty confidence he pledged himself 
 to show that the view he had laid down was supported by eveiy 
 precedent. Fox might have gathered from the enthusiastic cheers 
 which greeted Pitt that he had made a monstrous blunder, though a 
 
 7 “ 
 
154 
 
 THE LIFE OP GEORGE IV. 
 
 claque, formed of the young followers of his party, and who ‘ ‘ took 
 the time ” from Fitzpatrick, may have encouraged him. Stung by the 
 clever turn Pitt had given to his mistake, he again defiantly reiter- 
 ated his statement. He declared that the Prince’s right could not be 
 more clear even in the case of the King’s death. He defied Pitt, 
 “acute as he was,” to prove that the Houses had such a power as he 
 claimed. 
 
 But every one must have been amazed at Burke, who now leaped 
 to his feet, and with a bitterness and incoherent fury, fell upon the 
 minister. He seemed to have lost all self-control. In a fury him- 
 self, he accused Pitt of “bursting into a flame,” and of trying to 
 intimidate them. Where was the boasted freedom of debate, he 
 asked, if they were to be charged with treason “by one of the 
 Prince’s competitors?” Instantly he was interrupted by vociferous 
 cries of “Order!” from the excited Treasury bench. This only 
 inflamed him the more, and he declared that he repeated the phrase 
 and would justify it. But the scene that took place in the House 
 of Lords on the next day was more exciting still, when Lord Cam- 
 den branded Fox’s doctrine as new to him, unconstitutional, and 
 extraordinary. Which brought forward Lord Loughborough, who, 
 thus challenged, “in a manly style,” says Wraxall, justified the 
 doctrine and avowed it to be his own. Then, assuming the offen- 
 sive, he assailed Pitt for his doctrine, which, he declared, made the 
 regency elective, which was a thing far more alarming. The Par- 
 liament, he said, might set up a pageant of a regent, while they 
 assailed his sovereignty; for, of course, the elected must be the 
 slave of the electors. 
 
 Then he showed how, as regards treason and its penalties, the 
 law assumed the Prince to be on the same footing as the King. To 
 his ingenious argument the Chancellor came forward to reply, amid 
 much curiosity and speculation. It was noticed that he was “ very 
 sour and crusty,” but nothing could be more skilful than the few 
 words he uttered. He affected keenly to discuss the point of law 
 opened by Lord Loughborough, which he declared was new to 
 him, though, at the same time, he was willing to be enlightened 
 and receive all the information on so delicate a topic that could 
 assist him. He then passed a high eulogium on the Prince, whose 
 virtues and merits he praised Lord Loughborough for not intro- 
 ducing as a support for his arguments, and “who should always 
 have his applause when its expression could not be an act of imper- 
 tinence.” 
 
THE LIFE OF OEOROE IV. 
 
 155 
 
 This was thought by Pitt’s friends almost decisive that “ he had 
 opened enough of his sentiments to show that he meant to stand 
 by his colleagues.” It struck Lord Bulkeley as being “one of the 
 finest speeches he ever heard,” and it was greeted with merry 
 “Hear, hears,” a testimonial of adhesion “not very frequent in the 
 House of Lords.” This beginning of steadiness was thought to be 
 owing to the positive opinion as to the King’s state given by Willis, 
 the new doctor, and also to some pressure exerted by Lords Wey 
 mouth and Stafford. 
 
 Lord Campbell and others have alluded to Pitt’s threat of send- 
 ing Lord Loughborough to the Tower, as reported by the Duke of 
 Leeds. But it seems to have been scarcely seriously intended, for 
 the duke, who heard him, writes in his MS.: “Mr. Pitt said if 
 Lord Loughborough again brought forward his doctrine of devolu- 
 tion, his words should be taken down by the clerk, and if they are 
 not satisfactorily explained, he should be sent to the Tower. . . . 
 He then said that though, seriously speaking, it might ;iot be neces- 
 sary to proceed to so violent a measure, yet it must be directly met 
 by a resolution.” The rumors, however, of passion and prejudice 
 that filled the air were inconceivable. It was urged that the 
 restrictions on the Prince, according to his followers, were an art- 
 ful device of Pitt’s to make him refuse, when a “committee of 
 Regency” would be appointed, of which the minister would be 
 chief, reigning “as King William IV.” Burke lashed him as “a 
 competitor for the Regency.” When Pitt replied to such attacks 
 it was noticed that “ he spoke in a damned passion.” The general 
 opinion was that nothing could be more adroit and masterly than 
 his treatment of the whole matter; yet a heated partisan, Lord 
 Sheffield, when every one was talking of Fox’s and Sheridan’s blun- 
 ders, could only see that Pitt was playing the game without temper 
 or judgment, and his “ mountebank speeches suit the nonsense of 
 many.” 
 
 Mr. Rose was listening to Fox’s speech, and some words which 
 the latter dropped to those near him showed that he felt alarmed at 
 the effect of his declaration, and meant to explain them away. 
 This he attempted to do on the 12th by declaring that the Prince 
 had a claim — and the only one that had a claim — to the Regency, 
 which, however, it rested with the House to declare and admit. 
 Pitt, however, with an almost malicious logic, declared, while 
 admitting the explanation, that as the point of right had been raised 
 it must be settled before they went a step further, and that it was 
 
156 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 his duty to have it decided that it belonged to the Parliament alone 
 to confer such powers. He affected, however, to make a conces- 
 sion, that the Prince was the most proper and suitable person, and 
 that it was according to the spirit of the Constitution that, subject 
 to certain guards, he should be a Regent, or, as he put it, “what- 
 ever portion of the royal power” it might be necessary to invest him 
 with. In reply to a question of Fox’s, he even declared that the 
 Prince should not be fettered with a Council, and should be free to 
 choose his own political servants, but that anything likely to 
 embarrass the King’s lawfful authority on his recovery should be 
 withheld. 
 
 This notification was a relief, as it disposed of the rumors of the 
 Council of Regency, “King William the Fourth,” and the like; 
 but the question of right was held to be an artful pretext for creat- 
 ing delay. In vain Fox protested; when the indiscreet Sheridan — 
 carried away by his warmth, and panting for place — warned the 
 ministers against the danger of forcing the Prince to assert his 
 right! No wonder Mr, W. Grenville declared that he “had never 
 known a man of the meanest talents guilty of such a blunder.” 
 And the uproar which he excited exceeded anything that members 
 could recollect. 
 
 Once more the masterful minister had only to turn the opportu- 
 nity to his advantage, and declare that now — after “ so indecent a 
 menace” — he must see to maintaining the rights of the House; and, 
 speaking with great spirit and emphasis, that “the House would 
 do its duty, in spite of any threat, however high the quarter from 
 which it might come.” 
 
 This heated language shows the pass to which matters had come. 
 The Prince was alarmed and angry, and instantly addressed a let- 
 ter to the Chancellor, complaining of the disrespect with which he 
 was treated, in this plan being ready to be brought forward with- 
 out any communication being made to him; and also bitterly 
 inveighed against the whole behavior of Pitt toward him person- 
 ally, since the illness of the King began. This was answered by 
 the minister in his haughtiest style, and he took care to show 
 how he resented the manner in which he had been treated by the 
 Prince. 
 
 The answer received was as follows. Pitt wrote, on Monday, 
 December 15th, that he had the unhappiness to perceive that his 
 general conduct, and what he had said in the House of Commons, 
 had been represented in a light which neither of them deserved. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 157 
 
 “I have certainly felt myself bound rather to wait the commands 
 of your Royal Highness, than to intrude on your Royal Highness’s 
 time, without having received a previous intimation of your pleas- 
 ure; at the same time, your Royal Highness will permit me to 
 recall to your recollection that I more than once had an opportu- 
 nity humbly to express my readiness at all times to attend your 
 Royal Highness; and have several times, at Windsor, had the honor 
 to inquire whether your Royal Highness had any orders for me, and 
 have received for answer that you had not.” He then explained 
 that he had not announced the plan as reported, the details of 
 which he now unfolded. 
 
 To Pitt’s communication no reply was sent, so it may be con- 
 ceived how inflamed was the hostility between the two. . But on 
 the same day the Prince had despatched the Duke of York to the 
 House of Lords to disclaim on his part any such intention as had 
 been imputed. After soliciting the indulgence of his hearers, as 
 being unaccustomed to public speaking, he said, “ that no claim of 
 right had been made on the part of the Prince; and he was confi- 
 dent that his Royal Highness understood too well the sacred princi- 
 ples which seated the House of Brunswick on the throne of Great 
 Britain, ever to assume or exercise any power, be his claim what it 
 might, not derived from the will of the people, expressed by their 
 representatives, and their Lordships in Parliament assembled,” 
 This address on the part of the young Prince found much favor, 
 both for its matter as well as for the manner in which it was deliv- 
 ered, But the appeal was ineffectual ; nor was that of the Duke of 
 Gloucester more successful. But the point of dramatic interest was 
 reached when the Chancellor rose to speak. The House was 
 crowded, and the leading members of the Lower House were on the 
 steps of the throne, Pitt and his own party, the last to be taken 
 into his confidence, expected to hear him declare his adherence to 
 the Prince, But there was a surprise in store for all. The scene 
 has become historical. He began by dealing a stroke at Pitt, de- 
 claring that the question of right — like all abstract questions of 
 right — was odious and need not be opened. The real object was to 
 preserve the King’s rights, ‘ ‘ so that when Divine Providence shall 
 restore him to his people, he may not find himself disabled from 
 exercising his prerogatives.” Then alluding to the piteous specta- 
 cle of the afflicted monarch he uttered the hypocritical burst so well 
 known: “My debt of gratitude to him is ample for the numerous 
 honors which he has bestowed on me, which, whenever I forget. 
 
158 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 may my God forget me. ...” “O the rascal!”* was an excla- 
 mation that broke from Pitt as he listened. This bitter comment 
 of Wilkes’ has been often quoted: “Forget you! He’ll see you 
 
 d d first!” Nor was Burke’s less witty or original: “Forget 
 
 you! The best thing that can happen you!” 
 
 This scene is usually considered the consummation of “Thur- 
 low’s treachery.” He was eager to join the Prince, and had 
 drawn back when he saw that there was little or no chance of the 
 Prince coming to power. But, strange to say, the speech was not 
 considered among the Opposition to be a declaration for the King; 
 it amounted to no more than a hypocritical burst of sympathy. It 
 is certain that the dramatic point of this declaration is lost if we 
 find that it made no alteration in the relation of the parties, and 
 that the offers of the Prince and his advisers were continued for a 
 fortnight more. We find that on Christmas Eve he and Mr. Fox 
 had a conversation, in which he announced that the negotiations 
 must come to an end, and desired that no more should be said to 
 him on the subject till the Regency was settled. He advised that 
 the Prince should now make his arrangements without reference to 
 him. Mr. Fox declared that he was perfectly open and explicit. 
 He talked of the constitutional question that was to be debated, 
 and said it was confused and difiicult. Then the}" passed to general 
 topics— travelling, the classics, and, in short, were in perfect good 
 humor. In this conversation he had left a curious impression on 
 that statesman, who had expected to hear from him an outline of 
 the arguments with which he was to confute those of Pitt and his 
 friends. “But,” says Mr. Fox, “I could not collect what would 
 be the course of his arguments. He said it was a confused and dif- 
 ficult case, and I therefore suspect he will answer the arguments 
 of others rather than produce his own. My idea is he has thought 
 less on the subject than could be supposed.” f This was scarcely 
 the bearing of a traitor, but Fox’s open nature did not suspect any- 
 thing. 
 
 The explanation may be that it was directed against Pitt, who, 
 he insinuated, was limiting the King’s powers and prerogatives; 
 and this is supported by the King’s coldness to Pitt when he recov- 
 
 * General Manners heard the words, and with natural wonder asked Pitt 
 what was meant by this remark, when the latter gave an account of Thurlow’s 
 suspected double-dealing. Wraxall received this account from General Man- 
 ners himself.— “ Posth. Memoirs,” hi. 221. 
 t Lord Campbell, ” Life of Lord Loughborough,” vol. vi. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 159 
 
 ered. In no case could it apply to his continuing as the Prince’s 
 Chancellor, such change of service being common enough in those 
 days. 
 
 Still, we find that the Prince’s party equally complained of 
 being tricked. Lord Rawdon, the Prince’s familiar, talked of his 
 “coquetting” with them, and that, having taken fright and drawn 
 back a little on some show of amendment in the ^King, “he 
 received from the Prince of Wales and Duke of York, before Fox, 
 so rough a charge of double-dealing that it is impossible he can 
 close with us.” * This was written on February 28th. 
 
 The year after we find Lord Thurlow expressing himself to the 
 Princess of Wales on the manner he had been treated: “It would 
 make a long story to lay before your Royal Highness in exact 
 detail the circumstances of the period, without which it is impos- 
 sible to form a judgment, and with which your Royal Highness 
 would be the readiest to discern his futility and folly. The Prince, 
 he believes, is satisfied that his affairs both then and now would 
 have been in a different situation if he had followed sounder 
 advice.” f Notwithstanding this low opinion of the Prince, he 
 was soon to become his friend and adviser. 
 
 * Cornwallis, “ Correspondence. 
 
 + Sir G. ElUot, iii. 24. 
 
160 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 1789. 
 
 On tlie 16tli of December, the Prime Minister introduced his 
 resolution in a very convincing speech. He showed that there 
 were precedents ; that the argument of the “civil decease” of the 
 King had no foundation, for that then “the Prince would ascend 
 the throne as King, not as Prince; that when the third branch of 
 the legislature was gone or suspended, there was but one plain 
 remedy to resort to — the organs of the people in both Houses.” 
 This seemed a refutation of Fox’s truly fanciful argument, that 
 King, Lords, and Commons were necessary for any legislative Act. 
 In fact, his statement of the question they had to settle was so 
 briefly framed that it seemed to carry its answer with it, viz., 
 “Whether any person had a right title to assume or to claim the 
 exercise of the royal authority during the inflrmity or incapacity 
 of the sovereign; or whether it was the right of the Lords and 
 Commons of England to provide the deflciency?” Nor did he fail 
 to repeat publicly the haughty challenge he had sent to the Prince: 
 “ I trust that I shall not be represented to the Prince as undutiful 
 or disrespectful to his Royal Highness; but were I even certain 
 that I should be so represented and considered, I feel that within 
 which prompts me to do what I know to be right; and I will sacri- 
 fice every personal consideration to my zeal and attachment to my 
 sovereign and my duty to the public.” 
 
 The three resolutions were: “1. That it is the opinion of this 
 committee, that his Majesty is prevented by his present indisposi- 
 tion from coming to his Parliament and from attending to public 
 business, and that the personal exercise of the royal authority is 
 thereby, for the present, interrupted. 2. That it is the opinion of 
 this committee, that it is the right and duty of the Lords spiritual 
 and temporal and Commons of Great Britain, now assembled, and 
 lawfully, fully, and freely representing all the estates of the people 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE 1 V. 
 
 IGl 
 
 of this realm, to provide the means of supplying the defect of the 
 personal exercise of the royal authority, arising from his Majesty’s 
 said indisposition, in such manner as the exigency of the case may 
 appear to require. 3. That for this purpose, and for maintaining 
 entire the constitutional authority of the King, it is necessary that 
 the said Lords spiritual and temporal and Commons of Great 
 Britain should determine on the means whereby the royal assent 
 may be given in Parliament to such bills as may be passed by the 
 two Houses of Parliament, respecting the exercise of the powers 
 and authorities of the Crown, in the name and on behalf of the 
 King, during the continuance of his Majesty’s present indisposi- 
 tion,” 
 
 It was evident that here was opened up a great question, on 
 which many would speak and amendments be moved ; so it was not 
 unlikely that there was truth in the charge that he was willing to 
 avail himself of the delay. It, indeed, actually proved to be of 
 inestimable service to his cause; for the three weeks thus gained to 
 the King, by Fox’s and Sheridan’s blunder, might have sufficed to 
 place the Regent in office, and it is probable that the King would 
 not have been “pronounced to have recovered” so speedily as he 
 would have been when in the hands of his own friends. Nor is it 
 fanciful to deny that the young Prince and his train of impover- 
 ished followers would have shown a chivalrous empressement to lay 
 down their offices as soon as the impartial Willis had pronounced 
 that his royal master was restored. 
 
 The first resolution passed. Stung, however, by the dishearten- 
 ing prospect, when they reached the second. Fox made a bitter 
 attack on Pitt, But his speech only showed him to be more indis- 
 creet than he had been before. He spoke of his own relations to 
 the Prince, He accused Pitt of insulting the Prince, “whose 
 favor he was conscious he did not deserve. He was so fond of 
 power that he determined to cripple its exercise for his successors. 
 Why, if his doctrines prevailed, the two Houses might choose for 
 regent a foreigner, a Catholic, and set aside the family of Bruns- 
 wick!” At which extravagant and ill-judged supposition the 
 House showed such impatience that Fox had to explain his illus- 
 tration away. 
 
 Nothing could be more crushing than Pitt’s reply. Fox had 
 announced himself and his friends to be the successors of the pres- 
 ent administration. He did not know upon what authority that 
 
162 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 declaration was made; but he thought that tlie House and the 
 country were obliged to him for this seasonable warning of what 
 they would have to expect. The nation had already had some 
 experience of that right honorable gentleman and his principles. 
 It was well known to be the avowed system of him and his party 
 to endeavor, by the weight and extent of their political influence, 
 to nominate the ministers of the Crown. It could not be denied 
 that they maintained as a fundamental maxim that the ministers 
 ought at all times to be so nominated. It could not but be sup- 
 posed that by such advisers power would be perverted to a pur- 
 pose, which it was indeed impossible to imagine that the Prince of 
 Wales could, if he were aware of it, ever endure for a moment. 
 The other side of the House was desponding. “We were shock- 
 ingly beat,” writes Sir G. Elliot; “two hundred and sixty-eight to 
 two hundred and four.” Yet every nerve had been strained. The 
 Prince and his brothers were canvassing openly. To Lord Lons- 
 dale, the head of the great house of Lowther, who directed the 
 votes of half-a-dozen members, the Prince had written, asking his 
 support as a personal favor. This he obtained. In fact, at a meet- 
 ing at Burlington House, Fox assured his friends that they 
 were certain of victory. Nor was victory so improbable; for the 
 demoralization of the situation produced a spirit of political gam- 
 bling, it being on the cards either that the King would recover or 
 the Prince be established in his place. Either case was fatal for 
 the losers, and this in consequence of the King’s own unconstitu- 
 tional theory that those who opposed the King’s ministry were 
 enemies of the King himself, and that those who sought to displace 
 his ministry sought to displace him. To choose one’s side was 
 therefore a matter of peril.* 
 
 A discreditable spectacle was the number of distracted waverers 
 and deserters. The list of ‘ ‘ rat peers ” and ‘ ‘ rat members ” increased 
 every day ; and it was whispered that the most splendid offers and 
 promises were being made. Among these deserters were the Duke 
 of Queensberry, Lords Malmesbury, Lothian, Abergavenny, Chol- 
 mondeley, Eglinton, and Rodney, with some baronets. Some of these 
 cases were flagrant. The Duke of Queensberry and Lord Lothian 
 
 * The result was shown first in a sort of “ cave” orimpai'tial body, who went 
 by the name of “The Armed Neutrality.” It had met at Northumberland 
 House, and consisted of about thirty members of the House of Commons and 
 some thirty peers. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 163 
 
 were actively in office about the King. Lord Lothian had been for 
 many years in confidential relations with him. But Lord Malmes- 
 bury’s behavior was more extraordinary. He had just been raised 
 to the peerage by the King. The well-known “ single-speech Hamil- 
 ton” was another deserter, after having “eaten toads” for years at 
 Mr. Pitt’s table. 
 
 Fox was now so ill that the next debate was put otf for a day. On 
 the 20th it was resumed, when the second resolution was passed. On 
 the 22nd the third was debated in the most acrimonious style. Pitt, 
 fortified by the unanimous support of the country, addresses from 
 the great towns pouring in on him, was determined not to make the 
 slightest concession even to the dignity of the Prince. In vain the 
 Opposition urged that after the Prince was invested with his office 
 it would then be proper to settle the restrictions. Pitt would not 
 trust him. “Who can answer,” he exclaimed, “for his not using 
 the royal negative when the limitations are presented to him for 
 assent?” Until this was done he proposed to supply the absence of 
 the royal assent by a cumbrous mode of empowering the Chancellor 
 to affix the great seal ; a fallacy it will be seen, as it was the delega- 
 ted act of the two Houses. It justly acquired the nickname of “ the 
 phantom.” No wonder, then, that on the 22nd Burke should have 
 attacked this theory, tearing and rending it with all the powers of 
 his sarcasm and invective. “He was wilder than ever,” said an 
 observer, “and laid himself and party open more than ever speaker 
 did. He is Folly personified, but shaking his cap and bells under 
 the laurel of G-enius. Among other things, he said that Pitt’s pro- 
 posals could not be adopted by them as gentlemen, as cavaliers.” 
 “The words,” adds Sir William Young, who was writing these 
 notes, “will not be forgot.” “As little acquainted with the interior 
 of Carlton House as of Buckingham House, I profess,” adds Burke, 
 “only to deliver my sentiments in a manner becoming a simple citi- 
 Een. The great seal, it appears, is to be affixed to a commission, 
 robbing the executive power of its due function. A composition of 
 wax and copper is to represent the sovereign. So preposterous a 
 fiction merits only contempt and ridicule. I disclaim all allegiance, 
 I renounce all obedience to a king so formed. I worship the gods 
 of our glorious Constitution, but I will not now bow down before 
 Priapus!” Against the Chancellor, Burke inveighed in the most 
 personal terms. “I approve not,” exclaimed he, ‘ of robbery, house- 
 breaking, or any other felony. Yet is each of these crimes less inex- 
 cusable than law forgery. If the unfortunate monarch, whom we 
 
164 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEOROE IV. 
 
 all lament, could know the proposition now agitated, he would no 
 doubt cry out with Macbeth — 
 
 Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown, 
 
 Thence to be wrench’d with an unlineal hand, 
 
 No son of mine succeeding. 
 
 Restore me,” he would add, “to my former state. Let me not 
 behold a black-browed phantom seated on my throne !” This coarse 
 vein of allusion he followed up by likening the character to the god 
 Priapus in the hands of the carpenter Pitt. Then carried away by 
 this madness, as it seemed to the ministerial party, he let out the 
 names of some of those whom his party intended advancing, reward- 
 ing such as Lord Fitzwilliam, who was to be Marquis of Rocking- 
 ham, and Lord George Cavendish. More, it was thought, would 
 have been revealed but for his friends pulling him back, and for the 
 ironical cheers from the ministerial benches. 
 
 All this brought fresh glory to Pitt, to whom the City of London 
 was now proposing to offer a present of three thousand pounds a year 
 on his quitting office, a thing now considered to be settled. The debate 
 in the Lords, when the resolution reached it, was even more exciting. 
 It was remarkable for Lord Shelburne’s (now Lord Lansdowne) brief 
 but admirable summary of the question. The Chancellor strongly 
 supported Lord Lansdowne’s arguments,* while he bestowed eulo- 
 giums on the Prince. In reply to Lord Loughborough’s assertions 
 of the right which his royal highness possessed to exercise the 
 Regency, Thurlow demanded: “What means the term of regent? 
 Where is it defined? In what law book, or in what statute? I have 
 heard of protectors, guardians, and lords justices; but I know not 
 where to look for the office and functions of a regent. To what end 
 then address the Prince to take on him a power the limits of which 
 are not ascertained?” “No man entertains a higher respect than 
 myself,” continued he, “for that illustrious person. I wish as 
 ardently the advancement of his honor and interests as those who 
 affect more attachment to him. But I never will argue that he 
 possesses any inherent right to the regency, or that, as heir-apparent, 
 he can possess such a right. There might even arise Princes of 
 Wales whose conduct would justify the two Houses in setting them 
 aside from the regency. It becomes, therefore, expedient that we 
 
 * Lord Hawksbury told Mrs. Harcourt that he had prevailed on the Chan- 
 cellor to make one of his finest speeches for the cause, probably this one. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 165 
 
 should not abandon the power inherent in us; nor, under the cir- 
 cumstances in which we are placed, fail to declare it to be our right.” 
 When the division took place, only sixty-six peers were found in the 
 minority.* 
 
 * The Dukes of York and Cumberland voted in the minority; as the Duke 
 of Gloucester would have likewise done, if he had not been prevented from 
 attending by severe indisposition. All the Lords of the Bedchamber, with the 
 single exception of the Duke of Queensberry, adhered to Government. Thir- 
 teen bishops, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, were likewise found 
 on that side; three members of the episcopal bench voting with Opposition. 
 The Scottish peers ranged themselves, six with administration, seven on the 
 other side. 
 
166 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 1789. 
 
 The resolution being passed, and the bill being prepared, founded 
 on the principles of the resolution, we will now turn to contemplate 
 what was going on at Windsor, where the Chancellor was still the 
 central figure. 
 
 “The Prince, having understood that the Chancellor had used 
 some expressions of which he thought he had cause to complain, 
 desired to see his lordship, and generously afforded him an oppor- 
 tunity of vindicating himself, if the rumor were unfounded. The 
 Chancellor assured his Royal Highness that he never had, even in 
 thought, deviated from the profound respect he owed him. He 
 begged to know the full extent of what he had been charged with, 
 in the full confidence of being able to exculpate himself. His lord 
 ship proceeded to say that what opinions he had publicly advanced 
 his legal situation compelled; but that he felt himself strongly 
 devoted to his Royal Highness : and that he might assure himself 
 that he should on no account unite with Mr. Pitt, or enter into any 
 opposition to his Royal Highness’s government, when his dismission, 
 which he saw was at hand, should take place. He should, on the 
 contrary, give it every support in his power ; and if, at a future day, 
 his services should be thought of use, he should be happy to offer 
 them. The Chancellor spoke of Mr. Pitt as a haughty, impractica- 
 ble spirit, with whom it would be impossible for him ever cordially 
 to unite. He added that the whole party was split, divided, and 
 discontented.”* 
 
 The family dissensions, too, had reached a scandalous stage, chiefly 
 owing to the Queen. A hostile system of exclusion was adopted, 
 directed by her. The Prince was not allowed to see the King; or 
 else such difficulties were thrown in the way as made it disagreeable 
 and almost impossible. When he wished to see his mother, the same 
 obstructive course was pursued. As he fairly argued in his letter of 
 
 * “ Particulars” in Holt’s “ Life of George III.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 167 
 
 grievances, he “could not force his way in.” Up to this time, too, 
 it had been the practice to send the physicians’ report of each day to 
 the Prince — “the only distinction,” he sarcastically said, “made 
 between myself and the rest of your Majesty’s subjects,” and cer- 
 tainly a privilege to which he was entitled. Now express orders 
 were given to the doctors that this was not to be done. 
 
 In the confusion of the removal to Kew, it had been forgotten that 
 the King’s papers and jewels had been left open and unprotected. 
 The Prince, after consulting with the Chancellor, repaired with Lord 
 Weymouth, the King’s friend, and Lord Brudenell, the Keeper of 
 the Privy Purse, to Windsor, and made them, in his presence, col- 
 lect and seal up all these articles, taking a formal receipt from them. 
 
 When the Queen heard of this reasonable precaution, she fell into 
 a fury. As the Prince describes the scene: “ To my extreme aston- 
 ishment, she condescended, at my next interview, to a species of 
 warmth of reproaches, into which nothing could have surprised or 
 betrayed her Majesty but a degree of passion which I had never wit- 
 nessed or believed to exist in her Majesty before.” Without ascrib- 
 ing the Queen’s dislike to him to this cause, he had “soon to lament 
 it, as the first open demonstration of it.” This is very significant, 
 and shows the hostility between the hard German lady and her son. 
 
 “ What a fine fellow my brother York is !” the Prince was heard 
 to say at a supper; “he never forsakes me.” Then, describing the 
 scene of the jewels and his mother’s anger, he repeated his worthy 
 brother’s speech to her. “Says York to her, ‘I believe, madam, 
 you are as much deranged as the King !” “She is playing the 
 devil,” wrote Sir Gilbert Elliot to his lady, “and has, all this time, 
 been at the bottom of the cabals and intrigues against the Prince. It 
 is believed that she was ready to accept the Regency, if the Prince 
 had been advised to refuse it.” f 
 
 This was undoubtedly part of the policy of her faction, and per- 
 haps the object of Mr. Pitt’s almost insulting treatment of the Prince. 
 “Mr. Pitt,” wrote Mr. Storer, “ is so powerful that he can do as he 
 pleases. Had he known his own power at the beginning of this 
 business, perhaps he would never have thought of the Prince of 
 Wales as Regent; it being now undoubtedly proved, I think, that he 
 might have conferred the Regency on the Queen. If he has been 
 guilty of any error, it has been in not having foreseen his strength in 
 Parliament.” 
 
 * Auckland, “ Correspondence,” ii. 280. 
 t “Life of Sir G. Elliot,” i. 252. 
 
168 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 This envenomed feeling, with the sense that they were looked on 
 by their family and the ministers as enemies, is some justification for 
 the many outbursts which were set down as ‘ ‘ indecent” on the part 
 of the foolish youths. Both talked loudly of their grievances every- 
 where and in all companies. The following description shows how 
 painfully strained must have been the relations of this happy family.* 
 Through the curious record before alluded to f we are enabled to 
 hear the royal brothers explaining themselves on the situation. 
 
 “At entertainments given by the Duke of York, having for their 
 avowed object the conciliation of members of both Houses, the Prince 
 was present, and expatiated with great eloquence upon ‘ ‘ the indig- 
 nities and injustice he had experienced from the usurpers of those 
 powers of which he conceived he ought be possessed, as the natu- 
 ral representative of a father unhappily incapable of exercising them, 
 and, to the infinite atfliction of his family, not likely to be ever again 
 in a situation to hold the reins of government.” He said: “ Reports 
 have been circulated that I had frequent interviews with Mr. Pitt. 
 The truth js I saw him but once during my stay at Windsor. In the 
 first days of the King’s illness, and before I had recovered from the 
 shock it occasioned me, some person told me that Mr. Pitt and the 
 Duke of Richmond were come. My mind fully occupied by the sad 
 state of things, I hardly heard, and it soon escaped my recollection 
 that they were there. Some time after, Mr. St. Leger entered the 
 room, and told me that the Duke of Richmond and Mr. Pitt had 
 been waiting two hours. I awoke as it were from a trance, and 
 desired that they might instantly be admitted. The duke was most 
 obsequious, bowed incessantly. Mr. Pitt was most stately. He said 
 he should do so-and-so, and looked with unforgiving haughtiness.” 
 He had assured the Queen he should be happy to conform in every- 
 thing to the wishes of his royal father; and he promised that every 
 indication of his intentions previous to his lamented indisposition 
 should be religiously observed. Her Majesty having then received 
 no unworthy impression, was satisfied and happy in receiving this 
 assurance, and permitted him and the Duke of York to assist in 
 packing up and to put their seals upon the Crown jewels and some 
 valuable movables of the King’s, which, together with the Queen’s 
 
 * In the palace, even the royal pages betrayed their master, and no less 
 than four were afterwards dismissed for furnishing the Prince with infor- 
 mation. 
 
 t Given in Holt’s “ Life of George HI.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 169 
 
 jewels, were conveyed to Kew when the Queen went thither. He 
 had now to lament a sad revolution in her Majesty’s opinion, which 
 had been effected by mischievous and designing persons. He had 
 received a letter from her Majesty of her own writing, but not of her 
 own dictating. It charged him with designing to take advantage of 
 the weak state of the King to get possession of his treasures, and to 
 change the whole state of things. 
 
 ‘ ‘ Ladies , H , and C were censured by his Royal 
 
 Highness as the advisers of this letter. He said he had charged the 
 last mentioned with a knowledge of it, and if he had not before had 
 a certainty of it, her confusion would have given it. He complained 
 of the personal indignity with which Mr. Pitt had treated him on 
 every occasion. He specified two important instances of most in- 
 decorous conduct toward The summonses to members of the 
 
 Privy Council to examine the physicians (of which he had received 
 no previous intimation), and the restrictions upon the power of a 
 regent, had both been sent by common Treasury messengers, and 
 left without ceremony with a porter at Carlton House ! 
 
 “The Prince was not present at the fourth and last entertainment. 
 The Duke of York entered upon the interesting tale of the injury 
 done to his brother in withholding his acknowledged rights, and of 
 the imposition practised upon the public by fallacious representations 
 of the King’s state. His royal highness said : ‘ It must be imagined 
 that the subject was a most painful one to him ; that only the' solici- 
 tude he felt to impress a sense of his brother’s wrongs, and to warn 
 gentlemen whom there was a design to mislead, could have induced 
 him to enter upon it. ’ 
 
 “His royal highness spoke concisely but clearly. He declared 
 ‘that a string of fallacies had been obtruded upon the public; gave 
 his royal word that not one of the King’s children was permitted to 
 approach him;’ and lamented that ‘the Queen, wrought upon by 
 insidious arts, particularly by the machinations of the Chancellor, 
 seemed resolved to abet the daring attempt to supersede his brother’s 
 just pretensions, and to promote the views of those most inimical to 
 him.’ ” 
 
 His royal highness then mentioned an attempt, on the preceding 
 Thursday, to prevent Sir C. Baker’s seeing the King, which was 
 rendered abortive by his steadily refusing to sign the bulletin, if that 
 were not permitted. The Duke said ‘ ‘ that endeavors had also been 
 used, the following day, to prevent Dr. Warren’s entering the royal 
 chamber, Willis assuring him that the King was in such a state as 
 8 
 
170 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 promised immediate recovery, and that his presence would do harm. 
 Warren, upon an acknowledgment being extorted that the Queen 
 had seen the King that morning, insisted upon being admitted, as 
 one whose presence was less likely to agitate the roj-al mind. He 
 found his Majesty sitting quietly, and attentively considering a Court 
 calendar, which he was translating from beginning to end into dog- 
 gerel Latin. He accosted Warren upon his entrance, ‘Ricardensus 
 WaiTenensus, baronetensus. ’ ” The Duke said, “ Warren had assured 
 him that after a long and minute examination he brought away the 
 melancholy conviction that the mind was only subdued, and that its 
 sanity was in no degree restored.” 
 
 On the Duke being asked what was the general state of his Maj- 
 esty’s health, he replied, “ he was told that he was deplorably emaci- 
 ated; but that that circumstance was as much concealed as possible.” 
 His royal highness said, “that the Queen seemed no longer to have 
 confidence in any person but the Chancellor, who, while he was 
 flattering her Majesty with every demonstration of zeal, was paying 
 obsequious court to his brother.” He added: “He seems to have 
 learnt a lesson of duplicity from Pitt. The Chancellor,” the Duke 
 continued, ‘ ‘ seldom fails to receive three or four letters a day from 
 the Queen, and he generally sees her once every day. Till conceal- 
 ments respecting the King began to be practised, and till the Queen 
 suddenly declared her resolution to accept the Regency, if the Prince 
 would not accept it with severe restrictions, my brother and myself 
 omitted not one day paying our duty to her ; but, since these events, 
 our visits have been discontinued.” 
 
 The Duke concluded by expressing in strong terms “ the misery 
 he felt at being compelled to make an appeal to the public, that 
 induced the necessity of exposing circumstances over which every 
 principle of delicacy, feeling, and filial affection prompted his royal 
 brother and himself to throw a veil; and which a sense of what 
 they owed to that public could alone prevent their interposing ; their 
 duty to that outweighing, in their estimation, all that could affect 
 themselves.” 
 
 ‘'January %M1i . — The King had been terribly affected during the 
 last seven or eight days. On the 19th his Majesty had been induced 
 to walk in the garden. The anxiety of the amiable and royal female 
 relatives drew them to an upper window. Regardless of everything 
 but his own impulses, his Majesty threw his hat into the air and 
 hurled a stick he held in his hand to an incredible distance, such 
 was the force that animated him. His Majesty then proceeded with 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 171 
 
 a rapid movement towards the Pagoda, which he was very desirous 
 to ascend. Being thwarted in that, he became sullen and desperate, 
 threw himself upon the earth; and so great was his strength and so 
 powerful his resistance that it was three quarters of an hour before 
 Willis and four assistants could rai^e him.” 
 
 Nor were the scenes in the ranks of the Prince’s party more edify- 
 ing. 
 
 “Meantime, nothing was equal to the violence of the party, de part 
 et d'autre, but most the Prince’s side, because disappointed. The 
 Duke of Portland has declared to the Prince his determination not 
 to act with Mr. Sheridan in council, who is just now Prime Minister 
 at Carlton House. He and his wife live with Mrs. Fitzherbert, 
 having no other habitation. Charles Fox, besides ill-health, is 
 plagued to death all day long; dissatisfied with Mr. Sheridan’s 
 supremacy, and not choosing to be questioned by Mr. Rolle, who 
 vows he will, in spite of threats and opposition, approfondir that 
 matter. 
 
 “But what you will not see is the strange supper of which I am 
 going to tell you, and which Lady Mount-Edgcumbe had from the 
 Duchess of Gordon herself, who, being entirely for Mr. Pett, is vastly 
 teased by the princes, whom she never fails to answer extremely well. 
 A few days ago Mrs. Richard Walpole gave a supper to the two 
 princes, Mrs. Fitzherbert, Colonel Fullarton, Jack Payne (who is 
 such a favorite he is to be a Lord of the Admiralty, and leans on the 
 Prince as he walks, not the Prince on him), Miss Vanneck, and a 
 few others; the Duchess of Gordon the only Pittite. Then says 
 Jack Payne, after a great many invectives against Mr. Pitt, calling 
 him William the Fourth and William the Conqueror, etc., ‘Mr. Pitt’s 
 chastity will protect the Queen ;’ which was received by all present 
 as a very good thing. The Duchess of Gordon* (for which you will 
 like her, though a Scotchwoman) declared if they began to abuse the 
 Queen she would leave the room. And now I am in a fright lest I 
 should have told you all this before. ” 
 
 The triumphant Pitt now addressed a formal letter to the Prince, 
 announcing to him the nature of the restrictions it was proposed to 
 
 * “Jack Payne, the Prince’s secretary, one day uttered some ribaldry about 
 the Queen, in the presence of the Duchess of Gordon ‘ You little, insig- 
 nificant, good-for-nothing, upstart, pert, chattering puppy,’ said her grace, 
 ‘ how dare you name your royal master’s royal mother in that style?’ ’’— 
 “ Lady Harcourt’s Diary,” Locker MSS., in Massey’s “ History of England,” 
 iii. 389. 
 
172 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 lay upon him. The Prince of Wales complained bitterly of a studied 
 affront in the mode of delivery of this letter, that it was left at his 
 door by a servant, though this was denied; but he retaliated by 
 addressing his answer not to Pitt, but to the Chancellor.* 
 
 Mr. Pitt’s communication was dated Tuesday night, December 
 30th, 1788. 
 
 “It is their humble opinion that your Royal Highness should be 
 empowered to do all acts which might legally be done by his 
 Majesty; with provisions, nevertheless, that the care of his Majesty’s 
 royal person, and the management of his Majesty’s household, and 
 the direction and appointment of the officers and serv^ants therein, 
 should be in the Queen, under such regulations as may be thought 
 necessary. That the power to be exercised by your Royal Highness 
 should not extend to the granting the real or personal property of 
 the King (except as far as relates to the renewal of leases), to the 
 granting any office in reversion, or to the gi’anting, for any other 
 term than during his Majesty’s pleasure, any pension, or any office 
 whatever, except such as must by law be granted for life, or during 
 good behavior ; nor to the gi-anting any rank or dignity of the peer- 
 age of this realm to any person, except his Majesty’s issue who shall 
 have attained the age of twenty-one years. ” 
 
 THE PKIXCE OF WALES TO LORD LOUGHBOROUGH. 
 
 “My dear Lord, 
 
 “I have just received a letter from the Minister with such 
 restrictions as no dictator could possibly, I think, ever have been 
 barefaced enough to have brought forward. . . . Pray come to 
 Charles, as soon as you possibly can, to take these matters into 
 consideration. I am, my dear Lord, 
 
 ‘ ‘ Most truly yours, 
 
 “G. P.” 
 
 The result of this consultation was a reply which the Chancellor 
 was, oddly, selected to be the bearer of. 
 
 Writes the Duke of Leeds: “At Carlton House a note was 
 delivered to him in the hall desiring him to go to Mr. Fox in South 
 Street (Mr. F., for more quiet, was removed to Mrs. Armistead’s), 
 who was not well enough to come out, and that there the Prince 
 
 * “ Court and Cabinets,” ii. 87. 
 
THE LIFE OF OEOBOE IV. 
 
 173 
 
 would meet him. He found there Lord Robert Spencer and two 
 other members of the House, who, when Mr. Fox came, withdrew. 
 Shortly afterwards the Prince arrived. I think the Chancellor said 
 the Prince received the paper afterwards and offered to send it to 
 the Chancellor, but, his lordship declining giving him that trouble, 
 the Prince signed it and sealed it up.” 
 
 “He observes, therefore, only generally on the heads communi- 
 cated by Mr. Pitt — and it is with deep regret the Prince makes the 
 observation, that he sees in the contents of that paper a project for 
 producing weakness, disorder, and insecurity in every branch of the 
 administration of affairs — a project for dividing the royal family 
 from each other — for separating the Court from the State; and 
 therefore, by disjoining government from its natural and accustomed 
 support, a scheme for disconnecting the authority to command ser- 
 vice from the power of animating it by reward; and for allotting to 
 the Prince all the invidious duties of government, without the means 
 of softening them to the public, by any one act of grace, favor, or 
 benignity. 
 
 “The Prince’s feelings on contemplating this plan are also ren- 
 dered still more painful to him, by observing that it is not founded 
 on any general principle, but is calculated to infuse jealousies and 
 suspicions (wholly groundless, he trusts) in that quarter, whose con- 
 fidence it will ever be the first pride of his life to merit and obtain. 
 
 “With regard to the motive and object of the limitations and 
 restrictions proposed, the Prince can have but little to observe. No 
 light or information is offered him by his Majesty’s ministers on 
 these points. They have informed him what the powers are which 
 they mean to refuse him, not why they are withheld. 
 
 “ The Prince, however, holding as he does that it is an undoubted 
 and fundamental principle of this Constitution, that the powers and 
 prerogatives of the Crown are vested there, as a trust for the benefit 
 of the people, and that they are sacred only as they are necessary to 
 the preservation of that poise and balance of the Constitution which 
 experience has proved to be the true security of the liberty of the 
 subject — must be allowed to observe that the plea of public utility 
 ought to be strong, manifest, and urgent, which calls for the 
 extinction or suspension of any one of those essential rights in the 
 supreme power, or its representative; or which can justify the 
 Prince in consenting, that in his person an experiment shall be made 
 to ascertain with how small a portion of kingly power the executive 
 government of this country may be carried on. 
 
174 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 “The Prince has only to add that if security for his Majesty’s 
 repossessing his rightful government, whenever it shall please Provi- 
 dence, in bounty to the country, to remove the calamity with 
 which he is afflicted, to be any part of the object of this plan, the 
 Prince has only to be convinced that any measure is necessary, or 
 even conducive to that end, to be the first to urge it as the prelimi- 
 nary and paramount consideration of any settlement in which he 
 would consent to share. 
 
 “If attention to wfflat is presumed might be his Majesty’s feelings 
 and wishes, on the happy day of his recovery, be the object, it is 
 with the truest sincerity the Prince expresses his firm conviction 
 that no event would be more repugnant to the feelings of his royal 
 father than the knowledge that the government of his son and 
 representative had exhibited the sovereign power of the realm in a 
 state of degradation, of curtailed authority, and diminished energy — 
 a state, hurtful in practice to the prosperity and good government of 
 his people, and injurious in its precedent to the security of the mon- 
 arch, and the rights of his family. Upon that part of the plan, 
 which regards the King’s real and personal property, the Prince 
 feels himself compelled to remark, that it was not necessary for Mr. 
 Pitt, nor proper, to suggest to the Prince the restraint he proposes 
 against the Prince’s granting away the King’s real and personal 
 property. The Prince does not conceive that during the King’s life 
 he is, by law, entitled to make any such grant ; and he is sure that 
 he has never shown the smallest inclination to possess any such 
 power. But it remains wdth Mr. Pitt to consider the eventual 
 interests of the royal family, and to provide a proper and natural 
 security against the mismanagement of them by others. 
 
 “ The Prince has discharged an indispensable duty in thus giving 
 his free opinion on the plan submitted to his consideration. 
 
 “ His conviction of the evils wdiich may arise to the King’s inter- 
 ests, to the peace and happiness of the royal family, and to the 
 safety and welfare of the nation, from the government of the country 
 remaining longer in its present maimed and debilitated state, out- 
 w'eighs, in the Prince’s mind, every other consideration, and will 
 determine him to undertake the painful trust imposed upon him by 
 the present melancholy necessity (which of all the King’s subjects he 
 deplores the most), in full confidence that the affection and loyalty 
 to the King, the experienced attachment to the house of Brunswick, 
 and the generosity which has always distinguished the nation, will 
 carry liim through the many difflculties inseparable from this most 
 
THE LIFE OF OEOROE IV. 
 
 175 
 
 critical situation, with comfort to himself, with honor to the King, 
 and with advantage to the public. 
 
 “Geouge P. 
 
 “ Carlton House, Jan. 2, 1789.” 
 
 The authorship of this has often been discussed, being given to 
 Sheridan or to Sir Gilbert Elliot. It was thought that it might have 
 been the handiwork of the first, as he was so intimate with the 
 Prince. Sir James Mackintosh, consulted by Moore, declared from 
 internal evidence that it must have been Burke’s and no other’s, 
 though Moore declared that “the violent state of this extraordinary 
 man’s temper during the debates would have rendered him an unfit 
 person for such an office. ” Sir Gilbert Elliot, who had written, and 
 was to write, many such public letters for the Prince and his party, 
 disclaimed it and furnished the true answer. “Not a word in it 
 was his,” he said; “ it was originally Burke’s, altered a little, but not 
 improved, by Sheridan and other critics. ” * 
 
 The Duke of Leeds, however, showed his sagacity at guessing 
 at the authorship. “The Prince of Wales’s comments on Pitt’s 
 letters filled three quarto pages, showing displeasure to Pitt. It 
 was, upon the whole, a strange performance, by no means an able 
 one ; now and then appeared something of Sheridan’s language, 
 and still more of Loughborough’s.” 
 
 The haughty Pitt now proposed that a reply should be sent to 
 this document; and, as the Duke of Leeds informs us, “at a Cab- 
 inet on the 5th, Mr. Pitt read the proposed answer to the Prince. 
 The Chancellor, however, disapproved sending any. They tried 
 to convince him, urging the mischievous effect on the public of a 
 division of opinion. The Chancellor, however, remained sulky.” 
 He complained of being misrepresented. At last an expedient was 
 thought of, that he should go and ask the Prince of Wales if he 
 wished or expected to receive one, and if so, then present it. To 
 this he agreed, though not with a good grace. The Duke of Rich- 
 mond said: “That man will ruin us all yet.” Lord Camden said 
 privately to the Duke of Leeds that he was a bad man. Accord- 
 ingly the Chancellor wrote to the Prince of Wales on the subject 
 of the answer, and received a note from the Prince, dated Picca- 
 dilly (the Prince dining at the Duke of Queensberry’s), desiring him 
 to come to him at nine to South Street. The Chancellor went. 
 
 * “ Life and Letters,” i. 269. 
 
176 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEOROE IV. 
 
 and found the Prince and Mr. Fox. The Chancellor held the 
 letter in his hand, and asked the Prince whether he expected any 
 answer, to which the Prince answered in the negative; but on Mr. 
 Fox observing that as there was one prepared it might as well be 
 looked at, the Chancellor delivered it to him. 
 
 After much wrangling over the “report” of the physicians (it 
 filled four hundred folio pages), Mr. Pitt, on the 16th of January, 
 introduced his “Restrictions.” They were in the shape of resolu- 
 tions, the first of which conferred the honors of Regency; the 
 second restrained him from granting peerages, save to the royal 
 family; the third from giving places, save under conditions; the 
 fourth protected the King’s property; and the fifth and most 
 important, introduced on the 19th, gave the care of the King’s 
 person to the Queen, with power to appoint all officers about his 
 person with the assistance of a Council. These were duly passed 
 by both Houses. It was this resolution on the household that 
 excited the most tumult. Its object was evident. By household 
 he explained himself to mean any office — “ master of horse, cham- 
 berlain, and so downward to the pages, beef-eaters, and grooms.” It 
 was noted that he spoke as though he were “ashamed of such a 
 scheme.” It was assailed in vehement style by Sheridan, who 
 stigmatized it as a plan for governing the country through the 
 Queen, when the minister himself shall have been dismissed. 
 
 He denounced Pitt’s duplicity and arrogance, and sneered at the 
 Queen with ironical praises, and pictured the former coming down 
 to the House attended by his household. Mr. Fullarton, a fiery 
 Scot, quoted from the “History of France” the description of 
 Queen Isabella and her minister Marvilliefs; a woman whom he 
 described as attached only to her treasures, and governed by her 
 chancellor. 
 
 The Council was to be composed, as Sir G. Elliot heard, of the 
 gj’eat officers of the household, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and 
 the Chancellor, “so that this immense job was not trusted even 
 to the Queen, but put directly into the hands of the faction itself.” 
 
 When it reached the House of Lords on January 26th, the dis- 
 cussion was expected to be interesting from a melancholy spectacle 
 of what Lord Bulkeley would have called “a rat bishop,” viz., 
 Watson of Llandaff. Never was there so unlucky a miscalcula- 
 tion. He was a man of a certain power and talent; and for his two 
 hours’ eager advocacy, it was reported he was to receive splendid 
 promotion when the Regent came into office. But he was never 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. I 77 
 
 forgiven by the King, and had to endure for the rest of his life per- 
 petual banishment to his obscure Welsh diocese. 
 
 But there was to be another scene of treachery more painful still. 
 Thurlow now stood forward to bid for the gratitude of the recover- 
 ing monarch, having at last made up his mind. After dwelling on 
 that piteous and lamentable situation, “a misfortune equal to any 
 which has ever fallen to the lot of man since misfortune was known 
 upon the earth;” then drawing a picture of the ingratitude the 
 royal sufferer had been treated with — 
 
 Deserted, in his utmost need, 
 those his former bounty fed— 
 
 he burst into tears. This exhibition excited the ridicule of Burke, 
 who, when Pitt moved to wait on the Prince with the resolutions, 
 frantically burst out in the most violent agitation. The minister 
 was a despot. “ Slaves,” he cried, “ do you presume to hesitate?” 
 And later he held up the Chancellor — his tears and his “phantom” 
 — in his wittiest vein. “The other House is not yet recovered 
 from that extraordinary burst of the pathetic which was exhibited 
 the other evening; it has not yet dried its eyes nor been restored to 
 its placidity. The tears shed on that occasion were not the tears 
 of patriots for dying laws, but of lords for expiring places. They 
 were the ‘iron tears that flowed down Pluto’s cheek,’ and rather 
 resembled the dismal bubbling of Styx than the gentle streams of 
 Aganippe. In fact, they were tears for his Majesty’s bread. The 
 Lords of the Household would stick by the King’s loaf as long as 
 a single cut of it remained; they would fasten on the crust, and 
 gnaw it while two crumbs of it held together; and they would 
 proudly declare, at the same time, that it was the honor of the ser- 
 vice, the dignity of the oflice, which alone they regarded.” Then, 
 bursting into a new paroxysm, he exclaimed: “I cannot, for my 
 soul, understand the means of this art-magic, any more than I can 
 doubt the purpose. I see a phantom raised. But I never heard of 
 one being raised in a family but for the purpose of robbing the 
 house. The whole ceremonial, instead of being a representative of 
 the forms of the Constitution, is a masquerade, a mummery, a 
 piece of buffoonery, used to ridicule every form of government.” 
 
 At last the resolutions were passed, and it was on the 30th of 
 January that a deputation, consisting of Lords Camden and Staf- 
 ford, with Pitt and some others, waited on the Prince with an 
 address; to which he gave the following reply, supposed to be 
 
 8 * 
 
178 
 
 The life of george tv. 
 
 written by Sheridan, but which was, in truth, the work of Sir Gr. 
 Elliot, done in a hurry, half an hour before it was spoken: 
 
 “My Lords and Gentlemen, 
 
 “I thank you for communicating to me the resolutions agreed 
 to by the two Houses; and I request you to assure them, in my 
 name, that my duty to the King my father, and my anxious con- 
 cern for the safety and interests of the people, which must be 
 endangered by a longer suspension of the exercise of the royal 
 authority, together with my respect for the united desires of the 
 two Houses, outweigh, in my mind, every other consideration, and 
 will determine me to undertake the weighty and important trust 
 proposed to me, in conformity to the resolutions now communi- 
 cated to me. 
 
 “lam sensible of the difficulties that must attend the trust, in 
 the peculiar circumstances in which it is committed to my charge, 
 in which, as I am acquainted with no former example, my hopes 
 of a successful administration cannot be founded on any past expe- 
 rience; but confiding that the limitations on the exercise of the 
 royal authority, deemed necessary for the present, have been 
 approved only by the two Houses as a temporary measure, founded 
 on the loyal hope, in which I ardently participate, that his 
 Majesty’s disorder may not be of long duration ; and trusting, in 
 the meanwhile, that I shall receive a zealous and united support in 
 the two Houses and in the nation, proportioned to the difficulty 
 attending the discharge of my trust in this interval, I will entertain 
 the pleasing hope that my faithful endeavors to preserve the inter- 
 ests of the King, his crown, and people, may be successful.” 
 
 All this was merely preparatory to the introduction of the bill 
 itself. The next step was to issue a commission, who were to be 
 empowered to set the great seal to a patent for giving the royal 
 assent to the regency bills now to be passed. These “ roundabout ” 
 devices seem ludicrous enough. The Prince and the Duke of York 
 were included in the commission, but the latter rose in his place 
 and declined the honor for himself and for his brother, and the 
 Duke of Cumberland did the same for himself as well as the Duke 
 of Gloucester. 
 
 When the bill was introduced in the House of Commons, Burke 
 burst out once more into fury. It seems incredible that so sound a 
 mind could deliver itself to such intemperance. He accused Dr. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEOROE IV. 
 
 179 
 
 Willis of rashness, impetuosity, and presumption, in taking upon 
 him to fix the probable duration of his Majesty’s illness. He 
 exclaimed: “Of his sanity, should God restore it, where was the 
 confirmation? With a junto — an obscure and contemptible Coun- 
 cil ! manifestly not wishing to produce a sound King, but to usurp 
 the Government without one — where a proclamation was to super- 
 sede the two Houses — a proclamation from authority existing no 
 more— for the King governs not — but is governed!” He taxed the 
 bill with reviving the doctrine of divine right, which had been 
 exploded on the expulsion of the House of Stuart in favor of 
 another House, “In the idiot abominations of the Stuart race 
 divine right was the assumption of the Prince alone ! it was now 
 more monstrously to be usurped by the Minister!” “ The bill,” he 
 said, “was not only to degrade the Prince of Wales, but the whole 
 House of Brunswick, who were to be outlaw'ed, excommunicated, 
 and attainted, as having forfeited all claim to the confidence of the 
 country.” 
 
 This extraordinary declaration having excited the smiles of sev- 
 eral of the members, Mr. Burke’s indignation rose with his climax, 
 and he directly charged the House “with degrading the royal 
 family; sowing the seeds of future distractions and disunion among 
 them, and proceeding to act treasons, for which the justice of the 
 country would one day overtake them, and bring them to trial!” 
 He received a fine rebuke from Mr. Pitt, who observed that when 
 Mr. Burke chose to indulge himself with a direct attack upon him, 
 in the style of invective in which he was accustomed to deliver 
 himself in that House, he seldom thought it worth his while to 
 make him any answer, because his speeches, from their extraor- 
 dinary style, and the peculiarly violent tone of warmth and of 
 passion with which they were generally delivered, seldom failed to 
 make that impression which those to whom they were directed 
 wished them to make. 
 
 But even here the consequences of the Prince’s rash marriage 
 and his flagrant denial were to pursue him. Mr. Rolle, who had 
 been threatening, in spite of all cajolery, that he would bring for- 
 ward his favorite subject, at last found an opportunity made to his 
 hand in a clause depriving the Prince of the regency should he 
 marry a Papist. He proposed an amendment, awkward to deal 
 with, “ excluding any one thus married already, either in law or 
 fact.” The old ground was once more gone over, and it was urged 
 that the royal marriage virtually repealed the Act of Settlement 
 
180 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 aud its heavy penalties. But it was noted that not one of the law 
 officers now said a word; while Dundas, refuting this argument as 
 derogatory to the Act of Settlement, “declared that he regarded 
 the solemn assurance of Mr, Fox as decisive.” Then alluding to 
 Fox’s absence in the country, he said he was convinced that ‘ ‘ if 
 anything had occurred to make him change his opinion, he (Mr. 
 Fox) would at all hazards, even at the risk of his life, come down 
 to the House.” This artful thrust must have gone home. But he 
 (Mr. Fox) was now considered to be restored, and it was believed 
 that he delayed returning to avoid this awkward situation. The 
 most curious position in this episode was the part taken by Mr. 
 Grey, who rebuked Rolle for his conduct, and imputed to him the 
 worst of motives. This, as he knew Rolle was speaking the truth, 
 seemed strange. But of late his relations with the Prince had 
 become confidential."^' 
 
 On the household question Burke again broke out in extraordi- 
 nary style, and, on Pitt’s protesting against stripping the King of 
 the adornments of royalty, exclaimed: “Did they recollect that 
 they were talking of a sick king, of a monarch smitten by the hand 
 of Omnipotence; and that the Almighty had hurled him from his 
 throne and plunged him into a condition that drew upon him the 
 pity of the meanest peasant in the kingdom ? This produced loud 
 calls to order, and the cries of ‘ Take down his words ’ interrupted 
 him ; and the Marquis of Graham told Mr. Burke that neither he, 
 nor any man in that House, should dare to say the King was 
 hurled from his throne. A scene of great confusion followed, 
 during which Burke persisted in his course, and justified his ex- 
 pression by the language of the prayer offered up in our churches 
 for the King’s recovery, and, proceeding in the same strain, asked : 
 
 ‘ Ought they, at that hour of sickness and calamity, to clothe his 
 bed with purple ? Ought they to make a mockery of him, putting 
 a crown of thorns on his head, a reed in his hand, and dressing 
 him in a raiment of purple, to cry. Hail! King of the British! ’ ”f 
 The disgust expressed by the House at this indecorous allusion, 
 at length induced the orator to change his tone, and to arraign the 
 
 * In December, when he wrote to Sir Gr. Elliot at Brookes’s: “ I did not see 
 the Prince, for he had just I'e tired to a private room with Grey, who is a great 
 favorite, and is admitted to most private or Cabinet Councils.” 
 
 + On the following morning Mr. Burke found chalked on his door a sort of 
 parody of the daily bulletins: “Very irritable in the evening; no sleep all 
 night; and very unquiet this morning. ’’—Auckland, ii. 292. 
 
TEE LIFE OF OEOROE IV. 
 
 181 
 
 clause with more chastened animation, and with more temperate 
 eloquence. 
 
 The effect of one of these restrictions was to prevent a peerage 
 being given to Prince William, which “the party thought was 
 an act of pure malice.” This was said to have hurt the Prince of 
 Wales more than all the rest, and the Duke of York was heard to 
 say, in a coffee-house, that it was very hard that Mr. Pitt should 
 punish his brother, who had never done anything to offend him ; 
 but that for himself, Mr. Pitt was right to do him all the injury 
 that he could, for he had opposed him. 
 
 Sir G. Elliot said later, the plan was “to consider the Prince 
 and everybody that is suspected of the least attachment to him, as a 
 prey, to be hunted down and destroyed without mercy. This, I 
 assure you, is the private conversation of him and the Queen’s 
 whole set.” 
 
 It was then proposed that the Duke of York and the other 
 Princes should be of the Council; which was plainly and sansfaQon 
 resisted by Pitt, who declared that if the Prince was unsuited, on 
 various accounts, to have the care of the King, the argument ap- 
 plied, d fortiori, to the others. The last clau.se was concerned with 
 the delicate question as to who was to have power to declare the 
 King restored to health. This was to be done when it should 
 appear proper to her Majesty and to five members of the Council, 
 and by them should be notified to the President of the Privy 
 Council; and that, the act being then complete, the Kegent should 
 cease to rule, and the King resume his office. This was hotly con- 
 tested, and it was urged that Parliament alone should restore the 
 powers it had taken away; and the plan had certainly a doubtful 
 air, and it was certainly open to the suspicions imputed by the 
 Opposition. 
 
 The excitement that prevailed during this struggle was extraor- 
 dinary. London society was ranged in two factions, each agi- 
 tated by feelings of the most vulgar kind. Every one was to gain 
 or lose by the issue; the Opposition rapacious for power and place, 
 now almost within their grasp — the Government as eager to defeat 
 them. Everywhere there was fury and acrimony, and the ladies 
 were more inflamed than the men. At balls and parties ladies 
 were already seen wearing “Regency caps.” 
 
 How the hungry followers of Fox and Sheridan must have been 
 affected by the giving away the control of the household to the 
 Queen, may be gathered from the fact that no less than one hun- 
 
1S2 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 dred and fifty places would be thus lost to them. It seemed invid- 
 ious, and was certainl}’- insulting to the Prince to lay down that he 
 was not fitted to be entrusted with such patronage; but it must be 
 recollected that — shocking as it may seem — he and his father were 
 on the footing of enemies, and that his father’s malady was sup- 
 posed to have been induced by his unfilial treatment. On the 
 other hand, there w^as an inconsistency in the argument of the 
 Opposition, who, it will be recollected, had vehemently denied the 
 power of the House in the matter. 
 
 But the prospect of power had its usual disintegrating effect 
 upon the Opposition, and dissensions had broken out among the 
 leaders. Fox, as we have seen, under pretext of illness, had retired 
 from the fray, disgusted at the influence which Sheridan and Grey, 
 with others of that “wing” of the party, enjoyed in the direction 
 of the Prince’s affairs. 
 
 The Duke of Portland, Fox’s ardent friend, declared that one 
 could take no step so long as Sheridan enjoyed the supremacy he 
 had. Burke, too, as Mr. Moore thinks, was dissatisfied with Fox, 
 as being too temperate. Between Sheridan and Burke there were 
 also jealousies.* It would seem that much of Burke’s extraor- 
 dinary violence and intemperance of language was prompted by 
 the pressure of personal necessities, and of a hope deferred in the 
 most exasperating way; and he was inclined to lay the cause of the 
 failure, which he foresaw was at hand, to the moderate counsels of 
 Fox. 
 
 The first care of his friends had been to lay out splendid provision 
 for him in their plans; and vTien the next fit of royal lunacy came 
 on some twenty years later, they were to be again busy allotting 
 aerial places of the same kind, and to be again the prey of a similar 
 illusion. 
 
 In this Utopian ministry, Sheridan was to be Treasurer of the 
 Navy. Less sanguine than might be supposed, he never accepted 
 the prospect of office seriously, always maintaining that the King 
 would recover. They had even sent him the plan of the rooms in 
 the new Somerset House which he was to occupy. And when he 
 came to hear of his disappointment, he could drink the King’s 
 health cheerfully at his own table. As to the other offices, the 
 Duke of York was to be Commander-in-Chief ; field-marshals were 
 to be created, of which the Prince himself was to be one. Lord 
 
 * Moore, “Life of Sheridan,” ii. 60. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 183 
 
 Spencer was to go to Ireland; Fitzpatrick to be Secretary-at-War; 
 the Home Secretaryship lay between Lords Rawdon and Stormont. 
 
 The Prince in his cups would give away colonelcies to unqual- 
 ified persons, who would insist on keeping him to his promise next 
 day.* * * § Lord North, now old and blind, declined office. Even the 
 Bishopric of St. Asaph had fallen vacant, and a successor had been 
 designated, who had received the congratulations of his friends. 
 With these arrangements they were busy in the first weeks of 
 February, and it was thought that the Prince would be in pos- 
 session by Saturday, the 14th. f Alas! for such pleasing anticipa- 
 tions. For now, while in this fool’s paradise, rumors of a steady 
 change in the condition of the royal patient began to take firmer 
 shape. Dr. Warren, to the disgust of his friends, was compelled 
 to declare that the King was improving every day. X In fact, so 
 earl}'' as the beginning of February the disorder had begun to 
 diminish. On the 11th the King bade Warren feel his pulse, and 
 asked him did he not think there was some amendment, to which 
 the doctor agreed ; and on the 17th certified that “the King was 
 in a state of convalescence.” On the 19th the Chancellor stood up 
 in the House and announced that it would be “indecent,” in the 
 King’s state, to proceed with the bill further, and proposed to 
 adjourn for a week. The Duke of York professed great satisfac- 
 tion at the news. 
 
 In truth the Prince and his party already felt that, in vulgar 
 phrase, “the game was up,” for even if they came into otfice, it 
 seemed to be settled that he could not, with the King fast recover- 
 ing, dismiss the existing Ministers, who would have to be restored 
 a week or two later. Already the Duke of Portland was said to 
 have told the Prince that, under the circumstances, he could not 
 take office ;§ nor were there other annoying elements wanting to 
 make this “day of dupes” even more humiliating. The Irish 
 Parliament, after some angry debates, had voted an address to the 
 Prince, inviting him to take on him the Regency of Ireland. On 
 
 * Auckland, “Correspondence,” ii. 292. 
 
 t “Life of Sir G. Elliot,” i. 269. 
 
 X One of the Prince’s good stories often told at his own expense, was the 
 comfort brought to hiha by Fox’s Italian servant, Basilico who would approach 
 him confidentially: “I have de honor, sare, to be at Windsor. I have seen 
 your fader, and ’’—here the Prince would admirably mimic his air of rueful 
 sympathy— “ and he looks as well as ever.”— Moore’s “ Diary.” 
 
 § “ Court and Cabinets,” ii. 107. 
 
184 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 February 19th the Houses waited upon the Lord-Lieutenant with d 
 request that he would transmit it to the Prince. This he refused 
 to do on constitutional grounds, while, after passing a vote of 
 censure on the Lord-Lieutenant, a deputation was appointed to 
 convey the address to London, which, unfortunately for their pur- 
 pose, they did not reach until the “day after the fair,” and the 
 King all but restored. This might have brought about a dangerous 
 conflict. “The Irish Ambassadors,” as they were called, were 
 rather unfairly assailed with gross abuse. Epigrams were showered 
 on them for their bootless errand. The members were ridiculed in 
 a coarse vein. At the various dinner-parties given to the deputies 
 by the Duke of York, Sir T. Dundas, and others, the Prince de- 
 voted himself to making a favorable impression on them. At the 
 latter’s house he was “uncommonly agreeable and captivating,” 
 singing a capital sea-song, wdiich turned on a battle between a 
 French and English ship; the French ship sinking, and the 
 British rescuing the crew, the burden being that “the Briton 
 conquers but to save.” This gives a good idea of his convivial 
 gifts. 
 
 On the 27th of February, when the very bulletins had ceased to 
 appear as unnecessary, the Prince received their address and answered 
 it in a suitable manner: 
 
 ‘ ‘ My Lords and Gentlemen, 
 
 ‘ ‘ The address from the Lords spiritual and temporal, and the 
 Commons of Ireland, which you have presented to me, demands my 
 warmest and earliest tlianks. If anything could add to the esteem 
 and affection I have for the people of Ireland, it would be the loyal 
 and dutiful attachment to the person and government of the King 
 my father, manifested in the address of the two Houses. 
 
 “What they have done, and their manner of doing it, is a new 
 proof of their undiminished duty to his Majesty, of their uniform 
 attachment to the house of Brunswick, and their constant attention 
 to maintain inviolate the consord and connection between the king- 
 doms of Great Britain and Ireland, so indispensably necessary to the 
 prosperity, the happiness, and the liberties of both, 
 
 “If, in conveying my grateful sentiments on their conduct, in 
 relation to the King my father, and to the inseparable interests of 
 the two kingdoms, I find it impossible to express adequately my feel- 
 ings on what relates to myself,. I trust you will not be the less dis- 
 posed to believe that I have the understanding to comprehend llie 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 185 
 
 value of wliat they have done, a heart that must remember, and 
 principles that will not suffer me to abuse their confidence. 
 
 “But the fortunate change which has taken place in the circum- 
 stance which gave occasion to the address agreed to by the Lords 
 and Commons of Ireland, induces me to delay, for a few days, giv- 
 ing a final answer; trusting that the joyful event of his Majesty’s 
 resuming the personal exercise of his royal authority may then ren- 
 der it only necessary for me to repeat those sentiments of gratitude 
 and affection to the loyal and generous people of Ireland, which 1 
 feel indelibly impressed on my heart. 
 
 ‘ ‘ The happy event of the King’s recovery, and the consequent 
 reassumption of the exercise of his auspicious government, an- 
 nounced by his royal commission for declaring the further causes of 
 holding the Parliament of Great Britain, has done away with the 
 melancholy necessity which gave rise to the arrangement proposed 
 by the Parliament of Ireland; but nothing can obliterate from my 
 memory and my gratitude the principles upon which that ar- 
 rangement was made, and the circumstances by which it was 
 attended. 
 
 “I consider your generous kindness to his Majesty’s royal family, 
 and the provision you made for preserving the authority of the 
 crown in its constitutional energy, as the most unequivocal proof 
 which could be given of your affectionate loyalty to the King, at the 
 time when, by an afflicting dispensation of Providence, his govern- 
 ment had suffered an intermission, and his house was deprived of its 
 natural protector. 
 
 “I shall not pay so ill a compliment to the lords and commons of 
 Ireland as to suppose that they were mistaken in their reliance on 
 the moderation of my views, and the purity of my intentions. A 
 manly confidence, directing the manner of proceeding towards those 
 who entertain sentiments becoming the high situation in which they 
 are born, furnishes the most powerful motives to the performance 
 of their duty; at the same time that the liberality of sentiment, which, 
 in conveying a trust, confers an honor, can have no tendency to 
 relax that provident vigilance, and that public jealousy which ought 
 to watch over the exercise of power. 
 
 “ Though full of joy for the event which enables me to take leave 
 of you in this manner, personally I cannot but regret your departure. 
 I have had the opportunity of acquiring a knowledge of your pri- 
 vate characters, and it has added to the high esteem which I had 
 before entertained for you on account of your public merits; both 
 
186 
 
 THE LIFE OF OEOROE IV. 
 
 have made you the worthy representatives of the great bodies to 
 which you belong. 
 
 “I am confident that I need not add my earnest recommendation 
 to Parliament and people of Ireland to continue to cultivate the 
 harmony of the two kingdoms which, in their mutual perfect free- 
 dom, will find the closest as well as the happiest bond of their inter- 
 course. ” 
 
 On the same day they were entertained at a magnificent banquet 
 at Carlton House, at which assisted the Dukes of York, Cumber- 
 land, and Portland; Fox (now returned), Burke, Sheridan, and all the 
 leaders attended. The Prince exerted his most engaging arts as 
 host, and at the close insisting on what he called the “Landlord’s 
 Bottle,” and drew from Burke the rather solemn jest that he was 
 entitled to order if jure di-vino. They spent some jovial weeks 
 in town f^tecl by all the Opposition, and then returned to their own 
 country. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 187 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 1789. 
 
 What made these proceedings the more unbecoming was the fact 
 that the King was actually recovered. On the 20th he had been seen 
 by the Chancellor, who declared that he never, at any period, saw 
 the King more composed, collected, or distinct. All accounts agree 
 in this view, which is, moreover, supported by the minute and 
 accurate reports of Miss Burney. They had* even opened to him 
 some of the proceedings which had taken place djiring his confine- 
 ment — a most painful and delicate task. 
 
 Pitt, more defiant and haughty under these conditions, was not 
 disposed to allow his enemies even the formal advantages of this 
 position. “We shall not feel ourselves disposed, ”* wrote Mr. Cren- 
 ville, “to give up the King’s authority into the hands of his Royal 
 Highness the Prince of Wales, and the less so because we know that 
 he and his friends, as he calls them, have taken the resolution of 
 making the change at all events, and of taking all the offices of the 
 country into their own hands, even, as they express themselves, if 
 they are to hold them only twelve hours. * 
 
 But the most disagreeable incident in this painful business was 
 now to be seen. The sons were compelled by this hostile treatment 
 to look on the announced recovery as part of their enemies' “ game,” 
 and possibly a deception contrived by the Queen and her ‘"‘faction.” 
 On this ground they declined to believe that he had recovered, and 
 were searching in his words and actions for evidence to the con- 
 trary. The accounts were still colored by violent prejudice. The 
 Chancellor had seen the King for the second time on the 20th, and 
 declared to Pitt that there was not the least trace of the disorder. 
 
 * The same spirit was evident in the mode of treating the Irish address. 
 “ On conversing with Pitt,” wrote Mr. Grenville, “ we were both clearly of 
 opinion that no communication ought to be made to his Royal Highness of 
 what had passed in Ireland, as we have uniformly considered him as not enti- 
 tled under the present circumstances to any communication of any part of 
 the business of Government.”—” Court and Cabinets,” ii. 123. 
 
188 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 For the other party he had a different story, “ By G he said 
 
 to the Duke of York, they always contrive to wind up the King 
 when I am to see him, and he appears very well before me,” He 
 had told Warren to repeat to the two Princes his opinion of the 
 King's state, which, at his first interview at least, was certainly 
 unfavorable,* 
 
 Inflamed by this suspense and the contradictory reports, the two 
 Princes called repeatedly at Kew, and pressed to be allowed to see 
 their father. They were refused on various pretences ; it being, no 
 doubt, considered that they came, moved not by filial anxiety, but 
 in the capacity of spies. At last they addressed a demand to the 
 Queen: 
 
 “Your Majesty’s most dutifvd son, the Prince of Wales, most 
 humbly begs leave to jepresent to your Majesty the following cir- 
 cumstances : 
 
 “ It has for some days been confidently reported, and is generally 
 credited, that his Majesty is hapjiily restored to health, though that 
 health is not yet perfectly confirmed. It must be on a supjxisition 
 of this fact, that the Lord Chancellor has been introduced into his 
 Majesty’s presence. 
 
 “.That the Prince of Wales, with the Duke of York, have fre- 
 quently made most respectful and dutiful applications to be per- 
 mitted to see the King their father; but that thej^ have met with a 
 refusal, on the idea that his Majesty was by no means in a condition 
 to be approached by them, without the danger of affecting his sensi- 
 bility in such a manner as to renew or increase his illness. 
 
 ‘'They beg leave to infoim your Majesty that, in such a moment, 
 the Prince claims a right to see his father, as a gratification due to 
 his feelings as a son. The Prince claims access to his Majesty in 
 right of his birth. He claims, at fitting times, and with proper pre- 
 cautions, an audience of the King, as being actually nominated by a 
 bill, which has passed the House of Commons, for the arduous and 
 delicate trust of his Majesty’s government during his illness. 
 
 * Even on the morning after the Chancellor’s annoimcement to the House 
 of Lords, when Sir G. Baker complimented the King on seeing him dressed in 
 his usual clothes: “I wish you joy, sir, of appearing again like a king, and I 
 am glad to see that star again.” The poor patient replied, putting his finger 
 on his mouth: “Hush, hush! don't talk of stars, we must not talk of stars; 
 you know I am mopsimus, and don’t like French mottoes.” — Sir G. Elliot, 
 “ Life,” i. 273. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 189 
 
 “The rule of the Prince of Wales’s conduct must, in a great 
 measure, be formed upon an accurate idea of his Majesty’s condition 
 He apprehends that he owes it to his Majesty and to his Majesty’s 
 faithful subjects, to do all that in his power lies, that no man should 
 make use of his Majesty’s name whilst he labors under illness, which 
 may redound to the detriment of his Majesty’s government— which 
 may, against his will, and by surprise, possibly tend to the dishonor 
 and disadvantage of his family. 
 
 ‘ = Her Majesty will naturally expect that the Prince of W ales 
 should be exceedingly anxious and apprehensive lest, if he and the 
 Duke of York should not see the King (though they may be, against 
 their wishes, excluded from his Majesty’s presence), that circum- 
 stance might be hereafter employed by persons not well disposed to 
 your Majesty, or to them, to prejudice his Majesty’s mind against 
 them, as deficient in reverence, duty, and natural affection. 
 
 “If it be thought that their seeing his Majesty might agitate his 
 mind, and retard his recovery, the Prince is sure that the same 
 reason might be urged with regard to the Chancellor, who, in his 
 character of minister, must naturally remind the King of affairs of 
 State, and renew in his mind the cares and anxieties of his govern 
 ment. 
 
 “The Prince of Wales desires and requests, as guarantees and 
 witnesses of the prudent use which he and the Duke of York will 
 certainly make of this visit of duty and respect, the presence of two 
 or more of the attending physicians, provided that all persons who 
 may operate on the King’s mind by restraint be not present. 
 
 “The Prince of Wales entreats, that if the physicians should be of 
 opinion that his Majesty’s state of health will not safely permit the 
 desired interview, the Prince, for his future justification with the 
 King, may receive that opinion in writing, signed by them. 
 
 “The Duke of York most humbly supplicates your Majesty for 
 the same indulgence, in paying his humble and affectionate duty to 
 the King his father.’’’ 
 
 On the morning of the 21st they again presented themselves at 
 Kew, and sent Drs. Warren and Gisborne to Dr. Willis with a formal 
 demand for admission, requiring also that the reasons for refusal 
 should be given in writing. Willis returned with a message from 
 his Majesty, thanking them for their inquiries; but wishing to put 
 off seeing them till he had seen the Chancellor, which he was to do 
 to-morrow. This was reduced to writing and sent to them. “How 
 
190 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 it will be received I know not, but it has completely defeated the 
 avowed object of the visit, which w’as to prejudice his mind against 
 the measures which have been taken.” Such was Mr. Grenville’s 
 ardent view. 
 
 Mrs. Harcourt gives a pleasant picture of the restoration: “On 
 February 22d,” she says, “Lady C. Finch said the King showed 
 the greatest affection to the Queen. It was the attention of a lover. 
 He seemed to delight in making her presents — kissed her hand & 
 showed every mark of tenderness. I was just with Lady C. when 
 Gen* H. came to fetch me to M‘‘ Smelt’s house saying the King was 
 w'aiting to see me. I flew up stairs where I found the King & 
 before I could speak he caught me in his arms & kissed me, which I 
 own I did him on both sides of his face, telling him how happy I was 
 & how I thanked God for this blessing of seeing him well, yet hardly 
 knowing what I said so overcome was I with joy. He staid about ^ 
 an hour in which time he was exactly what I had ever seen him when 
 in good spirits. He talked much of Windsor, said it was his only 
 home, he knew no other — spoke of the great regret in quitting it. 
 He looked ver)^ thin but was in excellent spirits, making his usuaJ 
 jokes & looked full of kindness & benevolence. Gen* H. removed 
 from the Ks. mind a prejudice as to the Queen’s leaving him at 
 Windsor before he was removed to Kew by fully explaining the 
 plan having been so arranged by the physician & the King declared 
 himself highly pleased & satisfied. The King & Queen afterwards 
 came together to see me. She was dreadfully reduced & shewed 
 me her stays, which would wrap twice over. ” 
 
 More touching still is Lord Carmarthen’s (the Duke of Leeds) 
 account of his first meeting with the poor King. He remained with 
 him three hours: “The moment the door was shut the King 
 embraced me, put his cheek to mine, and, with tears in his eyes, 
 thanked me for my affectionate behavior during his illness.” He 
 found him grown thin, his voice hoarse, but he appeared perfect!}^ 
 clear, and his conversation more connected and less hurried than it 
 used to be. He was most grateful to all for the support he had 
 received during his illness, and said it was no small comfort to him 
 to reflect on the small number of those who had deserted him, and 
 still more so as they were persons whose conduct he was not sur- 
 prised at. 
 
 On the 23rd the father and his sons were to meet. The meeting 
 was fixed for one o’clock, but the worthy pair did not arrive till half- 
 past three. Though thus kept waiting for them, the King’s mind 
 
QUEEN CHARLOTTE. 
 
r 
 
 
 
 ' ■ V ' 
 
 • . ■:‘®ifev : i|t 
 
 #.« ■:■_ 
 
 ^ *^. -S 
 
 5* -^i'*^ ‘ 
 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 191 
 
 had been fully prepared: there had been unfolded to him the 
 intended regency, the very day it was to have passed ; Willis, with 
 great tact, impressing on him the providential interposition which 
 had restored him at so critical a point. The result was that he was so 
 moved to thankfulness and pious gTatitude, that he expressed him- 
 self “ ready to bear any reverse or anything vexatious he might 
 have to know.” Rather strange seems the dislike he now exhibited 
 to Mr. Pitt, chiefly, it would appear, from an idea that it w'as owing 
 to his interference that he had been conflned at Kew. It was more 
 likely to have been caused by the manner in which the minister 
 had favored the Queen, and given over his authority to her. 
 
 Yet no one could have more chivalrously championed his master. 
 The king said piteously to Willis that, “Had they crushed you, 
 doctor, they would have crushed me — we must have fallen 
 together.” * The Princes, too, tilled with bitterness against the 
 man who had crushed them, gave out that as soon as they had 
 explained matters to the King, he would see Pitt’s behavior in the 
 worst light. At the interview that followed between the King and 
 Mr. Pitt, full justice was done to the courageous minister who had 
 twice rescued him from difficulties and dangers. 
 
 Advised no doubt by their friends, the Princes had thought of 
 reconciling themselves to their father, for their position, both from 
 debt and general discredit, had now become most critical. But the 
 vmdictive Queen jealously guarded her spouse; and the odious role 
 wTiich the sons had played was to be transferred to her. It would 
 appear that she was determined to use the victory in the most 
 uncompromising fashion ; more particularly as there were still some 
 strange symptoms in her recovered husband, which pointed at dis- 
 turbance of the domestic peace.* 
 
 Now began a series of painful family incidents. The Princes, 
 having at last obtained an audience, were shown up to the Queen, 
 while Colonel Digby went to inform the King. When he came to 
 the door he had to stop from agitation, for the tears rushed to his 
 eyes. After a pause, he said to Colonel Digby that the house of 
 Brunswick had to make it a rule never to shed tears. Then, enter 
 ing, he took both his sons in his arms with the greatest tenderness. 
 “ He said he always loved them and always should love them,’' 
 shedding tears on their faces. And they, too, were affected. “The 
 
 * “ Mrs. Harcourt’s Diary,” p. 12. 
 
 t See “Mrs. Harcourt’s Diary,” p. 28, for this unsuspected episode. 
 
192 
 
 TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 Prince protested that it was the happiest day of his life.” “The 
 King,” writes Sir G. Elliot, “ did not touch at all on anything like 
 business, but talked to the Prince about horses, and to the Duke 
 about his regiment. The Queen was present, walking to and fro in 
 the room with a countenance and manner of great dissatisfaction ; 
 and the King, every now and then, spoke to her in a submissive 
 and soothing sort of tone. . . . He made, however, one or two 
 ‘ slips,’ such as telling them he was the Chancellor.” 
 
 They took leave in half-an-hour, and told Colonel Digby they 
 were delighted that the King was better, though they noted that he 
 had made an odd remark about his “ playing piquet better than Mr. 
 .Charles Hawkins.” 
 
 I The poor monarch’s own account of the transaction, dated Feb- 
 ruary 23rd, was given to Mr. Pitt. “ It is with infinite satisfaction,” 
 he wrote, “that I renew my correspondence with Mr. Pitt by 
 acquainting him with my having seen the Prince of Wales and my 
 second son. Care was taken that the conversation should be gen- 
 eral and cordial. They seemed perfectly satisfied. I chose the 
 meeting should be in the Queen’s apartment, that all parties might 
 have that caution which, at the present hour, could best be judi- 
 cious.” It will be seen, therefore, that the Princes were maligned 
 when the Court party set it about that they were unfeeling, as it 
 was the King who made the conversation general. In this unfortu- 
 nate contest now about to commence, the blame must be shared 
 between the parties ; but the chief share attaches to the Queen, who 
 set herself up as the head of a faction, and, it will be seen, con- 
 ducted the struggle with a venom and bitterness that challenged 
 hostility. The young Princes, without proper advisers, smarting 
 under disappointment and their “wrongs,” were only too ready to 
 encounter her enmity with enmity as infiamed — so that here were 
 furnished materials for family scandal of the most indecent kind.* 
 It shows how envenomed the Court party was when it spread 
 abroad the report that “the Princes showed no emotion.” The 
 same authority declared that they were frequenting masquerades, 
 “rioting, and drunk. The Duke of York plays much at tennis, 
 and has a score with all the blacklegs, and in the public court tells 
 them they shall all be paid as soon as his father can settle with him 
 some of the Osnaburg money which he owes him. They amused 
 
 *“Mrs. Harcourt’s Diary,” p. 12; “Court and Cabinets,” ii. 122; “Life of 
 Sir G. Elliot,” i. 274. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 193 
 
 \ 
 
 themselves yesterday evening with spreading about a report that the 
 King was still out of his mind, and quoting phrases to which they 
 gave that turn: Bless Grod, it is yet some time before these mature 
 and ripened virtues will be visited upon us in the form of a govern- 
 ment.” 
 
 The Queen had despatched General Harcourt to Pitt with her 
 account of the interview', pressing him to come the next day, assur- 
 in^Im of th’e'most cordial reception. Pitt acknowledged* the invi- 
 tation, with some reserve and pride, expressing a hope that the zeal 
 of his friends was not pressing him on the King. The truth seemed 
 to be that the faithless Chancellor was again at work,* and had seen 
 the Prince, who had sent Adam to Fox only the day before to open 
 some new scheme of alliance. This, however, Fox discouraged, 
 saying that he had a horror of negotiations with Thurlow. Here is 
 an amusing glimpse of the rough Chancellor at this time. He was 
 convinced, he told Lord Carmarthen, they wanted to get rid of 
 him, and complained of a want of confidence between members of 
 the Cabinet. ‘ ‘ Dundas w'as the most impudent fellow he ever knew ; 
 that he had proposed a dinner to the Chancellor at the house of the 
 latter, with Pitt and Lord Grenville, where he (the Chancellor) was 
 to give his opinion on the election of the sixteen Peers. The Chan- 
 cellor told him he would very readily give him a dinner, but no 
 opinion.”! 
 
 In his daughters the King was blessed. Wrote one in delight at 
 his restoration: “ I cannot describe to you the joy every one showed 
 whenever the King came. I can assure you it was almost too much. 
 Everywhere they sang ‘God save the King.’ I was greatly enter- 
 tained on the day we arrived at Lyndhurst to hear a poor man say • 
 
 ‘ I am so sorry we have no band for the King; it is so hard he has 
 no music — he loves it so much! 
 
 Of the Princess Royal at this time Mrs. Harcourt thus speaks ; 
 After declaring that her disposition was such that she had not an 
 enemy in the world, she goes on: “Her apprehension is quick. 
 Her conduct in the difficult situation she has been placed in by 
 being ever distinguished with marked affection by her Brotli^rs, 
 especially the Prince, has been uniformly creditable to her Judg- 
 ment. She writes with an ease and fluency wffiich renders her let- 
 
 * “ The Chancellor is again getting about the Prince, persuading him that 
 he is attached to him and that he hates Pitt ; but he is the falsest and most 
 treacherous character in the world.”— Sir G. Elliot, i. 275. 
 
 t Leeds MS. 
 
 9 
 
194 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 ters singularly entertaining. I have heard Miss Goldsworthy com- 
 pare them to Mad. de Sevigne’s. Her desire is ever to be a peace- 
 maker — and if she can procure pleasure to others, it is the greatest 
 delight she knows. Princess Augusta adores her parents; but tho* 
 she is ever fuliilling her duty she is a less marked character, tho’ I 
 cannot exactly define why, than the Pss. Royal. Princess Eliz^^ 
 again is quite different from her two Elder Sisters. She has great 
 good humor, quick feelings, a great deal of genius, an Imagination 
 full of fire, much resolution, much presence of mind, the same sur- 
 prising Memory which runs through the family, very strong affec- 
 tions and friendship, high principles, and a manner which, from its 
 superlative good humor, pleases every one. She has a turn for con- 
 versation and a peculiarity of Ideas, which is just entitled to he 
 called wit. She writes as she speaks, often full of humorous con- 
 ceits, and she has the power of defending and supporting her own 
 opinions in presence of the Queen in a manner her Sisters cannot 
 attempt. I ought rather to say a manner which the P®® Royal dares 
 not, and the P®* Augusta does not wish to attempt. Of the Beauty 
 of the 3 Princesses people think differently, though all agree that 
 they have a considerable share. P®® Royal is the finest woman, P®® 
 Augusta the prettiest, and P®® Eliz. the handsomest.” 
 
 PKIKCESS AUGUSTA TO MISS GOLDSWORTHY. 
 
 20th Feb. 
 
 “I have the pleasure, my dearest Gooly, of telling you we 
 had the happiness of a Visit from my dear Papa. Last night he 
 came up stairs at 7 and staid till ^ past 9. Thank God my dearest 
 Goully, for this Comfort. Thank God for his great mercy to us. 
 I am so very happy that I really could hardly believe my eyes Avhen 
 I saw him: he was so composed, so kind, so exactly what you and 
 all our real friends could wish. The Gentlemen below declared 
 they never saw him better than when he quitted us, and he has had 
 a Charming night of 7 hours sleep. Your most affect, my dearest 
 Goully 
 
 “Augusta Sophia.” 
 
 “The P®® Augusta and the D. of Y.,” adds Mrs. Harcourt, “was 
 now continually with the Q“ endeavoring to regain her favor & try- 
 ing to obtain it for the Prince. The Queen said there were parts of 
 his conduct she could never forget, & instanced his setting Sheridan 
 to answer her letters. The King had related this to Mr. Digby & 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 195 
 
 said tears were shed on both sides. But the King looked to amend- 
 ment of conduct not declarations. 
 
 “P®® Royal told me the P. of Wales had won money of the D. of 
 Bedford at Newmarket & upon the Course as they were riding 
 about he called out to the Duke, You know it don’t signify what 
 you lose to me as your Brother-in-law, on which the D. of Orleans 
 said, Qu’est que c’est que 9 a que vous lui dites la? Je I’appelle (said 
 the Prince) mon beau-frere. — Qu’est que 9 a veut dire; est-ce que la 
 Fitzherbert a une Soeur? — Non, non (said the Prince), il estl’amanfc 
 de ma Soeur aine, il en est folle. 
 
 “Dr. Willis had now prepared the King’s mind. He said he had 
 told the K. of the intended Regency & what day it was to have 
 finally passed. That he was struck as he ought with the mere}'- of 
 God, who had restored him at so critical a juncture, & that he 
 expressed unfeigned Gratitude to the Divine author of all Good. 
 Said he felt so impressed with it, & with such perfect resignation to 
 the will of him who had afflicted him, that he could bear any 
 reverse or anything vexatious he might have to know, as under 
 such circumstances he ought to bear it. 
 
 “He told his Majesty the great part M*" Pitt had acted & his obli- 
 gations to him. The King told M*" Smelt afterwards he rvould 
 rather have been obliged to the Nation and next to the Nation to his 
 Fred’" than to any Individual, but he seemed on the whole recon- 
 ciled to M'' Pitt, anxious to see him & likely to receive him kindly.” 
 
 Yet Dr. Willis was much dissatisfied with the remuneration 
 offered to him for his great services. He complained of coldness on 
 the part of the King. “He only now learnt that he was to be 
 rewarded with £1000 a-year for 20 years — £500 a-year for the life of 
 D*" John. Tom Willis was to have his Expences p*^ & to be pro- 
 vided for in the Church. D'" W. allowance was to be from the 
 King’s purse not from ParP.” The other physicians had their 
 expenses paid as follows: 
 
 Dr. Geo. Baker £13,000 
 
 Dr. Warren 1,000 
 
 RejTiolds 900 
 
 Pepys & Gisburne 700 
 
 Dr. John Willis, when eighty years of age, and some forty or fifty 
 years after the transaction, was still complaining (to Mr. Julian 
 Young) of Mr. Pitt’s having broken his promises. 
 
196 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV, 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 1789. 
 
 On February 26th the King again saw his favorite son, “his Fred- 
 erick,” to whom he would rather be obliged, he said to Mr. Pitt, 
 than to any one, and received from him the keys of his papers, 
 jewels, etc. The King received them with many expressions of 
 delight, which the young prince told and reported as evidence of 
 his insane state,* 
 
 \ His pitiless German mother was determined not to let father and 
 ^ons be reconciled. Almost at the first opportunity the Prince had 
 given her a number of papers to be laid before the King, which 
 included his correspondence with Pitt, and an explanation of his 
 own behavior. On the 5th of March, having received no answer, 
 he wrote to know if she had delivered his documents, and pressed 
 for an interview with his father. “ The Queen sent him some 
 excuse,” writes Sir Gilbert Elliot, “for not answering that day 
 (not choosing, in fact, to give an answer till she could see the 
 Chancellor next morning); accordingly, yesterday the Prince re- 
 ceived her answer, that she had mentioned the matter to the King, 
 but that he had not asked to see him. The request for an interview 
 she did not notice. The Duke of York seems to have been always 
 admitted, amusing himself by describing his father’s conversation, 
 saying it was made up of childish remarks, or rational, with occa- 
 sional instances of singularity.” 
 
 On one occasion, however (March 4th), when the Duke tried to 
 obtain admittance, he was met by Dr. Willis, who declared that it 
 was improper that he should see the King. On which the young 
 prince lost his temper, and threatened to knock him down if he 
 dared to oppose him. “Dr. Willis then besought permission to 
 
 * He kissed them, and said: “My dear key! my favorite key!” which even 
 Sir G. Elliot, carried away by the distortion of party, declared “ was perfectly 
 unlike sound reason in anybody.” The Duke had, of course, given this account 
 at the headquarters of the Opposition. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 197 
 
 apprise the Queen of the visit. To this the Duke consented, stipu- 
 lating that the doctor should not be present at the interview, which 
 his royal highness declared should take place. The Queen then 
 hastened to the King’s apartment, and the Duke was admitted. 
 His royal highness did not depart with favorable impressions of 
 the King’s state; he scrupled not to declare that he thought his 
 Majesty very deficient in mental powers, and that he believed some- 
 thing iike fatuity had succeeded to irritation. On Thursday, the 
 12th, the Duke of York visited his Majesty, whom he found care- 
 fully examining a great number of spectacles, and selecting with 
 peculiar care some which he said were for his dear Eliza. To 
 change the conversation, the Duke informed his Majesty that he had 
 three desertions from his regiment. The King, impatient of the 
 interruption, broke out into violent abuse of the Duke and his reg- 
 iment, and became so perturbed that the Queen was obliged to 
 command the attendance of Dr. Willis. On his appearance, the 
 storm instantly subsided; his Majesty became quite composed; he 
 talked of an intention to visit Germany; told the Duke that he 
 should send over a curricle and six small grays, and drive the 
 Queen and himself through that country.” 
 
 On March 7th, a letter was written and sent to the Prince from 
 the Queen enclosing one from the King to her, in which he vir- 
 tually declined to see his sons, on the ground of avoiding all busi- 
 ness and agitation. How wrong the Queen was all through this 
 transaction may be fairly gathered from her behavior later on, 
 when her son was engaged in his quarrel wdth Colonel Lenox. 
 
 On which the Prince of Wales addressed the following letter to 
 the Queen, the draft of which is corrected and the date annexed in 
 the handwriting of Mr. Fox: 
 
 THE PRINCE OP WALES TO THE QUEEN. 
 
 “ Carlton House, March 9th, 1789. 
 
 “Madam, 
 
 “The contents of your Majesty’s note w^ere really of too 
 much importance, and of too painful a nature, for me to return an 
 immediate answer. I have shown them to my brother, wdiose sen- 
 timents agree entirely with mine, and who feels as I do the dis- 
 tressing alternative that is offered us, of leaving our conduct 
 unexplained to the King, or of obtruding upon him a discussion 
 which may have the effect of agitating him too much. In this 
 
198 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 situation, however, we do not hesitate to sacrifice everything to our 
 tenderness for his Majesty, and do not desire he should he further 
 troubled upon our account at present. We have too lively an im- 
 pression of what they have to answer for, who have brought or 
 suffered others to bring business before the King at a time when all 
 agitation is improper, to be guilty of anything liable to a similar 
 construction. But I trust we shall be permitted to represent to 
 your Majesty a few facts and circumstances relative to the pecu- 
 liarity of our situation, with the truth of which you are perfectly 
 well acquainted, I conceived myself to have a promise from your 
 Majesty that the papers which I had sent you should be given the 
 King at the first moment of his being in a proper state to attend to 
 business. Relying upon this promise, I thought myself authorized 
 to disbelieve all the reports which the Ministers had so industri- 
 ously circulated, of their having laid business before his Majesty, 
 and explained to him what had passed during his illness. But 
 when the Chancellor and Mr. Pitt made their respective declara- 
 tions in the two Houses of Parliament last Thursday, I could not 
 but suppose there had been some truth in what I had before treated 
 as idle rumor, and wrote to your Majesty in consequence. 
 
 “Feeling as my brother and I do for the King’s quiet and repose, 
 we consider the answer sent to us as a prohibition with respect to 
 any present explanation of our conduct; and thus, instead of hav- 
 ing the preference to which we had so just a claim, and which we 
 were induced to expect, we dare not even attempt to counteract 
 the impressions which our enemies, who have daily access to the 
 King, may have given of the part we took in the late important 
 occurrences. Your Majesty must surely be of opinion that this 
 state of things is neither decent nor just, and that whoever is 
 ersponsible for what passed at Kew since the King’s convalescence, 
 has much indeed to answer for. I forbear to say anything more 
 upon this painful subject, nor should I have said so much, if I had 
 not thought that I owed to my brother and myself to make your 
 Majesty this true representation of these peculiar hardships of our 
 situation. I am,” etc. 
 
 The draft of another note, says Lord Russell, in the hand- 
 writing of the Prince himself, without date, but manifestly written 
 on this occasion, deserves insertion, because it shows what were his 
 spontaneous feelings and surmises on this extraordinary refusal of 
 a father to listen to the vindication of his children. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 199 
 
 THE PRINCE OF WALES TO THE QUEEN. 
 
 “ Madam, 
 
 “ Tne contents of your Majesty’s note were really of too 
 much consequence and of too painful a nature for me to return an 
 immediate answer, before I had first seen my brother, and con- 
 sulted with him whether he saw in the same point of view and with 
 the same regret what appeared to me a proliibition on y'' just claim 
 we both conceived we had on the paternal goodness and affection 
 of his Majesty, and w’^, we are confident, w^ have induced his 
 Majesty to have furnished us with the earliest opportunity of 
 informiug him of what had passed, and of explaining and justify- 
 ing our own conduct, if the interested advice of some persons 
 desirous of sowing dissension between our father and ourselves, 
 and of concealing the truth from him, had not interfered. Under 
 this impression, we have taken the liberty of writing to his Majesty; 
 and we wait the result of our letter with y® most anxious impa- 
 tience, still confiding y*, with y® assistance of 5^our Majesty’s gra- 
 cious and affectionate endeavors, we may be favored with the 
 opportunity of communication with him, w^, tho’ denied to us, 
 has been granted to others, who neither by affection, duty, or blood 
 are attached to his Majesty as we are. With the most respectful 
 submission, I have y® honor to subscribe myself. Madam, 
 
 “ Your Majesty’s,” etc.* 
 
 On March 10th, the Houses met to address his Majesty. The 
 King was still represented by the commission; so that even here 
 there was an embarrassment. How was the King’s recovery to be 
 officially known? From what point did it date? Who was enti- 
 tled to say he was recovered? There was talk of an examination 
 by the physicians; but all were eager not to raise difficulties. But 
 even here the family rancor intruded; and Lord Radnor heard that 
 the Duke of York had positively determined to have made a mo- 
 tion, the day previous to the address, tending to show that the King 
 was still in a state of insanity; but, having felt his ground, he 
 dropped the thought. f This scarcely seems credible. 
 
 In the Lower House, Fox, on the address being moved, proposed 
 another to the Prince, who, he said, was also entitled to congratu- 
 
 * “ Correspondence of Charles James Fox,” v. 305. 
 t Auckland, “ Correspondence,” ii. 306. 
 
200 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 lation on tlie manner in which he had behaved during the crisis; 
 but this was put aside. 
 
 Then followed jubilations and festivities. As the King returned 
 to Kew from Windsor, he was greeted, Mrs. Harcourt says, with 
 hursts of joy. At night the City was illuminated. The King of 
 France ordered his ambassador to give a fete. “ But those about 
 the Court were very uneasy at the King’s hurried manner, and the 
 captious temper which he betrayed, evidently produced by the 
 unusual bustle and the premature intercourse with the public.” 
 He was full of all kinds of plans for travelling, building, etc. 
 
 About the ITth, Lord Chesterfield w^aited on the Queen with an 
 invitation from the gentlemen of White’s Club, which proposed giv- 
 ing the royal family a ball, in honor of the King’s recovery. The 
 Court itself proposed some festivities, and it will now be seen what 
 rancor was imported into these gayeties, and how the narrow vindic- 
 tiveness of a German court was suffered to direct all the proceed- 
 ings that followed — which offers, perhaps, the best excuse for the 
 behavior of the Prince. 
 
 The iiiurninations were of the most spontaneous kind, and extended 
 even into the suburban districts. The whole country seemed ablaze 
 with lights. The reckless Princes, whose good-humor and love of 
 enjoyment never flagged, took what pleasure they could out of the 
 festival. 
 
 “On the day of the illumination the Prmces dined with the Irish 
 deputies at Lord Hertford’s,” writes Sir G. Elliot. “ The Prince and 
 the Duke of York went away together in the Prince’s coach, and 
 were going to the opera. In some of the narrow streets the coach 
 was stopped by other carriages, and the mob soon knew the Princes. 
 They called, ‘God save the King!’ while the Prince, letting down 
 his glasses, joined them in calling very heartily, and hallooed, ‘ Long 
 live the King,’ and so forth with the mob. But one man called out 
 to him to cry, ‘Pitt forever! or God bless Pitt!’ The Prince said he 
 would not ; but called out, ‘ Fox f^ver, and God bless Fox ! ’ The 
 man and, I believe, some otherTbegan to insist on his saying, ‘ Pitt 
 forever;’ and I believe he said, ‘Damn Pitt — Fox forever!’ on 
 which a man pulled the coach-door open, and the Prince endeavored 
 to jump out amongst them in order to defend himself ; but the Duke 
 of York kept him back with one arm, and with the other struck the 
 man on the head, and called to the coachman to drive on, which he 
 did at a great pace, the coach-door flapping about as they went; and 
 so they got to the opera. From the opera the Prince, accompanied 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 201 
 
 by some of his friends, among whom was Tom Pelham, would walk 
 to Carlton House ; and from thence he chose also to walk abroad the 
 streets to see the illuminations. But they persuaded him first to call 
 at Brookes’. They accordingly made their way on foot through the 
 crowd along Pall Mall. He was soon known, but not insulted: 
 and several people called, ‘ God bless your Highness ! ’ which he 
 was much pleased with. They also called, ‘Long live the King!’ 
 which he always joined in as loud as any of them. At St. James’ 
 he fell in with a gang of butchers, with marrow-bones and cleavers, 
 who knew him, and began immediately to play before him ; and he 
 found it impossible to get rid of them. They accordingly cleared the 
 way for him, playing and shouting all the way up St. James’ Street, 
 When they came to Brookes’, they gave him three cheers; and the 
 Prince in return hallooed out, ‘Long live the King!’ and gave them 
 three cheers himself. He then sent them ten guineas to drink. He 
 heard at the same time that Lord Charlemont and another Irish 
 deputy were on the other side of the street, and could not get across ; 
 on which he gave to the chairmen nine guineas to help them across. 
 From Brookes’ Pelham persuaded him to oVder his coach and go 
 home, which he did. ” 
 
 This spirit was admired, and there was wonder expressed that he 
 had not the good luck to be exceedingly popular. Still striving to 1 
 obtain access to his father, he found himself frustrated by his mother, 
 with whom he had an angry altercation on the subject, “The 
 Prince of Wales,” says Sir G. Elliot, “has had a smart tussle with' 
 the Queen, in which they came to strong and open declarations of 
 hostility. He told her that she had connected herself with his 
 enemies, and had entered into plans for destroying and disgracing 
 him and all her children, and that she countenanced misrepresen- 
 tations of his conduct to the King, and prevented the explanations 
 he wished to give. She was violent and lost her temper , and the 
 conversation ended, I believe, by her saying that she would not be 
 the channel of anything that either he or the Duke of York had to 
 say to the King, and that the King did not mind what either he or 
 the Duke of York either did or said or thought.” 
 
 The enthusiasm was setting fast in favor of the recovered monarch, 
 
 “I have never seen a greater crowd at the Court, so great that I 
 was never within a room of the Queen. All the women, with only 
 two or three exceptions, had caps with ‘God save the King!’ on 
 them — our ladies as well as the others. All of us went to court. 
 
 9 * 
 
202 
 
 TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 The King is in London to-day — I believe for the first time since 
 his illness. He persists in going to St. Paul’s, although every means 
 have been tried to dissuade him."* 
 
 “ Inflamed by these exciting scenes the Queen carried her hostility 
 still further. It was proposed to give a concert and entertainment 
 at Windsor, on April 2nd, in return for the sympathy that had been 
 displayed. To this the Princes received no invitation; and it almost 
 seemed that the injudicious Queen had determined to exclude them. 
 She sent for the Duke of York, and delivered to him a message from 
 the King. ‘ I am commissioned by the King to acquaint the Prince of 
 Wales and you that there is to be a concert here on Thursday next, 
 to which you will be very welcome, if you like to come , but it is 
 right to tell you that it is given to those who have supported us 
 through the late business, and therefore )mu may possibly not choose 
 to be present ’ f The Duke of York tried to laugh the thing off, and 
 said, ‘Then it is given to the whole nation, for all parties have sup- 
 ported the King according to their different opinions of his interests. 'X 
 But the Queen would not let him off so, and said, ‘No, no; I don’t 
 choose to be misunderstood. I mean expressly that we have asked 
 the ministers, and those persons, in short, who have voted in Parlia- 
 ment for the King and me. ’ 
 
 “ The Duke of York was amazingly angry, as you may suppose, 
 and said that he did not understand the sort of distinction attempted 
 to be made ; that his brother and himself did not yield to any person 
 in the kingdom for loyalty and affection for the King ; and since this 
 sort of distinction was to be made, he should certainly not come to 
 the concert. He added, however, that he should inform the Prince 
 of Wales, who would act as he chose. The Prince of Wales and the 
 Duke of York were both in a violent rage on this attack of the 
 Queen, which charged them in plain words with being enemies to 
 the King; and they were for sending strong letters or papers of 
 remonstrance and justification to the King and to the Queen. The 
 Duke of York came to Burke about it, who went to Carlton House, 
 and was very much of the Prince’s mind for strong measures, and 
 for an open and explicit explanation. But he advised the Prince to 
 
 * Sir G. Elliot, v. 288. 
 
 t Textual, for her son wrote her words down. 
 
 X Even the maids of honor, excepting Miss Brudenell, who had shown her 
 loyalty, w'ere pvmished, and told they would not be invited.— Auckland, “ Cor- 
 respondence.*’ 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 203 
 
 consult his friends first. It was accordingly agreed to assemble some 
 of his friends the next morning, and I was sent for with the rest. 
 The Duke of Portland, to whom Burke went overnight, was very 
 much against any strong measures. I thought it more important to 
 keep the King’s house open to the Princes, and to avoid any rupture 
 which might furnish an opportunity for excluding them, than to 
 make their justification at present. It was agreed to support this 
 opinion. It turned out, on the testimony of Colonel Goldsworthy, 
 who was by when the King spoke on the matter to the Queen, that 
 the good monarch said that, ‘ As a matter of course, his sons were 
 to be considered as invited to everything. ' So that the rest was an 
 addition of the Queen's.” 
 
 After many councils a letter of a rather conciliatory character was 
 accordingly written by the Duke of York, as follows: 
 
 “Madam, 
 
 “Having delivered, according to your Majesty’s orders, 
 your message to my brother, I lose no time in acquainting your 
 Majesty, that, anxious as we are [and we trust have ever shown 
 ourselves, both in our public and private conduct] to seize every 
 opportunity of testifying our warmest and most dutiful affection 
 and attention to his Majesty, we beg your Majesty to believe that 
 we cannot allow any circumstance whatever to debar us from the 
 happiness of paying our duty to the King [when he is so good as to 
 permit it], and that we shall have the highest pleasure in attending 
 his Majesty at the concert on Thursday.” * 
 
 The King, however, according to Mrs. Harcourt, had desired to 
 see the list of divisions in the House of Commons, in order to 
 exclude those who had deserted him in his affliction. f The Oppo- 
 sition declared that he was watched “ like a prisoner, and never out 
 of sight of one or other of the head keepers.” 
 
 The fete was a grand demonstration. It was given in St. George’s 
 Hall, and attended by all the first people in the kingdom. The 
 ladies all wore “garter blue,” a party color. The Prince and the 
 Duke of York, it was noticed, hardly spoke a word to any of the 
 royal family; the Princess Royal declaring “ that he had never been 
 kind to her, but she did not care for that, so long as he was respect- 
 ful to her parents.” ]; The King was remarkably attentive and kind 
 
 ♦ The sentences in brackets were added by Sir Gilbert Elliot, 
 t “Diary,” p. 23. % Ibid. p. 15. 
 
204 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 to the Princes; the Queen quite the contrary, and, it is said, 
 appeared sour and glum at the King’s behavior to them. Before 
 the place at which tlie Chancellor sat at supper there was some 
 device in which his arms were introduced, wiih a motto alluding to 
 the support given by him to the King. Before Pitt there was a 
 Fame supporting Pitt’s arms and the number 268, the first majority 
 in the House of Commons, written in sugar-plums or sweetmeats. 
 At the concert the music had most of it some allusion to politics. 
 “All this is quite new at Court, and most excessively indecent, as the 
 King is always expected to be of no party, and it is an unconsti- 
 tutional thing that he should even express openly eitiier favor or 
 disfavor on account of any vote in Parliament. But it smells very 
 strongly of the petticoat, or rather of breeches under petticoats.’'^ 
 At this party there was high play, and Payne won £1000 at faro. 
 This game was now in high fashion, and four ladies, namely, Lady 
 Archer, Lady Elizabeth Luttrell, Mrs. Strutt, and Mrs. Hobart, kept 
 banks at their houses, which was found to be a most profitable venture. 
 
 But the ball given by White’s Club at the Pantheon was to offer 
 yet another display of these animosities. The Prince, it vras stated, 
 sent round to his friends to desire that they would not attend it, 
 though a number of tickets were sent to him and his brother. These 
 the royal pair contemptuously sent to “Hookham’s Library” to be 
 sold to any one that would buy them! To meet this the stewards 
 required that the recipient’s name should be written on the tickets. 
 They were then sold with the Duke’s name attached. At this f^te 
 there w^ere the most extravagant demonstrations of loyalty, the 
 whole company singing “ God save the Queen!” Dr. Willis was the 
 observed of all, and literally “mobbed.” He supped beside Mr. 
 Pitt and the Duchess of Gordon, and seemed ‘ ‘ all but mad and out 
 of himself with transport.” And now Brookes’s Club followed, 
 rather malgre, it may be assumed, with another fete on the 21st, and 
 the Court ladies gave out that they would not attend it, as a rebuke 
 to the Opposition ladies for abstaining from White’s. The 23d of 
 April, the day of the ceremonial of the King’s going to St. Paul’s to 
 return thanks for his recovery, was not allowed to pass without 
 angry feelings. It was really an affecting display from the delight 
 and loyalty of the crowds, the genuine gratitude of the royal family, 
 the sobbing Princesses, the composure of the so lately afflicted patient. 
 
 But our Princes, who were obliged to form part of the show. 
 
 * Sir G. ElUot, ii. 300. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 205 
 
 according to an ardent courtier, Lord Bulkeley, ‘ ‘ behaved in such an 
 indecent manner as was quite shocking.” It does not appear that 
 they did more than ‘ ‘ talk to each other during the whole time of 
 the service” — an irreverenee they probably displayed on other pious 
 occasions. On the road to and from the Cathedral the demonstra* 
 tion naturally took the shape of rival demonstrations, and it was 
 noted tliat near Carlton House the King was coldly received, and 
 the Prince warmly ; but in the City there was the loudest acclama- 
 tions for the King, which was said to have put the Prince out of 
 temper. On the return of the procession, when the guards were 
 drawn up before the palace to salute the King and his family, who 
 w'ere at the windows, with a feu de joie, it was declared that the 
 Prince had gone off at the head of a mob, his cook, Weltjie, leading 
 the applause, with the hope of drawing away attention from the 
 King.* The truth was the Prince had hurried home to get on his 
 uniform, and, taking the command of his regiment, proceeded to 
 meet his father and escort him home. At the door he led him in 
 with what was considered by some observers the most affectionate 
 hianner. Through all this every one must acquit the poor harassed 
 King, whose condition required the most delicate soothing. The 
 policy of an affectionate wife would surely have been to let the 
 past and all that was connected with it be forgotten; but family 
 quarrels, etc., were terribly agitating for a person in the King’s con- 
 dition. When, early in June, the Duke of York congratulated him 
 on his good looks, and said every one was struck by them, he replied 
 in private; “What does that signify when I feel myself that I am 
 very ill ?” He complained of weakness, and that riding agitated him 
 so much that he was obliged to give it up. To his sons he was one 
 day harsh, the next tender and affectionate. The conclusion was that 
 he was kept in subjection by the Queen, and forced to behave in this 
 fashion — indemnifying himself by exhibiting his affection to them. 
 
 It is not difficult to suggest a reason for this behavior; at least, it 
 was not unnatural that the Opposition faction should do so. It 
 seemed probable that the King would relapse, and that she would 
 would use the first opportunity for seizing either the regency or as 
 much power as she could. For the mistakes that had been made 
 during the last crisis in not securing greater power was now evident 
 to her; or, if he continued in his present nervous condition, she might 
 at least secure the chief direction. In either of these courses there 
 was rather a selfish disregard of the interest of the hapless patient. 
 
 * “Court and Cabinets,” ii. 153. 
 
206 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 1789. 
 
 But all this bad feeling was now to culminate in the scandalous 
 duel fought between two members of the respective factions : one, 
 no other than the Duke of York, representing the Prince’s side; the 
 other, Colonel Lenox, the Champion of the Court. Sir Gilbert 
 Elliot gives the fullest and most accurate account of this strange 
 transaction. 
 
 ‘ ‘ Mr. Lenox (lie writes on May 30) had been amusing himself all 
 this winter with abusing and insulting the Prince of Wales and the 
 Duke of York in the most scurrilous and blackguard wa}^ both 
 behind their backs and sometimes to their faces. It was the more 
 blackguard in Lenox as he lived a good deal with both the Princes, 
 and was, indeed, for some time, hardly ever out of the Duke of 
 York’s house, whom he bored extremely. Lenox, you know, was 
 graciously forced into the Duke of York’s regiment, against the 
 rules, or at least common practice, of the army, over all the officers’ 
 heads, and without so much as an intimation to the Duke, who was 
 the colonel. This made a gi*eat noise in the army, and particularly 
 in the Guards, and most particularly in the Coldstream regiment, 
 which is the Duke of York’s. The Duke remonstrated, and took 
 the natural steps for a colonel in such a situation, but without effect, 
 and always without any personal reflections on Lenox, but, on the 
 contrary, with great personal civility towards him. When Lenox 
 was fairly in possession, the Duke of York said to him that though 
 he certainly disapproved of the measure by which he had come into 
 the regiment as prejudicial to the service and offensive to himself as 
 colonel, and had done what he thought his duty in opposing it, that 
 yet he was very glad the thing had happened in the case of Mr. 
 Lenox, whom, considering the thing merely in a personal view, he 
 was very happy to have in his regiment. To this gentlemanlike 
 and conciliatory speech Mi; Lenox answered that it was the King’s 
 pleasure he should be there, and that was enough for him. I men- 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 207 
 
 tion this to show the sort of man. Some time after this, Lenox was 
 abusing the Princes and talking offensive language about them and 
 their friends in the presence of the Duke of York at D’Aubigne’s 
 Club, when St. Leger said that it was very odd he always chose to 
 say these things to persons who could not resent them. Why don’t 
 you say them to some of us who can answer you? This was the 
 substance. I don’t know the terms or the strength of the language 
 in which St. Leger expressed himself. To this Lenox made no 
 answer, and took no notice of it. The Duke of York, it seems, said 
 afterward to somebody (I don’t know who or on what occasion) 
 that Lenox had submitted to language which a gentleman ought not 
 to bear. Lenox, hearing of this, went to the Duke of York on the 
 parade and asked him whether he had not said so, desiring an explana- 
 tion. The Duke of York acknowledged having said so, but said 
 that w'as not a proper place for explanation on such a subject. 
 After the parade he went to the orderly-room, and [here Lenox 
 renewed the subject in the presence of the officers of the regiment, 
 requiring the Duke of York to inform him what the words were to 
 which he alluded, and who had spoken them. The Duke of York 
 refused to tell him either, because it would be pointing out a quar- 
 rel to him, and said there was no occasion for it, as the words were 
 spoken to Ilr. Lenox himself, and he must therefore be as well 
 acquainted with them as anybody. Lenox said this laid him under 
 a great hardship, as he was not conscious of any language having 
 been used which he ought to resent, and as the Duke of York 
 refused to inform him of the person who had used it; adding that 
 the Duke of York was his colonel and the King’s son, which placed 
 them on an unequal footing, and made it impossible for him to have 
 satisfaction, as he might in another case. The Duke desired that 
 he would waive those circumstances, and consider him on this occa- 
 sion exactly as he would any other gentleman. This Lenox declared 
 he could not do, and so they parted. The next thing Lenox did 
 was to write a circular letter, dated May 18th, to all the members of 
 the Club, desiring them to inform him if they had heard any lan- 
 guage which he ought to resent. 
 
 “ ‘SiK, 
 
 “‘A report having been spread that the Duke of York had 
 said, “ Some words bad been made use of to me, in a political con- 
 versation, that no gentleman ought to submit to,” I, on the first 
 opportunity, spoke to his royal highness before the officers of the 
 
208 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 Coldstream regiment, to which I have the honor to belong- his 
 answer was, “That he heard them said to me at D’Aubigne’s”; 
 but he positively refused to tell me the expression, or the person 
 who had used it. In this situation, being perfectly ignorant what 
 his royal highness can allude to, and not being aware that any such 
 an expression ever passed, I cannot find any better mode of clearing 
 up this matter, than by writing a letter to every member of D’Au- 
 bigne’s Club, desiring each of them to let me know if he can recol- 
 lect any expression to have been used in his presence, which could 
 bear the construction put upon it by his royal highness, and, in such 
 case, by whom the expression was used. If any such expression 
 should occur to your memory (as you must be conscious of the dis- 
 agreeable situation in which I am placed), I trust and hope you will 
 take the earliest opportunity of stating it to me. If no such expres- 
 sion occurs to your memory, I would not give you the trouble of an 
 answer, which I should else hope to receive before this day se’nnight. 
 
 ‘“I have the honor to be, Sir, 
 
 ‘“Your most obedient humble Servant, 
 
 “ ‘C. Lenox.’” 
 
 “ You will see it in the papers. He received no satisfaction from 
 this measure. As he had heard it himself, nobody thought them- 
 selves bound to tell him what he ought to resent. Some of the 
 answers were in a taunting and insulting style. St. Leger’s was in 
 substance that he kept no account of club conversation, but that if 
 he had said anything to Mr. Lenox which he wished for satisfac- 
 tion for, he was ready at all times to give it him. 
 
 “Colonel Lenox not having received any satisfactory answer to 
 his requisition, sent a written message to the Duke, to this pur- 
 port: ‘That not being able to recollect any occasion on which 
 words had been spoken to him at D’Aubigne’s, to which a gentle- 
 man ought not to submit, he had taken the step which appeared to 
 him most likely to gain information of the words to which his royal 
 highness had alluded, and of the persons who had used them; that 
 none of the members of the Club had given him information of any 
 such insult being in their knowledge, and therefore he expected, in 
 justice to his character, that his royal highness should contradict 
 the report as publicly as he had asserted it.’ 
 
 “After receiving these unsatisfactory answers, Lenox sent a 
 challenge to the Duke of York by Lord Winchelsea; and you saw 
 the result in the papers. The Duke of York had a very narrow 
 
lEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 209 
 
 escape; and Mr. Lenox had so much an intention to kill him, that 
 Lord Winchelsea’s carriage, with post-horses, trunks, and imperials, 
 was in waiting at hand during the duel.” 
 
 The Duke (says another account), who was then residing at Carl- 
 ton House, took the utmost care to keep tlie matter a secret from 
 his brother the Prince of Wales, and the only person he consulted 
 upon it w^as Lord Rawdon, who, painful and delicate as the com- 
 mission was, could not, in point of honor, refuse to accept the dan- 
 gerous office of second to his royal highness. The same caution 
 was observed on the following morning, which was the 26th of 
 May, when the Duke, to prevent inquiry, left his own hat at Carl- 
 ton House, and took one belonging to a domestic. The two sec- 
 onds issued the following statement, which contains the official 
 account of the duel: 
 
 “In consequence of a dispute already known to the public, his 
 Royal Highness the Duke of York, attended by Lord Rawdon, and 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Lenox, accompanied by the Earl of Winchel 
 sea, met at Wimbledon Common. The ground was measured at 
 twelve paces, and both parties were to fire at a signal agreed upon. 
 The signal being given, Lieutenant-Colonel Lenox fired, and the 
 ball grazed his royal highness’s curl. The Duke of York did not 
 fire. Lieutenant-Colonel Lenox observed that his royal highness 
 had not fired: Lord Rawdon said it was not the Duke’s intention 
 to fire; his royal highness had come out upon Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Lenox’s desire, to give him satisfaction, and had no animosity 
 against him. Lieutenant-Colonel Lenox pressed that the Duke of 
 York should fire, which w^as declined, upon a repetition of the rea- 
 son. Lord Winchelsea then w^ent up to the Duke of York, and 
 expressed his hope that his royal highness would have no objection 
 to say he considered Lieutenant-Colonel Lenox as a man of honor 
 and courage. His royal highness replied that he should say noth- 
 ing; he had come out to give Lieutenant-Colonel Lenox satisfaction, 
 and did not mean to fire at him: if Lieutenant-Colonel Lenox was 
 not satisfied, he might fire again. Lieutenant-Colonel Lenox said 
 he could not possibly fire again at the Duke, as his royal highness 
 did not mean to fire at him. On this both parties left the ground. 
 The seconds think it proper to add that both parties behaved with 
 the most perfect coolness and intrepidity. 
 
 “Rawdon. 
 
 “Winchelsea.” 
 
210 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 Two letters were sent off express to town, one to the Prince of 
 Wales, and the other to the Duke of Cumberland, giving them an 
 account of the proceedings. At the instant of his brother’s return, 
 the Prince set out for Windsor, lest rumor should have given his 
 parents an incorrect and exaggerated narrative of the business, 
 
 “ Jack Payne,” Sir Gilbert Elliot resumes, “told me yesterday 
 of the manner in which the business was received by the King and 
 Queen. Observe, in the first place, that the second who carried the 
 challenge, and went out with Lenox, is a Lord of the King’s Bed- 
 chamber, son of Lady Charlotte Finch, who is in the Queen’s fam- 
 ily, While the duel was going on, the Prince of Wales was walk- 
 ing about in the jmrd at Carlton House, in great agitation. The 
 Duke of York brought the account himself, and only said, ‘Broth- 
 er, it is all over, and all is quite well; but I have no time to tell you 
 particulars, for I must go to the tennis-court.’ On which the Prince 
 wished the tennis-court at the bottom of the sea, and made the Duke 
 of York relate what had passed.” 
 
 Though the Duke of York’s conduct may appear to have been 
 ungenerous in his refusal of explanations before and at the meet- 
 ing, it must be considered that he was resenting the abuse of him- 
 self and his brother, which the Court champion indulged in. To 
 those of the present generation this episode will seem amazing. 
 Everything connected with it shows that it was owing to the enmity 
 of the factions. It would hardly be supposed that this fury would 
 have been directed against a jmung Prince of the Blood, and that a 
 subject would have deliberately sought to take the life of one in so 
 high a station. That Colonel Lenox was deliberately “ set on” by 
 the Court faction, as it was stated by the Opposition, is incredible; 
 yet, from the subsequent adoption of the aggressor by the Court, it 
 would almost seem to be true. Such was their passion that the 
 Court at once took up his cause against the Prince. The Duke, it 
 wms admitted, behaved, according to the code of duelling, with 
 much spirit and courage; and it was clearly believed he was acting 
 as the champion of his brother’s cause. Can it be wondered at that 
 it was believed that the Court looked with favor on this attempt to 
 take the life of the Duke, when we read of the extraordinary beha- 
 vior of the Queen? 
 
 Once more the lively Sir Gilbert shall recount what gossip he 
 picked up on the subject: 
 
 “As soon as the Prince of Wales had learnt the particulars, he 
 set off for Kew with the Duke of Clarence, and sent up a message 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 211 
 
 to the King by Colonel Goldsworthy, that he wished to speak to the 
 King immediately for five minutes, and that he wished the King to 
 be alone. Colonel Goldsworthy delivered the message to the King, 
 who said: ‘Very well, very well; but I want just to go up to the 
 Queen first.’ The Prince was accordingly admitted to the King, 
 Queen, and Princesses. He said he had something particular to 
 say, and wished that the Princesses might not be present. They 
 retired, and he then related to the King and Queen the previous 
 circumstances which led to the duel, and turned about to the Queen 
 and said, ‘Madam, you know I acquainted you with these circum- 
 stances a week ago’ (which he had done in the view of having the 
 thing stopped by authority). The King said, ‘Ay, indeed ! I never 
 heard a word of it before.’ The Prince then related what had 
 passed in the duel, and when he mentioned the circumstance of the 
 ball having passed through the curls, the King gave a shudder and 
 made a little noise expressive of terror, which was the only mark of 
 sensibility on the occasion which he ventured to show. The Queen 
 heard it all with perfect composure, and without the slightest expres- 
 sion of feeling or agitation. She stood looking out at window; and 
 when the Prince had told the story, the way in which she expressed 
 her tenderness on the occasion was to say immediately that she 
 understood it was all the Duke of York’s own fault, and that, 
 according to her account of the matter, he had showed more 
 anxiety to fight Mr. Lenox than Mr. Lenox had to fight him. The 
 Prince of Wales on this answered that she must have been very 
 much misinformed, and that if she considered the circumstances, 
 he was sure she must allow her account was extremely improbable, 
 because if a man was very desirous of fighting another, it v^as not 
 likely that he should refrain voluntarily from firing at him, and 
 that nobody was very anxious to go out merely for the pleasure of 
 being fired at himself. 
 
 “This interview ended without anything being said by the King 
 or Queen, either of approbation of his conduct or joy at his safety, 
 or any other expression of feeling, or any notice of the Duke of 
 York at all. The Duke of Clarence was. not admitted. The day 
 before yesterday the Duke of York went himself to the King and 
 Queen. He saw the King first alone, who was excessively affected 
 and showed the strongest- marks of agitation and tenderness for him 
 on this occasion; but what is remarkable is, that the door being 
 ajar, and the Queen in the next room, the King stole gently to the 
 door and shut it to, that he might not be seen or overheard in these 
 
212 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 expressions of natural affection. When the Queen came in she 
 took no notice at all of the transaction, good or bad.” 
 
 Later he had the whole description of the scene from the Prince 
 of Wales himself. 
 
 “ June 2, 1789. 
 
 “The account I had from Jack Payne, which I sent you, is pretty 
 right. She has never yet said once that she was glad the Duke of 
 York was not killed; not once so much as that. When the Duke of 
 York went to the King the first time after the duel, I told you of the 
 King having behaved with great feeling and affection. The Queen, 
 on the contrary, did not say one word to him on the subject; and 
 the first and only thing she said was, ‘ Did you think Boodle’s ball 
 full last night? ’ At the French ambassador’s ball she not only re- 
 ceived Mr. Lenox very graciously, but afterwards, when there was 
 no occasion for it, kissed her fan to him half the length of the room 
 two or three times, taking pains to mark her favor as conspicuously 
 as she could.” 
 
 On May the 31st, when the Duke and Lady Charlotte Finch were 
 with her, she did nothing but inquire about Lord Winchelsea, and 
 how he was and what he was doing, affecting to a particular interest 
 in him, which, considering he had been second to Colonel Lenox, 
 was scarcely an agreeable topic for her son. What inflamed this 
 rage was the fact that the Duke of Richmond, Colonel Lenox’s 
 father, had deserted the Opposition during the Regency debates. 
 The son of Colonel Lenox, who still lives, relates that the Prince 
 made a sneering remark to the effect that “ the Lenoxes don’t fight,”* 
 which was of course repeated. These bitter lines are found in the 
 Rolliad : 
 
 When thy rash arm designed her favorite dead, 
 
 The Christian triiunphed and the mother fled. 
 
 No rage indignant shook her pious frame, 
 
 No partial doting swayed the saintlike dame; 
 
 But spurned and scorned where honor’s sons resort. 
 
 Her friendship soothed thee in thy mother’s court. 
 
 That this account of the mother’s behavior was no partial one 
 will be seen from the passages in the letter to the King, in which her 
 eldest son bitterly complains of her conduct, f A more extraordi 
 
 * “Reminiscences,” i. 7. 
 
 t Mrs. Harcourt, who was d secretis at the Court, Avell expresses the view 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 213 
 
 naiy indictment of a queen by her son, and addressed to his father, 
 could not be produced. 
 
 “ The very extraordinary and, I believe, unparalleled event which 
 has lately taken place between my brother, the Duke of York, and a 
 private gentleman, an othcer in his regiment, and a person nearly 
 connected with one of your Majesty’s Cabinet ministers, furnishes 
 me, unfortunately, with too much matter on this subject. I do not 
 wish to trouble your Majesty with a particular examination of all 
 the circumstances which conducted my brother into that transaction, 
 in which, however, I am persuaded your Majesty will be happy, on 
 consideration, to find that the Duke of York has distinguished him- 
 self as eminently for sound judgment and an honorable character, as 
 for the spirit and personal courage which belongs to your Majesty’s 
 blood. It is not the event itself, but some collateral circumstances 
 attending it, which I would advert to. 
 
 ‘ ‘ Whatever the nature of Mr. Lenox’s complaint was, it must be 
 allowed that a challenge from an officer to his colonel is an unusual 
 transaction, and one which is extremely opposite to the general no- 
 tions of discipline and subordination in the army. It must be 
 allowed that a challenge from a private man, one of your Majesty’s 
 subjects, to a Prince of the Blood, and especially to one so nearly 
 allied to the throne, is still more unusual ; and if drawn into a prac- 
 tice, must be deemed productive of very important consequences to 
 the tranquillity of the nation, and the security of the succession. The 
 circumstance to which I would draw your Majesty’s attention is, 
 that Mr. Lenox was publicly countenanced by your Majesty’s minis- 
 ter the very day on which the event took place ; was received the 
 next day in a very public assembly, and on many other occasions 
 since, with every mark of graciousness and favor by the Queen ; and 
 is not yet known to have received any signification of your Majes- 
 ty’s displeasure. I must also entreat your Majesty’s attention to 
 another most remarkable circumstance : the challenge was delivered 
 to your son ; and his antagonist was attended to the field by a Lord 
 of your Majesty’s Bedchamber — one who is not merely a political 
 servant, but belongs to your Majesty’s family, and is immediately 
 attending upon your person. His mother is in the family of the 
 Queen ; and he and his family have dwelt almost the whole of their 
 
 taken of the duel there when she says “ it was owing to the cruel insult offered 
 to Colonel Lenox. The Duke of York’s whole conduct greatly lowered him 
 among his friends.”— “ Diary,” p. 26. 
 
214 
 
 THE LIFE OF OEOBOE IV, 
 
 lives at your Court, in your Palace, and. enjoying eminently your 
 Majesty’s and the Queen’s constant favor and bounty. 
 
 “Thus circumstanced. Lord Winchelsea did not think it incum- 
 bent on him to resign his situation in your Majesty’s family. Lord 
 .Winchelsea has not been dismissed from your Majesty’s service, nor 
 has he received any reprimand or other expressions of your Majes- 
 ty’s disapprobation, but still approaches your Majesty’s person, and 
 to the world must undoubtedly appear to enjoy at Court the same 
 grace and favor as before this extraordinary transaction. I hope your 
 Majesty will not believe me capable of insinuating that these or any 
 other circumstances can ever convey to my mind the most remote 
 suspicion that to attempt the life of the Duke of York, or to be vol- 
 untarily accessory in putting it in danger, or even to be forward in 
 espousing the quarrels of his enemies, are things not displeasing to 
 your Majesty, much less a road to favor. I do most solemnly pro- 
 test that neither I nor any of my brothers have ever for a moment 
 harbored a thought so undutiful, so monstrous, and, w’e know, so 
 false and injurious to your Majesty. We are, on the contrary, firmly 
 convinced, and it has been often our only consolation in the midst 
 of our atflictions, of your Majesty’s tender, affectionate, and indul- 
 gent love for us and all your children. We do assure your Majesty 
 that this is our frequent theme, and that our hearts overflow with 
 gratitude and duty whenever we reflect on your Majesty’s kind and 
 paternal disposition, which, we acknowledge with joy, was never 
 manifested more signally than in the kindness with which we were 
 happy enough to be received by your Majesty, when we were re- 
 stored to your Majesty’s presence on the joyful oceasion of your late 
 recovery. On the other hand we humbly and earnestly entreat your 
 Majesty on our parts, not to believe those who tell you that we do 
 hot love you. Whoever they may be, they are your enemies as well 
 as ours. But it is in proportion to our own affection for jmur Maj- 
 esty, to our own confidence in your love, and to the value which 
 we set upon it, that we may contemplate with pain and anxiety 
 every circumstance which to others may seem to render those bless- 
 ings questionable. Permit me, therefore, to observe to your Majes- 
 ty, that the world is so framed, and judges so grossly the appear- 
 ance of things such as they strike the ey^e, that undoubtedly, in this 
 late transaction, a most ungracious impression must be made on the 
 minds of many. They will not fail to remark that Mr. Lenox could 
 have no difficulty in finding a second against the Duke of York out 
 of his father’s family. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 215 
 
 ** As soon as I had learnt the happy account of my brother’s 
 safety, and had received the particulars of the affair from himself, 
 I flew to Kew, in order to communicate to your Majesty the fortu- 
 nate issue of a business which had well-nigh proved so fatal. Your 
 Majesty received the account with all the tenderness, affection, and 
 anxious sensibility which belong to your paternal goodness, and 
 which the occasion could inspire in the breast of the kindest father. 
 It is a matter, then, of deep affliction, as well, I am sure, as a cir- 
 cumstance of great and anxious alarm, that I should be compelled 
 to contrast the deportment of the Queen on this occasion with that 
 of your Majesty. Your Majesty knows that I had requested a pri- 
 vate audience, and that my wish was to have communicated this 
 event to your Majesty’s ear alone. I considered the transaction as 
 of too delicate and of much too affecting a nature to be broken 
 abruptly to the Queen ; and it was therefore with regret that I found 
 myself under the necessity of relating in her presence an affair, the 
 very nature of which was agitating to a mother, and in which some 
 circumstances were sufficiently critical and alarming to shake even 
 the constancy of your Majesty, and to draw from you expressions 
 of parental solicitude and even horror, which, while they did honor 
 to your Majesty’s feelings, were surely to be more naturally looked 
 for in a mother on such an occasion. Your Majesty is my witness, 
 that during the whole relation the Queen did not utter a syllable 
 either of alarm at the imminent danger which had threatened the 
 life of my brother but an hour before, of joy and satisfaction at his 
 safety, or of general tenderness and affection towards him, which 
 might appear natural in moments thus afflicting. Nor were these the 
 only testimonies of indifference that I Tvas obliged to observe. For 
 your Majesty must well remember that the first word the Queen pro- 
 nounced, and the whole tenor of the only conversation she after- 
 wards held, was a defence of Mr. Lenox’s conduct, strongly imply- 
 ing a censure on that of my brother. 
 
 “The Duke of York had himself the happiness of seeing your 
 Majesty the next day, and enjoyed in that interview^ the inexpressi- 
 ble satisfaction of receiving from your Majesty every token of ten- 
 derness and sensibility which his situation could draw from the best 
 and most affectionate parent. Your Majesty’s kindness has been 
 the subject of our admiration and gratitude ever since, and the im- 
 pression it has made on us can never be erased from our hearts. 
 Your Majesty is again our witness that at this first meeting with the 
 Duke of York, the Queen observed a total silence on the subject 
 
216 
 
 TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 wliicli had thus affected your Majesty. This recent and interesting 
 event was not even alluded to, and on such a day her Majesty con- 
 descended only to address my brother on the most indifferent topics. 
 Since that period it is matter of public notoriety, and has no doubt 
 been so of public observation, that Mr. Lenox has received the most 
 distinguishing marks of her Majesty’s approbation on every occa- 
 sion on which they could be bestowed, and has been permitted, if 
 not invited, to mix even in the personal society and amusements of 
 your Majesty’s family. This conduct I am confident he would not 
 have dared to hold if your Majesty had been present, nor can the 
 world suppose him to have hazarded what must have appeared even 
 to himself, at least, so shocking an indecorum without being well 
 assured that it would not have been disapproved of by the Queen.” * 
 
 Nor did the scandals end here. A ball was given at St. James’s 
 Palace on the King’s birthday. Colonel Lenox was invited, and 
 actually danced in the very set with the Prince of Wales and his 
 brothers! There was, at least, a want of taste in this proceeding, 
 and the Prince, no doubt glad of the opportunity, took a step which 
 was a surprise for the company. As he was dancing down the 
 country dance with his sister, and turning each couple, he came to 
 Colonel Lenox and his partner. As the Princess was going to 
 “turn” Colonel Lenox, the Prince stopped short, and, seizing her 
 hand, abruptly led her out of the dance. The Duke of York, who 
 came next, turned Colonel Lenox and danced on; but his brother, 
 the Duke of Clarence, followed the example of the Prince of Wales. 
 The Queen asked him — though she must have knowm the reason of 
 his behavior — “was he tired?” He answered, “Not at all.” She 
 then supposed “he found it too hot.” Irritated by this h3^pocrisy 
 — for she must have known what was the cause of offence — he 
 broke out with a reply that “in such company it was impossible 
 not to find it too hot.” “ Then,” said the Queen, “ I suppose jmu 
 mean that I should break up the ball?” to which the Prince replied 
 that “it -was the very best thing she could do.” And accordingly 
 she gave the signal for retiring.f 
 
 Some odd incidents were associated wuth this affair. Out of 
 this rencontre another arose — between Colonel Lenox and Mr. The- 
 ophilus Swift, an Irish gentleman — occasioned by some strong lan- 
 
 * From the letter to the King, “Correspondence of Fox,” ii. 346. 
 
 + The Prince, however, made a gracious apology to Lady Catherine Barnard, 
 who was Colonel Lenox’s partner. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE /K 
 
 217 
 
 guage which the latter had thought proper to make use of respect- 
 ing the duel, in a publication addressed to the King. The parties 
 met at Bayswater, and Mr. Swift was severely wounded 
 The Bishop of Llandaff offered “his warmest congratuiations » 
 to the Duke on a iate event; adding that, “As a Ciiristian bishop 
 I cannot approve of any man’s exposing his life on such an occa’- 
 sion. As a citizen, I must think that the life of one so near to the 
 crown ought not to be hazarded like the life of an ordinary man- 
 but, as a friend to the house of Brunswick, I cannot but reioice in 
 the personal safety, and in the personal gallantry, too of so dis- 
 tinguished a branch of it.” 
 
 Colonel Lenox’s sister was so touched with the Duke’s magnani- 
 mity that she begged to be allowed to have the curl that had been 
 shot away! She was gratified; and from this period, we are told 
 the purest friendship ” between the parties arose. Even on his 
 death-bed the royal personage bethought him of his early associa- 
 tions, and directed that another lock of his hair should be trans- 
 mitted to the lady. 
 
 Mr. Raikes telis us that the Prince never forgave Lord Win- 
 cielsea for his share in the transaction; and, after the old King’s 
 eath, he seldom or never appeared at Court. His duel with 
 the Duke of Wellington, however, shows him to have been a weak 
 personage The Duke of York, in this transaction, as all through 
 1 e, s owed himself superior to little resentments, and, Mr 
 Raikes adds, had always a great esteem for his character, and 
 ^ough from their different modes of life they did not often 
 meet he never failed to express it. In those days, when his 
 
 w? rf me, I once asked 
 
 u^wilZ 1 r ^ ’'y 
 
 ity Vrith which he greeted him.” * 
 
 of Z p “^dds Lady Minto, in a very just view 
 
 of the Princes character, “which threw a glamour over the utter 
 
 Trahl ‘ Tr? combined with consid- 
 
 wTthoiiZr f “d ““'d hardly have existed 
 
 without hem, for perfect good breeding would seem to be either 
 
 ve know q^oli'ies-which 
 
 such sZ “rtain mental qualities, 
 
 Zlr perception, readiness, and tact-and tliese 
 
 ppears to have possessed in no ordinary degree. Sir Walter 
 
 10 
 
 * Raikes, “Journal,” i. 468 . 
 
218 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 Scott remarked tiiat it was impossible to form a fair judgment 
 of the abilities of the man who introduced whatever subject he 
 chose, discussed it just as long as he chose, and dismissed it when 
 he chose; but the remark is only just if abilities of a high order 
 are meant. To do the three things well which Scott enumerated 
 would require, in the society of the men the Prince lived with, 
 no small amount of general information, perception, and obser- 
 vation.” 
 
 The following natural and affectionate letter, in reference to the 
 illness of his brother, shows him in a pleasing light: 
 
 THE PRINCE OF WALES TO LORD LOUGHBOROUGH. 
 
 “ York House, half -past 12 o'clock p.m., July 2nd, 1789.* 
 
 “My DEAR Lord, 
 
 “The excessive goodness and friendship I ever have experi- 
 enced from you, makes me trespass, I assure you much against 
 my wishes, once more upon you, hoping that you will forgive 
 my absence this evening from a party which, I am certain from 
 everything I have hitherto witnessed, must afford the greatest 
 pleasure and delight to all whose minds are perfectly at ease, 
 and who have nothing to occupy them but the hospitable and 
 pleasing reception you give all 3mur friends. But to tell 3mu 
 the truth, my dear Lord, I am veiy untit for anything so gay or 
 so agreeable. The anxiety I have undergone the whole of this day 
 has worried me to death; and though, thank God, the ph3'sicians 
 assure me that 103^ brother is as well as can be, considering his com- 
 plaint, 3’et I should feel miserable to leave him. Could I have the 
 pleasure of seeing 3^011 in Bedford Square this night, I should wear 
 the same countenance of pleasure which I am sensible that all those, 
 who have not a sick-bed to attend, naturally must do at your house. 
 I am sure, from what I know of 3^11, that 3mu will feel for me, and 
 for once forgive me for the disappointment I occasion m3"self. 
 
 “1 remain, my dear Lord, 
 
 “Ever most sincerely your Friend, 
 
 “George P.” 
 
 Indeed, as we follow the embarrassing and disagreeable compli- 
 cations in which the Prince was now involved, and consider that 
 
 * Lord Campbell, vi. 213. 
 
THE LIFE OF OEORGE IV. 
 
 219 
 
 this was a young man, barely five-and-twenty, it is impossible not 
 to be surprised at the part he took, and the position he maintained, 
 among men like Fox, Sheridan, Burke, and many more. Through 
 all his follies there was a certain character, which made itself felt. 
 
 After this hostile encounter, it was felt matters could not rest 
 there; a bitter and unkind letter addressed by the King to his third 
 son, in which he accused him of taking part with his brothers, 
 brought things to a crisis. It was determined by the Princes that 
 a forfnal statement of their grievances should be drawn up, and 
 with it a complete vindication of their conduct, and laid before the 
 King. This was to include an indictment of the Queen, The task 
 was entrusted to Sir G. Elliot, who bestowed immense labor and 
 pains upon it; and during its progress he had many opportunities 
 of seeing and consulting the Prince of Wales, who impressed him 
 in the most favorable manner. 
 
 “He was excessively pleased with it, expressing every now and 
 then his approbation in a very warm and agreeable way. He made, 
 at the same time, several very sensible observations, and suggested 
 some alterations which I think perfectly judicious, and shall cer- 
 tainly adopt. I was very much struck with the appearance of 
 judgment, as well as with the signs of good disposition and proper 
 feeling, which he gave in this interview, and I will venture to say 
 that few princes have had anything like the good or considerable 
 qualities which both the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York 
 possess.” 
 
 When the letter was completed, it was laid before a sort of coun- 
 cil at Carlton House, and the question was formally debated whether 
 it should be sent forward. The step was strongly opposed by the 
 Duke of Portland and Lord Loughborough, on the ground that it 
 amounted to burning their ships; that it forced upon the King the 
 necessity of deciding between the Queen and her son ; and there 
 was little doubt which side he would take, under her inspiration or 
 compulsion. The result, probably, would be that the Prince and 
 his party would be forbidden the Court. The Prince himself and 
 the Duke of Clarence, as well as Burke, were eager for taking 
 action. Fox doubted. Before anything was determined, the Prince 
 set off for Brighton, hurrying up as usual in a spasm and proposing 
 to give all the papers to the Chancellor, to lay them before the King 
 when an opportunity offered. It w^ould seem that it was never pre- 
 sented, and it may be presumed to be the best vindication of the 
 Prince that could be offered. 
 
220 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 “ Sir, 
 
 “Thinking it probable that I should have been honored with 
 your commands to attend your Majesty on Wednesday last, I have 
 unfortunately lost the opportunity of paying my duty to 3"our 
 Majesty before your departure from Wej^mouth. The accounts I 
 have received of your Majestj^’s health have given me the greatest 
 satisfaction, and should it be your Majesty's intention to return to 
 We^^mouth, I trust. Sir, there will be no improprietj- in mj^ then 
 entreating your Majesty’s gracious attention to a point of thd great- 
 est moment to the peace of my own mind, and one in which I am 
 convinced your Majesty's feelings are equally interested. Your 
 Majesty’s letter to my brother, the Duke of Clarence, in May last, 
 was the first direct intimation I had ever received that my conduct 
 and that of my brother the Duke of York, during your Majesty’s 
 late lamented illness, had brought on us the heavy misfortune of 
 j^our Majesty’s displeasure. I should be wdiolly unworthy the 
 I'eturn of your IVIajesty’s confidence and good opinion, which will 
 ever be the first objects of my life, if I could have read the passage 
 I referred to in that letter without the deepest sorrow and regret for 
 the effect produced on your Majesty’s mind; though at the same time 
 I felt the firmest persuasion that j^our Majestj-’s generosity and good- 
 ness would never permit that effect to remain, without affording us 
 an opportunity of knowing what had been urged against us, of repl}^- 
 ing to our accusers, and of justifying ourselves, if the means of jus- 
 tification were in our power. 
 
 “ Great, however, as mj" impatience and anxiety were on this sub- 
 ject, I felt it a superior consideration not to intrude auj' unpleasing 
 or agitating discussions upon 3’our 3 Iajesty’s attention, during an 
 excursion devoted to the ease and amusement necessary for the re- 
 establishment of j'our 3 Iajesty’s health. I determined to sacrifice 
 m3’ own feelings, and to wait with resignation till the fortunate 
 opportunit3^ should arrive, when 3'our Majesty’s own paternal good- 
 ness w^ould, I was convinced, lead 3’ou even to invite 3’our sons to 
 that fair hearing which 3’our justice would not deny to the meanest 
 individual of 3"our subjects. In this painful interval I have emplo3’- 
 ed m3’self in drawing up a full statement and account of my con- 
 duct during the period alluded to, and of the motives and circum- 
 stances which influenced me. When these shall be humbty submit- 
 ted to 3^our Majesty’s consideration, I may be possibly found to have 
 erred in judgment, and to have acted on mistaken principles, but 1 
 have the most assured conviction that I shall not be found to have 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 221 
 
 been deficient in that duteous affection to your Majesty which 
 nothing shall ever diminish. Anxious for everything that may con- 
 tribute to the comfort and satisfaction of your Majesty’s mind, I 
 cannot omit this opportunity of lamenting those appearanees of a 
 less gracious disposition in the Queen towards my brothers and my- 
 self than we were accustomed to experience; and to assure your 
 Majesty, that if by your affectionate interposition these most un- 
 pleasant sensations should be happily removed, it would be an event 
 not less grateful to our minds than satisfactory to your Majesty’s 
 own benign disposition. I will not longer, etc. etc. 
 
 “G. P.” 
 
 The most important portions may be given here; 
 
 I owe to your Majesty (it begins) at all times, an account of my 
 actions ; but I am most anxious to render that account of myself and 
 my conduct during the unhappy period of your Majesty’s illness; 
 because while it was full of delicacy, embarrassment, and difficulty 
 to me, it has been exposed in the same proportion to the malicious 
 or interested misconstruction of others, whom I have reason to think 
 enemies of my honor and welfare, as well as wholly indifferent to 
 those of your Majesty, 
 
 My first object is to regain for myself, and my brother the Duke 
 of York, your Majesty’s good opinion and affection. 
 
 Permit me, first, to relate those circumstances which are of a 
 private and domestic nature. 
 
 The severity of your Majesty’s disorder having increased to an 
 alarming degree, I repaired immediately to Windsor, and, disre- 
 garding every other object, applied myself wholly to the care of a 
 health so valuable, and to the alleviation of jmur Majesty’s suffer- 
 ings. I provided what appeared to me the best means for your 
 recovery ; I observed the conduct of those who were intrusted with 
 the immediate attendance on your Majesty; I referred the plan of 
 management to your physicians, and superintended the due and 
 punctual execution of their directions. In these anxious offices, I 
 had the consolation of being supported by the constant, unwearied, 
 and affectionate attendance and counsel of my brother, the Duke of 
 York. It is with satisfaction I inform your Majesty that we desired 
 and received the advice of the Lord Chancellor on every material 
 step that we took. I reflected on the great personal confidence with 
 which your Majesty had distinguished Lord Thurlow; and the 
 nature as well as eminence of his office seemed to point him out as 
 
222 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEOROE lY. 
 
 a person who might be consulted with peculiar propriety in this 
 most critical and delicate posture of affairs. In what manner I was 
 able to discharge these weighty duties, it is not fit that I should be 
 called upon to speak myself ; I choose rather to refer your Majesty 
 to the testimony of the Chancellor, and to that of your Majesty’s 
 attendants at that period, who were eye-witnesses of our conduct. 
 This only I think it right to say, that from the hour on which the 
 alarming violence of your Majesty’s illness appeared to require the 
 care which I have described, until the removal of your Majesty to 
 Kew, neither myself nor the Duke of York was absent for a day 
 from W^indsor, nor suffered any consideration, even of health, 
 much less any lighter avocation, to retain us an hour from your 
 Majesty’s chamber, and from the discharge of a duty so dear to us 
 both. 
 
 Next to the care of your Majesty’s person, that of your private 
 and domestic affairs appeared to claim my attention. While your 
 Majesty and the Queen continued to reside at Windsor, the money, 
 jewels, papers, and other effects belonging to your Majesty, did not 
 seem to require any particular caution for their security. But on 
 the removal of your Majesty to Kew, I considered it as my duty to 
 provide for the safety of those effects; and I determined at the 
 same time to do so in such a manner as should be consistent with 
 that scrapulous delicacy which suited the occasion, and which I felt 
 to be becoming in a voluntary, although highly necessary, interfer- 
 ence with the affairs of your Majesty not expressly authorized by 
 your Majesty’s orders. 
 
 In this view, after mentioning my intentions to the Lord Chancel- 
 lor and receiving his approbation, I desired the attendance of Lord 
 Brudenell, who is keeper of your Majesty’s privy-purse, together 
 with that of Lord Weymouth, whom I judged to be the person 
 whose presence your Majesty would the most approve upon such an 
 occasion. I directed them to take, from your Majesty’s drawers at 
 Windsor, the jewels and the money which were deposited there. 
 An account of each was taken on the spot, and they were delivered 
 to the custody of Lord Brudenell, whom I conceived to be the 
 proper officer for that purpose. Lord Brudenell’s receipt was taken 
 at the same time, specifying both the jewels and the money which 
 were committed to his charge, and he was directed to deposit these 
 effects in his office, and be answerable for their safe custody, and 
 for their production whenever your Majesty should require it. 
 
 The situation of the apartments at Windsor in which these effects 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV, 
 
 223 
 
 ■were lodged appeared to me by no means secure, and the suspicion 
 which might get abroad of their value seemed to increase the risk. 
 These circumstances determined me to use the precaution I have 
 described for their security. Yet I felt it to be a duty of too deli- 
 cate a nature to discharge in my own person, and I selected, to 
 the best of my judgment for this service, those who I thought 
 would be most acceptable to your Majesty on such an occasion. 
 The whole was done in my own presence, but was performed 
 solely by the hands of Lord Brudenell and Lord Weymouth. A 
 difficulty occurred concerning your Majesty’s papers which were 
 deposited in the same place. It had been the opinion of the Lord 
 Chancellor that, for greater security, they should be removed, and, 
 after being properly docketed, should be deposited in some other 
 place. But observing that they appeared to be arranged with great 
 regularity and method, and being extremely unwilling that any 
 paper of your Majesty’s should undergo the slightest inspection, or 
 that your Majesty should even have reason to suspect that they 
 might have been seen by any one, I represented these circum- 
 stances to the Chancellor, and, with his consent, determined to 
 leave them untouched by any hand whatever, exactly in the places 
 and order in which your Majesty had deposited them. I did not 
 conceive that papers ■were in the same danger as money or jewels; 
 and I judged that it would be most acceptable to your Majesty to 
 find your papers exactly as you had left them. Besides which, I 
 felt an invincible repugnance to permitting, without your Majesty’s 
 order, even that degi’ee of inspection which was necessary for pre- 
 serving their arrangement, to any persons, however confidential 
 I might know them to be with your Majesty. These were my 
 motives for taking this resolution. The drawers were accordingly 
 locked and the keys enclosed in a paper, which was sealed with 
 Lord Weymouth’s seal, as well as with others; and continued in 
 this manner till it was restored to your Majesty by my brother, 
 the Duke of York, as soon as your Majesty’s recovery gave us 
 reason to believe that you would wish to receive it. 
 
 I have not troubled your Majesty with the detail of these ar- 
 rangements in order to claim any positive merit on the occasion. I 
 did my duty, and no more. But as this has been the only occasion 
 in my life in which I have felt an obligation to take on myself the 
 direction of a pecuniary or any similar concern of your Majesty’s, 
 1 trust only that my conduct in this instance has not been such as 
 to deserve the reproach of personal unkindness towards your Ma- 
 
224 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEOROE IV. 
 
 jesty, much less such as to expose me to the dishonorable suspicion 
 of infidelity in trusts of that nature, or to render any degrading and 
 affronting caution more necessary against me than any other person. 
 
 With whatever consciousness of rectitude, and, therefore, with 
 whatever satisfaction I may reflect on the discharge of my duty in 
 this instance, yet I have ever since had strong reasons for regretting 
 the necessity I was under to act in it. For it was the first occasion 
 on which I had the misfortune to feel the Queen’s displeasure, and 
 to incur her anger. 
 
 The measures which I have described for securing your Majesty’s 
 effects against the attempts either of theft or curiosity, were no 
 sooner known at Kew than her Majesty expressed the most marked 
 disapprobation, and, to my extreme astonishment, condescended, at 
 my next interview, to a species and warmth of reproaches, into 
 which nothing could have surprised or betrayed her Majesty but a 
 degree of passion, which, as I had never witnessed nor believed to 
 exist in her Majesty before, so I accounted it the more remarkable 
 on the present occasion, not conceiving in what manner the circum- 
 stances were capable of producing so extraordinary an effect. 
 
 Without ascribing to this cause the unfortunate indisposition 
 which I have ever since experienced in the Queen’s mind, I have 
 to lament it, however, as the period from which I must date the 
 first open demonstration of her anger; and I cannot but be sensible 
 that I have never since recovered with her Majesty any share of 
 that confidence or affection which I once considered it my principal 
 happiness to possess so entirely. 
 
 Your Majesty’s removal to Kew was directed by a Cabinet 
 Council of your Ministers, who previously assembled at Windsor, 
 and examined your physicians relative to that measure. As soon 
 as that event had taken place, the care of your Majesty fell solely 
 and exclusively into the hands of the Queen. From this period I 
 suddenly found my access to your Majesty prohibited in such a 
 manner that I was immediately excluded from the satisfaction of 
 seeing your Majesty, and, indeed, almost deprived of the privilege 
 to receive authentic information of your Majesty’s health and situa- 
 tion. 
 
 I cannot describe to your Majesty, nor is it, indeed, easy to ascer- 
 tain the precise means by wdiich this exclusion of myself and of my 
 brother — for it extended to us both — from all personal attendance of 
 dutiful affection on your IMajesty, was brought about. We had, 
 indeed, a right, as your sons, and we felt it as such, to as free and 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE lY. 
 
 225 
 
 unreserved personal admission, and to as full, particular, and confi- 
 dential information on such a subject as any other person whatever, 
 until some provision should be made by a competent authority for 
 our exclusion. But your Majesty must be sensible that many con- 
 siderations, both of affectionate caution respecting your Majesty’s 
 health, and also of personal delicacy, belonging to the peculiar com- 
 plexion of the times, rendered it impossible for us to assert and 
 insist on this right, invaluable as we deemed it, when opposed by 
 the various devices and pretensions with which the possession of 
 your Majesty’s person so abundantly furnished those who wished to 
 remove us from your presence. The consequence was, that not- 
 withstanding all the efforts which the circumstances would allow us 
 to make, we came ultimately to be considered as total strangers in 
 your Majesty’s palace, and not only to be debarred from your pres- 
 ence, but from a knowledge even of your Majesty’s condition. This 
 exclusion was rendered the more mortifying and irksome to us by 
 our knowledge that while w^e were debarred from your presence, 
 many other persons who are neither connected with your Majesty by 
 blood, nor, as we believe, attached to your Majesty by sincere affec- 
 tion, as we are, had free admission whenever they desired it. 
 
 It had been the practice of your physicians to send me every day 
 a written account of your Majesty’s health, and this communication 
 was naturally somewhat more particular than the public account, 
 communicated at St. James’s to all the word. It was, in fact, the 
 only distinction that was made between myself and the rest of your 
 Majesty’s subjects. Your Majesty cannot better learn the degree in 
 which it was intended to exclude your sons from intercourse with 
 your Majesty, and knowledge of your situation, than by hearing 
 that an express order was delivered by authority to your Majesty’s 
 physicians to refrain from communicating to me any other account 
 of your Majesty’s health than that which was transmitted daily to 
 the lord-in-waiting at St. James’s for the information of the public. 
 
 I could not. Sir, but feel, in common with my brother, the Duke of 
 York, both grief and mortification at being thus separated and severed, 
 as it were, from your Majesty’s person and family. I have had much 
 reason to lament it since, for reasons which may perhaps throw some 
 light on the motive of those who brought it about. For, from the 
 first moment of your Majesty’s joyful recovery, your Majesty’s ear 
 has, by the banishment of your sons, been exclusively possessed by 
 those who have unfortunately felt either an interest or inclination to 
 misrepresent our conduct, and hurt us in your opinion. I shall for- 
 
226 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 ever account it the greatest calamity of my life, that in the first 
 period of returning health, when your Majesty’s mind was yet free 
 from prejudice, your ear untainted by slander, and your heart — as it 
 ever is, but most peculiarly so in those moments of softness which 
 succeed affliction and disease — open to impressions of affection, ten- 
 derness, and indulgence, I and my brother, who both have ever 
 loved you, and have never justly forfeited our title to your love, 
 were held in exile from your presence, and condemned to silence, 
 while our enemies were laboring, with every advantage of constant 
 intercourse with your Majesty and the impossibility of being answered, 
 to ruin us in your esteem. 
 
 In laying before your Majesty an account of those transactions 
 which may be deemed of a public and political nature, it is with the 
 utmost pain that I must recall to my own memory, and perhaps 
 wound your Majesty’s feelings, by alluding to the unhappy necessity 
 which appeared to arise out of your severe malady for supplying, 
 by a temporary Government, the lamented absence of your Majesty 
 during the continuance of your illness. But I rely both on j^our 
 Majesty’s fortitude, and on the ascendency which the love of justice 
 has in your mind over every weakness of ordinary natures, for your 
 generous approbation of my resolution to postpone the inferior con- 
 siderations of sensibilit}' and delicacy, to objects which I know your 
 Majesty rates far higher — the honor of your son, the dignity of your 
 family, and the true interests of your crown and people. 
 
 Supported by this reflection, I cannot hesitate to set before you a 
 view of the new, anxious, and arduous situation in which your Ma- 
 jesty’s in lisposition suddenly placed me, as well, indeed, as the legis- 
 lature and the whole nation. 
 
 I am too thoroughly jiersuaded of the magnanimity as well as the 
 justice of your Majesty’s character to feel the smallest apprehension 
 that any indisposition can arise in your Majesty’s mind towards me, 
 from the consideration that all men united, without a single excep- 
 tion, in the opinion that the temporary government ought to be 
 placed in my hands. This appeared a necessary consequence of the 
 relation which I bear to your Majesty, and I am sure your Majesty 
 will consider it, as you justly may, as an acknowledgment made to 
 the claim of your Majesty’s blood; not sought by me nor bestowed 
 by Parliament as a thing personal to myself, or as a claim of mine 
 distinct from, much less adverse to, your Majesty’s personal interests, 
 or those of your crown. 
 
 Such were the circumstances which compelled me to take any part 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE TV. 
 
 227 
 
 whatever in the affairs of Government. But I cannot for a moment 
 deny myself the satisfaction of acquainting your Majesty, and I hope 
 it will remain strongly impressed on your Majesty’s mind through- 
 out, that this necessity was not declared by me, but was first 
 announced to the world by your Majesty’s ministers, who took the 
 lead in proposing and bringing forward every step that has been 
 made for accomplishing this purpose. While I was permitted to 
 attend on your Majesty, my whole mind was engaged, and my whole 
 time employed, in the more interesting cares of private and domestic 
 duty ; I refrained altogether, by system as well as inclination, from 
 every object of a different nature. The only perfectly true and cor- 
 rect account that can be given of the part which I took respecting 
 public measures and the affairs of Government is, that I industriously 
 avoided taking any part at all ; I remained from the beginning wholly 
 passive and neutral, until the steps taken by your Majesty’s ministers 
 called me unavoidably from this retirement into action; and ren- 
 dered it my indispensable duty to your Majesty, your people, and 
 myself, to direct my most serious attention to the consideration of 
 public affairs. 
 
 I must once more implore your Majesty to reflect attentively on 
 this circumstance, and allow to it its due weight in the judgment you 
 are to form of my conduct. It is far from my object in this address 
 to defend the wisdom of all I did, oi* omitted to do, in this trying 
 situation. 
 
 He then vindicates his share in the late political transactions : 
 
 I must be permitted to claim, with the greater confidence, the full 
 effect of this determination on your Majest5^’s mind, as it was not 
 adopted without opposition from one in whose opinion I might have 
 been justified for acquiescing, and under the authority of which I 
 might have sheltered an opposite conduct if I had been disposed to 
 adopt it. I was urged, from an honorable opinion, I am sure, and 
 one which was sincerely entertained by the person to whom I allude, 
 to come forward much earlier in my own person to claim the Gov- 
 ernment, as falling to me of right during your Majesty’s illness, and 
 to take the lead out of the hands of your Majesty’s ministers into my 
 own. Such was the opinion of my uncle, the Duke of Gloucester, 
 and he pressed it on me with all the earnestness which belonged to a 
 sincere and fixed opinion on a subject of such moment. 
 
 The first public act in which I had any share was a declaration. 
 
228 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE lY, 
 
 made at my request by my brother, the Duke of York, to the House 
 of Lords, speaking in his place as a peer of Parliament, on the 15th 
 of December. 
 
 It will be necessary to state in a very few words the subject which 
 was then under consideration. Instead of proceeding to settle the 
 mode in which the Government was to be exercised in your Ma- 
 jesty’s name, your Majesty’s ministers thought proper to propose 
 that the two Houses of Parliament should first vote an abstract 
 proposition declaratory of their rights on that occasion. This pro- 
 ceeding appearing to us both unnecessary and dangerous in itself, 
 we could not help considering it, in the intention of those by whom 
 it was proposed, as a measure of pure hostility to me. We were 
 sure at least that its tendency was necessarily injurious, in the high- 
 est degree, to my reputation in the country. I was informed that it 
 w^as not usual for Parliament to come to verbal declarations of their 
 rights previous to exercising them, and that such a measure has only 
 been resorted to in cases where the jealousy of Parliament has been 
 excited by attempts from some adequate authority to dispute or to 
 defeat the privilege which they have asserted. The declaration of 
 the rights of Parliament on this occasion did undoubtedly convey to 
 the world an insinuation that they had been attacked; and as there 
 existed at the time no authority" which could give weight or impor- 
 tance to such an attack but mine, the eyes of the world were natu- 
 rally drawn towards me, and the nation was taught to believe that I 
 had begun the public career to which I was unfortunately called, by 
 some attempt or some claim inimical to the constitution and liberties 
 of the country. I have, however, the satisfaction to assure your 
 Majesty that the contrary was the case, and that I had never made, 
 either directly or indirectly, any claim whatever. I know with cer- 
 tainty that no claim was ever offered to either House of Parliament 
 by my authority, and I will venture to assure your Majesty that none 
 was ever made or hinted at, in my name, without my authority. 
 Much pains indeed were taken to misinterpret some sentiments 
 expressed in debate by persons in whom I avow that I place confi- 
 dence, and to treat them as propositions dangerous to the rights of 
 Parliament. I cannot in general be supposed to know correctly 
 what passes in debate in the House of Commons, but I have reasons 
 on which I can depend, and which enable me confidently to assure 
 your Majesty, not only that the sentiments alluded to were not such 
 as they were, for obvious purposes, grossly misrepresented over the 
 whole nation to be, but that they were rendered so clear and explicit 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 229 
 
 by frequent ample and satisfactory explanation that it was impossi- 
 ble even to misapprehend them; and that the scandalous and 
 libellous perversion of detached words in debate, which were so 
 diligently dispersed from one end of the kingdom to the other, could 
 be the work only of a policy equally indifferent to truth, and adverse 
 to your Majesty, your family, and the welfare and tranquillity of the 
 nation. 
 
 In this view, and in this view alone, I authorized my brother, the 
 Duke of York, to declare in my name to the House of Lords in sub- 
 stance that “I had never declared any opinion whatever concerning 
 this important question, and that, so far from urging any claim on 
 that occasion, I was too well acquainted with and revered too much 
 those principles which had seated the house of Brunswick on the 
 throne of these kingdoms, to form a wish for the exercise of any 
 power which should not be sanctioned by that House, and the repre- 
 sentatives of the people in Parliament assembled. ” 
 
 But I am well assured that your Majesty would not condemn the 
 caution which led us to deprecate the agitation of that delicate ques- 
 tion, and would surely not charge us on that account with any dis- 
 regard for your Majesty’s personal interests, or those which are most 
 nearly personal to your Majesty — those of your family — if your 
 Majesty had had an opportunity of being acquainted with the nature 
 and tendency of propositions entertained, and even tendered to the 
 nation, though unsuccessfully, indeed, at that critical and speculating 
 period, by a person who stood the highest in authority and in your 
 Majesty’s confidence. These propositions were indeed neither 
 adopted by the two Houses nor countenanced by the concurrence of 
 any one opinion besides. 
 
 The sincere respect which I entertain for the acts of the two 
 Houses of Parliament does not, therefore, preclude me from sub- 
 mitting to your Majesty whether some danger might not be reason- 
 ably and sincerely apprehended, both to the monarchy and to the 
 constitution in all its points, from a discussion which could furnish 
 an opportunity for promulgating from such a quarter an opinion 
 which went to the total extinction, for the time being, of every 
 existing principle of our Government; throwing open to arbitrary 
 and undefined discretion every point of our constitution, both as 
 to persons or powers; and well calculated, undoubtedly, to prepare 
 — if such a project could anywhere have existed — a competition for 
 the sovereign authority, throughout the British empire, to the exclu- 
 sion of every one of your Majesty’s blood, 
 
230 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 In this light did the opinions, distinctly and repeatedly delivered 
 by your Majesty’s minister, Mr. Pitt, on this question of right 
 appear to me, and I am not without grounds for supposing that 
 they must have conveyed a similar impression to most other men; 
 since all the support which Mr. Pitt is accustomed to find, and 
 actually obtained throughout the strongest measures which he 
 ventured to propose in this extraordinary crisis, could not, how- 
 ever, procure for him one assenting voice to the sentiments I have 
 alluded to; and your Majesty’s Attorney-General, who must no 
 doubt be supposed in general to act in concurrence with your 
 Majesty’s minister, delivered, however, on this occasion, an opinion 
 diametrically opposite to the doctrine of Mr. Pitt. 
 
 I owed it to your Majesty to preserve entire for your Majesty, 
 when you should resume your government, the rights, powers, and 
 dignity of your crown such as you had before enjoyed them; and 
 I owed it also to your Majesty to fulfil the objects of your royal 
 power by protecting your people from foreign danger, and provid- 
 ing for its internal tranquillity, prosperit}-, and happiness. 
 
 If these reasons might justify my apprehensions at being entrusted 
 wuth the whole duties, but with only a portion of the power belong- 
 ing to royal authority, your Majesty will see that it follows neces- 
 sarily from the same principle that my difficulties, and therefore 
 my uneasiness and alarm, should be still greater w'hen I saAv not 
 only many powers cut off from the authority which I was to admin- 
 ister, but some of those very powers of which I was deprived 
 erected into a distinct, separate, independent, and perhaps, there- 
 fore, adverse authority in the state; and those very arms wffiich are 
 intended for the defence of the crown and the service of regular 
 government, disposed of in such a manner as to be capable of being 
 employed in defeating and destroying them. 
 
 I could not, at the same time, but lament one consequence wdiich 
 appeared too likely to follow from the proposed arrangement, of 
 placing a considerable department- of power and influence in the 
 hands of the Queen. 
 
 I had been accustomed to see her Majesty engaged solely in 
 domestic cares and occupations, and while her Majesty’s mind had 
 been thus employed, I had experienced at her hands from my 
 infancy the strongest and most invariable marks of parental tender- 
 ness and even of personal partiality and fondness. Her affection 
 had always been one of the first joj^s and the principal pride of my 
 life. It was not, therefore, without much solicitude and pain that 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 231 
 
 I perceived a scheme formed for creating between us a rival and 
 separate interest, and endangering domestic harmony by political 
 competition. I confess, Sir, it was with the most acute pain that I 
 saw her Majesty set up by designing men as the head of a system, 
 which I must frankly and without reserve say I could not ascribe 
 to any solicitude for your Majesty’s happiness, or connect by any 
 rational principle with your substantial interest, to every one of 
 which I thought it dangerous and adverse in the extreme; but which 
 I considered as a device of private ambition, which aimed at the 
 accomplishment of its own projects by contention with me and 
 opposition to the very power it was constrained to establish in one 
 degree or other in my hands. 
 
 I cannot, however, quit this subject without expressing to your 
 Majesty the resentment I felt at seeing a system, which appeared to 
 me destructive of every object which I kno\v your Majesty, as a 
 wdse and good sovereign, as well as a father and chief of a family, 
 must hold most dear and valuable, justified by a reference to the 
 meanest and most unworthy feelings which were supposed to exist 
 in your Majesty’s mind, and which I felt to be a cruel slander on 
 your Majesty’s character. The separation of the whole of your 
 Majesty’s household, to an extent even which could not be at first 
 avowed, but was covered under the equivocal and undefined sense 
 of that word, from the dignity, the patronage, and influence of your 
 Majesty’s representative, was defended on a ground which I am sure 
 your Majesty will feel to be injurious to your magnanimity and 
 public spirit. It was contended that your Majesty’s private and 
 personal feelings might be wounded by the aiTangements which, 
 without a color of authority or probability, were assumed as a thing 
 intended by me, if I had had the control of that department. 
 
 "With this memorial (says Earl Russell) was written an introduc- 
 tory letter for the King’s perusal, complaining in bitter terms of the 
 Queen’s treatment of her sons. This was also the composition of 
 Sir Gilbert Elliot, but was not transmitted to the King. It was 
 agreed that the introductory letter should be suppressed, and that a 
 short letter, expressing in general terms the Prince’s uneasiness under 
 his father’s displeasure, and stating that he had prepared a justifica- 
 tion of his conduct to be submitted to the King, should be substi- 
 tuted for it. It seems not improbable that a letter published by Mr. 
 Moore in his “Life of Sheridan,” from a rough copy of Mr. Sheri- 
 dan’s, was the letter written on that occasion. It answers to the 
 
232 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 description of the letter ordered to be written ; but if so, it was not 
 finished or transmitted to the King before the middle of August. 
 
 THE PRINCE OP WALES TO THE KING 
 
 “ Sir, 
 
 “ I find myself at last not only at liberty, but I think, invited 
 by your Majesty to throw myself at your feet and implore of your 
 justice and paternal goodness, at least an equitable, if not a partial 
 and indulgent hearing to the most solemn and anxious address that 
 was ever made by a son to a father. 
 
 “During the calamitous period of your Majesty’s late illness, I 
 waited with impatience for that happy time when the recovery of 
 your health might afford me an opportunity of appealing to your 
 justice and affection, against the misrepresentations of those whose 
 situations might enable them to preoccupy your Majesty’s first opin- 
 ions. 
 
 “ I had reason to believe that attempts would be made to prejudice 
 me in your esteem, and God knows my apprehensions have been too 
 well justified by the event. Urgent, however, as I felt this concern 
 to be, I was unwilling to disturb the first hours of your returning 
 health by any matter however important to myself, which might 
 either fatigue your attention or agitate your spirits; I refrained 
 accordingly from pressing any application on the subject, till I was 
 given to understand, with a joy which was shared indeed by the 
 whole nation, but chiefly felt by me, that your health was perfectly 
 confirmed. Since that period I have sought every opportunity of 
 engaging your Majesty’s attention to a subject which weighed so 
 heavily on my mind. But in vain! Your Majesty has either been 
 surrounded by persons whose presence rendered it improper to 
 explain myself on delicate and confidential points; or if ever I have 
 had the happiness to enjoy a few moments of your presence alone, 
 I have on such occasions been expressly enjoined either by your 
 Majesty or the Queen to abstain from all points of business whatever. 
 
 “ I was not satisfied with seeking every opportunity to make a 
 verbal explanation at your Majesty’s feet; the difficulties which 
 opposed my personal communication with your Majesty induced me, 
 amongst other reasons, to have recourse also to my pen ; and I flat- 
 tered myself that some moments of leisure and some periods of 
 strength would be found for perusing the justification of a son whose 
 accusers, I too well knew, had procured, or rather constantly pos- 
 g^ssed, the means to be heard. When I considered the interesting 
 
THE LIFE OF GEOROE IV. 
 
 233 
 
 nature ot“ the subject, and still more the awe which I never fail to 
 experience in your Majesty’s presence, it was my wish to address 
 your Majesty in writing, because it would both enable me to lay the 
 matter before your Majesty in a more correct and satisfactory form, 
 and would afford your Majesty an opportunity of bestowing on it a 
 more deliberate consideration than any verbal conference could do 
 alone. 
 
 “In this view I collected some papers, which I thought important 
 toward informing your Majesty of the transactions in which the 
 course of events had involved me, and I proposed to annex some 
 observations explanatory of my conduct. I delivered the papers to 
 the Queen, requesting her to communicate them to your Majesty 
 when she should find a convenient opportunity. I was constrained 
 to trouble her Majesty with this application, partly by the fear of 
 intruding unseasonably on your Majesty after your long illness, and 
 partly by the obstacles which I found perpetually in the way of a 
 personal interview; as well indeed as the express injunctions I had 
 received to refrain from addressing your Majesty on business. 
 
 “ Having waited for some time with great anxiety the effect of 
 this communication, and a public intimation having been given to 
 Parliament of the joyful event of your Majesty’s recovery, I 
 addressed to the Queen the following letter : 
 
 ‘“Dear Madam, 
 
 ‘“I have this moment learned that Mr. Pitt has announced to 
 the House of Commons that a communication is to be made to Par- 
 liament from his Majesty on Tuesday next. 
 
 “‘Your Majesty will, I am sure, have observed that, notwith- 
 standing the impatience I must naturally feel to have a fit oppor- 
 tunity of submitting to his Majesty a faithful statement of my 
 conduct and my sentiments on the conduct of others, I have 
 abstained from every idea of intruding on his Majesty’s attention 
 until the opinion of those who can best judge shall point out the 
 proper time for submitting matters of business and public impor- 
 tance to his consideration. 
 
 “ ‘The notice given to-day I conceive to ascertain this point; and 
 as your Majesty was graciously pleased to assure me that the papers 
 I lodged in your Majesty’s hands should be communicated to his 
 Majesty the moment it was fit for him to attend to public business, 
 I request from your Majesty to be informed whether the present is 
 the proper time to make that communication, and when in conse- 
 
234 
 
 TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 quence my brother and myself may attend his Majesty upon a 
 subject so interesting to our feelings, and the duty we owe to his 
 Majesty and the public.’ 
 
 “This letter was Avi'itten on the 5th of March; and the next day 
 I received an answer from her Majesty, acquainting me, ‘ that she 
 had taken an opportunity of mentioning to your Majesty that she 
 was m possession of those papers, and must now leave it to your 
 Majesty’s own judgment when you would think it proper to peruse 
 them.’ 
 
 “ On the day following I received another letter from the Queen, 
 enclosing one from your Majesty to her, both of which I take the 
 liberty of copying in this place : 
 
 THE QUEEN TO THE PRINCE OF WALES. 
 
 “ ‘ Kew, March 7th, 1789. 
 
 “ ‘My dearest Son, 
 
 “ ‘ I have found an opportunity of communicating to the King 
 your letter of the day before yesterday, to which he has given me 
 the enclosed in answer; and as this paper contains his Majesty’s 
 sentiments upon the subject, I have nothing further to say, but hope 
 that you are convinced of my having fulfilled your wishes, and that 
 you wiil believe me sincerely, 
 
 “ ‘ 3Iy dearest Son, 
 
 “ ‘ Your very affectionate Mother and Friend, 
 
 “ ‘ Charlotte.’ 
 
 “This letter enclosed the following from your Majesty to the 
 Queen : 
 
 THE KING TO THE QUEEN. 
 
 “ ‘ Kew, March 6th, 1789, Friday evening. 
 
 “ ‘My DEAREST Ch.VRLOTTE, 
 
 “ ‘ As I cannot but be deeply impressed by the consideration 
 of how much you must have been afflicted by the long continuance 
 of my illness, and the events that attended it, I cannot but wish 
 to prevent jmur having any further trouble concerning it; and 
 therefore desire you will acquaint both the Prince of Wales and 
 Frederick, that, though I do not mean to decline giving that atten- 
 tion to public business which may be necessary, yet that I propose 
 avoiding all discussions that may in their nature agitate me, and 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 235 
 
 consequently must for the present decline entering on any subjects 
 that are not necessarily before me. 
 
 “ ‘ I shall ever remain, my dearest Charlotte, 
 
 “ ‘ Your most affectionate Husband, 
 
 “■‘George R’ 
 
 “I found myself unhappily constrained to submit to this decla- 
 ration of your Majesty’s pleasure, and I saw with grief every means 
 of setting myself right in your opinion denied me. In this situa- 
 tion I could only resort to one sentiment capable of affording me 
 either hope or consolation. I reflected on your Majesty’s habitual 
 love and practice of justice, and on the tenderness and affection 
 which I had experienced on many occasions at the hand of an 
 indulgent father. I judged that the attempts of my enemies to deprive 
 me of your love and good opinion must probqbly have been abor- 
 tive; for I could not believe that your Majesty would either reject 
 a reply to any accusation which you deemed worthy of attention, or 
 would condemn your sons unheard on any charge, whether grave 
 or frivolous. I confess, however, that the implicit confidence I 
 should naturally have placed in this affection was much diminished, 
 and very painful alarms were raised in my mind by many circum- 
 stances which I could not help observing. These were by degrees 
 multiplied in such a manner as to leave me little doubt; and I now 
 see at length my worst fears verified, and my misfortune too fully 
 authenticated under your Majesty’s hand, by a clear declaration of 
 displeasure, and an explicit condemnation of my conduct on the 
 tenderest point, conveyed in writing to one of my brothers. Many 
 of the circumstances which gave me reason to apprehend some 
 prejudice in your Majesty’s mind against me, are of a nature which 
 it is difficult or impossible to describe in words, or to render sensible 
 to others by relation. 
 
 “I am sure your Majesty will not think it unnatural that these 
 circumstances should sensibly afflict and alarm your sons, and we 
 shall not be censured for drawing a rash conclusion, if we believe 
 that her Majesty’s behaviorcould not have been such as I have 
 described, unless there had existed in her mind some previous dis- 
 satisfaction and some general indisposition towards us, independent 
 of this transaction, and sufficient to extinguish entirely the natural 
 affection and tenderness of a mother. If we observe the common 
 course of nature and consult the happy experience of all other 
 faipilies, we cannot help acknowledging that Providence seems to 
 
236 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 have designed it as the part of a mother to feel and to express solici- 
 tude for the safety of her children ; to absorb all other considerations 
 in those of anxiety and tenderness at critical periods of a son’s life; 
 to plead his cause, even if it be doubtful; to* heal all family differ- 
 ences, if such exist; to soften and conciliate toward her children 
 the mind and opinion of their father, if it is in danger of being 
 estranged: in examining their conduct to leave to others even the 
 impartiality of a judge, but much more, the severe scrutiny of an 
 adverse party, and above all, to leave to their rivals and enemies the 
 care of fomenting the anger of their father, together with that of 
 anticipating, and by that means, perhaps, procuring the condemna- 
 tion of the w^orld — an effect of her Majesty’s unfortunate displeasure, 
 which we have had too many occasions to feel and to lament. 
 
 “It is quite impossible. Sir, that we should behold with indif- 
 ference a departure in our house alone, from that first and best law 
 of nature wdiich protects the harmony of other families, and which, 
 reserving at least one indissoluble relation and one bond of affection 
 exempt from decay, seems to have appointed maternal tenderness 
 as the stronghold and the last sanctuary for domestic happiness, 
 against those storms of adverse interests and rival passions which 
 drive it from every other post. 
 
 “ It is not. Sir, without a severe conflict, nor without the most 
 acute pain, that we find at length power to express these soitows to 
 your Majesty. We are sensible of the sacred character and the 
 religion as it were that surrounds and covers the subject of our 
 complaint. Since we do not, and in our hearts cannot, acknowledge 
 that we have merited, either by any part of our conduct, or by our 
 most secret thoughts, the loss of the Queen’s love, we feel that in 
 lamenting that dreadful calamity we appear to be her accusers, and 
 her accusers before your Majesty. We entreat you therefore to cast 
 your eye for a moment on the afflicting alternative w^hich is left to 
 us. We cannot disguise to ourselves our true situation. The 
 Queen’s affection is estranged from us. We can neither be ignorant 
 of nor forget a misfortune which we feel every day in a thousand 
 shapes, both wounding our feelings and -working our ruin. Her 
 Majesty is alone possessed of your ear, and from the endearing rela- 
 tion which she bears to your Majesty, is naturally entitled to jmur 
 confidence. In the Queen’s indisposition toward us we see there- 
 fore the loss also of your Majesty’s opinion and regard. Our char- 
 acters and reputation in the world are not less endangered. Those 
 who are known to approach most constantly her Majesty’s person. 
 
’THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 23T' 
 
 and to enjoy the greatest share of her confidence and favor, seem 
 to have no other language in which to express their zeal and attach- 
 ment for her Majesty, than the bitterest invectives against us, and 
 no other business or occupation than to invent and circulate from 
 one extremity of your dominions to the other, the most gross, false, 
 and scandalous slanders on her sons. In the meanwhile we find 
 ourselves constrained to a silence which our enemies and even the 
 impartial part of the world may well enough attribute to a con- 
 sciousness of guilt. What choice therefore is left to us, but either 
 to forego voluntarily your Majesty’s love and the good opinion of 
 the world, or to tell your Majesty and the world, that without 
 blame on our parts we are unhappy enough to have been deprived 
 of a mother’s affection, and to tender to your Majesty and the 
 world the documents which we possess of our innocence? 
 
 “Yet, Sir, we might still be silent if even these reasons, power- 
 ful as they are, were the only grounds for our alarm, and if our 
 fears were not at length too surely verified by the event. For if 
 the occurences which I have alluded to could leave us without 
 anxiety concerning the unfortunate impressions which may too 
 probably have been made on your Majesty’s mind to our disadvan- 
 tage, your Majesty must appear to have deprived us of hope on that 
 subject by a letter which your Majesty has written to my brother 
 the Duke of Clarence. I trust your Majesty does not yet think us 
 capable of perusing that unequivocal and severe declaration of your 
 displeasure, without the most poignant grief and the deepest morti- 
 fication. The love which we bear to the Duke of Clarence, and the 
 happiness which we enjoy in our mutual affection and harmony, is 
 our sole consolation under the many humiliating and afflicting 
 circumstances which we experience in other branches of our family. 
 The loss of that blessing would be a heavy blow indeed ; but how 
 much would its severity be increased, by reflecting that it comes 
 from the hand of a parent! We see, therefore, with anguish, and 
 we confess, with wonder, your Majesty, under the persuasion of 
 others, and contrary to your own nature, laboring to hurt us in the 
 opinion of our brother, and to deprive us both of his affection and 
 society. It is with inexpressible grief we perceive the imputation 
 of some monstrous but undefined guilt in us made a ground for 
 harshness and rebuke even to him. I trust your Majesty will not 
 be offended at seeing us sensible to such afflictions, and that you 
 will allow, at least, that we are distinctly called upon to vindicate 
 our conduct by one passage in your Majesty’s letter. You are 
 
238 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 pleased to say, ‘ Though I choose to cast a veil over the unkindness 
 I met with during my illness from the ill-advised conduct of my 
 sons, yet I cannot hut feel it, as well as the Parliament, and, indeed, 
 the whole nation.’ 
 
 “ This, Sir, is the first explicit declaration you have made of these 
 unfortunate and, I must presume to say on our parts, unmerited sen- 
 timents. Till now, we might flatter ourselves that, however preva- 
 lent in your palace such opinions might be, they had not yet 
 reached your Majesty. Indeed, Sir, we cannot yet consent to ban- 
 ish entirely a hope, which is so indispensable to our happiness, and 
 we would yet cling to a fond conjecture that your Majesty has rather 
 yielded to the importunity of others, and condescended to adopt 
 their suggestions, than spoken your own opinions, or consulted your 
 own heart on this occasion. We have ever found your Majesty per- 
 sonally kind and good to us. We most solemnly and seriously call 
 God to witness, that we have ever felt your goodness with gratitude, 
 and repaid it with affection and reverence. We cannot, therefore, 
 easily and rashly believe that your Majesty should become at once 
 cruel and unjust. Yet your Majesty will admit, that so express a 
 declaration of your displeasure leaves us no choice, and that if any 
 consideration on earth should induce us to withhold a full and cir- 
 cumstantial account of our conduct in that critical and important 
 period of our lives to which your censure is applied, we should 
 subscribe to our own condemnation, and should merit indeed the 
 pain, heavy as it is, of your anger and reproaches. Your Majesty 
 cannot be offended if we do not account your present 'judgment 
 final and irrevocable; for your Majesty knows that we liave not 
 been heard, and that an opportunity to defend ourselves, although 
 it has been often sought by us, has hitherto been denied. It would 
 be, therefore, injurious to your Majesty’s character, as a just 
 sovereign, to believe that your mind is not still open at least to a 
 fair and equitable consideration of the subject. With this view, we 
 humbly lay the following relation at your Majesty’s feet. 
 
 “ It is submitted first, as it ought, to your Majesty. But we are 
 taught by your Majesty’s words not to neglect the opinion of our 
 country; and to that country which we love and honor, and whose 
 good opinion is essential to our comfort and happiness, we consider 
 ourselves bound also to address ourselves. 
 
 “I will not detain your Majesty longer from the penisal of a 
 paper which I hope will restore us to your esteem, and regain for 
 us the blessings of your wonted affection and confidence.” 
 
THE LIFE OP GEORGE IK 
 
 2S3 
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 1789. 
 
 w 
 
 The most natural expression of the Prince’s feelings at this time 
 will be found in his letters to Lord Cornwallis, then in India. Here 
 he delivers himself with a true empressement, and his utterances 
 throw some light on the Duke of York’s duel, as well as on the 
 summary proceedings of the Court. The style of these curious 
 productions will be noticed — the superabundance of assertion as 
 well as of qualification: and it will be seen that this genial Prince 
 loved a kind of florid exaggeration almost grotesque. Allusion has 
 been before made to this Treves’s father, a money-lender, whose 
 definition of a gentleman, in answer to the Prince, was significant 
 of his character as well as of the familiarity which the Prince toler- 
 ated — “ A man with money in his pocket and that does not care a 
 d n for you or your father. ” 
 
 THE PRINCE OP WALEi TO LORD CORNWALLIS. 
 
 “Carlton House, May 30th, 1789. 
 
 “My dear Lord, 
 
 “I must begin by thanking you for the very kind and 
 friendly letter I received from you by the last ship from the East 
 Indies. It was so long since I had heard from you y‘ I began to 
 think you had forgot all y old friends in this part of the world. 
 How things are changed, and what a checquered scene of Life I 
 have been obliged to go thro’ for the last six months! Ere this, I 
 suppose, you will have heard of the King’s Indisposition, and how 
 the Minister not only attempted to destroy ‘my Rights,’ but tc 
 deprive every other individual of our family of the common liberties 
 & rights of Englishmen. Supported I have been by some ‘ real and 
 true friends,’ at the head of whom your Friend, my Brother, stood 
 foremost, w^ has gained immortal Honor. Had you been here, my 
 dear Lord, I doubt not y*- we slF have had the happiness of meeting 
 with a similar support from you, tho’ I am sorry to say that your 
 members consulted the interests of the ‘ cause ’ of Pitt instead of ifue 
 
240 
 
 THE LIFE OF OEOROE IV. 
 
 Rights and Independence of the Constitution of the Country, as 
 well as of the House of Brunswick. Everything has fallen into 
 very different hands. The King is convalescent, that is to say, he 
 certainly is better. Everything is thrown into the hands of the 
 Queen. Every Friend y^ supported me & the common cause of 
 succession of the Family, if they had any place, have been dismissed, 
 such as the Duke of Queensberry; and our little friend Lothian 
 Queensberry has been dismissed by order of the Queen & Mr. Pitt 
 from the Bedchamber. Lothian has left his regiment of Horse 
 Guards; & they have had the Insolence to threaten the Duke of 
 York with taking his Regiment of Foot Guards, and when they, at 
 last, did not dare do that, they have brought officers into his Regi- 
 ment, and committed towards him every species of Indignity to 
 force him to resign, w’^ he has had prudence & coolness sufficient, 
 as well as firmness enough, to resist. Not only these great officers, 
 but numbers of a lower class, whose sole dependence in life and sus- 
 tenance depended upon their places, have been disgracefully dis- 
 missed from their offices for the disinterested support of me & our 
 Family. You will forgive me, my dear Lord, for thus expatiating 
 upon a subject w^ I w*^ not have done but to such a friend, as I con- 
 sider you. I cannot but confess y* I feel for the dangerous situation 
 in w^ the Rights & Liberties of this Nation are at present, as well as 
 the very critical position in w^ every member of Our Family stands 
 at present. Even the very precarious state of the King’s health ren- 
 ders some People a little upon their guard, who are not driven to a 
 state of Dispair, such as not only pervades the Minister himself, but 
 his Adherents in General. I will not bore you any further at pres- 
 ent, as I suppose you will have heard by many Letters of our criti- 
 cal situation in this country at the present Period, but trust you 
 will attribute my prolixity to the intimacy of an old Friend. 
 
 “Before I conclude, I must thank you for the kind expressions 
 you have made use of to me respecting my protege, Mr. Treves. I 
 confess I feel myself much interested in his welfare and success in 
 Life, & nothing can make me more happy than thinking y^ he will 
 owe y*' Success to you. I have just heard from a Friend at the 
 India House y* the object of Treves’ ambition, at present, is to be 
 appointed to the Adaulet of Benares, w^ is now held by a Black 
 named Alii Carrow. Understanding that most of the Adaulets are 
 now held by Europeans, and as I am informed it is the intention 
 ttiat the Europeans are to be so placed in future, in preference to 
 the natives, I slP be vastly happy if — without committing any 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 241 
 
 injustice — you place young Treves in y* situation, as I shall feel 
 
 personally obliged to you for his promotion. 
 
 “I will not trespass any further upon you, but conclude with 
 desiring you to believe me, my dear lord, 
 
 “Ever sincerely your Friend, 
 
 “George P.” 
 
 It may have been suspected that what lent acrimony to this 
 struggle of the Prince’s, which had now terminated in his complete 
 defeat, was the sense of his situation, now well-nigh desperate. 
 Though an arrangement had been so recently made for the settle- 
 ment of his debts, he had now become once more frightfully 
 involved, and on this occasion, at least, without hope of extrication 
 by the Parliament. A sum of £20,000 had been granted for Carl- 
 ton House; but an estimate was sent in for £55,200 for building 
 and furniture, which, during the course of the next two years, had 
 been paid. What greed the Prince and his friends showed in this 
 matter will be evident from the furniture estimate, which in 1787 
 was fixed at £5500. Within two years a demand was sent in “ for 
 furniture and decorations ordered for the state apartments, to 
 replace some of that for which the sums voted by Parliament in 
 1787 had hardly been expended; and he had contrived that a much 
 larger sum should be laid out on that costly ‘Folly’ of Carlton 
 House; while a large sum had just been paid, not for the com- 
 pletion, but for the progress of the building, which was intended 
 at the time of the application to the House, and to furnish other 
 apartments not then projected,” and this was modestly placed at 
 a sum of £56,950.* This, however, was summarily rejected by the 
 Board. It certainly showed an incurable recklessness and even 
 effrontery, and not the least prospect of reform. 
 
 Sunk, therefore, in debt and difficulties, and without prospect of 
 extrication, in his desperation he resorted to the old favorite scheme 
 for raising money abroad, from which he had been prudently dis- 
 suaded by his friends. This was the issuing bonds in the nature 
 of “post-obits,” which were to be negotiated in foreign countries. 
 This scandal was now to be talked of. In July this year Mr. 
 Wilberforce had a very agreeable dinner with Lord Chatham, 
 whom he found “very chatty and good-humored.” Among other 
 
 * His creditors seemed to have lost all respect for him, and stopped him in 
 the street with their demands. The workmen employed at Carlton House 
 addressed a petition for payment to the Prime Minister, 
 
 11 
 
242 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 curious gossip, lie told him that ‘'a wretched dependant” of the 
 Prince’s had applied to a certain person — so confidential was his 
 talk that the names are designated by numbers — to lend money on 
 the joint bond of the Prince and his two brothers, double the sum 
 to be paid when the King should die and any of the brothers come 
 to the throne. This matter (says Huish) was perfected on the 16th 
 of December, 1788, witnessed by Andrew Robinson and Charles 
 Bicknell, and on the same day the money was paid.* 
 
 This transaction had been set on foot during the King’s illness, 
 under the management of the cook Weltjie, “the wretched de- 
 dependant,” and a large operation was at first proposed to be 
 carried out in Scotland and Ireland, under the direction of brokers. 
 Weltjie introduced a Mr. Cator, of the Adelphi, and Mr. Jones, 
 of Soho. The first provided £10,000, on the condition of his 
 being paid treble the amount. About £30,000 was said to have 
 been obtained in £100 bonds, repayable in twelve years. It was 
 stated that no interest was ever obtained from the Princes, which 
 is not improbable, as they never had money to pay it with, the 
 
 * The form of these bonds runs as follows : 
 
 “Know all men by these presents that We, George Prince of Wales, Fred- 
 erick Duke of York, and William Duke of Clarence, all living in the City of 
 Westminster, in the Coxmty of Middlesex, are jointly and severally, justly and 
 truly indebted to John Cator, of Beckenham, in the County of Kent, Esquire, 
 and his executors, administrators, and assigns, in the penal sum of Sixty 
 Thousand Pounds of good and lawful money of Great Britain, well and truly 
 paid to us at or before the sealing of these presents. Sealed with our seals 
 this 16th day of December, in the 29th year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord 
 George III., by the Grace of God, King, Defender of the Faith, Anno Domini 
 1788. 
 
 “The condition of the above-named obligation is such, that if the above 
 bovmden George Prince of Wales, Frederick Duke of York, and William 
 Henry Duke of Clarence, or any or either of them, or any other of their heirs, 
 executors, or administrators, shall well and truly pay imto the above-named 
 John Cator, his executors, administrators, or assigns, the full sum of Thirty 
 Thousand Poimds of lawful money of Great Britain, within the space or time 
 of six calendar months next after any one or either of us, the said George 
 Prince of Wales, Frederick Duke of York, and William Heniy Duke of Clar- 
 ence, shall come to and ascend the throne of England, together with lawful 
 interest on the same, to be computed from the day that such event shall hap- 
 pen, up and home to the time of paying off this obligation, then, and in such 
 case, the same shall become null and void ; otherwise to be and remain in full 
 force and virtue, 
 
 “ George Prince of Wales, L. S. 
 
 “Frederick, L. S. 
 
 “William Henry, L. S.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 243 
 
 lenders paying it for a couple of years, when they became bank- 
 rupt.* But little relief, however, was obtained in this direction; 
 for as the King recovered the security grew less and less valuable. 
 It was then conceived that money might be raised abroad, and a 
 sort of financial operation was accordingly set on foot in Holland. 
 Mr. Abraham Goldsmidt, a financier, undertook the speculation, 
 which was arranged at the Hague ; though it would seem to have 
 been started under the auspices of the Dukes of Portland and 
 Northumberland, who at all times took an interest in settling his 
 affairs. They had heard of the first loan, and the “usurious 
 terms ” which were offered. They had, no doubt, felt that he 
 should be saved from the unbecoming proceedings of the “post- 
 obits,” and determined to arrange for his extrication on the usual 
 and legitimate terms of good security and fair interest. Accord- 
 ingly it was determined to raise a sura of about £350,000 on the 
 security of the Duchy of Cornwall and Bishopric of Osnaburg, 
 with payments by drawings and a sinking fund, and the whole to 
 be paid off in twenty-five years. The two Dukes, Lords South- 
 ampton, Rawdon, and others, were to be trustees to receive the 
 interest. The Duke of Portland had interviews with one Van der 
 Meulen, who came from Holland, and the loan seems to have 
 been regularly subscribed at Antwerp by the house of Werbrouck 
 and De Wolf, and a Frenchman, De Beaume, the three royal 
 brothers being joined in the security. 
 
 This affair, like most of the transactions in which the Prince was 
 concerned, was unfortunately ^o be attended with accusation of 
 breach of faith, repudiation, etc. Over £100,000 is said to have 
 been received in cash and jewels, but no interest was paid. The 
 King presently heard of it, and was indignant at the unworthy 
 mode in which his third son — a mere youth — had been drawn into 
 such serious obligations. The whole was treated as an attempt to 
 extort money; pleas were set up of “ no value” being received, and 
 the law officers discovered, or affected to discover, that the security 
 of the Duchy could not be pledged. Though this matter has been 
 hotly controverted on both sides, it seems that the events that fol- 
 lowed this loan were of the most disastrous kind, and at least led 
 
 * Lord Kingsborough told Mrs. Harcourt one night at the Queen’s Lodge, 
 that the Prince had been offering £10,000 and an Irish peerage, after the 
 King’s death, for every £5000, though even on these terms he could get little, 
 —“Mrs. Harcourt’s Diary,” p, 46. 
 
244 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 to unpleasant suspicions, the reckless Princes, like other spend- 
 thrifts, seeming to look on those that lent to them as enemies, to 
 whom any fate, for treatment, was good enough. That industrious 
 cJiiffonnier, Huish, whose garbage seems always to contain a certain 
 amount of facts, has collected much about this curious affair. 
 
 “The plan,” he says, “proposed by De Beaume, to raise a sum 
 of money on the Continent for the use of the Princes, was very 
 similar to that which was negotiated by the Boas in Holland. Mr. 
 Bicknell was directed to prepare a bond for their execution for 
 £100,000, payable to De Beaume, and vesting in him the power to 
 divide it into £1000 each by printed copies of the bond, which, 
 under the signature of De Beaume, with the amount and number 
 certified by a notary public, should be as binding on the Princes 
 as if executed by themselves. The original bond was deposited, in 
 trust, in the bank of Ransom, Morlands, and Hammersley; while 
 an attested copy was immediately delivered to De Beaume, and 
 the bankers’ acknowledgment of holding such a security was given 
 as De Beaume’s authority and credentials, as the agent of the three 
 illustrious Princes, who, in this instance, seem to have taken every 
 precaution to secure themselves against imposition. 
 
 “De Beaume went to Paris as the agent of the Prince of Wales, 
 and established himself there in that capacity. The French Revo- 
 lution then wore a very serious aspect, and many of the French 
 wished to leave their country till better times. As b}' remitting 
 bills to England they sustained a very heavy loss, the securities of 
 the British Princes were eagerly purchased from De Beaume by 
 those who wished to emigrate, because those securities were not 
 only more portable than specie, but they were purchased without 
 being subject to the fluctuations of the course of exchange, and at 
 the time were considered as the best negotiable securities in the 
 market. The unfortunate French who purchased them and came 
 hither, thought themselves perfectly safe in this country; but as 
 they could not get any money paid on them, they were involved in 
 great difficulty, and consequently became very urgent and clam- 
 orous. 
 
 “The Duke of Portland was then Secretary of State for the 
 Home Department, and to him came many complaints from Carl- 
 ton House against such of the emigrants as were most troublesome 
 and unjust in demanding their money. They were sent out of the 
 country, as in the former instance, and landed on the Continent. 
 Twenty-six foreigners, who were creditors of the Princes, and who 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 245 
 
 had' placed the utmost reliance on the honor and faith of a British 
 Prince, were sent out of England, though no charge was preferred 
 against them. It is, however, an accredited fact, that the Prince 
 of Wales, on several occasions and to various persons, did deny 
 the receipt of any consideration for the bond of De Beaume, 
 
 “The trustees delivered up the bond, which was cancelled at 
 Burlington House, in the presence of the Duke of Portland, on the 
 16th of November, 1790. This remittance had been made by De 
 Beaume in diamonds, through the bank of Perregaux at Paris, to 
 the bank of Ransom, Morland, and Hammersley, on account of the 
 Princes. The diamonds thus remitted were to the amount of 
 £38,653 10s. We have the bills of parcels of these diamonds now 
 before us — they were disposed of by his bankers for the benefit of 
 the Prince: on what ground of common justice, then, could the 
 Prince declare that he had received no consideration whatever for 
 the bond? 
 
 “De Beaume and his confederates were denounced as treasonable 
 in the face of it for declaring George III. to be King of Great 
 Britain, France, and Ireland. The prisoners were tried, con- 
 demned, and executed within twenty-four hours. 
 
 “Thus, in one day, perished Richard, Chaudot, Mestrirer, Niette, 
 De Beaume, and Aubert, either for negotiating the Prince’s securi- 
 ties or for purchasing shares of them, as was also the case with 
 Viette, a rich jeweller, who had purchased a hundred shares of the 
 bond from De Beaume. 
 
 “The next victim who bled on the scaffold for having been the 
 purchaser of twenty shares of the Prince’s bond, was Charles Vau- 
 cher, a banker in Paris, who quitted France with a large fortune 
 in 1792. He fixed his residence in England, where he married an 
 English lady. Having demanded payment of the interest on his 
 shares of the Prince’s bond, he was referred to the bank of Ransom 
 & Co., when he was advised, if he wished to remain in England, 
 never again to apply for his money; for, if he did, he would be 
 sent out of the country, as many in his situation had already been. 
 This threat did not deter him; he repeated his application, and was 
 equally unsuccessful. He laid his case before Mr. Shepherd (after- 
 wards Sir S. Shepherd), Solicitor-General, who decided that his 
 claim upon the Prince was just and legal; and at the close of the 
 opinion which that eminent lawyer gave are the following remark- 
 able words: ‘ If any action is brought with this case, it will require 
 the clearest proof of the facts, and that there is no collusion 
 
246 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE lY 
 
 between De Beaume and Vaucher, because, as a bill has been 
 passed for the payment of his royal highness’s debts, subjecting 
 them to the examination of commissioners, it will be a strong argu- 
 ment against the justice of a demand that has been withheld from 
 such examination; however, there is nothing in the bill which pre- 
 vents a creditor of his royal highness from suing, if he chooses, in 
 preference to going before the commissioners.’ 
 
 “In this opinion the learned counsel seems to have anticipated 
 the very objection that was raised by the commissioners, and the 
 grounds on which they contested the validity of the claim. The 
 Prince inserted it not in his schedule of debts, he disclaimed it in 
 toio; and, therefore, as the Prince disavowed it, the commissioners 
 could not be called upon to allow it; and the only redress which 
 Vaucher could hope to obtain was by an appeal to the laws of the 
 country. A copy of the opinion of Mr. Shepherd was sent, with 
 a polite note, to the Prince of Wales, hoping his royal highness 
 would render all legal measures unnecessary, by ordering the inter- 
 est to be paid. The interest was not paid: the application was 
 renewed to his royal highness, adding that, if no satisfactory 
 answer were returned, such measures w'ould be adopted as would 
 compel his royal highness to pay the amount. On the 6th of Octo- 
 ber an official order was given for him to quit England in four 
 days. Having other pecuniary matters to arrange, he petitioned the 
 Duke of Portland to allow him to remain until the issue of his 
 claims had been determined. On the 11th of October a warrant 
 was signed by the Duke of Portland, directing William Ross and 
 George Higgins, two of the King’s messengers, to take Mr. Vaucher 
 into custody till he should be sent out of the country. On the 15th 
 he was taken into custody, and on the 20th he was carried to Har- 
 wich, to be sent thence to Rotterdam, where he arrived on the 23rd 
 of the same month. Not long after his arrival on the Continent, 
 he was apprehended, taken to Paris, and thrown into prison, where 
 he remained until the 22nd of December, 1795, on which day he was 
 tried on the same charges as De Beaume, was found guilty, and 
 guillotined. 
 
 “Our limits will not allow us to enter at full into the cases of 
 Mr. D. Lovell, the editor of The Statesman, and that of Mr. Auriol ; 
 but proof is on record that, with the diamonds remitted by De 
 Beaume, and the money advanced by Auriol, the sum received by 
 the Prince amounted to between £60,000 and £70,000 sterling.” 
 
 The transaction, indeed, caused a great sensation abroad; and a 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 247 
 
 number of pamphlets, setting out the grievances of the bondhold- 
 ers and those interested, were published on the Continent.* 
 
 From this account f has been omitted all speculations or libellous 
 insinuations and statements. But, after making due allowance, it 
 seems but too probable that high-handed proceedings were adopted 
 towards the unfortunate foreign bondholders. The defence urged 
 for the Princes was — that spurious bonds had got into circulation ; 
 that “ no consideration ” had passed. The scandal caused by these 
 transactions was great. 
 
 So late as 1829 claims were being made under this loan, and some 
 of the mysterious journeys to the Continent of Sir William 
 Knighton were connected with the arrangement of this affair. 
 
 * The following advertisement appeared in the Dutch papers of 1796: “ Sep- 
 tember 2. Notice. The bearers of shares in the following loans, negotiated 
 by Abraham and Simeon Boas, at the Hague, to wit, &c., 350,000 florins for 
 the three English princes, namely, George Prince of Wales, Frederick Duke 
 of York, and William Henry Duke of Clarence, made in 1789, &c., are entreated 
 to apply before the 1st of September next, from nine in the morning till one 
 in the afternoon, to the notary, Corneille van Homrich at Amsterdam; the 
 notaries, Huggen en Tendall, at the Hague; where are deposited, for the pur- 
 pose of being signed, the respective acts of procuration and qualification upon 
 Messrs. Wills and Company, merchants, at Amsterdam, appointed to with- 
 draw from the hands of the registrar of the Court of Holland the original let- 
 ters of mortgage in the said negotiations (which letters were removed from 
 the custody of Abraham and Simon Boas, to be there kept), to deposit them 
 with the notary, Van Homrich, and to prevent, by this measure, any loss upon 
 the said negotiations, to attend to the concerns of the subscribers, and to pro- 
 mote the payment of their interest, and the reimbursement of their capitals.” 
 —Wallace, “ Life and Reign,” i. 224. 
 
 t Two pamphlets were published at Antwerp in 1791, describing the negoti- 
 ations, giving the names of trustees’ security, etc. The amount was over 
 three millions and a half of guelders. It gives the date of the Prince’s sign- 
 ing the power of attorney, his two bonds, an account of Van der Meulen’s 
 interviews with the Duke of Portland, the counsel’s opinion as to the power of 
 mortgage, which was signed by Lowten, Adam, and Baldwin. The unfortu- 
 nate Colonel Frederick, son of Theodore, King of Corsica, was employed as 
 an agent in this transaction. Mr. Cyrus Redding investigated the whole tran- 
 saction, and found in the Moniteurot the time the debates on the unfortunate 
 bondholders. 
 
248 
 
 THE LIFE OF QEORQE IV. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 1790 — 1791 . 
 
 ' Through all these affairs, the King’s illness, the debates on the 
 Regency, and the quarrels with the Queen, there was one name 
 often mentioned, and which exercised an important influence — that 
 of Mrs. Fitzherbert, at whose house we hear of many secret con- 
 sultations being held, “Jack Payne ” and Sheridan being the chief 
 councillors. She would have been less than woman had she not 
 been excited by the prospect now opening, and it was currently 
 reported that, had the Prince succeeded to the Regency, she was 
 to have been created a Duchess. But the hold any adviser had over 
 the Prince’s mind was at all times uncertain, and it seems extra- 
 ordinary how she contrived to retain her influence on one so un- 
 steady. We may fairly impute it to respect for her and the honesty 
 of her motives. One of his friends wrote: “I fear there is in the 
 Prince this feature of his father — that he loves closets within cabi- 
 nets, and cupboards within closets; that he will have secret advisers 
 I besides his ostensible ones, and still more invisible ones behind his 
 {secret advisers — that he will be faithful to none of them, and a 
 most uncomfortable master to those ministers who would really 
 serve him.” These are the words of the sagacious and amiable Sir 
 ‘ Gilbert Elliot, and severe as is the character it is not overdrawn. 
 The reader will keep it before him during the course of this history, 
 and And that it explains many of his proceedings. 
 
 Nor was Mrs. Fitzherbert without her troubles during this critical 
 period. All this time the irrepressible Rolle was struggling to 
 bring forward the question of her marriage. Horne Tooke had 
 also some time before published his remarkable pamphlet, in which 
 he had persistently styled her “Your Royal Highness.” But she 
 still maintained her hostility to Mr. Fox. Sir Philip Francis, in- 
 deed, tells us that she often told him that she so abhorred Fox, and 
 never would be reconciled to him, “notwithstanding many ad- 
 vances and earnest submissions on his part, of which, at his request, 
 I was more than once the bearer. She said that by his unauthor- 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 249 
 
 ized declarations in the House of Commons he had rolled her in 
 the kennel like a street -walker; that he knew that every word he 
 said was a lie, and so on, in a torrent of virulence which it was in 
 vain for me to encounter, so I gave the point up and made my re- 
 treat as well and as fast as I could. On the other hand, Horne 
 Tooke flattered her in his own way— but whether by direct access 
 to her or not I cannot say — that she was Princess of Wales, that 
 she must be acknowledged. All this he maintained for the mere 
 purpose of doing mischief, and to gratify his own rancors. The 
 Prince ought to have sent to the House this message, supposing the 
 thing to have been absolutely necessary, by his own Chancellor, or 
 some principal officer of his household ; or, at all events. Fox, if he 
 would or must be the carrier of such a declaration, ought to have 
 taken it in writing, on no other condition, and answering for noth- 
 ing himself. All that can be said for his imprudence is, that at 
 that time he did not know the Prince, who soon after disavowed 
 him, at least to the lady. At that time there was not a well- 
 informed man in London who was not convinced that, in 1785, the 
 rites and ceremonies of marriage between the Prince and Mrs. Fitz- 
 herbert had taken place according to the rules established in both 
 Churches, and I am as sure of the fact as if I had been present.” 
 
 It was, however, now so fully understood that the statement 
 made in the House was a Action, that her position had not been 
 affected by it. It was remarked that certain great and exclusive 
 ladies received her, not merely with friendliness, but with formal 
 honors. Testimony to this belief of the marriage is found in a con- 
 versation held between Mrs. Harcourt and the Duke of Gloucester, 
 in this very year of the King’s recovery, when he told her that 
 “the marriage between the P. and Mrs. Fitz. was without much 
 love on either side. He had his amusements elsewhere, but he had 
 much consideration for her. She was sometimes jealous and dis- 
 contented; her temper violent, though apparently so quiet. He 
 hoped,” he went on to say, “the Prince would remain in her hands, 
 as she was no political intriguer, and probably, if they parted, he 
 would fall into worse hands.”* This, the tone of the Court, seems 
 to define her situation, which was looked on as analogous to that of 
 a German “left-handed” marriage. f 
 
 * “ Diary,” p. 41. 
 
 t A pamphleteering parson named Withers assailed her in a series of libels, 
 from which she had to seek the protection of the law. Her assailant was 
 punished with fine and imprisonment. 
 
 11 * 
 
250 
 
 THE LIFE OF OEOROE IV. 
 
 The Prince at this time found himself obliged to prosecute the 
 proprietor of The Times newspaper — then not nearly so important 
 an organ as it has become — Mr. Walter, for writing that he and his 
 brother had entered the King’s apartment and purposely disturbed 
 him, and for libellous reflections. The offender was sentenced to 
 two years’ imprisonment and the pillory. This part of his punish- 
 ment was remitted, and his term of imprisonment reduced to six- 
 teen months.* 
 
 It may be conceived that if the Prince were in such straits, Mrs. 
 Fitzherbert had her share of difflculties. She herself had expen- 
 sive tastes, and had brought her jointure into the common stock. 
 It must be said, the Prince in many of his straits came to her rescue 
 with due loyalty and generosity. Thus, one inQxning at her house 
 in Park Lane, when he was with her, the^iSailifL arrived with a 
 warrant for her arrest for a sum of £1825. ^Kere were no means 
 of discharging this debt, though the P rince tried every resource. 
 He at last sent for Parker, a well-known pawnbroker of Fleet 
 Street, the same who was connected with the transaction in which 
 the Duchess of Devonshire’s jewels were concerned, and tried to 
 raise the money on some of the lady’s jewels. Owing to some diffi- 
 culties this could not be contrived, and the Prince sent for his own 
 jewels from Carlton House, which were pledged for the day, until 
 the Prince could raise the sum from some Jews in St. Mary Axe.f 
 Jewellers, indeed, figure largely in these transactions. 
 
 About this time he had made a most important change, as it 
 seemed to him, viz., in selecting a new jeweller. Gray, of Sackville 
 Street, having presumed to require “a settlement,” had been dis- 
 carded, and now Jefferey, of Piccadilly, was selected for the profit- 
 less, or certainly precarious, office of purveying ornaments tg his 
 royal highness. How important the function may be conceived, 
 when this tradesman solemnly states that for many years not a 
 single day passed without his spending some time at Carlton House, 
 when articles of his profession were offered for selection. 
 
 One morning Jefferey received a visit from Mr. 'VYeltjie, begging 
 for a loan of £1600 on the part of the Prince to extricate Mrs. Fitz- 
 
 * “ Yet the statement was quite true,” says Mrs, Harcourt, “ and the remis- 
 sion was against the Duke of York’s wishes, who was very violent. Jack 
 Payne was Walter's greatest enemy.” 
 
 t Huish states that he had this story from the pawnbroker himself. The 
 substance, though vulgarly dressed up with additional “facts” from the 
 writer’s imagination, seems to be true. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEOROE IV, 
 
 251 
 
 nerbert, desiring to have it placed to the Prince’s account. Mr. 
 Jefferey found the cash, and attended on the following morning to 
 announce that the debt was paid. Full of gratitude the Prince 
 brought Mrs. Fitzherbert to his shop, to return her thanks in per- 
 son. The money was repaid in three months. This was the begin- 
 ning of many such transactions with this accommodating jeweller, 
 and also, as will be seen later, of much discreditable disputes. 
 
 We next find the Prince at Frogmore, where he was “hardly 
 civil to any one, tho’ he seemed to pay more court to the King. 
 He did not speak to L** Harcourt, to whom he had been very civil 
 always during the King’s late illness, until he was the first tell to 
 him that the King certainly recover — a characteristic touch. 
 The Queen & Princesses this evening (that of September 20) were 
 evidently afraid of him.”* In October, at the Hunt, “the King 
 made General Harcourt converse the whole time, as if to keep off 
 the Prince, who does not speak to the General since the illness.” f 
 A general reconciliation with his family seemed therefore hopeless, 
 and, indeed, the tone adopted by the Prince even in indifferent 
 matters was not likely to encourage harmony. Thus the King, 
 ever partial to music, was fond of giving Sunday evening parties, 
 where he offered his guests the rational entertainment of good 
 music and conversation. The Bishops, however, conceiving that 
 this was “contrary to the spirit of the Sabbath,” respectfully 
 remonstrated, and with success. But it becoming known that his 
 son also celebrated the Sunday with music and with more joviality 
 than was becoming the day, he took the injudicious step not of 
 speaking to the Prince, but of warning the nobility that he dis- 
 approved of their attendance at such performances. As was to be 
 expected, the command was laughed at by all those who were not 
 of the royal household, or not dependent on royalty for a pension; 
 but at Carlton House and other places it became a standing joke, | 
 and with some of the party it was their regular custom to send to 
 the Bishops who might be resident in London a polite invitation to 
 a Sunday evening conversazione. There was, as usual, an edifying 
 state of things and in the worst taste, and the blame must be not a 
 little distributed. 
 
 It was during this year, too, that the Prince paid a visit to one 
 who, without injustice, might be styled a notorious “rake,” viz.. 
 Lord Sandwich. “Jemmy Twitcher,” as he was called, belonged 
 
 “ Mrs. Harcourt’s Diary,’’ p. 36. 
 
 tibid. 
 
252 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE lY 
 
 to an old generation of rakes, and had been little heard of since 
 Miss Ray’s tragic end. The attraction would seem to have been the 
 musical tastes of his host and the harmonious fare offered. His 
 lordship had the odd taste to choose for his favorite instrument the 
 drum ; and at his own concerts, when a full band was engaged, he 
 always performed on that instrument. As Peter Pindar wrote; 
 “He beats old Ashbridge on the kettledrum.” 
 
 On this occasion, Madame Mara sang, and his royal highness 
 “assisted on the violoncello.” Generally there was a theatrical 
 performance — “Fool a la Mode,” “High Life Below Stairs,” or 
 some favorite piece ; while the evening wound up with catches and 
 glees, in all of which the Prince was fond of taking a part. He 
 had an excellent and a cultured voice, a greater distinction then 
 than in our own time, when the stud}’- of music has been so diffused. 
 He remained a week at this agreeable house, and on going away 
 expressed his delight at the way he had been entertained. 
 
 In a glee, his royal highness could supply “ the basso” with more 
 good will than delicacy. On one of the evenings at the Pavilion 
 (one of Sir P. Francis’s daughters reports) his royal highness, after 
 dinner, having proposed music, and being actively engaged in per- 
 forming, with Mrs. Francis and some other persons, the pretty 
 hunting trio of “ Azioli,” of which the burden is Ritorneremo a 
 
 Clori” But the story is amusing, and bears such a favorable, 
 
 testimony to the Prince’s good humor, that the lady must be 
 allowed to tell it herself. 
 
 “It is well known that, to an excessive love of music, he added 
 much real taste as an amateur, and some power as a performer; 
 but his execution was not particularly good, and Mr. Francis, Sir 
 Philip’s son, with whom he frequently sang, was sometimes comci. 
 ally struck by the loudness of his voice, and his peculiar manner- 
 On one of the above-mentioned evenings at the Pavilion, his royal 
 liighness, after dinner, having proposed music, and being actually 
 engaged in performing with Mr. Fi’ancis and some other person the 
 pretty hunting trio of ‘Azioli,’ of which the burden is, ‘ Ritorneremo 
 a Glori, al tramontar del dl,’ Mr. Francis suddenly found the full 
 face of the Prince, somewhat heated by the eagerness of his per- 
 formance, in immediate contact with his own; and this circum- 
 stance, combined with that of the loud bass tones in which his royal 
 highness was singing the words ‘ Ritorneremo a Clori,' striking him 
 in some ludicrous point of view, he became absolutely unable to 
 resist the effect on his nerves, and burst out laughing. The Prince 
 
THE LIFE OF OEORGE IV. 
 
 253 
 
 evidently perceived that Ins own singing had produced tlie unsea- 
 sonable laughter, but instead of showing displeasure at a rudeness 
 which, however involuntary, would have been resented by many 
 far less illustrious persons, he only called theolfender to order with 
 the words, ‘Come, come, Philip!’ his countenance betraying at the 
 same time a strong inclination to join in the laugh himself; and the 
 trio proceeded to a conclusion. Sir Philip (adds his daughter), by his 
 original humor and great powers of conversation, was often the life of 
 the Pavilion, though his temperate habits made the excesses occasion- 
 ally committed at the Prince’s table distasteful to him ; and his royal 
 host, perceiving him ready to drop asleep when the revels were long- 
 protracted, would say, ‘We must carry grandpapa away to bed.’” 
 
 The same ready good humor is shown in a pleasant scene which 
 took place at the Pavilion. Cricket was often played on the lawn, 
 and the dinner which followed was served in a marquee. On one 
 of those occasions, the Duke of York and Sheridan fell into dispute 
 on some point of the game. Sheridan at length angrily told the 
 Duke “that he was not to be talked out of his opinion there or 
 anywhere else, and that at play all men were on a par.” The Duke 
 was evidently about to make some peculiarly indignant reply, when 
 the Prince stood up and addressed them both. 
 
 “The narrator of the circumstance, a person of rank, who was 
 present, himself one of the most attractive public speakers of the 
 day, has often declared that he never, on any occasion, saw any 
 individual under the circumstances acquit himself with more ability. 
 The speech was of some length — ten or fifteen minutes; it was 
 alternately playful and grave, expressed with perfect self-possession, 
 and touching on the occurrences of the game, the characters of 
 both disputants, and the conversation at the table, with the hap- 
 piest delicacy and dexterity. Among other points the Prince made 
 a laughing apology for Sheridan’s unlucky use of the phrase ‘ on a 
 par,’ by bidding his brother remember that the impressions of 
 school were not easily effaced, that Dr. Parr had inflicted learning 
 upon Sheridan, and that, like the lover in ‘The Wonder,’ wdio 
 mixes his mistress’s name with everything, and calls to his valet, 
 ‘Roast me these Violantes,’ the name of Parr was uppermost in 
 Sheridan’s sleep : he then ran into a succession of sportive quota- 
 tions of the word par, in the style of Ludere par impar, eqicitare m 
 arundine longd, until the speech was concluded in general gayety, 
 and the dispute was thought of no more. ” * 
 
 * Dr. Croly, “ Life of George IV,” 
 
254 
 
 THE LIFE OF OEOEOE IV. 
 
 During this season, too, he had witnessed some more private 
 theatricals, performed before him at Richmond House, with the 
 following distinguished caste. The piece was Murphy’s “Way to 
 Keep Him:” 
 
 Lovemore 
 
 Sir Brilliant Fashion. 
 Sir Bashful Constant. 
 
 William 
 
 Sideboard 
 
 Widow Belmour 
 
 Mrs. Lovemore 
 
 Lady Constant 
 
 Mushn 
 
 . Lord Derby. 
 
 ,Hon. Mr. Edgecumbk. 
 Major Arabix. 
 
 • Sir Harry Exolepieed. 
 .Mr. Campbell. 
 
 ■ Hon. Mrs. Hobart. 
 ,Hon. Mrs. Damer. 
 
 • Miss Campbell. 
 
 Mrs. Bruce. 
 
 The prologue was written by Mr. Conway, and spoken by the 
 Hon. Mrs. Hobart.* 
 
 In February, 1788, the Prince had been initiated into Free- 
 masonry, at the Star and Garter, Pall Mall. His Royal Highness the 
 Duke of Cumberland as Grand Master, the Duke of Norfolk, the 
 Duke of Manchester, and several other noblemen attended the 
 ceremony. 
 
 Meanwhile the King’s condition seemed to improve, and the f^tes 
 still given in honor of his restoration continued to testify the affec- 
 tion borne him. The Spanish Ambassador's f^te, given at Rane- 
 lagh, was one of the most magnificent of those galas, and was said 
 to have cost £13,000. It was a fair specimen of all that money and 
 labor could do in those days. A description may be quoted. 
 
 , “ The entrance into the rotunda (we are told) was formed into a 
 shrubbery; the lower boxes represented a Spanish camp, and the 
 gallery formed a temple of Flora. The Queen’s box was of crim- 
 son satin, lined with white satin hung in festoons, and richly 
 fringed with gold, at the top of which was a regal crown. The 
 orchestra was a magnificent pavilion of white and gold, lined with 
 green embroidered satin, in which was a table of eighteen covers 
 for the royal family. Opposite the Queen’s box was a small stage, 
 on which a Spanish dance was performed by children, which had a 
 pleasing effect. In another arch of the centre were beautiful mov- 
 
 * “ Afterwards Countess of Berkshire, who, according to the fashion of the 
 times, presided at a faro-table which was frequented by the Prince of Wales, 
 and where on some evenings she gave her dramatic readings, in which she 
 was assisted by that sprightly and witty barrister, the present Mr. Jekyll.”— 
 Huish, 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 255 
 
 ing transparencies; and in a third was a lottery of watches, gold 
 trinkets, medals, etc, , consisting of six hundred prizes, the number 
 of ladies invited. The great prize, a gold watch richly ornamented 
 with diamonds, fell to the lot of Miss Eliza Sturt, Her Majesty drew 
 an etwee-case, with a beautiful medallion of the King. An Ode, the 
 words by Colonel Arabin, was sung; after which a red curtain 
 drew up, and about thirty girls and boys, in Spanish dresses, enter- 
 tained the company with Spanish dances. Her Majesty and the 
 royal family then retired to the back part of their box, to view the 
 fireworks from the garden. There were about twenty sailing-boats 
 on the water, illuminated with lamps, which moved backwards and 
 forwards, letting otf sky-rockets. The fireworks were very grand, 
 and well conducted.” 
 
 All these entertainments were so many affronts to the Princes. 
 At the Spanish minister’s f^te members of the party were said to 
 have been excluded; and the Princes showed their feelings by quit- 
 ting the room almost as soon as they entered it. At the French 
 Ambassador’s f^te they noticed that the Queen “bowed graciously 
 to Colonel Lenox,” on which the royal brethren at once took their 
 departure. The Princesses, whose position at such places must 
 have been awkward, merely made their appearance and then went 
 away, and during the dance the Princesses had to be led out by 
 noblemen. A journey to the seaside, with visits to various great 
 houses, was prescribed for the King, as well as some stay at his 
 favorite Weymouth. The Princes set out on a progress of their 
 own into Yorkshire and other places. It was hoped that the Prince 
 of Wales would have waited on his father; but he despatched the 
 Duke of York in his place with a letter, in the composition of 
 which Sheridan and Fox, then staying at Brighton, had been con- 
 cerned. 
 
 The Prince, as usual, preferred to hurry post from Brighton 
 without stop, had stayed only a single day, and thence returned, 
 sleeping in his chaise. He played a match of cricket there, then 
 set off with his brother for the York races, where both were 
 received by Lord Fitzwilliam at Wentworth. It was hardly sur- 
 prising that the Duke, who had only just recovered from the 
 measles, should have fallen sick again at York. For these wild 
 courses a heavy price was to be paid later, in the sufferings that 
 attend a life of excess.* 
 
 * On this tour or progress he was attended in all state by the Dukes of Bed- 
 ford, Ancaster, and Queensberry, Lords Carlisle, Derby, Rawdon, and others. 
 
256 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEOROE IV, 
 
 At Lord Fitzwilliam’s a unique and truly magnificent display was 
 contrived. The whole county round was bidden to the park, 
 where all were entertained, and it was calculated that no less than 
 twenty thousand persons were feasted: two hundred of the York- 
 shire belles and Yorkshire “quality” sat at the table with the 
 Prince. 
 
 As if to encourage him further in his reckless course of life, 
 there now arrived in town his friend, the Duke of Orleans — having 
 left Paris on the eve of the Eevolution. At Boulogne he had been 
 seized and detained by the fishermen, and was only allowed to 
 depart after infinite difficulty, A house had been taken for him 
 in town. The Prince put off a visit he was about paying to Holk- 
 ham to “ Coke of Norfolk,” to entertain the Duke. The Prince 
 and his brother were at their favorite jeweller’s, when they en- 
 countered their French friends. But there presently arose a cold- 
 ness between them, when the behavior of the French Prince to 
 King Louis XVI. became known; the Duke of York declined 
 meeting him at entertainments; while it was remarked that at the 
 Prince of Wales’s ball given to Prince Galitzin the Duke of Orleans 
 was not present. 
 
 The summer had been spent at Brighton with more than usual 
 frivolity. Mr. Fox was on a visit with him, and both repaired to 
 Lewes races, where the Prince was welcomed by the High Sheriff, 
 
 He won a stake at the York races, and received the freedom of the city. No 
 wonder that Mr. Burke wrote to Fox— this was in August, 1789—“ Things went 
 off well in Yorkshire. I wish the Prince had staid a few days longer, to show 
 himself to the manufacturing towns, which are the headquarters of the 
 enemy. It is very probable that he might have dislodged them. However, 
 as it was, the Northern excursion has been of use,” 
 
 In retiu-ning to town he met with an accident: “ About two miles north ol 
 Newark, a cart crossing the road struck the axle of the Prince's coach and 
 overturned it. It was on the verge of a slope, and the carriage fell a consid- 
 erable way, turned over twice, and was shivered to pieces. There were in the 
 coach along with him. Lord Clermont, Colonel St. Leger, and Colonel Lake. 
 The Prince suffered a slight contusion in the shoulder, and his wrist was 
 sprained. Being undermost in the first fall, by the next roll of the carriage 
 he was brought uppermost, when, with great presence of mind, he disengaged 
 himself, and was the first to rescue and disengage his fellow-travellers. Lord 
 Clermont was the most hurt. The accident happened at ten o’clock at night, 
 and it was clear moonlight. The carriage was his royal highness’s own trav- 
 elling-coach, with hired horses and postilions; and the mischance was occa- 
 sioned by the wilfulness of the postilions, who drove to clear the cart with 
 their common precipitation.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 257 
 
 attended by “the whole population as javelin men;” a most gro- 
 tesque spectacle. Here, too, were seen three ladies, distinguished 
 by their rather eccentric equipages — the Duchess of Rutland, Lady 
 Lade, and Mrs. Fitzherbert — each in a carriage drawn by four gray 
 ponies.* 
 
 In January, 1790, we find the gay Prince, as previously stated, 
 at Lord Barrymore’s, at Wargrave, where he remained three days, 
 and was entertained with plays and a masked ball. But this dis- 
 orderly celebration was to be further marked by accident, an unfor- 
 tunate coachman being flung from his box in a collision and 
 killed on the spot. Then followed in the same month a magnifi- 
 cent ball at Carlton House, to about two hundred of the chief per- 
 sonages. It was a private entertainment, being given in honor of 
 Prince Galitzin, who “wished to see an English country dance.” 
 At the close of the night he was introduced to English gaming. 
 Captain Payne was said to have won a thousand guineas at faro. 
 But presently the public must have been a little surprised to learn 
 that, after the bitter animosity that reigned between the Prince and 
 his father, a reconciliation had taken place between them. This 
 was believed to have been brought about by Lord Thurlow, with 
 whom the Prince had continued to be exceedingly intimate, taking 
 delight in his rough jests and coarse abuse of the people they both 
 disliked. “You, sir,” Lord Thurlow would tell him in his rough 
 way, “will never be popular; your father is, because he is faithful 
 to that ugly woman, your mother.” It was noted that the Prince 
 now received and invited persons without distinction of party. 
 Reconciliation with the Queen presently followed, brought about, 
 it was said, through the agency of the Dukes of Leeds and Rich- 
 mond, though the Princess Royal had been unwearied in her 
 efforts to attain this end. This happy event took place in March, 
 1791. “A gentleman, who lives at the east end of St. James’s 
 Park,” wrote Mr. Walpole, “has been sent by a lady who has a 
 large house at the west end, and they have kissed and are friends, 
 which he notified by toasting her health in a bumper at a club the 
 other day.” f It would seem that the feelings of the Prince had not 
 
 * Lady Lade was scarcely company for the other ladies, but she enjoyed the 
 Prince’s patronage, which, however, did not avail to protect her. For when 
 on the night of the race ball she stood up for the dance, her appearance was 
 greeted with loud murmurs, and a voice fi-om the crowd called out, “ Lady 
 Lade’s carriage stops the way 1” on which she retired, 
 t “ Letters,” ix. 299. 
 
258 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV, 
 
 gone with this becoming act, and that he still nourished a sense of 
 injury. 
 
 He was still carrying on a correspondence with his friend, Lord 
 Cornwallis, in an effusive vein, and which that nobleman received 
 in almost dry fashion, as some unreasonable request for a place or 
 patronage was alwa3^s presented. The st^de should be noted. 
 
 THE PRINCE OF WALES TO LORD CORNWALLIS. 
 
 “ Carlton House, April 16tli, 1790. 
 
 ‘ ‘ My dear Lord, 
 
 “It is so long since I had the pleasure of hearing from You 
 y‘ I am quite afraid You have forgot Your old Friends on this side 
 of the Water, therefore think it high time to assure You y* there 
 are a few of us who have had the pleasure of passing many pleasant 
 & happy Hours in y*’ Society, whoever are most happy in hearing, 
 be it ever such short Letters, y^ You are well and situated to y" 
 Satisfaction. By this time You must have heard of the treatment 
 — the shameful, unjust treatment — our little worthy Friend Lothian 
 has experienced from the Minister. I would expatiate more upon 
 this subject, was it not so perfectly of a piece with everything y 
 had been inflicted, not only upon other individuals, but upon every 
 relative and relation of the King’s Family who acted from princi- 
 ples of disinterested honor, y^ had it not happened, one might have 
 been astonished y* for once, the natural mean, paltrj’, and revengeful 
 disposition of the Minister did not demonstrate itself in the odious 
 and impressive light, which now it has in every instance in w** 
 either could or dared give it vent, I will not, my dear Lord, intrude 
 further upon y*’ time, as I know how much it must naturally, from 
 y situation, be taken up ; however, before I conclude, I must just 
 mention to You how much I wish to recommend to y protection 
 Young Mr. Watts, who is, I believe, in the Company’s service. I 
 understood his wish is, if possible, to get equal Rank in the 
 Regulars, to y^ which he has in the Company’s troops. I do not 
 know whether this is an easy matter to be done or not. I must 
 leave it entirely to jmu, my dear Lord, to y'^ better judgment and 
 knowledge of the possibility of effecting these matters ; however, 
 I only hope y* sh*^ this plan not be possible to be arranged, you 
 will employ the Young Man in some other line to w^ You may 
 deem he has abilities. Pray excuse hurry and scrawl, and believe 
 me, my dear Lord, 
 
 “Ever most truly Y*" Friend, 
 
 “G. P.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 259 
 
 “Carlton House, May 11th, 1791. 
 
 My dear Lord, 
 
 “Allow me to return you my thanks for the Letter I last 
 week received from you. We had, about a fortnight before, re- 
 ceived the accounts of Colonel Floyd’s affair, & regretted much 
 that so much bravery had not been crowned with more success, 
 at least with a more signal victory. My Brother is gone, upon the 
 report of War, to attend the Prussian Army, in case there slF be 
 any service to be seen, and sh^ there not, then to return to England 
 when the grand Reviews are over. As to Topics, there are so few 
 except the French Revolution and the prospect of a War with 
 Russia, with both of w^^ you must be so much better informed 
 about by other persons than I can pretend to do with mine, y‘ I 
 will not even take up your time with mentioning the subject. I 
 have had the pleasure of seeing lately a great deal of my old friend 
 Singleton, whom 1 had not seen hardly since he has had the honor 
 of being related to your Lordship ; & having taken a house in 
 Hampshire about fifteen miles from mine, he now & then rides 
 over in order to meet my Hounds, when they throw off within a dis- 
 tance of ten or a dozen miles from him ; & all I can say is, I fiatter 
 myself, when he has the honor to be as well known by your Lord- 
 ship as he is by me, he will gain the same place in y esteem y‘ I 
 confess he long has done in mine. Before I conclude, allow me to 
 mention y* the Young Man who will have the honor of delivering 
 this Letter to y’’ L^®^‘p is a young man whose Brother, thro’ the 
 interest of my friend Lushington, I have got the permission of the 
 Company to be a Free Merchant. I formerly recommended him to 
 You, & his name is Coleman, and I fiatter myself he will always 
 merit y support & approbation by his industry and diligence. The 
 young man himself is coming out as a Cadet, & I can only add y‘ 
 any attention & assistance you are so good as to show him on my 
 account, I shall attribute to the source of that friendship w^ I hope 
 I shall always experience from you. 
 
 “lam, My Dear Lord, Most Sincerely Yours, 
 
 “G. P.” 
 
 Lord Cornwallis’s answers to this and other rambling effusions 
 offer a curious contrast. They are rather cold and stiff, and even 
 seem to rebuke the want of propriety in abusing the King to the 
 King’s officer. He wrote “that he felt the strongest disinclination 
 to enter on that unpleasant topic of the Regency.” No one could 
 
260 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 love or admire his royal highness more, but “he was a determined 
 friend to the liberties of his country and the prerogatives of the 
 Crown,” and had he been in the country he would have felt it his 
 duty to have opposed the Duke of York. For one of the Prince’s 
 proteges he would have to displace an old judge. This could not be 
 done. Neither could he say whether, during his term of office, he 
 would be able to do anything for him. He complained to Lord 
 Southampton of persons actually not in the Company being sent 
 out by the Prince. Mr. Colebrook had arrived in this way with 
 all his family “on the chance.” Lord Cornwallis plainly told him 
 he could do nothing for him. He said that he had been advised to 
 come by Sir T. Macpherson, the Prince’s friend.* 
 
 * “ Cornwallis Cor.,” passim. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV, 
 
 261 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 1791. 
 
 It can scarcely be understood how passionate and successful a 
 follower of racing was the Prince of Wales. Nothing, indeed, 
 more completely disposes of the conventional idea of his character 
 that he was a frivolous being without talents and engrossed in 
 pleasure. To be successful in this sport requires, as is well known, 
 qualities of judgment, sagacity, and calculation, with the power 
 of analyzing experience and turning it to profit. No one of his 
 time had so genuine a love for horses, and no one had “a finer 
 eye for them,” says the author of “Post and Paddock.” Hacks 
 and hunters he never seemed tired of trying, and the dealers, like 
 the jewellers, were always welcome. At Carlton House, Mat 
 Milton’s refrain, “Throw your thigh over him, your Highness, 
 and you’ll find him to be the sweetest goer you ever mounted,” 
 was invariably responded to. Hunting to a man who latterly 
 weighed more than twenty-three stone was, of course, out of the 
 question, but when he was able to don his blue coat with gilt 
 buttons and top-boots and buckskins, he cared very little what 
 Milton or any other dealer chose to ask for a clever hack. It used 
 to be a saying at Brighton that, heavy as he was, he rode so well 
 that he never soiled his nankeens.* He used to hunt with Mr. 
 Villebois’s hounds in Hampshire, and the plumes still appear on 
 the Club button. 
 
 It was during this period (1788 to 1791) that he was most partial 
 to hunting, though it was admitted that he was never what was 
 called a forward rider. As we have seen, he had hunted in Hamp- 
 shire. We are told “Colonel Leigh was then in high favor ; and 
 George Sharpe was for some short time his huntsman, although 
 before long superseded by a man named Granston, who was dis- 
 missed only by death from the service of the Prince. His hounds 
 showed as fair a proportion of sport as could be expected from the 
 
 * “Post and Paddock,” p. 108. 
 
262 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 flints and woods of Hampshire ; the country, however, does not, 
 and never did, rank high even in the list of provincials ; and other 
 agremens, besides the facility of hunting, had no doubt their weight 
 in detaining his royal master as a resident. No party bickerings, 
 no sporting squabbles were at any time heard; and the whole coun- 
 try resembled one large and happily united family, of which tbeir 
 distinguished visitor was looked up to and adored as the august and 
 beloved head. Often, no doubt, amidst the domestic troubles of 
 his after-days, did the Prince look back with a sad satisfaction and 
 sorrow on the quiet privacy and tranquil enjoyment of the regretted 
 sojourn [at the Grange, which, then or later, belonged to Lord 
 Ashburton. His hounds came from Goodwood, where they had 
 long formed the kennel of the grandfather of the present Duke of 
 Richmond; and amongst his horses were not a few thorough-bred 
 ones, who had distinguished themselves on the turf, yet were 
 notwithstanding equal to his weight. Amongst these were Curricle, 
 Asparagus, Totteridge, and Torbay.” In 1790, however, we find 
 him at Critchill, the seat of Mr. Sturt, and where recently the 
 present heir-apparent was entertained. Here he entered thoroughly 
 into the enjoyment of rustic life, and kept himself rather secluded. 
 
 Mr. Chafin — a quaint hunting divine — describes in an admirable 
 sporting book, now forgotten, but which has the flavor of the 
 “ History of Selborne,” how the Prince called on him. One morn- 
 ing he was surprised to receive a visit from his royal highness, who 
 was in great excitement, desiring an information to be taken for 
 robbery, and that a search-warrant be granted to him. “He in- 
 sisted,” says the clergyman, naively, “on my administering the 
 oath to him, which I reluctantly did; and then described how his 
 groom’s box had been broken open and a watch and other valuables 
 stolen.” He suspected certain persons, and chose to come himself 
 lest the alarm should be taken. He sat by Mr. Chafin while the 
 warrant was being filled up, and it was a circumstance of great 
 satisfaction to him that the goods were found where he had sus- 
 pected them to be.” * 
 
 Another hunting parson, the Rev. W. Butler, and a friend of Mr. 
 Chafin’s, used to describe a rencontre with the Prince. Returning 
 home after a blank day in the Vale he was joined by a gentleman 
 who, entering into conversation, began to ask questions about the 
 
 * “ Cranboume Chace.” A book after Lamb’s own heart which should be 
 reprinted. 
 
THE LIFE OF OEOBGE IK 
 
 263 
 
 neighbors, and more particularly about one gentleman, who, he had 
 heard, could despatch three bottles of port at a sitting. This the 
 clergyman thought little of, and declared he could be “ as drunk as 
 a Prince.” As he rode away the Prince declared that this was the 
 first time he had learned that a person of that rank was to be taken 
 as the standard of inebriety. Mr. Butler presently discovered who 
 his companion had been. Many years afterwards, when the Prince 
 w^as Regent, he was advised to go to Court, and when his name was 
 announced the Prince was heard to mutter; “ I shan’t forget the 
 Rev. William Butler!” Some time afterwards he, unsolicited, pre- 
 sented him with a Crown living. 
 
 “ Jack ” Radford was his groom, having come to him from “ Old 
 Q.,” in whose service he had filled the curious function of waiting 
 in Piccadilly, mounted on a fleet pony, to ride after any one whom 
 the decayed old Duke espied passing by. This familiar -was often 
 heard to declare, that horses were the sole subject of the Prince’s 
 thoughts, even of his dreams. If he fancied a racer he would buy 
 him at any price, as when Lord Darlington had bid 1100 guineas 
 for an animal at Lord H. Fitzroy’s sale, he was told it was no use 
 going on, as the King had instructed Mr. Delme Ratcliffe to secure 
 the mare at any price. “ Indeed he was most liberal with money, 
 as long as he did not see it. Cheques he would sign away to any 
 amount; even £300 for ‘Pea-green Haynes’s dressing-box. But 
 when he had a fifty-pound note in his pocket it w^as a bitter pang 
 to him to spend £5 of it.” * 
 
 To Newmarket he was particularly partial, and his colors were 
 always to be found there. The scene at the races, when the Prince 
 and the men on the turf visited, is pleasantly described by a lively, 
 witty lady (Miss Berry), and reveals more the idea of a foreign 
 race-course than the crowded tumultuous scene an English race now 
 presents. 
 
 “ Newmarket Heath is entered by a turnpike at what is called 
 the Devil’s Ditch, a high mound, with a deep ditch of turf below, 
 extending for several miles, of which no account is given, and 
 which is in fact a curious antiquity. The inn is almost opposite 
 what are called the Rooms, where men only meet, and which have 
 rather a handsome entrance of three arcades from the street, and 
 in this street Tattersall was selling horses by auction, and all the 
 young men whose faces one knows in London were walking about. 
 
 Post and Paddock,” p. 109. 
 
264 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 as well as all the fathers of the turf, such as Sir Frank Standish, 
 Sir Charles Bunbury, etc., etc. It had the oddest effect possible 
 to see so many figures one hardly ever sees out of London walking 
 about in a sort of village-town, for Newmarket is no more, with the 
 exception of some good houses. About one o’clock all these men 
 mounted their horses, and proceeded towards the Heath, half a 
 mile from the town. We folloM^ed them in the caniage, with many 
 other carriages, and Lord Hardwicke on horseback. The scene of 
 so many horsemen and a good many people on foot, all trooping 
 the same way, very gay and pretty. When they got upon the 
 Heath, it is so vast that they seemed only like small groups upon 
 it. It was said to be a day of little sport. But four races were run ; 
 two subscriptions, for each of which six horses started ; and two 
 matches. But the style in which all this is managed here, the 
 rapidity with which one race follows another, though on different 
 courses — that is, on different parts of the Heath — the scene at the 
 betting-post, one of which belongs to each course, and is the only 
 permanent thing upon it, for the ropes are immediately moved, and 
 the winning-post (a little machine upon wheels) is moved from one 
 to the other. All this was new and entertaining to me. Between 
 each race all the men and all the carriages are collected at the bet- 
 ting-posts. Just before the horses start, the carriages take their 
 places near the ropes, and the crowd on horseback disperse from 
 the post. As soon as the horses are past, all the men follow them 
 to the rubbing-house to see them rubbed down, and their clothes 
 put on. The rubbing-house, stables, etc., etc., are little insignificant 
 buildings, which occupy no space and take off nothing from the 
 extreme bareness of the Heath. Stand there is none. The ladies 
 are all in their carriages. There were more than I expected to see 
 there. The fashionable custom of Newmarket is, to have the plain- 
 est carriage and liveries possible, and the gentlemen all to be mounted 
 upon shabby-looking rips of horses. The races were over between 
 three and four.” 
 
 At the very outset of his career, in 1788, he had won the Derby. 
 From this time until 1792, when he first retired from the turf, he 
 was so fortunate. Lord William Lennox tells us, as to win a hun- 
 dred and eighty-five races, including eighteen King’s Plate, with a 
 valuable stake now and then of three or four thousand guineas. 
 Adding the prizes together he will be found to have won about 
 £30,000; but the cost of his stud ^vas stated to have been some 
 £30,000 a year. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 265 
 
 “ His first race was won at Newmarket, with Anvil, for a stake 
 of £60; and his stud, which then consisted of four or five horses, 
 gradually amoun ted to forty-one in 1791. From 1800 to 1807 he 
 won a hundred and seven races, and in the latter year he was most 
 fortunate, winning twenty-six races. According to Lord W. Len- 
 nox’s calculations, he won altogether about three hundred and thir- 
 teen races in twenty years.” * 
 
 His favorite jockey was “ Sam Chifney,” of whom and of whose 
 family many traditions linger at Newmarket, but who is best known 
 from his connection with the Escape transaction. This unfortunate 
 incident we shall now describe. 
 
 This well-known horse was bred by the Prince himself, and, 
 when his stud was sold off in 1787, was purchased by Mr. Francis. f 
 In 1789 the Prince bought him back for the sum of £1500. 
 
 “ On the 20th of October, 1791, Escape, then reckoned the best 
 horse upon the turf, was beaten at Newmarket by two horses of 
 inferior reputation. The odds now changed against him, and it 
 was the general opinion of the sporting world that he would lose 
 the match he had to run the next day. Accordingly bets were made 
 
 * “In order,” says Mr. Huish, “that a correct opinion may be formed of the 
 success of his royal highness during the year 1791, we subjoin the following 
 list of winners belonging to him : 
 
 “ Mademoiselle, by Diomed, 660 guineas at Newmarket, 
 
 “Devi Sing, by Eclipse, 150 guineas and £50 at Lewes. 
 
 “ Don Quixote, by Eclipse, 100 guineas and £50 at Newmarket. 
 
 “ Pegasus, by Eclipse, the King’s Plate at Newmarket, and 140 guineas at 
 Stockbridge. 
 
 “ Serpent, by Eclipse, 80 guineas at Brighton, 60 guineas and the Ladies’ 
 Plate at Lewes. 
 
 “Amelia, by Highflyer, the Third Class of the Filly Stakes, 1000 guineas, 
 and 300 guineas at Newmarket and the Prince’s Stakes at Ascot. 
 
 “ Escape, by Highflyer, 250 guineas, 1000 guineas, 140 guineas, and 55 guineas 
 at Newmarket. 
 
 “ Traveller, by Highflyer, 400 guineas at Newmarket. 
 
 “ St. David, by Saltram, the Second Class of the Prince’s Stakes, at New'* 
 market. 
 
 “ Creeper, by Tandem, 50 guineas at New'^market, 60 guineas at Burford, and 
 the King’s Plates at Lichfield and Burford. 
 
 “Baronet, by Vertumnus, the Oatlands Stakes at Ascot, and the King’s 
 Plates at Winchester, Lewes, Canterbury, and Newmarket. 
 
 “Clementina, by Vertumnus, £50 at Swaffham, and 200 guineas at New* 
 market.” 
 
 + One night the horse thrust his foot through the woodwork of his stall, and 
 was extricated without injury, and to the astonishmentr of the trainer, who 
 could only exclaim, “ What an escape!” which at once suggested the name. 
 
 12 
 
266 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 to a large amount, and with great odds, that Escape would lose ; 
 but contrary to the opinion, and much to the disappointment of the 
 knowing ones. Escape won his race.” 
 
 Chifney, who rode Escape on these two days, published a pam- 
 phlet, a short time before his death, entitled, “ Genius Genuine, by 
 Samuel Chifney, of Newmarket; containing a full account of the 
 Prince’s horse Escape, running at Newmarket on the 20th and 21st 
 days of October, 1791” — in which he very satisfactorily accounted 
 for Escape’s losing his first and winning his second race. On the 
 first day’s race. Escape, he said, for want of proper exercise, was 
 not in a fit condition to run; that the exercise had opened his 
 pores, and enabled him to perform better on the second day. But 
 this was far from satisfactory to the gentlemen of the turf, and a 
 rumor was propagated that Escape had run unfairly on the first 
 day’s race. It was reported that his royal highness got the grooms 
 out of the way, and had given the horse a pail of water just before 
 he had to run, and of course the horse was winded and easily 
 beaten. 
 
 ‘•'As I came from scale,” says Chifney, “ I was told that Mr. W. 
 Lake (brother to Lord Viscount Lake, and the gentleman who had 
 the management of the Prince of Wales’s running horses) had 
 been saying something improper to his royal highness concerning 
 Escape’s winning; I made it, therefore, my business to go immedi- 
 ately to his royal highness, who was riding with a gentleman near 
 to the Great Stand House, and he immediately accosted me in the 
 following words : ‘ Sam Chifney, as soon as Escape’s race was 
 over, Mr. Lake came up to me, and said, “I give your Roj^al 
 Highness joy; but I am sorry the horse has won, I would sooner 
 have given a hundred guineas.” I told Mr. Lake that I did not 
 understand him — that he must explain himself.’ I then answered 
 his royal highness, saying, ‘Yes, your Royal Highness; it is very 
 necessary that he should explain himself.’ This is all that passed 
 on the subject to-day. 
 
 “On the morning after the race, his royal highness sent for me 
 into his dressing-room, and then ordered me to be shown into an 
 adjoining room, where he thus accosted me: ‘ Sam Chifney, I have 
 sent for you on some very unpleasant business. I am told, Sam 
 Chifney, that you won six or seven hundred pounds upon the race 
 on the day before yesterday, when you rode Escape, and were 
 beaten upon him.’ I replied, that I believed his royal highness 
 had not such an opinion of me. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 267 
 
 “His royal highness continued: ‘lam told, Sam Chifney, that 
 you won six or seven hundred pounds upon the race yesterday, 
 when you rode Escape, and won upon him; and I am told that 
 Vauxhall Clark’ — clerk of the stables to the Prince of AVales — 
 ‘won all the money for you.’ I answered, ‘ May I not offend by 
 asking who it was that dared to tell your Royal Highness so? ’ 
 
 “His royal highness replied, ‘Sam Chifney, I wish to know 
 whether you have any objection to take your affidavit, naming all 
 the bets you had upon the race, every way, when you rode Escape, 
 and was beaten upon him on the day before yesterday? ’ I acknowl- 
 edged my readiness to do it, if it would give his royal highness 
 any satisfaction. 
 
 “ His royal highness said, ‘ Sam Chifney, your doing it will give 
 yourself satisfaction, it will give the public satisfaction, it will 
 give me satisfaction. You will speeify in your affidavit all the 
 bets you had upon both days’ races, when that you rode Escape 
 on the day before yesterday, and was beaten upon him; and yester- 
 day when that you rode Escape and won upon him; naming all 
 the bets you had upon both those races, and to take your affidavit 
 as such. I hope, Sam Chifney, you do not misunderstand me.’ 
 I answered that I did perfectly understand, and that I would take 
 care to do as his royal highness had ordered me. 
 
 “His royal highness said, ‘ Sam Chifney, I wish to know if you 
 have any objection against being examined by the Jockey Club, 
 and in any way that they are pleased to think proper.’ To which 
 I most fully and freely consented. His royal highness said: ‘lam 
 told, Sam Chifney, that you were arrested at Ascot Heath for three 
 hundred pounds, and that Vauxhall Clark paid the money for you.' 
 I replied that this was the first word I had ever heard upon the 
 subject. His royal highness said: ‘ Sam Chifney, I wish to know 
 if you have any objection to make an affidavit that you were not 
 arrested at Ascot Heath, and that Vauxhall Clark did not pay 
 three hundred pounds for you?’ I replied to his royal highness: 
 ‘ I am very willing to do it.’ 
 
 “On the same morning (22nd of October, 1791), his royal high- 
 ness called me across the betting-ring. I instantly obeyed his 
 commands, and his royal highness put me between himself and Sir 
 Charles Bunbury, and then rode out upon the Heath. After his 
 royal highness and Sir Charles had talked upon the subject, his 
 royal highness said, ‘ Sam Chifney, I think you told me that you 
 were willing to be examined by the stewards of the Jockey Club 
 
268 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 in any way they should think proper?’ I said, ‘Your Koyal 
 Highness, I am proud to meet any man upon the subject.’ His 
 royal highness then addressed himself to Sir Charles Bunbury. 
 ‘ There, Sir Charles, you hear him say that he is proud to meet 
 any man upon the subject. Now, Sir Charles, I beg of you to 
 take every pains you possibly can so as to make yourself perfectly 
 satisfied; and then enclose me Sam Chifney’s affidavits, and apprise 
 me how the business ends, as I am going to Brighton to-night.’ 
 His royal highness left Sir Charles and rode near the betting-ring, 
 where, after he had stood a little while, he said, ‘ Sam Chifney, 
 this business should be explained.’ I answered, ‘Your Royal 
 Highness, I don’t knowhow to explain it.’ His royal highness 
 then rode off the turf to town, before the day’s sport was finished, 
 and I immediately went home. Soon after this I received from 
 iVIr. Weatherby, clerk to the Jockey Club, copies of affidavits 
 which I swore before the Rev. Dr. Frampton, naming that I had 
 no bet upon the race when I rode Escape on the 20th of October, 
 1791, and that I had twenty guineas, and no more, betted upon 
 Escape on the following day, when I rode him on the 21st of 
 October, 1791, and that I had the same desire of winning upon 
 Escape when I rode him on the 20th of October, 1791, as I had 
 when I rode him on the following day, the 21st of October, 1791; 
 and further, that I had never been arrested on Ascot Heath, and 
 that Mr. Yauxhall Clark never did pay any money for me. When 
 I had sworn these affidavits, they were signed by the Rev. Dr. 
 Frampton, and I immediately returned them to Mr. Weatherby. 
 
 “I was then had up before the stewards of the Jockey Club, who 
 were Sir Charles Bunbury, Bart., Ralph Dutton, Esq., and Thomas 
 Panton, Esq. 
 
 “ Sir Charles Bunbury asked me some few questions: What bets 
 I had upon the first day’s race when I rode Escape on the 20th 
 of October, 1791 ; and what bets I had upon the race when I rode 
 Escape on the following day, when he won, and who made my bets 
 for me? I answered that I had no bets upon the first day’s race; 
 that I betted twenty guineas upon Escape the next day, and no 
 more; and that Yauxhall Clark betted for me. Sir Charles Bun- 
 bury then proceeded to ask me what was my motive for waiting 
 with Escape on the first day. 
 
 “I told Sir Charles Bunbury that he was a wrong judge of his man. 
 
 “Sir Charles Bunbury now stopped, and looked about appar- 
 ently dissatisfied. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 269 
 
 “Mr. Dutton said, ‘I think Chifney spoke very fairly.’ 
 
 “Mr. Panton immediately said, ‘Yes, very fairly.’ 
 
 “ Sir Charles Bunbury did not ask me any more questions. 
 
 “I then said to Sir Charles and the two other gentlemen that my 
 motive for waiting with Escape w^as because I knew he could run 
 very fast; I likewise knew Skylark could run fast, though a jade, 
 for I had ridden against him most of the races he had run. I was 
 now dismissed, and this is everything that passed with me from and 
 to the Prince of Wales, Mr. W. Lake, and the Jockey Club, on 
 this subject at Newmarket. 
 
 “Some weeks after this, and I well remember that it was after 
 the Duke of York’s coming from abroad with the duchess. Sir John 
 Lade w-rote to me at Newmarket for me to attend on the Prince 
 immediately. I went to Carlton House directly, and the Prince of 
 Wales told me that Sir Charles Bunbury came to him and told him 
 that if he suffered Chifney to ride his horses no gentleman would 
 start against him. Ilis royal highness said, he told Sir Charles 
 Bunbury that if he or any other person could make it appear that 
 Sam Chifney had done wrong, then he would never speak to him 
 again; and without that he would not sacrifice him to any person. 
 His royal highness then said he should leave the turf, as he could 
 not be guilty of that ingratitude to let his horses go over for the 
 forfeits, after being told that no gentleman would start against him, 
 but that he should pay the forfeits, and leave the turf. His royal 
 highness then said he could see the meaning of it. ‘ They think 
 you, Sam Chifney, a good rider, and they think you have won a 
 race or two for me that you had no business to have won; and that 
 there are others who wish to have you, and others who think you 
 too good for me, as they know you will not see me robbed.’ His 
 royal highness then told me he should always be glad to see me, and 
 for my own sake to let him see me often; and that if he ever kept 
 •horses again, I should train and manage them. After this I was 
 ordered to attend on his royal highness at Sir John Lade’s, in Pic- 
 cadilly, which I did; and in the presence of Sir John Lade and Mr. 
 Phillips, his royal highness put his hand upon his bosom and said 
 that he believed Sam Chifney had been to him very honest, and 
 wished me to understand that the two hundred guineas a year he 
 gave me was for his life, saying, ‘ I cannot give it for your life, I 
 can only give it for my own life.’ I bowed to his royal highness, 
 and said I was well satisfied.” 
 
 In 1802, Chifney adds, that at the Brighton and Lewes race time, 
 
270 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 as the Prince of "Wales was walking on the Steyne, having hold of 
 a gentleman’s arm, he approached and told his royal highness that 
 they cried out very much for him at Newmarket. His royal high- 
 ness said: “Sam Chifney, there has never been a proper apology 
 made; and they used me and you very ill; they are a had people; 
 I’ll not set my foot on the ground any more.” * 
 
 I This unpleasant affair seems to have arisen from the disappoint- 
 ment of Lake, one of his own suite, who behaved very faithlessly to 
 his master. Having lost on the race he started the objection. In 
 another account the Prince is described as being deeply wounded 
 by the speech, and replied: “I did not expect this from you.”f 
 Colonel St. Leger told Lord Malmesbury that Lake was the whole 
 cause of the Newmarket affair, and that he had behaved very ill 
 towards the Prince. j; This, however, terminated his connection 
 with Newmarket, which nothing would ever induce him to visit 
 again. In 1805 a meeting of the members of the Jockey Club was 
 held at Brighton during the races. The result was the following 
 resolution, unanimously carried: “May it please your Royal High- 
 ness, the members of the Jockey Club, deeply regretting your 
 absence from Newmarket, earnestly entreat the affair may be buried 
 in oblivion, and sincerely hope that the different meetings may 
 again be honored by your Royal Highness’s condescending attend- 
 ance.” This document was submitted to the Prince, who received 
 it graciously, and, in his reply, signified his intention of assenting 
 to it, but never carried his intention into effect. To Ascot, how- 
 ever, he was to the last partial. When in later years he was induced 
 by an earnest and affectionate appeal from his racing friends to 
 renew his connection with them, he gave a Jockey Club dinner, 
 which was marked by graceful freedom, speechifying, and conviv- 
 iality. 
 
 t “ Life and Times of George IV.,” i. 226. 
 t “Diaries,” ii. 452. 
 
 ♦ Huish, i. 275. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 271 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 1790 — 1793 . 
 
 During this time the wild Duke of York kept pace with his 
 brother — gambling, playing tennis with blacklegs, and squander- 
 ing recklessly. “We are not popular,” wrote Lord Southampton, 
 “less so than our elder brother; yet there is always a stronghold 
 with the father.” His state was truly pitiable, and the only re- 
 source that offered for extrication was marriage. 
 
 It was unfortunate that the King and his family should have 
 always pressed this notable remedy on all their dissipated children, 
 making it take the odious shape of a condition precedent to any 
 relief from their difficulties. During the Duke’s long absence in 
 Germany he had opportunities of seeing the Princess Frederica, 
 Princess Royal of Prussia, and since his return had corresponded 
 with her. An alliance was now arranged; his brother, the Prince 
 of Wales, entered very cordially into the idea, and was considered 
 to_have “behaved very well.” “He has put in,” says Sir G. 
 Elliot, “a saving clause for himself, in case he chooses to marry, 
 which he thinks probable, if he sees his brother happy with his 
 wife, and told the King that had he permitted him to go abroad 
 at the time he asked leave to do so, he meant to have looked out 
 for a princess who would have suited him, as he was too domestic 
 to bear the thoughts of marrying a woman he did not like.” * 
 
 We who have heard his conversation with Lord Malmesbury at 
 the time alluded, know how far this was from the truth, though it 
 was no doubt spoken in good faith ; an instance of that self-delusion 
 in which he was wont to indulge. 
 
 It would appear he formed a plan of meeting his brother abroad 
 at Coblentz, but this was given up. Like all his schemes, it seems 
 to have been an incoherent idea arising out of his difficulties. He 
 had actually dispatched Lord Malmesbury to his brother with a 
 proposal that he should raise a loan at Berlin. The spectacle of a 
 prince coming to wed a foreign bride, and using the opportunity 
 
 * “ Life and Letters of Sir G. Elliot,” i. 293. 
 
272 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV 
 
 of his visit to raise money among her countrymen, was not a dig- 
 nified one ; and in this view Lord Malmesbury was employed on a 
 sort of mission of which he gave an account to the Duke of Port- 
 land, who seems to have favored the scheme.* 
 
 The wedded pair were welcomed by the Prince “with that unaf- 
 fected grace for which he was always pre-eminently distinguished.” 
 The next proceeding was a re-marriage before the King,f on account 
 of a legal quibble arising out of the royal marriage, matters having 
 been so awkwardly arranged that the marriage had taken place at 
 Berlin on the day after the King’s consent had passed the Great 
 Seal; but the Act required that it should be set out in the license 
 and register, which, of course, could not appear at Berlin. 
 
 On the King and Queen’s visit to the royal couple, some odd 
 ceremonies were noted: “The royal party were led to the lower 
 apartment, fronting the park, where tea was served, and the fol- 
 lowing ceremony observed: the Prince of Wales, in the first place, 
 was to attend on the King and hand to him the tea, which was 
 brought to the door by the servants, then taken by the servants of 
 the Duke’s establishment, who handed the trays to the Prince of 
 Wales, and his royal highness then attended upon his Majesty. 
 The Duke of York received other tea-trays through the same 
 channels, and handed them to the Duchess of York, who was to 
 ■wait on the Queen.” Another of the royal brothers was not 
 treated so handsomely. 
 
 The story of the unfortunate Prince Edward is perhaps not well 
 known. Few royal princes passed so wretched a life. Like his 
 brothers, he had been dispatched out of his native country when 
 eighteen, under charge of a military pedant, named Baron Wangen- 
 heim, with an allowance of £1000 a year, which the latter was to 
 control. Coming to Geneva his allowance was increased to £6000 a 
 year; but it is said that only a guinea and a half per week was paid 
 to him by his instructor. Incurring debts, and disgusted by the treat- 
 ment he was receiving, he left Geneva without leave and hurried 
 to England, where he arrived in 1790. The anger of the King was 
 excessive: he refused to see him. In vain the Prince of Wales and 
 the Duke of York implored indulgence for hkn; and after a fort- 
 night’s delay the only communication he received was a peremp- 
 tory order that he should embark for Gibraltar at a day’s notice. 
 A hurried and ungracious interview with his father was vouchsafed 
 
 * Lord Malmesbury, “ Diaries.” p. 438. 
 
 t Huish. i. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV 
 
 273 
 
 him, and £500 given to the captain of the ship for his wants. The 
 rest of his life was made wretched by struggles with pecuniary 
 embarrassments, of which he was to have the family share. He 
 was sent about to various places in the colonies, and did not return 
 to England until the year 1799, when he was heavily in debt. He 
 had now been created Duke of Kent. In 1802 he was appointed 
 Governor of Gibraltar, where his attempts to reform the habits of 
 the garrison led to a mutiny, the object of which was to put the 
 t*rince on board a vessel and send him back to England. All the 
 capricious changes of place to which he had been exposed entailed 
 no less than seven equipments at a cost of some £50,000, which he 
 had never been paid for, and which the Government refused to 
 pay. By the 3'’ear 1807 his debts amounted to the respectable sum 
 of £108,200. Nothing, however, would be done for him by any 
 party or Government, as he was a respectable and long-suffering 
 creature. 
 
 It is curious that his brother William (“ the sailor prince ”), who 
 had been sent to sea, should have ventured on similar insubordina- 
 tion, and which was as sternly dealt with. In 1786 he had been 
 given the command of the Pegasus, a ship of twenty-eight guns, 
 and had earned the high praise of Nelson, a man not likely to pay 
 compliments. In a letter to Captain Locker, he writes: “In his 
 professional line, he is superior to nearly two-thirds, I am sure, of 
 the list, and in attention to orders, and respect to his superior 
 oflBcer, I hardly know his equal. His royal highness keeps up 
 strict discipline in his ship, and without pacing him any compli- 
 ment, she is one of the finest-ordered frigates I have seen.” 
 
 When his ship was ordered to Quebec he did not relish being 
 imprisoned in the St. Lawrence river for a whole winter, and with- 
 out ceremony or orders, brought her home. Anchoring at Cork, 
 he sent a sort of justificatory letter to the Duke of Richmond, who 
 had been Lord-Lieutenant. He was just dead. The Prince at 
 once received orders to go to Plymouth. The King and his Coun- 
 cil assembled, and the insubordinate, when about to set off for 
 London, received peremptory orders to remain with his ship. The 
 Admiralty, after deliberation, required him to serve his proper 
 period at that port, and at its expiration he was ordered away to 
 the West Indies. Such was the spirit in which the service was 
 administered. 
 
 There was yet another son, whose adventures abroad were to 
 excite the displeasure of his father. 
 
 12 * 
 
274 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 The history of the private marriages of the four brothers really 
 makes up four little romances — romances like so many other 
 romances, owing to restriction and “tyranny.” 
 
 In the year 1792^rince Frederick Augustus, sixth son of the 
 King of England, was on his travels in Italy. He was then only 
 nineteen, and, according to precedent, was under care of a gov- 
 ernor. His health had been so delicate from his birth, that the 
 air of England was found too severe for his system, and he had 
 scarcely lived there at all. He was, indeed, almost virtually a' 
 German ; for he was born at Hanover and educated in Germany. 
 Rome was then, as indeed it was through the last century, one 
 of the ga 3 ^est of capitals — full of princes, dukes, wits, and adven- 
 turers; and among the English “persons of quality ” found there 
 during the winter of 1792 was the Countess of Dunmore and her 
 family, which was a large one. The Earl was governor of one of 
 the American provinces, and was absent at his duties. One of the 
 daughters was Lady Augusta Murray, a young lady of great attrac- 
 tions, by whom the Prince, who mixed a great deal in English 
 society, was quite fascinated. 
 
 “The well-known accomplishments of my wife,” wrote the 
 Duke later, “caught my peculiar attention. After four months’ 
 intimacy, b^^ which I got more particularly acquainted with all her 
 endearing qualities, I offered her my hand unknown to her family, 
 being certain beforehand of the objections Lady Dunmore would 
 have made me, had she been informed of my intentions. The 
 candor and generosity my wife showed on this occasion, by refus- 
 ing the proposal and showing me the personal disadvantages I 
 should draw on mj^self, instead of checking my endeavors, served 
 only to add new fuel to a passion which already no earthly' power 
 could make me resign.” 
 
 This warm attachment, thus inaugurated, was of course evident 
 to Lady Dunmore; but she could hardly have conceived that it 
 would have had such a termination. Unknown to her, the lovers 
 proceeded, according to the old-fashioned canons which then ob- 
 tained, to bind themselves by solemn written engagements; and the 
 roj^al innamorato insisted on drawing up and signing the following 
 singular document, which he presented to his flame : 
 
 “ On m 3 " knees before God our Creator, I, Augustus Frederick, 
 promise thee, Augusta Murray, and swear upon the Bible, as I hope 
 for salvation in the world to come, that I will take thee, Augusta 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 275 
 
 Murray, for my wife, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, 
 in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do 
 part, to love but thee only, and none other; and may God forget 
 me if I ever forget thee ! The Lord’s name be praised ; so bless me, 
 so bless me, O God ! And with my handwriting do I, Augustus 
 Frederick, this sign, March 21st, 1793, at Rome, and put my seal to 
 it and my name. 
 
 “L.s. (Signed) Augustus Fuedekick.” 
 
 There was a clergyman of the English Church then in Rome 
 named Gunn; and this gentleman was indiscreet enough to listen 
 to the Prince’s proposal that he should marry them. Knowing the 
 ' despotic character of the King, who exercised a family authority 
 . that was quite German, it was surprising that a British subject 
 could have been found daring enough to take part in such an 
 ^dventure. Moreover, the severe Marriage Act, passed only a few 
 years before with a most discreditable obsequiousness, was in itself 
 intended as a menace. Notwithstanding all this, the clergyman 
 entertained the proposal. The lady was said to be six or seven 
 years older than the Prince, which was perhaps the only awkward 
 element in the case — for her, at least; otherwise, her manner of 
 meeting his proposals was very natural and engaging. The Prince 
 stated that he would press the clergyman to consent by urging that 
 his honor was involved, an idea which the lady thus combats: 
 
 “Then, my treasure, you say you will talk of honor to him. 
 There is no honor in the case; if there is, I will not marry you. I 
 love you, and I have reason to hope and believe you love me ; but 
 honor in the sense you take it is out of the question. I cannot bear 
 to owe my happiness to anything but affection ; and all promises, 
 though sacred in our eyes and those of Heaven, shall not oblige you 
 to do anything towards me that can in the least prejudice your 
 future interests. As for honor, with the meaning Mr. Gunn will 
 annex to it, I am ashamed to fancy it; he will imagine I have been 
 your mistress, and that humanity, commonly termed honor, now 
 induces you to pity me, and so veil my follies by an honorable 
 marriage. My own beloved Prince, forgive me if I am warm upon 
 this. I wish you to feel you owe me nothing; and whatever I owe 
 you, I w’ish to owe to your love and to your good opinion, but to no 
 other principle. Tell Mr. Gunn, my own Augustus, that you love 
 me, that you are resolved to marry me, that you have pledged your 
 
276 
 
 TITE LIFE OF GEOFGE TV. 
 
 sacred word; tell him, if you please, that upon the Bible you have 
 sworn it, that I have done the same, and nothing shall ever divide 
 us; but don’t let him imagine that I have been vile. Do this, my 
 only love, but pray take care of the character of jmur wife, of jmur 
 
 ‘‘ Augusta.” 
 
 The Prince wrote back: “Do, my dearest Augusta, trust me; I 
 will never abuse the confidence you put in me, and more and more 
 will endeavor to deserve it. I only wait for your orders to speak to 
 Mr. Gunn; say only that you wish me to do it, and I will hasten to 
 get a positive*answer. See, my soul, it only depends upon you to 
 speak; thy Augustus thou wilt find at all times ready to serve you. 
 He thinks, he dreams of nothing but to make thee happy. Can he 
 not succeed in this, all his hopes are gone; life will be nothing to 
 him; he will pass the days in one constant melancholy, wishing 
 them soon to conclude, and finding every one longer than the 
 other. Indeed, my Augusta, that cannot be the case; my solemn 
 oath is given, and that can never be recalled. I am yours, my 
 soul, ever yours.” 
 
 About ten days passed over, and nothing was done. The lover, 
 on April 4th, 1793, wrote the following frantic appeal, which no 
 fair one thus piteously entreated could resist: 
 
 “Will you allow me to come to you this evening? It is my 
 only hope. O, let me come, and we will send for Mr. Gunn ! 
 Everything but this is hateful to me. More than forty-eight hours 
 have I passed without the smallest nourishment. O, let me not live 
 so ! Death is certainly better than this; which, if in fortj^-eight 
 hours it has not taken place, must follow; for, by all that is holy, 
 till when I am married, I will eat nothing; and if I am not to be 
 married, the promise shall die with me ! I am resolute. Nothing 
 in the world shall alter my determination. If Gunn will not marry 
 me, I will die. ... I will be conducted in everything by you; but 
 I must be married or die. I would rather see none of my family 
 than be deprived of you. You alone can make me; you alone 
 shall this evening. I will sooner drop than give you up. Good 
 God. how I feel ! and my love to be doubted sincere and warm. 
 The Lord knows the truth of it; and, as I say, if in forty-eight 
 hours I am not married, I am no more. O Augusta, my soul, let 
 us try; let me come; I am capable of everything; I fear nothing; 
 and Mr, Gunn, seeing our resolution, will agree. I am half dead. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 277 
 
 Good God, what will become of me? I shall go mad, most un- 
 doubtedly. ” 
 
 To which Lady Augusta sent the following reply: 
 
 “My treasure, my dearest life and love, how can I refuse you ? 
 And yet dare I trust to the happiness your letter promises me ? 
 You shall come if you wish it; you shall do as you like; my whole 
 soul rejoices in the assurances of your love, and to your exertions I 
 
 will trust, I will send to ; but I fear the badness of the night 
 
 will prevent his coming. My mother has ordered her carriage at 
 past seven, and will not, I fear, be out before the half-hour after. 
 To be yours to-night seems a dream that I cannot make out. The 
 whole day have I been plunged in misery, and now to awake to 
 joy is a felicity that is beyond my ideas of bliss. I doubt its suc- 
 cess; but do as you will; I am what you will; your will must be 
 mine; and no will can ever be dearer to me, more mine, than that 
 of my Augustus, my lover, my all.” 
 
 The clergyman came, and, unknown to Lady Dunmore, they 
 were married. 
 
 Only three months later. Lady Dunmore learned the truth that 
 her son-in-law was a royal prince. They came to England towards 
 the winter, and there the Prince heard that, apart from any bearing 
 of the Royal Marriage Act, the fact of the marriage being in the 
 Roman jurisdiction might invalidate it, or be used to invalidate it. 
 He at once determined to have the ceremony repeated; and the 
 congregation at the now fashionable church of St, George’s, Hano- 
 ver Square, must have heard the banns given out of two private 
 persons unadorned with titles. 
 
 When the King heard of it, steps were taken to have the marriage 
 set aside, and the Royal Marriage Act was introduced. The hard- 
 ship and absurdity of the measure were also put forward; for the 
 descendants of George II. might amount to over a thousand in 
 time, according to the horseshoe progression, and “where were 
 husbands or wives to be procured for them ?” It was therefore a 
 virtual prohibition from marriage, and “a perpetual restraint.” 
 And a ridiculous inconsistency, taken in connection with this view 
 of the matter, was that the House had just been discussing the 
 Thirty-nine Articles, and had affirmed them; one of which was 
 that all Christians had a right to marry. Frequent allusions were 
 made to the Star Chamber; and Mr. Dowdeswell made a telling 
 
278 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 point when he asked: “Why a man should not he thought fit to 
 marry before twenty-five, when he was thought fit to reign at 
 eighteen ?” 
 
 This last point, indeed, redeemed the hill ; for the limitation up 
 to twenty-five years of age, under which the King’s consent was 
 necessary, virtually made him guardian during a long minority. 
 After that age, if the King still refused his consent, the Prince 
 might give notice to the Privy Council ; and if, after a year’s inter- 
 val, the Parliament did not object, the marriage might take place. 
 Now, this portion the King was evidently induced to adopt from 
 the belief that Parliament would always be as eager to indorse the 
 royal wishes as it was then. But a royal prince may now marry 
 whom he please, and the House of Commons would find it con- 
 trary to its temper and constitution to dream of interfering. 
 
 It is curious, therefore, that this Royal Marriage Act should be 
 so little understood, or that a false idea of its repressive powers 
 should be abroad. It has long been believed, for instance, that cer- 
 tain august personages connected with the royal family (to use the 
 verbiage of The Court Newsman) have been prevented contracting 
 or declaring their marriage, owing to the pronounced veto of a still 
 more august personage. It will be seen that these personages, 
 being past five-and-twenty, could have safely consulted their own 
 inclinations. 
 
 But the real hardship of the Royal Marriage Act lay in the pen- 
 alty — viz. the nullity and voidableness of the marriage. The idea 
 of dissolving an honorable contract between those “whom God has 
 joined ” on the mere whim of a parent seems wholly unworthy of a 
 soi disant religious country. At the present day, however, it may 
 be doubted whether the nation would tolerate the dissolution of 
 such an unequal marriage, but still one of affection, even if the 
 sovereign was inclined to exert the powers given by Act of Parlia- 
 ment. 
 
 These considerations applied with great force to the case of the 
 Duke of Sussex. When we come to consider who was Lady 
 Augusta Murray, the old King might have had more reverence for 
 one of more illustrious pedigree than he could boast. Through her 
 mother, who was a Stewart, she could trace back in the straightest 
 line to the Hamiltons, Dukes of Chatelherault, and, with a step 
 beyond, to James II., King of Scotland. On her father’s side, she 
 could trace back through the Stanleys to the daughter of Henry 
 YII. of England. Farther, through the Stanleys a descent was 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 279 
 
 established from William I., Prince of Orange, and Louis, Duke 
 of Montpensier, And finally, through the same line, from Charles 
 VII. of France. With such a pedigree the young Scotch lady 
 might have challenged comparison with many a princess in Europe. 
 
 The Court of Arches, by a formal process, declared both the 
 marriage in England and that of Rome null and void. It was con- 
 fidently asserted at the time that the Prince wrote a letter to his 
 father, begging permission to relinquish his contingent rights in 
 the succession, and to sink into the character of a private gentle- 
 man, rather than be separated from his beloved Augusta. This 
 could not be granted; but, in 1806, the King’s license was given to 
 the lady, to assume the name of d’Ameland, which was in some 
 degree a recognition of her affinity to the royal family, and, though 
 illegitimate by the law of England, the son was to succeed, in 
 failure of male issue of the King and the Duke of Cumberland, to 
 the crown of Hanover. 
 
 The marriage having been dissolved, so far as the law of the land 
 was concerned, the Prince vehemently protested his resolution not 
 to accept this decision; and though his health did not allow him to 
 live much with her in England, and an “estrangement ” took place 
 later, he always manfully maintained the troth he had plighted to 
 his wife, the Lady Augusta Murray. There were two children of 
 the marriage — Sir Augustus d’Este and a daughter, both now dead. 
 The former made unwearied efforts to procure some recognition of 
 his claims, obtaining legal opinions, and petitioning; but of course 
 with no result, the King being indexible. The well-known Sir 
 Thomas Wilde, afterwards Lord Truro, married the daughter of 
 this unlucky marriage. In the year 1830, the heroine of the 
 romance died, and the royal Prince, after a short interval, married 
 an Irish lady — Lady Cecilia Buggin, or rather Underwood; who, 
 after the death of her royal husband, was created Duchess of 
 Inverness, 
 
280 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 1793. 
 
 I Returning now to the Prince of Wales, this question of his 
 marriage seemed to become more pressing as his affairs became 
 more desperate. He and his brother were pursuing their old 
 courses with even greater recklessness. His friend. Sir J. Harris, 
 now Lord Malmesbury, having arrived in town from the Conti- 
 nent, on Sunday, June 3, was called into council on the following 
 day. To him he unburthened his wretched and hopeless state — 
 thus graphically described by his friend; 
 
 “ Saw Prince of Wales early the 4th; he was very well pleased 
 with what I had done at Berlin, thanked me for it, etc.: stated his 
 affairs to me as more distressed than ever. Several executions had 
 been in his house — Lord Rawdon had saved him from one — that his 
 debts amounted to three hundred and seventy thousand pounds. 
 He said he was trying, through the Chancellor, to prevail on the 
 King to apply to Parliament to increase his income. 
 
 “ On the Wednesday following I was with him again, b}^ ap- 
 pointment. He repeated the same again, said that if the King 
 would raise his revenue to a hundred thousand pounds a year, he 
 would appropriate thirty-five thousand of it to pay the interest of 
 his debts, and establish a sinking fund. That if this could not be 
 done, he must break up his establishment, reduce his income to ten 
 thousand pounds a year, and go abroad. He made a merit of hav- 
 ing given up the turf, and blamed the Duke of York for remaining 
 on it. He said (which I well knew before) that his racing-stable 
 cost him upwards of thirty thousand pounds yearly. He was very 
 anxious, and, as is usual on these occasions, nervous and agitated. 
 He said (on my asking him the question) that he did not stand so 
 w’ell with the King as he did some months ago, but that he was 
 better than ever with the Queen — that she had advised him to press 
 the King, through the Chancellor, to propose to Mr. Pitt to bring 
 an increase of the Prince’s income before Parliament, and that if 
 this was done, she would use her influence to promote it. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEOROE IV. 
 
 281 
 
 “I strongly recommended his pressing the Queen. He suggested 
 the idea of going to Mr. Pitt directly through the Chancellor, etc. 
 I doubted both the consent of the Chancellor to such a step at the 
 moment he was going out, and his influence and weight if he did 
 consent to it. I took the liberty of disapproving his going abroad 
 on any terms. .... I saw the Duke of York on the 4th of June, 
 and the Duchess at their own house. He mentioned with concern 
 and uneasiness the division in the party. He considered it as a 
 breaking-up of its strength, and he was apprehensive of the conse- 
 quences to the country at large. He condemned Fox, and repro- 
 bated in the strongest terms the conduct of Grey, Lambton, and 
 the Reformers. He said the King of Prussia had for a long time 
 not written either to him or to the Duchess, or even answered their 
 letters, without his being able to assign a cause. He said he stood 
 very well at St. James’s. 
 
 “I saw the Prince again on the 7th June, at Carlton House, as 
 before. He repeated the same things, and added that, if he could 
 not obtain some assurance from the King that he would apply to 
 Parliament in the next Session of Parliament, before this ended, 
 that he should be ruined, and must go abroad. I combated again 
 this idea; but he appeared to have a wish and some whim about 
 going abroad I could not discover. He talked coldly and unaffec- 
 tionately about the Duke and Duchess of York, and very slightingly 
 of the Duke of Clarence. He asked me whether I approved his 
 having spoken on the Proclamation — that is, in favor of Govern- 
 ment — in the manner he had, and held very right language on the 
 subject. I told him I was sorry his lawyers, Erskine and Pigot, 
 went a different way from him; that this was unbecoming. He 
 said he once had thought of dismissing them, but that, on consid- 
 ering it, he was inclined to believe that such a marked measure 
 would only give them consequence, and do more harm than good, 
 by bringing the subject into more frequent conversation.” 
 
 Colonel St. Leger came to Lord Malmesbury on the 8th June. 
 “He said the Prince was more attached to Mrs. Fitzherbert than 
 ever. She dislikes the Duchess of York, because the Duchess will 
 not treat her en helle-sceur — it is that is the cause of the coolness 
 between the two brothers. He confirmed the total ruin of the 
 Prince, and said the Duke’s affairs were in a very bad way. He 
 had returned to England with the highest reputation, and might 
 have done what he pleased with the King, who doted on him; that 
 lie very idly hjts resumed several of his old habits — he plays at 
 
282 
 
 THE LITE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 Brookes’s, goes to Newmarket, and loses, and neglects St. James’s; 
 that he behaves vastly well to the Duchess, and is happy. Anthony 
 St. Leger confirmed all that his brother said about Mrs. Fitzherbert. 
 He blamed her excessively, and said she was the cause of the two 
 brothers being ill together.” 
 
 We are not, therefore, surprised to learn that the step of appeal- 
 ing to the King was decided upon : and Lord Southampton, who 
 was growing accustomed to such tasks, drew up a statement which 
 was presented to the King. His Majesty was obdurate. Again 
 came the ostentatiously theatrical retrenchment; five hundred 
 horses sold, servants discharged, Carlton House shut up, and trus- 
 tees appointed. Lords Thurlow and Radnor undertook this office. 
 He was to live as a Cornish countrj^ gentleman ; the strictest econ- 
 omy was to be observed, and his modest revenue was to be limited 
 to £11,000 a year.* 
 
 The truth was the King was triumphant and highly popular. It 
 was now that the events on the Continent had brought about the 
 well-known division among the Liberals; the Duke of Portland, 
 Burke, and the purer Whigs breaking off from Mr. Fox, the more 
 Radical wing of the party. This revolt was natural in the face of 
 the bloody excesses which were being perpetrated by revolutionary 
 mobs. Burke’s “ dagger-scene ” and his quarrel with Fox were the 
 melodramatic elements of the episode, f and it m.ay be conceived 
 that Reformers and Radicals were in ill odor. The Prince, who 
 had found out that Liberal politics and an empty purse went 
 together, and that the Tories had at least the power of granting 
 supplies, had besides little S3^mpathy with the extreme doctrines of 
 Mr. Fox and his friends. And it is only fair to him to bear in 
 mind — when we come to consider his later better-known “treat- 
 ment of the Whigs,” that these had set him the example of gravi- 
 tating to the other side. He had signified his cordial approval of 
 the Government “proclamation,” though his friend Mr. Fox dis- 
 approved of it. We do not find him taking part in the open nego- 
 tiations with the Whigs that followed, but here is opened a rather 
 curious chapter of politics. In the advances that were made by 
 
 * Auckland, “ Correspondence,” ii. 463. 
 
 t This weapon, which when thrown on the floor of the House excited ridi- 
 cule rather than terror, had been brought to Sir T. Bland Burgess, the Under 
 Secretary, by a Birmingham maker, who had received it as a pattern for a 
 large order. Burke borrowed it for his exhibition. Lord Eldon had another 
 of these pattern daggers.-— Twiss, “ Life of Lord Eldon,” i. 218, 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 283 
 
 the Liberals to the Government, the Duke of Leeds, in the August 
 of the year 1792, was employed as negotiator, and with no less a 
 person than the King himself. He tells the story in his interesting 
 unpublished “Memoranda.”* Walking on the terrace at Wind- 
 sor, where the King was, he asked his Majesty for a private inter- 
 view, having arranged this proceeding with Lord Malmesbury, 
 having also, as he told his Majesty, “ the concuiTence ” of Fox and 
 the Duke of Portland. The King, however, was exceedingly cold 
 as to the first-named statesman, and did not mention him more than 
 once during the whole interview, “if even that.” The Duke sug- 
 gested that several interviews had taken place between Lord Lough- 
 borough and Mr. Dundas, at one of which Mr. Pitt had been 
 present, ‘ ‘ fair evidence (he urged) that ministers were not indis- 
 posed to an arrangement.” “To my great surprise the King 
 answered that he had not heard anything upon the subject for a 
 long time; that Mr. Pitt had indeed some months ago mentioned 
 something like an opening on the part of the Duke of Portland 
 and his friends, to which his Majesty had answered, ‘Anything 
 complimentary to them, but no power! ’ ” “ This brief, but copious 
 answer,” adds the Duke of Leeds, “explains the otfer of the Gar- 
 ter to the Duke of Portland, and of a marquisate to Lord Fitz- 
 william. ” The King then asked who was to be the First Lord of 
 the Treasury under this combination, and was answered, “ One who 
 had the confidence of both parties.” His Majesty said that was 
 very hard on Mr. Pitt, who had been so long in oflSce, and added 
 significantly, that people, from eagerly wishing an object to succeed, 
 often deceived themselves by thinking it much nearer its accom- 
 plishment than in truth it was. 
 
 A few days later the negotiator tried Mr. Pitt, whom he thought 
 “ not quite at his ease.” He opened his proposals, saying that Mr. 
 Fox and the Duke of Portland concurred in what he was offering. 
 Mr. Pitt listened attentively to all I said, and answered “ that there 
 had been no thoughts of any alteration in the Government, that 
 circumstances did not call for it, nor did the people wish it, and 
 that no nev’' arrangement, either by a change or coalition, had ever 
 been in contemplation 1” The Duke of Leeds then alluded to the 
 interviews with Mr. Dundas and Lord Loughborough, suggesting 
 that he (Mr. Pitt) had been present. Mr. Pitt said that it was true, 
 but such meetings had not in view any changes of ministry. 
 
 * Preserved in the British Museum, 
 
284 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 This is one of the most extraordinary pieces of secret history, and 
 requires the clearest explanation from any biographer of Pitt, as 
 any one who follows Lord Malmesbury’s minute account of the 
 negotiations — the offer by Dundas of four Cabinet places, etc. — will 
 admit.* 
 
 If it be well established, as we find it stated in the Duke of 
 Leeds’s memoranda, that Mr. Fox had been so unpatriotic as to 
 send his friend Adair to St. Petersburg to counteract the negotia- 
 tions there, it would be difficult for any loyal person to act with 
 him. Mr. Moore states “ that on the secession of the leading Whigs 
 in 1792 the Prince had also separated himself from Mr. Fox, and 
 had no further intercourse with him or any of his party — except, 
 ^ occasionally, Mr. Sheridan — till so late, I believe, as the year 1798.” 
 Thus it will be found that on two important occasions prior to his 
 final withdrawal from the party in 1810, the Prince seized oppor- 
 tunities of showing his want of sympathy with their principles. 
 And in 1793, when Lord Loughborough accepted the chancellor- 
 ship of the party to which he had been opposed, the Prince wrote 
 a letter to the hesitating Duke of Portland, and sent a message 
 to the Grenvilles declaring his intention of joining the Govern- 
 ment. f 
 
 To the Duchess of Devonshire he later addressed the following 
 letter, referring the differences between sections of the Liberals as 
 to supporting Government, written in a sort of after-dinner excite- 
 ment, and under the idea that he had made all friends. It is 
 undated. 
 
 THE PRINCE OF WALES TO THE DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE. 
 
 “ Carlton House, Friday Night. 
 
 “How little you know me, ever dear duchess, and how much 
 have you misconceived the object of this day’s dinner, which has 
 succeeded beyond my most sanguine expectations! It has almost, 
 if not entirely, annihilated every coolness that has for a short time 
 g past appeared to exist between the Duke of Norfolk and his old 
 friends, and brought Erskine back also. Ask only the Duke of 
 Leinster and Guilford what passed. I believe you never heard a 
 stronger eulogium pronounced from the lips of man than I this day 
 
 * Lord Malmesbury, “ Diaries," ii. 458. 
 
 tin a letter to the Duke of York, pronounced to be “proper” and “ex- 
 plicit.”— “ Court and Cabinets,” ii. 237. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE I\\ 
 
 285 
 
 pronounced upon Fox, in complete refutation of all the arbsurd 
 doctrines and foolish distinctions which they have grounded their 
 late conduct upon. This was most honorably, distinctly, and zeal- 
 ously supported by Sheridan, by which they were completely driven 
 to the wall, and positively pledged themselves hereafter to follow 
 no other line of politics than that which Fox and myself would 
 hold out to them; and this with a certain degree of contrition 
 expressed by them at their ever having ventured to express a doubt 
 respecting either Charles or myself. Harry Howard, who never has 
 varied in his sentiments, was overjoyed, and said he never knew 
 anything so well done or so well timed ; and that he should to-night 
 retire to his bed the happiest of men, as his mind was now at 
 ease, which it had not been for some time past. In short, what 
 fell from both Sheridan as well as myself was received with rap- 
 ture by the company ; and I consider this as one of the luckiest and 
 most useful days I have spent. As to particulars I must ask your 
 patience till to-morrow, when I will relate every incident, with 
 which I am confident you will be most completely satisfied. Pray, 
 my ever dear duchess, whenever you bestow a thought upon me, 
 have rather a better opinion of my steadiness and firmness, I 
 really think, without being very romantic, I may claim this of you ; 
 at the same time I am most grateful to you for your candor, and 
 the affectionate warmth, if I may be allowed so to call it, which 
 dictates the contents of your letter: you may depend upon its being 
 seen by no one but myself. Depend upon my coming to you to- 
 morrow. I am delighted with your goodness to me, and ever, 
 
 “Most devotedly yours, 
 
 “G. P.” 
 
 The Duke of York’s departure for the disastrous expedition to 
 the Netherlands furnishes us with a sketch of the heir-apparent as 
 he appears about this time : 
 
 “The King was on the parade with the Prince of Wales, the 
 Dukes of York, Clarence, Gloucester, and Prince William of Glou- 
 cester; the King, I think, in the character of an equestrian statue 
 on a fierce white charger, a sufficient gigg, but looking so pleased 
 that one liked to see him. The Grenadiers, when they began their 
 march, sang ‘God save the King!’ of their own accord as they 
 passed by him, which overcame him a good deal. The Prince of 
 Wales was in his new Light Horse uniform, which is very handsome 
 and theatrical, and, I dare say, delighted him; but it displayed an 
 
286 
 
 THE LIFE OF OEORGE IV. 
 
 amount of bulk which entertained Mundy and me, and probably all 
 beholders. The Duke of York is gone with them to Holland. I 
 hear the Duchess is much affected, as she really likes him.” * 
 
 But there was something more in this display than a mere taste 
 for uniforms, for after the first disaster, when a relief of ten thou- 
 sand men was being sent out to the Duke, and Lord Moira, late 
 Lord Rawdon, was given the command, the Prince eagerly pressed 
 that he might be allowed to go with his friend and serve under 
 him. This was, of course, refused; but he was presently to be 
 engrossed with a more important affair — the question of his own 
 marriage. Almost every step in his long life, rashly and improvi- 
 dently taken, seemed destined to lead to a train of inconveniences 
 and misfortune, and not one was more fruitful in this direction 
 than this. 
 
 * “ Court and Cabinets,” ii. 119. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 287 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 1794. 
 
 Many causes, aud above all, bis overwhelming money difficul- 
 ties, were now forcing him into a sort of md:4e-SM, whence there 
 seemed no method of extrication, save one. Any change would be 
 welcome, aud various minor causes seemed to favor the King’s 
 wishes in this regard. The first step in the transaction was a let- 
 ter in which the King communicated to his minister that the Prince 
 had, of himself, offered to make the sacrifice. He wrote from 
 Weymouth, on August 24th, 1794: “Agreeable to what I men- 
 tioned to Mr. Pitt before I came here, I have this morning seen the 
 Prince of Wales, who has acquainted me with his having broken 
 off all connection with Mrs. Fitzherbert, and his desire of entering 
 into a more creditable line of life by marrying; expressing at the 
 same time that his wish is that my niece, the Princess of Bruns- 
 wick, may be the person. Undoubtedly she is the person who na- 
 turally must be most agreeable to me. I expressed my approbation 
 of the idea, provided his plan was to lead a life that Avould make 
 him appear respectable, and consequently render the Princess happy. 
 He assured me that he perfectly coincided with me in opinion. I 
 then said that till Parliament assembled no arrangement could be 
 taken, except my sounding my sister, that no idea of any other mar- 
 riage may be encouraged. 
 
 “G. R.”* 
 
 In spite of these protestations, it was notorious that at this time 
 he had come under the influence of a lady about the Court, Lady 
 Jersey. She was known as the “beautiful Miss Twysden,” aud 
 the daughter of an Irish dignitary, the Lord Bishop of Raplioe. 
 She was of mature age, like another lady of quality whom our 
 Prince admired later. It was stated also that she had been a friend 
 of Mrs. Fitzherbert’s, and for a time, as will be seen, was destined 
 to have a IymIj funeste control over the Prince. 
 
 * Lord Stanhope, “ Life of Pitt,” ii. 20 (Appendix). 
 
288 
 
 THE LIFE OF OEOBOE IV. 
 
 The mode ia which this change of feeling was signified to the 
 unhappy lady with whom he had gone through the form of mar- 
 riage, was characteristic. He had written to her from Brighton in 
 his usual affectionate strain, and spoke of a dinner engagement at 
 the Duke of Clarence’s for the following day, where they were to 
 meet. At the dinner a note was put into her hand, which gave her 
 the first intimation that she had lost her ascendency. Speaking of 
 the matter to Lord Stourton, she seemed to attribute this step to 
 Lady Jerse}^ who was then also at Brighton, In consequence, 
 Mrs. Fitzherbert did not go to Brighton as usual, and also gave up 
 her house; while Lord Jersey was appointed Master of the Horse 
 to the Prince, 
 
 It has been often stated that it was upon a favorable report of the 
 Duke of York, who had been sent to Brunswick, that the Princess 
 had been selected. At the time of the arrangement he was in Hol- 
 land, with his army; but he had already seen the Princess, and his 
 report was most unfavorable. He augured ill of the match, and 
 seems to have incurred the bitter enmity of the family. There 
 was, besides, no good feeling between the Duchess of York and 
 the members of the Brunswick family. The Princess Caroline, 
 indeed, told Lord Malmesbury that she believed she had impressed 
 the Duke of Clarence favorably. 
 
 Some five-and-twenty years later Lord Liverpool assured Lord 
 Holland that he had been told by George III. how one day his son 
 came to him, on his return from hunting, and said abruptly that 
 “he wished to marry.” In reply, the King said he would send off a 
 confidential agent to report on the merits of the various Protestant 
 Princesses. The Prince declared that this had been done. The 
 King then recommended that the most careful inquiries should be 
 made as to her person and manners, and his son declared this also 
 had been done. Lord Holland adds confirmation of the report that 
 the later Queen of Prussia had been named, who w^as infinitely the 
 superior of the Brunswick Princess in youth, beauty, and every 
 merit. Perhaps these were found objections bj’’ those who guided 
 him, and who wushed a public and legal marriage, to secure the 
 downfall of Mrs. Fitzherbert. All Avell-informed persons report 
 that the choice was directed by Lady Jerse}" and Lady Harcourt. 
 The faction always gave out that he had been promised the sum of 
 £100,000 a year, with payment of his debts, though the ministers 
 later violated their engagement. It was for the gain of the German 
 people, no less than for her own, that the beautiful and interesting 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 289 
 
 Princess of Mecklenburg had not been selected; nor is it quite so 
 certain that after all it would have benefited the Prince of Wales. 
 
 Lady Charlotte Canii:)bell records some curious gossip of the no- 
 torious Mrs. Clarke, who had been told by the Duke of York “ that 
 it had been at one time proposed that he should marry her (the 
 Princess Caroline), and for that purpose he had been previously to 
 see how the land lay at the Court of Brunswick; the result of 
 which was that he did not like the Princess.” A writer in “ The 
 Quarterly Review ” (vol. Ixxv. p. 421) states that he heard the same 
 reason given for the dislike of the Brunswick family to the Duke. 
 It occurred to Lord Malmesbury at Brunswick that it was the Duke 
 of Clarence who had first suggested her. The King, however, told 
 Mr. Pitt “ that she was the person who must naturally be the most 
 agreeable to him. She was, moreover, his niece.” * Lord Malmes- 
 bury was abroad at this time, and was promptly directed to repair 
 to Brunswick ■ and make a formal proposal for the hand of the 
 Princess. 
 
 13 
 
 *“ Diaries,” iii. 179, 
 
290 
 
 TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 1794—1795. 
 
 On a Thursday at the end of November, 1794, the little Court 
 was excited by the news that an envoy had arrived to arrange a 
 marriage treaty between the Prince of Wales and Princess Caroline, 
 according to the elaborate formularies then in favor. The English- 
 man was one of the most spirituel and versatile of diplomatists, 
 even his remarkable appearance — his abundant hair and brilliant 
 eyes — exciting attention. This, however, was not the main object 
 of his mission, which was to persuade the vacillating Duke to take 
 the command of the forces in Holland. He was received with great 
 honors, and installed in the palace with servants, carriages, and 
 guards at his disposal. Almost at once he was presented to the 
 Princess, who was embarrassed. He, too, must have had misgiv- 
 ings at the meeting, for the future bride appeared to be a rather 
 ungraceful, hard-featured young woman, redeemed, however, by a 
 certain air of coarse good-humor. Her eyes, however, were 
 expressive, “her bust good,” and her shoulders what the French 
 call “ impertinent.” * This absence of feminine refinement struck 
 other English observers, f She could not conceal her delight at the 
 brilliant prospect before her 
 
 Then commenced the regular formal festivities of a petty German 
 Court — great dinners, “ ombre with the Duchess and her grand 
 maiireV whist with the Landgravine, a masquerade at the Opera 
 House — during all which time the diplomatist was narrowly observ- 
 ing all that was going on, and studying the character of the young 
 lady. On December the 3rd, his credentials having arrived from 
 England, the state carriages came to take him to Court to make 
 formal demand of the Princess’s hand. All parties were nervous, 
 the Duchess quite overcome, the Princess much affected, but mak- 
 ing her answers distinctly and firmly. This ceremony was cele- 
 
 * For the account of this mission, see Lord Malmesbury’s “Diaries,” iii. 151. 
 t Huish, “Memoirs of Caroline,” i. 13. 
 
CAROLINE, WIPE OF GEORGE IV, 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 291 
 
 brated by Court and general congratulations, presentations of gold 
 snuff-boxes, immense dinners, and the inevitable whist. From this 
 moment she was greeted as Princess of Wales. On the following 
 day the contract was signed, and a very unhappy chapter in 
 English history had commenced. 
 
 By this time the shrewd envoy had learned enough of the Prin- 
 cess herself to see that she was unsuited to the destined position and 
 to the person who was to be her husband. Nearly all the petty 
 German Courts were then distinguished by a sort of Philistinism, 
 both in morals and manners; the young Princesses being brought 
 up in a kind of natural religion, whose principles were sufficiently 
 convenient and flexible to allow them to adopt the creed of any 
 husband that might be selected for them. There were little con- 
 ventional restraints for married life. He must indeed have learned 
 many strange stories of the youthful days of the Princess which he 
 was too discreet to report, and which, indeed, as he said in answer 
 to the reproaches of the Prince, it did not fad within his mission to 
 report. 
 
 She was now nearly t wenty-seven years old; but the sneer of 
 one of the Court ladies, Madame Waggenheirn — who said to Lord 
 Malmesbury at the opera, “that, old as she was, her education was 
 n ot yet com pleted ” — seemed to be founded on truth.* Beyond an 
 acquaintance with the harpsichord, she could not be called-accom- 
 plished; a friend of Mr. Addington’s, M. Le Mesurier, who dined 
 in her company, noted that she neyer spoke and was visibly kept 
 under restraint. And the Duchess of Wurtemberg, -writing to 
 Lady Elgin, gives a strange picture of the domestic tyranny un- 
 der which she was brought up — bullied by her mother and gover- 
 nesses, f As to morality and religion, the scandal of her father’s 
 behavior must have been of fatal import. Her mother had little or 
 no influence with her child, who had small respect for her, and 
 “ was inattentive to her when she dared.” It was scarcely surpris- 
 ing, therefore, that various escapades should have been reported of 
 her girlish days. One of these stories was long after told to Mrslj 
 Charles Kemble by one who had been an officer in the Duke’s, 
 body-guard. She was at that time about sixteen, and her parents 
 had refused to allow her to attend a ball. During the night they 
 
 * She both wrote and spelled ba^ly, as her father owned to Lord Malmes- 
 bury. 
 
 tLady Rose Weigall, “Princess Charlotte," p. 4. 
 
292 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 were summoned back to the palace by the news of her being alarm- 
 ingly ill, the whole Court following, and the officer with the rest. 
 While waiting in the ante-chamber he heard her screams; and on 
 her parents coming to her bedside she informed them that the time 
 was past for concealment, that she was being accouchi^dindi begged 
 that a proper doctor might be sent for. This astounding declara- 
 tion was heard by the whole Court. When the doctor came she 
 jumped up, owned that the whole was a trick, and asked: “Would 
 they again attempt to prevent her going to a ball?”* Making due 
 allowance for exaggeration, this trait is quite in keeping with the 
 admitted recklessness of her later career. It was also found nec- 
 essary to keep a strict watch on her acts to prevent her making 
 advances to persons of low degree. As was to be expected, some 
 arrangements for marriage with a German prince had been con- 
 templated; but these had failed, owing to the uncertainty of temper 
 of the Princess ; and she was now, as we have shown, not far from 
 her thirtieth year, when this unlooked for and advantageous alliance 
 offered. 
 
 The Duchess, her mother, was, on the whole, a good-natured 
 coarse woman, of sense and of agreeable manners. The mother of 
 Archbishop Trench, one of the most engaging and interesting 
 women of her day, who was at the Brunswick Court about five 
 years before, was delighted with her “ease, good-humor and 
 familiarity, and winning condescension.” She was struck, toe, 
 with the simple, almost homely, fashions of the royal circle— ladies 
 sitting round, working, knitting stockings.f Such was the bride 
 of the Prince of Wales and her family! 
 
 Meantime the versatile diplomatist was busy making himself 
 acquainted with the character of the young Princess. But from all 
 sides he was receiving ominous warnings; and the whole Court, it 
 is clear, were nervous as to what her behavior would be in her new 
 situation. All impressed on him that she was to be “kept strictly ” 
 and with a tight rein, and the envoy was almost implored to advise 
 her to be cautious, and avoid her besetting sin of being too familiar 
 with every one and of “ saying everything that came into her head.” 
 “ She was not heteV said her father to him, “but she had no judg- 
 ment.” Again and again he came back to the subject: “She 
 could not go alone,” he said; “she must be guided and, iijxejCted.” 
 
 * “ Diaries of a Lady of Quality,” p. 186. 
 t “ Remains of Mrs. Trench.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 298 
 
 He excused lier on the score of the free style of speech of her 
 mother in every company, which was a bad example. Less profitable, 
 however, was his own. Strangers remarked that his manner to the 
 Duchess was very cold, and that hers was embarrassed, and soon 
 discovered that one M.(file. Hertzfeldt, a lady of rank, was installed 
 at the palace as mistress en titre, and had actually had her recog- 
 nized place at all the Court festivities. What could be hoped of a 
 daughter in presence of such a scandal? The lady now alluded to 
 who engaged the Duke’s favor was also one of those who gave 
 useful advice to the envoy, who courted her assiduously. It was 
 absolutely necessary, she said to him confidentially, that the Prin- 
 cess should be watched and kept in retirement. “She is not cor- 
 rupted; she had never done anything really bad, but she had no 
 command of her words; she confides in everyone, and when she is 
 surrounded in London with clever intriguers, everything she says 
 will be reported and distorted.” This lady was certainly sagacious, 
 and her words were strongly prophetic. She also hinted at the 
 indiscreetness of the Duchess, who made no secret of her dislike to 
 Queen Charlotte and other members of the royal family. These 
 prejudices her daughter would take with her to England.* This 
 dislike extended to the Duke and Duchess of York. 
 
 Thus encouraged and assured that his advice would be of the 
 greatest assistance. Lord Malmesbury proceeded to lecture, as it 
 might be called, the Princess seriously. His efforts were received 
 favorably. Sitting next her at supper, he woidd advise her to avoid 
 familiarity, to have no confidants, to avoid giving any opinion, and 
 above all be very attentive to the Queen. To his surprise she 
 asked him about the Prince’s attachments; nor was she disturbed at 
 learning that one of his “favorites ” was to be placed about her, as 
 lady-in-waiting. “ She says it is wished here that her brother 
 William should marry the Princess Sophia of Gloucester; I advise 
 her not to meddle in it. She talks about the Duke of Clarence, 
 whom she prefers to the Duke of York; and it struck me to-day for 
 the first time that he originally put her into the Prince’s head, and 
 that with a view to plague the Duke and Duchess of York, whom 
 
 * This, it is plain, was one of the discordant elements in this unfortunate 
 marriage. There was a rooted dislike between the female members of the 
 two families. The Duchess complained to Lord Malmesbury that the Queen 
 grudged her some jewels, and had asked back a diamond ring, the King's 
 present. 
 
m 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 lie hates, and whom the Prince no longer likes; well knowing that 
 the Princess Caroline and Duchess of York dislike each other, and 
 that this match would be particularly unpleasant to her and the 
 Duke. I praise the Duke of York to her, and speak with great 
 applause of the behavior of the Duchess, who by her discretion and 
 conduct has conciliated to herself the good-will of the whole nation. 
 I did this to pique her, and to make her anxious to do the same. 
 She has no fond, no fixed character, a light and fiighty mind, but 
 meaning well and well-disposed; and my eternal theme to her is, to 
 think before she speaks, to recollect herself. She says she wishes 
 to be loved by the people; this, I assure her, can only be obtained 
 by making herself respected and rare — that the sentiment of being 
 loved by the people is a mistaken one.” 
 
 In a letter written to a German lady in England, dated the 28th 
 of November, she wrote: 
 
 “You are aware, my friend, of my destiny. I am about enter- 
 ing into a matrimonial alliance with my first-cousin, George, Prince 
 of Wales. His generosity I regard, and his letters bespeak a mind 
 well cultivated and refined. My uncle is a good man, and I love 
 him very much, but I feel that I shall never be inexpressibly 
 happy. Estranged from my connections, my associations, my 
 friends, all that I hold dear and valuable, I am about entering on a 
 permanent connection. I fear for the consequences. Yet I esteem 
 and respect my intended husband, and I hope for great kindness 
 and attention. But, ah me! I say sometimes, I cannot now love 
 him with ardor. I am indifferent to my marriage, but not averse 
 to it; I think I shall be happy, but I fear my joy will not be enthu- 
 siastic. The man of my choice I am debarred from possessing, and 
 I resign myself to my destiny. I am attentively studying the Eng- 
 lish language; I am acquainted with it, but I wish to speak it with 
 fluency. I shall strive to render my husband happy, and to inter- 
 est him in my favor, since the Fates will have it that I am to be 
 Princess of Wales.” 
 
 Meanwhile expresses were passing between London and the little 
 Court, and all the arrangements were nearly completed. Before 
 Lord Malmesbury had been at Brunswick a week, a messenger had 
 arrived from the Prince of Wales with a letter pressing him “vehe- 
 mently ” to set out with the Princess at once. The messenger was 
 also bearer of the Prince’s portrait, in which he was highly flattered 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 295 
 
 and represented as arrayed in becoming regimentals. Up to this 
 moment the Princess had an idea of him only from description. 
 Thus wrote the eager suitor : 
 
 THE PRmCE OP WALES TO LORD MALMESBURY. 
 
 “ Carlton House, 23rd November, 1794. 
 
 “ My dear Lord, 
 
 “ I have sent Major Hislop back again to Brunswick, which I 
 judged to be an advisable measure on many accounts, as more par- 
 ticularly, I think, he may prove, from his knowledge of the coun- 
 try, a very useful amnt-coiirier to you and your fair charge in your 
 journey to the water’s side. I have charged him with letters for 
 the Duke, Duchess, and Princess, which I will beg of you to pre- 
 sent to their different destinations, with every proper expressions 
 on my part, and to which no one can give so agreeable a iournure 
 as yourself. I have likewise desired Major Hislop to give you an 
 ample and thorough account of the steps I have taken towards the 
 expediting everything on this side of the water, as well as with my 
 brother the Duke of York, to whom I have written also by Hislop; 
 and as to what is now necessary to forward the completing every- 
 thing at Brunswick, I must leave that to you, hoping that you will 
 make every exertion possible to put the Princess in possession of 
 her own home as near the 20th of the ensuing month as possible, 
 for everything that can create delay at the present moment is bad 
 on every account, but particularly so to the public, whose expecta- 
 tions have now been raised for some months, and would be quite 
 outrageous, were it possible for them to perceive any impediment 
 arising to what they have had their attention drawn to for so long a 
 time, besides the suspense, and the naturally unpleasant feelings 
 attendant upon suspense, which I myself must be subject to, and 
 the very honorable, fair, and handsome manner in which the Duke 
 and Duchess have both conducted themselves to me in this trans- 
 action; their having also in their last letters, both to the King and 
 me, said that the Princess was ready to set off instantly; in short, 
 all these reasons make it necessary for me, my dear Lord, to desire 
 you to press your departure from Brunswick at as short a date as 
 possible from the receipt of this letter. I have written fully to the 
 Duchess upon the subject, and I doubt not but she will acquaint you 
 with the contents of her letters, as I desire that 3^011 will have the 
 goodness to do so by her, by showing her, or acquainting her nearly 
 of the purport of this letter. 
 
296 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 “I should think the travelling through Holland still practicable 
 and safe, and if so, certainly preferable on every account; but, if 
 not, we then must have recourse to the Elbe, which is certainly a 
 very disagreeable alternative; however, whichever way the Princess 
 is to come, I am clear it should be determined upon instantly by 
 you. I wish most certainly, if possible, that she should pass 
 through Holland, if it is still upon the cards, therefore desire you to 
 determine if you can upon that. We cannot tell on this side the 
 water as well as you can, or rather as Hislop can, after his commu- 
 nication with the Duke of York; and you will then be able, when 
 you have seen the Major, and know what has passed between him 
 and the Duke, to fix your plan immediately, and so immediately put 
 it into execution. According to our calculation, Hislop ought to be 
 at Brunswick the 8th; I therefore trust that by the 16th I shall from 
 you, my dear Lord, receive an account of j'-our having fixed the day 
 of your departure, and not only of the probability, but indeed of 
 the certainty of your being many miles on your journey. There are 
 some other particular circumstances which might not be so proper 
 or so safe to commit to paper, which I have entrusted Major Hislop 
 with, and which he will communicate by word of mouth to you. 
 I will not detain you, my dear Lord, any longer, except to assure 
 you how happy I was in having this opportunity of testifying the 
 very sincere regard I entertain for you, as well as those sentiments 
 with which I remain, etc. „ p .. 
 
 This singular communication was characteristic of the writer’s 
 loose train of thought, and belonged to those illusions which he 
 indulged in. Neither he nor Lord Malmesbury had anything to do 
 with the arrangements for bringing over the Princess. These were 
 all controlled by the King, and depended on the safety of the route, 
 the position of the protecting force, and other matters, which 
 required the gravest consideration. Lord Malmesbury was much 
 embarrassed by this pressure, as he was “tied down by the most 
 precise instructions.” He wrote to the minister — the Duke of Port- 
 land — a complaint of this treatment, explaining that he was there 
 “under the King’s command, and could only act by his special 
 order.” 
 
 The Prince had also added some private instructions which he 
 did not venture to commit to paper, and which w’^ere no doubt 
 beyond his province. All this the envoy quietly put aside in his 
 reply to him, with assurance that “not an hour should be lost” as 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 297 
 
 soon as he learned what place had been fixed on for embarking at. 
 It will be said indulgently that it was but the ardor of the bride- 
 gr oom e ager to see his bride. This feeling, however, could have 
 amounted to little more than curiosity. It might be that he was 
 thinking of the price which was to be paid on completion of his 
 co'ntract; and, as irfurned out, the subject of his debts was brought 
 before the House a fortnight after the marriage. This is, indeed, 
 further proved by his ungraciously refusing to allow a lady, whom 
 the Princess had selected as a sort of confidential reader, to be 
 brought over. 
 
 At last, on Monday, December 29th, the party started, amid firing 
 of cannon and the shouts of the crowd. “She must be ruled by 
 fear — even by terror,” were almost the last encouraging words 
 addressed to the envoy. Her mother was to go with her as far as 
 the sea. The Duke was much affected at parting, and begged the 
 English nobleman to watch over her. With such awkward fore- 
 bodings the luckless Princess commenced her journey to the land to 
 which she was to bring so much confusion and scandal. The whole 
 of this preliminary leaves a most unpleasant impression, and it is 
 impossible to have followed the conversations, so carefully reported, 
 without seeing that all the later events followed in the most natural 
 order, and almost as of course. 
 
 The fleet had been ordered to the Texel, and it was proposed that 
 the party should journey through Holland. On the road, however, 
 it was heard that the French had made such progress that it was 
 impossible to think of reaching the coast. The party therefore, 
 after staying at Osnabruck— the seat of the Duke of York’s bishop- 
 ric — determined to wait events at Hanover. These obstacles caused 
 a long and tedious delay; and, as it proved, they were three months 
 on the road. 
 
 The effect of this comparative emancipation on the character of 
 the Princess was seen almost at once. Her mentor was every day 
 more and more surprised by some new and disagreeable revelation; 
 though it must be owned his tone to her was too much of the school- 
 master. But there were other matters which shocked him inex- 
 pressibly. It would have been worth while seeing his face, when a 
 page brought down her highness’s tooth, which had just been 
 drawn, for him to look at; “nasty and indelicate,” he writes with 
 disgust. 
 
 Lord Malmesbury’s notes and observations on the journey’ are 
 significant enough. We shall let him speak for himself, 
 
 13 * 
 
298 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 ''January 2nd. — I persuade the Princess Caroline to be munifi- 
 cent towards some poor emigres dying of hunger, and through want — 
 she disposed to be, but not knowing how to set about it. I tell her, 
 liberality and generosity is an enjoyment, not a severe virtue. She 
 gives a louis for some lottery tickets; I give ten, and say the Prin- 
 cess ordered me. She surprised ; I said I w’as sure she did not mean 
 to give for the ticket its precise value, and that I forestalled her 
 intention. Next day a French emigre, with a pretty child, draws 
 near the table; the Princess Caroline immediately, of her own 
 accord, puts ten louis in a paper and gives it to the child; the 
 Duchess observes it, and inquires of me — I was dining betw’een 
 them — what it was. I tell her a demand on her purse. She, embar- 
 rassed, ‘Je n’ai que mes beaux doubles louis de Brunswick.’ I 
 answered, ‘ Qu’ils deviendront plus beaux entre les mains de cet 
 enfant que dans ta poche.’ She ashamed, and gives three of them. 
 In the evening, Princess Caroline, to whom these sort of virtues 
 were never preached, on my praising the coin of the money at 
 Brunswick, offers me very seriously eight or ten double louis, say- 
 ing, ‘ Cela lie me fait rieii — je ne m’en soucie pas — je vous prie de 
 la prendre.’ I mention these facts to show her character; it could 
 not distinguish between giving as a benevolence, and flinging away 
 the money like a child, 
 
 " January Ath. — Princess Caroline very at cards — speaks 
 
 without thinking — gets too easy — calls the ladies (she never saw) 
 ‘Mon cceur, ma chere, ina petite.’ I notice this, and reprove it 
 strongly. The Princess, for the first time, disposed to take it 
 amiss; I do not pretend to observe it. Duchess wants to return to 
 Brunswick, and leave us to go on by ourselves; this I oppose, and 
 suppose it is impossible. ‘ If I am taken,’ says she, ‘ I am sure the 
 King will be angry.’ ‘He will be very sorry,’ I reply; ‘but your 
 Royal Highness must not leave your daughter till she is in the 
 hands of her attendants.’ She argues, but I will not give way, and 
 she does. 
 
 " January \Wi. — Princess Caroline very missish at supper. I 
 much fear these habits are iri'ccoverably rooted in her — she is natu- 
 rally curious, and Sl gossip--she is quick and observing, and she 
 has a silly pride of finding out eveiy thing; she thinks herself par- 
 ticularly acute in discovering likings, and this leads her at times to 
 the most improper remarks and conversation, I am determined to 
 take an opportunity of correcting, coute qu'il coute. 
 
 "January 1795.— On ^n^i^ up Princess Caroline’s char* 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 299 
 
 acter Jo-day, it came out to my mind to be, that she has quick 
 parts, without a sound or distinguishing understanding; that she 
 has a ready conception, but no judgment; caught by the first im- 
 pression, led by the first impulse; turned away by appearances or 
 enjouement; loving to talk, and prone to confide and make missish 
 friendships that last twenty-four hours. Some natural, but no 
 acquired morality, and no strong innate notions of its value and 
 necessity; warm feelings, and nothing to counterbalance them; 
 great good humor, and much good nature; no appearance of 
 caprice; rather quick and mve, but not a grain of rancor. From 
 her habits, from the life she was allowed and even compelled to 
 live, forced to dissemble; fond of gossiping, and this strengthened 
 greatly by the example of her good mother, who is all curiosity and 
 inquisitiveness, and who has no notion of not gratifying this desire 
 at any price. In short, the Princess, in the hands of a steady and 
 sensible man, would probably turn out well; but where it is likely 
 she will find faults perfectly analogous to her own she will fail. 
 She has no governing powers, although her mind is physically 
 strong. She has her father’s courage, but it is to her, as to him, 
 of no avail. He wants mental decision, she character and tact. 
 
 '‘February — Argument with the Princess about her toilette. 
 
 She piques her.=elf on dressing quick ; I disapprove this. She main- 
 tains her point; I, however, desire Madame Busche to exp lain to 
 her that the Princ e is very delicate, and that he expects a long and 
 very careful toilette de proprete, of which he has no idea. On the 
 contrary, she neglects it sadly, and is offensive from this neglect, 
 Madame Busche executes her commission well, and the Princess 
 comes out the next daj^ well washed all over. 
 
 “March Wi . — I had conversations with the Princess Caroline on 
 \tlie toilette, on cleanliness, and on delicacy of speaking. On these 
 points I endeavored, as far as was possible for a man, to inculcate 
 the necessity of great and nice attention to every part of dress, as 
 well as to what was hid as to what was seen. (I knew she wore 
 coarse petticoats, coarse shifts, and thread stockings, and these 
 never well washed, or changed often enough.) I observed that a 
 \long toilette was necessary, and gave her no credit for boasting 
 [ Pi at hers was a short one. What I could not say myself on this 
 point, I got said through women — through Madame Busche, and 
 afterwards through Mrs. Harcourt. It is remarkable Iiotv, on this 
 point, her education has been neglected, and how much her moth 
 er, although an Englishwoman, was inattentive to it,” 
 
300 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE TV. 
 
 THE PRINCE OF WALES TO LORD MALMESBURY. 
 
 “ Carlton House, 21st Feb,, 1795. 
 
 “My dear Lord, 
 
 “I do myself the pleasure of acknowledging the receipt of 
 three letters I received on the 19th from your Lordship — two dated 
 the 15th and 18th January, the other I suppose written on a subse- 
 quent day, but bearing no date. Accept my best thanks for every 
 step that you have taken, as, to the best of my judgment, nothing- 
 can have been more consistent in point of prudence and propriety, 
 and, indeed, more consonant to my wishes than your conduct ap- 
 pears to me to have been throughout this very tedious and trying 
 embassy. The accounts you are so good as to give me of the tem- 
 per and resignation with which the Princess is so good as to bear 
 with the interruptions in her journey, is more than I fancy any one 
 would venture to say for me from hence, as I assure you, all the 
 mismanagement, procrastinations, and difficulties that I have met 
 with in the conduct of this business on this side of the water have 
 totally put patience (a virtue you well know that our family in gen- 
 eral are not much endowed with) out of the question. On account 
 of the unfortunate position of affairs on the Continent, I have 
 judged it necessary, in order to bring the Princess over in the most 
 expeditious, as well as the safest mode, to contrive she should be in 
 a manner smuggled over into this countr}"; this meets entirely with 
 His Majesty’s approbation, and the plan to be pursued is this. The 
 yachts, as well as the ladies and gentlemen who were to have had 
 the honor of attending the Princess, to remain under expectation 
 of receiving sailing orders hourly. The convoy destined originally 
 to attend upon the Princess, to proceed to sea with the rest of the 
 fleet and transports going to fetch the remains of our army from 
 the Continent. By which means they will endeavor to make Stade, 
 having detached themselves from the rest of the fleet at a certain 
 latitude. Finding themselves there, to take you and your charge 
 aboard, before it is suspected even on this side of the water that 
 such a plan is in agitation. Not thinking it proper that the Prin- 
 cess should come without a lady, Mrs. Harcourt is ordered to attend 
 her; and her own ladies. Lady Jersey and Mrs. Aston, who were 
 to have sailed in the yachts to have fetched her over, will be read}^ 
 to receive her at the water-side on her landing, together with Cler- 
 mont and the rest of her suite. The general and universal mortifi- 
 cation occasioned by the fleet’s being obliged to put back, made us 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV 
 
 301 
 
 doubly anxious by every means that human foresight can devise to 
 prevent a similar unpleasant happening again; and we 
 
 therefore think, in addition to this motive, that by retaining the 
 yachts and attendants here, we shall prevent entirely our enemies 
 from having the smallest intimation of our having in present and 
 immediate contemplation the scheme of the Princess’s crossing. 
 
 • “I hope you will make this plan acceptable to the Princess as 
 well as the Duchess, as you must be well acquainted with my im- 
 patience; and I beg you will assure them both that there is no sort 
 of respect, state, and attention, that shall not be shown the Prin- 
 cess, the moment she sets her foot on our dear little island, I am 
 convinced you Vvill heartily concur with me in my anxious endea- 
 vors through this, or even any other means, to bring your voyage 
 to as expeditious and happy a termination as possible. I write to 
 the Duchess of Brunswick by the same courier, which letters you 
 will have the goodness to deliver into her hands yourself. I can- 
 not help once more reiterating my thanks to you, my dear Lord, 
 for your judgment and caution through all these late occurrences, 
 etc. I remain with great truth, etc., 
 
 “ George P. 
 
 “ P.S. — Pray say everything that is kind from me to Hislop.” 
 
 At last news arrives of the fleet being off Stade. The Duchess 
 parted from her daughter in much atfliction, and then started for 
 home. At this stage their guide arrives at the conclusion that “the 
 Princess’s heart is very, very light,” 
 
 One of the ladies selected to attend her, Mrs. Harcourt, had met 
 the Princess at Hanover; the other, Lady Jersey, was to meet 
 her on landing in England. The first had driven into the town 
 attended by two horsemen. The other lady, presuming on her 
 influence, had come down to Rochester, and tried to force herself 
 on board the yacht, scandalizing that not too sensitive “Jack 
 Payne,” who was in command. For his proper refusal Mr. Payne 
 fell into disgrace with his royal master, and did not recover his 
 favor for several years.* A crowd of English of distinction, with 
 some of the emigres, were eager to secure a passage home. On 
 Saturday, at seven o’clock, the Princess embarked on board the 
 Jupiter, fifty-gun ship, and by Wednesday the squadron was off 
 Yarmouth. A thick fog here set in, and it was not until noon on 
 
 * “ Life of Sir G. Elliot,” iii. 47. 
 
302 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 Saturday that they dropped anchor off Gravesend. The Princess 
 won the hearts of the officers by her unflagging good-humor, and 
 even extorted praise from her mentor. On Sunday morning the 
 royal party was transferred to one of the royal yachts, and after a 
 pleasant sail, reached Greenwich at twelve o’clock, where vast 
 crowds were assembled to greet her. There was a delay of more 
 than an hour at the governor’s, owing to the royal carriages not 
 having arrived from London; and it turned out that this was owing 
 to her lady-in-waiting not being read}". When she did arrive, she 
 conducted herself with a strange arrogance, found fault with the 
 Princess’s dress in such terms that Lord Malmesbury had to speak 
 rather sharply to her. The poor stranger, who was becomingly 
 dressed in a muslin gown and blue satin petticoat, with a black 
 beaver hat and blue and black feathers, was required to doff her 
 attire in a room of the governor’s house, and put on a white satin 
 gown and an elegant turban cap, which Lady Jersey had brought 
 from town. 
 
 The procession, consisting of two coaches and six, and escorted 
 by a detachment of the Prince’s own regiment. Cornet Brummell 
 being one of the officers, then started for London, and was attended 
 with but moderate greeting and applause. The poor friendless 
 creature was virtually alone, being refused any one of her own 
 countryfolk, who might have advised and guided her. 
 
 About half -past two they reached St. James’s Palace, the rooms 
 of the Duke of Cumberland in Cleveland Row being given up to 
 her. Then the windows were opened and the Princess showed 
 herself to the crowd. Lord Malmesbury at once went for the 
 Prince — a dramatic crisis indeed. The next few minutes were to 
 reveal what was to be the issue of this fatal experiment. The Prince 
 came immediately, and it was noticed by the crowd outside that he 
 was agitated. “I accordingly,” says Lord Malmesbury, “to the 
 established etiquette, introduced (no one else being in the room) the 
 Princess Caroline to him. She, very properly, in consequence of 
 my saying it was the right mode of proceeding, attempted to kneel 
 to him. He raised her gracefully enough, and embraced her, said 
 barely one word, turned round, retired to a distant part of the 
 apartment, and, calling tome, said: ‘Harris, I am not well: pray 
 get me a glass of brandy.’ I said: ‘ Sir, had you not better have a 
 glass of water?’ Upon which he, much out of humor, said, with an 
 oath: ‘No; I will go directly to the Queen.’ And away he went.” 
 
 No wonder after this strange reception the Princess, bewildered 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 SOS 
 
 and confused, should have exclaimed: “MonDieu! is he always 
 like that?” Then added: “ I find him mry fat, and not at all like 
 the picture sent me,” Lord Malmesbury tried to mend matters as 
 best he could, after a lame fashion — “His royal highness was a good 
 deal affected and fiurried at this first meeting,” The Princess, not 
 likely to be imposed on by such an excuse, proceeded to make other 
 uncomplimentary remarks, embarrassing her companion a good 
 deal, when he was hastily summoned away to wait on the King, 
 This propitious introduction to her new life is significant of the 
 future treatment she was to experience. 
 
 The Prince went straight to the Queen and the King, strangely 
 enough began to talk on foreign politics with Lord Malmesbury, 
 carelessly putting a single question as to what another father would 
 have considered a most interesting subject, ‘ ‘ Is she good-humored ?’ ’ 
 he asked. The other answered that he had never seen her other- 
 wise, even when severely tried, “I am glad of it,” said the King, 
 significantly. Thus already there was a hostile party formed against 
 her, and on the very night of her arrival she must have learned that 
 her husband already almost disliked her, that her cousins the Duke 
 and Duchess of York, were hostile, that her lady of honor was her 
 enemy, and placed near her to be a spy, that the other attendant 
 was unacceptable to her, while her new parents were indifferent. 
 There was a small dinner that evening, consisting only of the 
 travelling party and the Prince, and at which the Yice-Chamberlain 
 did the honors. Here the behavior of the Princess was most unfor- 
 tunate, “flippant, rattling, affecting wit;” and the guests were 
 amazed to hear her throwing out railleries on the Prince’s well-known 
 penchant. The Prince showed by his looks how disgusted he was, 
 “This, unfortunately,” says Lord Malmesbury, “fixed his dislike, 
 which, when left to himself, the Princess had not the talent to 
 Remove, but, by still observing the same giddy manners and coarse 
 Sarcasm, increased till it became positive hatred,” This was deplor- 
 able enough, and there must have been more of recklessness than of 
 want of feeling; and she explains it piteously in her own account; 
 “The first moment I saw my/wiw and Lady Jersey together I 
 knew how it all was, and I said to myself, ‘Oh, very well! ’ I took 
 my partie. . . . One of the civil things his royal highness did just 
 at first was to find fault with my shoes, and, as I was very young 
 and lively in those days, 1 told him to make me a better pair and 
 bring them to me, I brought letters from all the princes and 
 princesses to him from all the petty courts, and I tossed them to 
 
304 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 him, and said, ‘There! that’s to prove I’m not an impostor!’”* 
 The envoy, with all his diplomacy, could not see what is here 
 revealed, that this lightness of behavior was the assumed indiffer- 
 ence of a woman hurt in her pride — “Oh, very well! I took my 
 partie.” 
 
 In the same spirit the Princess now actually made a confidante of 
 her lady-in-waiting, and is said to have calmly confided to her that 
 she had been attached to another person. This, it was presumed, 
 was reported to the Prince, who on the next day showed a marked 
 coldness. Another speech was also reported. Hair-powder was 
 then going out of fashion, but the Prince still adhered to his custom, 
 and the Princess declared to the same confidante, “ that he looked 
 like a sergeant-major with his ears powdered.” Such personal 
 remarks — his upon her shoes, hers upon his wig — were not likely 
 to produce agreeable feelings. 
 
 After this dinner was over, arrived the King and Queen and other 
 members of the ro3'al famil}" to welcome the Princess, who was 
 presented in due form. The King was cordial and even affectionate, 
 but the Queen’s coldness w^as remarked. f Then she was left in the 
 old Palace, in charge of Mrs. Aston, and thus the exciting daj^ 
 ended. 
 
 Three daj^s later, on Wednesday, April 8th, 1795, the marriage 
 was performed with customary state and magnificence, and, accord- 
 ing to the favorite phrase, with great demonstrations of joy; and 
 the public seem to have been well contented with her appearance, 
 her good-humored and intelligent air, and taste in dress. The cere- 
 mony took place at night, and was performed by the Archbishop 
 of Canterbury. In the chapel the Prince gave his hat, with its rich 
 diamond button and loop, to Lord Harcourt to hold, and then made 
 him a present of it. The Duke of Leeds says, in his memoranda: 
 “ I could not help remarking how little conversation passed between 
 the Prince and Princess during the procession, and the coolness and 
 indifference apparent in the manner of the Prince. I was after- 
 wards informed that he appeared much agitated on entering the 
 chapel, and that during the ceremony- he was perpetually looking 
 at his favorite. Lad}' Jerse}'.” 
 
 He then explains that the hat thus presented was decorated with 
 a magnificent diamond star and buckle. Lady Harcourt was known 
 to be the most intimate friend of Lady Jersey. 
 
 * “ Memoirs of Lady C. Bury,” i. 17. 
 
 tHuish, “ Memoirs of George IT.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 305 
 
 During the ceremony a strange incident was noticed. The Prince, 
 who seemed dazed or bewildered, rose impatiently from his knees 
 before the ceremony was half over. The Archbishop stopped, but 
 the old King stepped forward and recalled his son to his situation. 
 He also took the part of “prompter” through the whole ceremony, 
 and in the hall later “ shook his son’s hand with a force that brought 
 tears to his eyes.” 
 
 As the newly married pair drove from the chapel their first falling 
 out took place. The Prince had remarked, on hearing the mob 
 shout, that “ many were interested in their happiness,” at the same 
 time taking her hand. She pettishly snatched hers away, put out 
 at something in her reception; on which he became angry and 
 sullen.* Such was the course of this ill-omened day. 
 
 Lady C. Campbell, “Diary.” 
 
306 
 
 TEE LIFE OF OEOBOE IV. 
 
 CHAPTER XXYIl. 
 
 1795—1797 
 
 Two days after the marriage the “ happy pair ” returned to Wind- 
 sor, where they remained a few days. They then repaired to the 
 Prince’s rural residence at Kempshott. It seems incredible what 
 the bride had to encounter here during her honeymoon. There was 
 but one lady, and that one her lady-in-waiting, and the men were 
 the “blackguard companions of the Prince, who were constantly 
 drunk, and sleeping and snoring in boots on the sofa.”* It is not 
 surprising to learn that within two or three. weeks of the marriage 
 a sort of separation took place between the ill-starred pair. How- 
 ever, some decency of appearance was to be kept up. There was a 
 visit in state to Co vent Garden Theatre, where the Princess was, 
 as it were, presented to the public for the first time; while in May 
 a dancing f^te was given at Frogmore to the “happy pair,” where 
 the ladies all appeared in white, with “ Prince of Wales” plumes, 
 and the gentlemen in blue and gold. 
 
 They were then established at Carlton House. It at once became 
 evident that all the good advice, so laboriously impressed on the 
 Princess, had wrought little effect; for, at the various dinner-par- 
 ties given during the first two or three weeks after the marriage, 
 she behaved so flippantly and talked so lightlv that her husband 
 called Lord Malmesbury aside and asked him • what he thought of 
 this sort of manners;” on which he could only repeat her father’s 
 words — that, if she were not kept stricth^ she would give way to 
 this extravagance. Then the Prince reproached him with not 
 warning him in time; to which the reply was given that he had 
 acted under instructions from the King to conclude the marriage, 
 and that such matters did not enter into his commission. It was 
 hardly surprising that this blunt declaration should displease or 
 leave a rankle in his mind. 
 
 * Sir G. Elliot, iii. 14. He was shown the correspondence and written com- 
 plaints on these matters. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 307 
 
 It must be owned that his position had been an embarrassing one, 
 for though he owned that he would have felt it his duty to mention 
 any notorious or glaring defect, or such as would render the union 
 unseemly, mere levity would not have been sufficient ground to dis- 
 turb the negotiation. But the truth is, after these signs and tokens, 
 it was scarcely surprising that the negotiator should now begin to 
 augur the w'orst. “It is impossible,” he says, “to foresee or con- 
 ceive any comfort from this connection, in which I lament very 
 much having taken any share, however passive it was.” 
 
 The Princess, who was not nearly so volatile as Lord Malmesbury 
 would make out, for some time bore with the treatment very 
 patiently. She said that her father had told her to observe every- 
 thing, but say nothing. Indeed, her whole course in this trying 
 situation was at first marked by a certain amiability and prudence; 
 and her best claim to indulgence is that she was driven into the 
 opposite defects by a long series of outrages. She saw her lady-in- 
 waiting invited to the Queen’s House, and sit down to play cards 
 with the Princesses. The worthy old King disapproved of these 
 proceedings, but could do nothing. All the summer the attendance 
 of this person w'as forced upon her. 
 
 Lord George Seymour described to Lord Houghton a characteristic 
 scene that occurred during this disturbed honeymoon. At a con- 
 vivial party, at which assisted Lord Coleraine and others, punch and 
 pipes were introduced. When the lady-in-waiting had sipped a 
 little, the Prince, in a marked way, took her glass; on which the 
 Princess seized Coleraine’s pipe, and gave a sort of contemptuous 
 puff at the Prince. There was a rough humor, as well as readiness, 
 m this proceeding. 
 
 At Brighton, appearances were maintained and the gayeties kept 
 up. The Prince introduced various friends of his, such as Sheridan, 
 with whom he had fallen out, but was now reconciled; also Sir 
 Sidney Smith, and the Stadtholder of Holland, whom the Brighton 
 folk were entertained in watching.* 
 
 *The Princess commanded a play for his entertainment; in spite of her 
 vivacity and utmost efforts, he slept and snored in the box beside her, and was 
 roused with some difficulty when the curtain fell. A ball having been given 
 in compliment to him at the Castle tavern, he fell asleep whilst eating his 
 supper, and snored so loud as to disturb the harmony of the orchestra. His 
 Dutch Highness was also entertained with a grand masquerade ; and was per- 
 plexed by the difficulty of resolving in what dress or character he should 
 attend it. The Prince of Wales said he might go as an old woman.— ” Life 
 and Reign,” i. 270, 
 
308 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 But now, on April 27th, the first steps were taken to furnish the 
 consideration of the bargain, and the question of paying the Prince 
 of Wales’s debts was introduced to the House, and received with 
 “marked disapprobation.” The tone assumed was of the most 
 offensive kind, and the unhappy spendthrift was lectured and rep- 
 robated. Mr. Pitt took a high strain. The debts, he said, must be 
 paid out of the income, which would be increased ; but no gross sum 
 would be granted. There were loud complaints of broken faith on 
 the part of the Prince and his friends, and it was openly said that 
 the minister had violated his engagements. This was, no doubt, the 
 proper course, as a general discharge would only be an encourage- 
 ment to incur fresh liabilities. On this Colonel Stanley, a Lanca- 
 shire member, moved that the old engagement and promise given to 
 Parliament in 1787 should be read. In the discussion that followed, 
 the Prince felt himself humiliated to an extraordinary degree, as he 
 was treated like a spendthrift and pauper ; but this he had brought 
 on himself. 
 
 In May, when the general plan came on for discussion, it was 
 stated by Mr. Pitt that the Prince’s income was about £73,000 a year 
 (including the Cornwall revenue). This he proposed to raise to a 
 sum of £125,000 a year, without adding the Duchy, which would 
 make together nearly £140,000, with £26,000 for Carlton House (a 
 bottomless gulf), and £28,000 for jewels and outfit. But the debts 
 were found to reach the enormous sum of £630,000, all incurred 
 since the last settlement! His proposal was that £25,000 should be 
 set apart yearly; and it was calculated this sum would clear off all 
 in twenty-seven years. Further, any arrear beyond three months 
 should not be recoverable at law. Such was the plan of extrication. 
 It was certainly infinitely mortifying for the Prince. His party 
 either held aloof, or gave but cold support. Mr. Grey was even hos- 
 tile. After declaring himself as ready to support the splendor of 
 the royal family, as “any slippery sycophant of the Court,” he 
 announced that, “considering the distress of the people and their 
 burdens, it was a most unfitting time to make a demand for satisfy- 
 ing extravagance.” He added that no matter how exalted the 
 Prince’s rank, he should descend to the level of other embarrassed 
 persons, compound with his creditors and retrench his establishment. 
 His tone, indeed, was almost studiously blunt and offensive, and the 
 Prince never seems to have forgiven it. He concluded by moving 
 that £40,000 a year in addition would be sufficient. Mr. Fox sup- 
 ported the ministerial proposal but coldly, though he suggested that 
 
THE LIFE OP GEORGE IV. 
 
 B()9 
 
 the King should contribute, and contrasted the large allowance made 
 to the civil list. His suggestion was that the debts should be paid 
 off speedily, by allotting £65,000 a year and the Duchy revenues. 
 
 These debates and recriminations were continued for some weeks, 
 when the Prince found himself compelled to come forward and put 
 himself humbly in the hands of the House. His Attorney-General, 
 Mr. Anstruther, made the following communication; “That his 
 Royal Highness was desirous to acquiesce in whatever might be the 
 sentiments of the House, both in respect to the future regulations of 
 his expenditure, and the appropriation of any part of the income 
 they might think fit to grant him for the discharge of his debts; his 
 wish, on the present occasion, was to consult the wisdom of Parlia- 
 ment. He was perfectly disposed to acquiesce in whatever abate- 
 ment of splendor they might judge to be necessary, from a view of 
 his situation; and desired to have nothing but what the country 
 might cordially be induced to think he ought to have. In fine, that 
 his Royal Highness left all matters relative to the regulation of his 
 establishment and the payment of his debts to their wisdom and 
 discretion, with the assurance that whatever measures they might 
 adopt would meet with his hearty concurrence.” 
 
 This was opposed to all the arguments his friends had been urg- 
 ing. And Mr. Pitt was not slow to press the advantage. Indeed, 
 it will be seen that this was always a characteristic of the Prince — 
 to abandon a course no matter how vehemently championed, when 
 another better suited his purpose. 
 
 On this failure of these attempts he is said to have written to 
 Lord Fitzwilliam and Mr. Fox, offering to put himself at the head 
 of the party, and oppose all measures of the Government. But 
 they dissuaded him from this course. 
 
 “ But a very reasonable plea in his favor had been put forward, 
 ^ which was certainly embarrassing enough to deal with. This was 
 the claim, by way of set-off, to the revenues of the Duchy during _ 
 his minority. These had been appropriated by the King, ,on the 
 high German tradition of paternal despotism, and when the claims 
 became inconvenient, the reply was that the revenues had been 
 absorbed by the expenses of education. No account was rendered 
 till the present discussion, when Mr. Pitt was obliged to admit that 
 a sum of nearly £234,000 had been received. The Government had 
 to make an extraordinary defence. It pleaded the Statute of Limi- 
 tation — the claims of Parliament, which had paid his debts, and the 
 cost of his outfit, which must be set off. Then the expenses of his 
 
310 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEOROE IK 
 
 education had been £83,000. All this was mere special pleading. 
 The claim of Parliament could not hold, as the Prince could hardly 
 be considered a bankrupt, who had to give up all his assets to those 
 who gave him relief. Mr. Fox declared that, by the return before 
 them, the expenses of education were £40,000, of which half should 
 certainly be charged to the Duke of York, who had the same pre- 
 ceptors, etc. He made out also, that the accumulated revenues, 
 with interest, amounted to £500,000. Surely, he said, the King, 
 like any other father, might fairly undertake the modest charges of 
 bringing up his children. But it has been already shown how the 
 King himself left on record the penurious calculations made for the 
 support of his younger children, and the same scale was no doubt 
 applied to the support of his eldest child. The annual expense for 
 many years could not have exceeded £3000, of which one half, or 
 say two thirds only, should have been charged to the Prince, leav- 
 ing an enormous balance. The King’s own debts had been enor- 
 mous, and these arrears had been used to discharge them.* For- 
 tunately, we have satisfactory evidence in support of Mr. Fox’s 
 contention, that the Prince’s education and maintenance had cost 
 but little, and by reference to the Palace accounts, kept with great 
 accuracy and minuteness, and preserved in the British Museum, it 
 will be seen what trifling sums in the wages to services, salary of 
 governess, etc., had been expended. 
 
 “The Prince,” said Mr. Sheridan, “had often done him the honor 
 to consult him, chiefly because his royal highness knew his fixed 
 determination to accept no favors; and he took that opportunity of 
 declaring that he had never received any presents of great value 
 from the Prince. He had, he said, advised him not to make the 
 promise he made in 1787, from the improbability of its being kept. 
 He had at that time drawn up a plan of retrenchment, which was 
 approved by the Prince and by his Majesty; and the Prince told 
 , Jiim the promise was not to be insisted upon, though to his great 
 surprise he found it inserted in the King’s message, which had 
 been seen by his royal highness. The Prince wished him to retreat 
 it, but this he declined. Ministers had then a check upon the 
 expenditure of his royal highness, which they had never enforced ; 
 
 ♦Mr. Nicholl states that these fines for the Duchy leases amounted to 
 £250,000, powers being given by Act of Parliament. It should be added, too, 
 that all the revenues of the Bishopric of Osnaburg, accruing during the Duke 
 of York’s minority, were paid to him on his coming of age. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 311 
 
 they had never interposed to stop a shameful profusion of money 
 upon Carlton House.” 
 
 Such was this singular declaration, inspired, of course, by the 
 Prince. There was certainly truth as to the sums lavished on 
 Carlton House, and it will have seemed surprising to find additional 
 sums paid without demur which had not been voted originally by 
 Parliament. * 
 
 The original proposals were privately agreed' to; the Prince, 
 though Mr. Whitbread and others declared that it was degrading 
 to the Prince, accepting them cheerfully, through Mr. Lambton, 
 his friend. A jointure of £50,000 a year was then voted for the 
 Princess, rather late, it might be thought, and tlie odd provision 
 for preventing the Prince incurring fresh debts was adopted. Com- 
 missioners were named for examining claims and discharging them. 
 Some of the salaries were fourteen quarters in arrear. The various 
 heads of offices in the Prince’s household were made responsible 
 for the expenses in their departments, a singularly inquisitorial 
 proceeding. But astonishment must have been excited by a most 
 extraordinary harangue of the Duke of Clarence, in favor of his 
 brother, in which he declared bluntly “that the marriage was part 
 of a bargain, the price being the payment of his debts. Advantage 
 then had been taken of the difficulties in which he was involved, in 
 order to procure from him this consent. He was in the situation 
 of a man who, if he cannot get a haunch of venison, will rather 
 take any other haunch than go without.” 
 
 In this speech he showed that honest and earnest but indiscreet 
 partisanship which distinguished him through life. 
 
 This business, thus arranged, gave rise to many harsh comments, 
 the one that had most plausibility being that the Prince had “con- 
 stituted himself a bankrupt; ” for the fact that a regular commission 
 was appointed (consisting of the Speaker, Chancellor of the Ex- 
 chequer, Master of the Bolls, the Master of the King’s Household, 
 the Accountant of the Court of Chancery, and the Surveyor of the 
 Crown Lands), together with an investigation and abatement of 
 all tradesmen’s claims, rather lent the air of a “ composition with 
 creditors.” It was the occasion of much discontent and some in- 
 justice, the commission holding a regular court, and abating all 
 
 * Rose, “ Diaries.” Why the King should have paid these sums, trusting to 
 be afterwards indemnified, seems strange, unless we assume he had some 
 reason for gratifying the Prince in this his favorite hobby. 
 
312 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IK 
 
 claims by ten per cent. It is obvious that this proceeding could 
 not affect the demands of creditors who might enforce them in the 
 regular tribunals of the country. And one of this body actually 
 did so — his jeweller, named Jeffereys,* whose complaints and attacks 
 were to harass the Prince for many years to come. 
 
 On the marriage of the Prince, he had received a magnificent 
 order of jewels for presents. No limit, he says, was fixed. The 
 finest and best of everything was to be provided. As of course, 
 the nation being paymaster, £54,000 was laid out for the bride, 
 wdth £10,000 as presents for the Queen and Princesses. Even the 
 Prince’s miniature, which was sent out in a jewelled frame, cost 
 over £4000! When his claims came before the commission, they - 
 were placed at the enormous amount of £85,000, which included 
 bonds of the Prince’s old debts. As the jeweller declined to submit 
 to the reduction, he brought actions for the whole amount, which 
 he recovered, the Prince encouraging him in this step. He had, 
 notwithstanding, to accept the deductions; but the balance was 
 paid in debentures. It is characteristic of the persons who had 
 dealings of this kind with the Prince, that their behavior should 
 have always been of the most selfish and ungrateful kind. This 
 man, who had received such large sums, now began to annoy the 
 Prince with demands for redress of his grievances. f 
 
 Jeffereys soon after was totally ruined. Then began a series of 
 piteous appeals, which took the shape of threatening letters; and 
 it was only when he had a pamphlet ready that the friendly Lord 
 Moira, who in delicate matters acted as his master’s agent, had to 
 treat with him privately. But nothing came of the interview, and 
 
 * This man was for a time a member of Parliament. 
 
 t He complained that hiS reception at Carlton House was cold and distant: 
 “I attended twice, each time by appointment, and waited many hours. At 
 last the Prince, coming into the room with several gentlemen, asked me, in a 
 hasty tone of voice, ‘ what I wanted? ’ I was so agitated with the contempla- 
 tion of my own situation, and so confused by the unusual mode in which his 
 royal highness spoke to me, as to be hardly able to make any answer. His 
 royal highness then said: ‘I believe I owe you some money— £420; do you 
 want it now?’ I humbly replied, when it suited his royal highness’s con- 
 venience. The Prince said, ‘Very well,’ and left the room without another 
 word; nor was I able to form any expectation when it would be repaid.” 
 The Prince, too, had to endure all the regular annoyances of an impecunious 
 debtor. Hamlet, Gray, Vuillamy were some of these unlucky foumisseurs. 
 It was told of Vuillamy that, being always denied to the Prince, he lay in wait 
 at the gate, and with much agitation and despair told the Prince that ” unless 
 paid, he would be in his Papa’s Bench.” 
 
The life of GEORGE IV. 
 
 813 
 
 Jeffereys began to publish a series of pamphlets full of attacks, 
 chiefly on Mrs. Fitzherbert. These ran through many editions. 
 
 Though the arrangement made might be assumed to be a fairly 
 satisfactory one, the Prince took his favorite mode of showing his 
 discontent — by exaggerated and theatrical reduction of his estab- 
 lishment. Lord Cholmondeley now addressed a circular to the 
 household, dispensing with their services. Four ladies of the bed- 
 chamber were retained, with Lords Jersey and Cholmondeley as 
 masters of the horse and of the household — the latter declining his 
 salary of £2000 a year. 
 
 Meanwhile the new menage was not going on happily, and pres- 
 ently an extraordinary business was to excite the curiosity of the 
 gossips and the disgust of the judicious. Early in 1796 there ap- 
 peared an appeal to the public, in the shape of a pamphlet by Lord 
 Jersey, written to vindicate his wife from a strange charge. The 
 transaction had occurred in the preceding year. 
 
 One Dr. Randolph, a clergyman, had undertaken to carry a 
 packet of letters for the Princess to her relations in Brunswick. 
 Not going abroad, however, he sent back the letters to the writer. 
 They never reached her, and soon after the Princess had good 
 grounds for suspicion, if not for certainty, that the Queen had read 
 their contents, and resented the manner in which she had been 
 described. 
 
 The Princess, indeed, admitted that the lost letters contained 
 free but confidential remarks of the kind. There were highly sus- 
 picious circumstances in the case. When the clergyman gave up 
 his journey, he dispatched the packet as a common parcel, book- 
 ing it, he said, by the Brighton coach. He addressed it to Lady 
 Jersey, who was with the Princess at BrigMon. As the Princess 
 had placed the packet in his hands, he might have thought it was 
 important enough to be returned in a more formal manner than by 
 a common carrier. 
 
 It is admitted that the parcel was regularly “booked” and 
 directed to Lady Jersey, so it would not have been difficult to 
 trace it. There were recriminations on all sides, but the matter 
 was never cleared up ; and it was rather happily said that Lord 
 Jersey’s vindication wanted but one thing to make it satisfactory, 
 viz, “his avowal that he knew nothing at all about the matter.” 
 Altogether a most significant token of the happy relations in the 
 royal family. 
 
 Every day the Princess’s position was indeed growing more dis- 
 14 
 
814 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 tressing, Slie was soon to be confined, and this, it might be sup- 
 posed, would secure her more indulgence. She complained piteously 
 to a German friend of the dislike of the Queen and her sisters-in- 
 law ; that whatever she did was misrepresented. The people alone 
 were kind. 
 
 While thus engaged in domestic troubles, a strange sympathy 
 for the Irish nation seized on the Prince. He had not forgotten 
 the compliment paid to him by the Irish Parliament, when the 
 Regency was impending. He had latterly been thrown a good 
 deal with some of the patriots. Mr. Grattan and Lady Louisa 
 Connolly, Lord Colchester tells us, actually persuaded him that he 
 ought to be appointed Viceroy of Ireland. It is stated, indeed, 
 that a formal request to this effect, signed by Grattan, was ten- 
 dered to him, praying him to undertake the government of the 
 country. On this subject he himself addressed Mr. Pitt in some 
 lengthy letters, setting out the dangerous state of the country, and 
 volunteering to go and pacify it. The minister declined to make 
 any such representation to his Majesty. 
 
 ,[ Nearly thirty years later, when as George IV. he was strenuously 
 I resisting Catholic emancipation, and distracting the ministry by 
 |! his vehement opposition, the Duke of Wellington seems to have 
 '^1 “looked up” these rather compromising documents, no doubt 
 \j with a view to refute the theory that the King had always been a 
 “ Protestant Prince.” 
 
 Everything in the first of these documents is in the Prince’s 
 peculiar style; the abundance of italicized words is all his own. 
 No doubt the topics and arguments had been supplied to him by 
 his Irish friends. 
 
 MEMORIAL TO M^PITT FROM THE PRINCE OF WALES. 
 
 “ London, 8th Feb., 1797. 
 
 “ I trust that the importance of the subject, added to the interest I 
 must naturally feel in the safety and welfare of the State, as well as 
 in whatever affects the honor of his Majesty's Groicn, and the happi 
 ness aud prosperity of my father's reign, will apologize for the 
 desire I feel to call the attention of ministers to the following con- 
 siderations: 
 
 “The situation of Ireland at this moment demands their most 
 serious attention, and ought to engage them to leave nothing un- 
 done to prevent the calamities that would arise to Great Britain 
 from a civil war. The value and importance of Ireland cannot be 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 315 
 
 adequately estimated or sufficiently prized; and its loss or separa- 
 tion would be the most mortal blow that this kingdom could re- 
 ceive. This is well known to every man who is acquainted with 
 the relative situations of the two kingdoms. 
 
 “The French Government appears to be now thoroughly ap- 
 prised of this truth; and by their late expedition, fitted out at 
 a prodigious expense, and sent in the depth of winter, when an 
 attempt on the Irish coast was generally deemed impracticable, 
 they have shown that they thus consider no expense too great, no risk 
 sufficient to deter them from the prosecution of the plans they have 
 formed for the purpose of depriving Great Britain of the aid, sup- 
 port, and advantages derived from Ireland. The first attempt has 
 failed; but the French, by an enterprise unequalled in their history, 
 have gained advantages that would more than compensate them 
 for the loss of the whole expedition, if every ship had perished in 
 the storm. They have destroyed the security we enjoyed from our 
 insular situation. They have proved, by an experiment, that our 
 coasts may be attempted with impunity by an inferior fleet, and 
 have destroyed prepossession that had grown venerable by age, and 
 was worthy a fleet of 50 sail and 50,000 men to this kingdom; but 
 they could not attempt an invasion without having heat our fleet 
 and being masters at sea. From the circumstances of a part of the 
 Toulon fleet having been brought round to Brest, and of the prepa- 
 rations being continued in that port subsequent to the sailing of 
 the expedition under Hoche, in December, there is reason to con- 
 clude that the plan was of a very extensive and alarming nature; 
 and if tl>e first landing had taken place, that it would have been 
 followed up and supported by successive expeditions, either to act in 
 concert with the first, or to divide our attention and strength by a 
 diversion in the coasts of England or Scotland. 
 
 “So far their intentions appear manifest, and from the continu- 
 ance of the preparations in their channel ports, as well as their 
 avowed declarations and the aspect of affairs on the Continent, it is 
 reasonable to suppose that the attempt will he renewed; and however 
 they may threaten or infest the coasts of this kingdom, that Ireland 
 will he the point of their operations. This might have been doubtful 
 before the late attempt; it can scarcely be so now. 
 
 “ The French have declared that they went to Ireland as friends, 
 and not as enemies. I hope they would have been deceived in their 
 expectations. But still the opinion must have been formed either 
 from direct communications from that country, or from known cir- 
 
316 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE It. 
 
 cumstances operating to discontent in that kingdom; or lastly, from 
 a conviction arising out of the former of their being able to propose 
 superior advantages to Ireland from a connection with them. 
 
 “ That the French have been excited by direct communications 
 from Ireland, there is reason to suppose, from the number of dis- 
 tricts in the north of that kingdom that have been proclaimed by 
 Government to be in a state of insurrection. 
 
 “I shall not question the wisdom or policy of such proclamations. 
 If they do not originate in party disputes and private quarrels, they 
 increase and extend them; and one dangerous effect of them is 
 evident: they render the proclaimed districts desperate, and give 
 encouragement to a foreign enemy. And if I am rightly informed, 
 the districts so proclaimed are not the most dissatisfied or the most 
 dangerous parts of the kingdom. 
 
 “ I understand that the town of Belfast, though not proclaimed, 
 is in reality the centre of dissatisfaction, and perhaps I might say 
 disaffection; and that the wealthy and independent Presbyterians 
 of the north are at the bottom of all the secret machinations that 
 agitate the kingdom. 
 
 “Whatever the private views of the leaders may be, they have hith- 
 erto confined themselves to demand a Parliamentary Reform. In 
 this they have acted artfully, by comprehending the Roman Catholic 
 claims in their demands, and thus forming two bodies, hitherto 
 opposed, into one, under the title of United Irishmen. 
 
 “If secret object oi this union be a revolution in the Govern- 
 ment and a separation from Great Britain, as there is too much rea- 
 son to apprehend, it is alarming from its object and formidable from 
 its numbers; and a moment should not be lost to disunite its mem- 
 bers, particularly as I hope the Boman Catholics are not, as yet, to 
 any degree tainted with disaffection, though they may be led by 
 degrees to go Wiefull lengths with the Presbyterians. 
 
 “ If it be alleged that very few indulgences remain to be granted 
 to the Roman Catholics, and those not of a nature to interest the 
 multitude, I should say that the man is little acquainted vith human 
 nature, who does not know that mankind is more guided by pride 
 and passion than by interest, and that an affront operates more for- 
 cibly than an injury. Besides, the rich and powerful few in this 
 case infiuence the thoughtless and unreflecting many; and the term 
 emancipation, applicable only to a state of slavery, is selected on 
 this occasion to indicate the general sense entertained and propa- 
 gated on that head among the people. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 317 
 
 “Without, therefore, entering into a fruitless inquiry whether 
 the discontent on this score be just and founded, it is sufficient that 
 the discontent exists, and that the party in Ireland who are sus- 
 pected of Republican principles, and of being inclined to a connec- 
 tion with France, make use of this grievance, supposed or real, to 
 attach the Roman Catholics to their views iin&form a common cause. 
 
 “Without also entering into the policy of withholding or refus- 
 ing these concessions on former occasions, I shall only say that cir- 
 cumstances may render it prudent to grant at one time what has 
 been refused at another, and that without any inconsistency ; and, 
 therefore, without any retrospect to what is past, I feel myself 
 called upon to declare my decided opinion that no time ought to he 
 lost in repealing erery exclusive restriction and disqualification on the 
 Irish Roman Catholics. If formerly the suprema lex justified these 
 prohibitory statutes — and on no other principle can they be justified 
 — I am persuaded that it now imperiously demands their repeal. 
 The Irish Roman Catholics are naturally loyal and attached to 
 monarchy; they have behaved well in a distinguished manner on 
 the late threatened invasion. The affectionate attachment and zeal 
 they have shown on that trying occasion deserve every possible 
 return from the throne; and any concession granted in consequence 
 will appear a reward for past services, and encourage to future 
 exertion; and, above all, by exciting warm and grateful sentiments, 
 for which the Irish are particularly distinguished, it may be fairl}’’ 
 expected that such a measure would detach the Roman Catholics 
 from the disaffected party, without appearing to have that for its 
 object. 
 
 “If this measure be adopted, I should express my wish and 
 readiness to undertake the government of Ireland — great and 
 arduous as the task appears under the present circumstances — with 
 a view of securing the full benefit of this concession to the throne, 
 and in the hopes of more firmly attaching that valuable kingdom 
 to the Crown of Great Britain, and animating the spirit of that loyal 
 and affectionate people to the most powerful exertions against our 
 desperate enemy, if they should again renew their attempts upon 
 that kingdom. 
 
 “ I am thoroughly aware of the great responsibility that attaches 
 to ministers on the score of Ireland. If my opinion be adopted, I 
 am willing to share that responsihility with them; if it is not, it must 
 remain with them. I recommend it to them to grant this boon before 
 it is asked. If it is asked, it must be granted; but it will then 
 
318 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IK 
 
 appear extorted from our fear, and not granted from our affection, 
 and the whole benefit will be lost. I recommend a preventim meas- 
 ure, and request them to weigh it with the consideration its impor- 
 tance requires. The interval of suspended invasion is favorable, and 
 should be improved with the most sedulous attention, in order to 
 adopt this and such other measures as promise most effectually to 
 divert the impending storm or to break its force. 
 
 “ I shall at present forbear to consider the other measures that it 
 may be proper to adopt for conciliating the affections and extinguish- 
 ing the dissensions that agitate parts of that kingdom, as likewise 
 i\\Q relative advantages thdit maybe held out by France and Spain 
 to Ireland on the score of commercial intercourse. These are sub- 
 jects of great importance, that will naturally present themselves to 
 X\\Q judgment and penetration of ministers. 
 
 “I cannot suppose that they will impute the loyal behavior of the 
 Irish Roman Catholics on the late occasion to a perfect acquiescence 
 in the situation, and from thence infer that the present system should 
 be continued, perverse a mode of reasoning may prove fatal in a 
 future trial, as it is aggravating injustice with insult. Neither do I 
 believe that, from the appearance of zeal and loyalty exhibited by 
 all ranks, they will infer that there is neither dissatisfaction nor dis- 
 affection in that kingdom, though they did not break out into open 
 action while the fate of the French expedition was uncertain. What 
 might have happened if the expedition had succeeded, and the French 
 landed in force, may be more doubtful. I fear it is too well known 
 that both do exist to a considerable degree; and their not having 
 burst out into acts of violence proves only more caution and pi'u- 
 dence than were to be expected, but leaves us ignorant of the magni- 
 tude and extent of the dianger. G. P. ” 
 
 SECOND MEMORIAL ADDRESSED TO MR. PITT. 
 
 “ Carlton House, May 29th, 1797. 
 
 “In the beginning of last February I transmitted to his Majesty's 
 ministers my thoughts on the state of Ireland, recommending to the 
 Cabinet conciliatory measures, as they appeared to me indispensa- 
 bly necessary in order to secure the well-affected, to attach the 
 minds of the Irish nation to the Crown, and to prevent civil war 
 and rebellion, of which symptoms had even then appeared in that 
 kingdom. 
 
 “I had the mortification to find the measures I recommended dis- 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 319 
 
 approved of, and that a system of coercion was to be pursued in the 
 government of Ireland. Lamenting the adoption of such a system, 
 and deploring the consequences that it must necessarily produce, I 
 have notwithstanding preserved silence hitherto on the subject, that 
 ministers might give that system a fair trial. But, having now done 
 so, and the menacing circumstances increasing every day, I should 
 consider a further silent acquiescence as betraying the dearest inters 
 ests both of my king and country ; for I regard it as the first duty 
 imposed on me by my situation to endeavor, by every means in my 
 power, to prevent the effusion of civil blood, and to avert the mis- 
 fortunes incident on a rebellion in Ireland and the loss of that 
 kingdom. 
 
 “ In the month of February last I could only state what I con- 
 ceived to be the probable consequences of neglecting to adopt con- 
 ciliatory measures. I can now appeal to the report of the Commit- 
 tee of Secrecy of the Irish House of Commons on certain papers 
 seized in Belfast on the 14th April last, and laid before the House 
 on the 29th of that month. 
 
 “The report is deficient as to dates r but it appears from it that 
 the Society of United Irishmen had been formed as early as 1791, 
 for the express purpose of separating Ireland from Great Britain. It 
 appears also, by a return dated December 7th, 1796, that the above 
 society had at that period gained 59,688 adherents in the province of 
 Ulster. From the month of October, 1796, the system of coercion 
 had been rigorously pursued without interruption or opposition from 
 any quarter. On the contrary, the whole strength and loyalty of 
 the kingdom have been called forth, and corps of yeomanry em- 
 bodied throughout the kingdom, for the purpose of strengthening 
 the hands of Government. 
 
 “And yet, notwithstanding every effort of administration backed 
 by a great military force, the report states that in four months, from 
 December to April, the number of United Irishmen had increased 
 from 59,688 to 99,411; and the county of Meath, one of the most 
 turbulent in the kingdom, is included in the former and not in the 
 latter; if it had, the numbers would have nearly doubled. The 
 fair conclusion is, that the system of coercion had in four months 
 spread as great disaffection to the Government as the Society of 
 United Irishmen had been able to do in the five preceding years. 
 
 “So alarming an increase can alone be accounted for by the 
 avowal of this system, coupled with the declaration of the Irish 
 ministers in both Houses of Pjwliament in that kingdom — that no 
 
320 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 further concessions would be made by Government to the Roman 
 Catholics; a declaration that I must condemn as unwise and ini’ 
 politic, and originating in unparalleled ingratilrude to a description 
 of men who bad shown the greatest zeal, lo 3 ^alty, and sound prin^ 
 ciples bj’" their distinguished exertions in the public cause when their 
 country was threatened with a French invasion. 
 
 “ If a French fleet should again visit the coasts of Ireland, could 
 ministers depend on the cordial co-operation of the Irish Roman 
 Catholics, as in the month of December last? and, if not, I must 
 infer that the neglecting the measures of conciliation that I recom- 
 mended, and pursuing an opposite sj'stem, have actually alienated 
 the affections of the then loyal and friendly Roman Catholics of 
 that kingdom. 
 
 “ The papers of the Ulster committee onb/ have been seized, and 
 the report is consequently confined to that province. It throws no 
 light on the state of the other three provinces, in which the propor- 
 tion of Roman Catholics is much greater than in Ulster; so that I 
 think it will not appear exaggerated if we allow that they may con- 
 tain 100,000 more of United Irishmen. 
 
 “If, then, ministers advert to the rapidity with which this society 
 have gained converts to their principles, and make any allowance 
 for their further extension, I should recommend it to them to 
 weigh again the probability of success in pursuing a system of 
 coercion. That system was full}" and fatally tried in America, and 
 failed. The Irish are a brave and high-spirited people, and more 
 numerous than the Americans were at the commencement of hos- 
 tilities. France is more in a situation to give them assistance and 
 support; and Great Britain, by the veiy defection of Ireland, less 
 able to carry on a contest, weakened as she is by the expensive 
 struggles of the last four years. 
 
 “There are many circumstances that ministers will further take 
 into consideration that have occurred since February last, to which 
 it is sufficient to advert without enlarging on them, as, the temper 
 of the navy and army, and the number of Irishmen in both; the 
 peace agreed on between the Emperor and France; above all, the 
 certainty that the Irish militia have been tampered with, and the 
 danger of their joining their countrymen in the case of open insur- 
 rection. 
 
 “But in one view it is sufficient that the disaffection of numerous 
 bodies of men in Ireland is proved beyond a doubt b}" the report. 
 I consequently appeal to ministers if any system of coercion, how- 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 821 
 
 ever successful, can remove that disaffection; and if his Majesty’s 
 ministers be not called on to try every possible means to satisfy 
 the people by removing the causes of the dissatisfaction ; and to 
 endeavor to regain the confidence and affection of the Irish nation 
 before an open rebellion widens the breach; for conciliatory meas- 
 ures must, in any supposed issue to the contest, be resorted to at 
 last; and what must be resorted to after bloodshed, and all the hor- 
 rors of a civil war, ought to be tried at least in the first instance to 
 prevent them. • 
 
 “That the Irish will rise in their demands everyday that arrange- 
 ment is deferred, is very certain. That the same measures that 
 might have satisfied them in February last, may not do so now, I 
 am inclined to suspect. But I have but one decided opinion, that 
 no time should be lost in still trying conciliatory measures to the 
 utmost extent. A strong military force may secure temporary ad- 
 vantages; but no force can long coerce a nation of four millions of 
 people, united in sentiment and interests. 
 
 “ I must once more earnestly recommend conciliatory measures, 
 and I adjure you to pause on the awful brink of civil war, and to 
 avert its fatal consequences. Dissatisfaction is fast spreading in 
 this kingdom, from a variety of causes; and a civil war with Ireland 
 would certainly increase it, and produce great divisions and differ- 
 ences of sentiment, the consequence of which may extend far beyond 
 what human prudence can foresee or calculate. 
 
 “I request that this paper maybe commended to the Cabinet, 
 and I wish it to be considered as containing my decided sentiments 
 on the subject of Ireland. G. P.” 
 
 14 * 
 
322 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 1796. 
 
 m- 
 
 On January 7th, 1796, at twenty minutes past nine, the Princess 
 of Wales was delivered of a daughter. The Duke of Leeds, the 
 Archbishop of Canterbury, and other noble persons were in attend- 
 ance all night. The shaggy-browed Thurlow was present by the 
 Prince’s invitation. The Princess was in a critical w^ay for a time, 
 and it was rumored that “her life was saved by the intelligent 
 friendship of a distinguished statesman.” The agitation of the 
 Prince was conspicuous, and indeed the excitement which was 
 part of his character seems to have actually led him to devotion.* 
 This amiable agitation would have been more sincere had it been 
 supported by acts; but it is painful to have to relate that as the 
 crisis drew near he did not show any delicate consideration for her 
 situation. Thus his angry father shortly after the event addressed 
 him this reproof : 
 
 THE KING TO THE PRINCE OF WALES. 
 
 “[Georgius Rex.] 
 
 “The professions you have lately made in your letters of 
 your particular regard to me are so contradictory to your actions, 
 that I cannot suffer myself to be imposed upon by them. You 
 know very well you did not give the least intimation to me or to 
 the Queen that the Princess was with child till within a month of 
 the birth of the young Princess. 
 
 “You removed the Princess twice in the week immediately pre- 
 ceding the day of her delivery from the place of my residence, in 
 expectation (as you voluntarily declared) of her labor; and both 
 times, upon your return, you industriously concealed from the 
 
 ♦With a due sense of that religion,” says an admirer, “the exercise of 
 which had thrown such a pure and unsullied splendor over a well-spent life, 
 he morning and night, surrounded by his family, offered up his prayere to 
 that Being who “ can soothe the pangs of the mother and still the cries of the 
 infant.”— Huish, “ Life of Princess Charlotte,” 1. 11. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 323 
 
 knowledge of me and the Queen every circumstance relating to 
 this important affair; and you at last, without giving notice to me 
 or to the Queen, precipitately hurried the Princess from Hampton 
 Court in a condition not to be named. After having thus, in 
 execution of your own determined measures, exposed both the 
 Princess and her child to the greatest perils, you now plead sur- 
 prise and tenderness for the Princess as the only motives that oc- 
 casioned these repeated indignities to me, and to the Queen your 
 mother. 
 
 “This extravagant and ungrateful behavior in so essential a 
 point as the birth of an heir to my crown, is such an evidence of 
 your premeditated defiance of me and contempt of my authority, 
 and of the natural right belonging to your parents, as cannot be 
 excused by the pretended innocence of your intentions, nor palli- 
 ated or disguised by specious words only; but the whole tenor of 
 your conduct for a considerable time has been so entirely void of 
 all real duty to me, that I have long had reason to be highl}’ 
 offended with you; and until you withdraw your regard and con- 
 fidence from those by whose instigation and advice 3 mu are aided 
 and encouraged in your unwarrantable behavior to me and to the 
 Queen, and until you return to your dut}^ you shall not reside in 
 my palace, which I will not suffer to be made the resort of them 
 who, under the appearance of an attachment to you, foment the 
 division which you have made in my family, and thereby weakened 
 the common interest of the whole. 
 
 “In this situation I will receive no reply; but when your actions 
 manifest a just sense of your duty and submission, that may induce 
 me to pardon what at present I most justly resent. 
 
 “In the mean time, it is my pleasure that you leave St. James’s 
 with all your family when it can be done without prejudice or in- 
 convenience to the Princess. 
 
 “I shall for the present leave to the Princess the care of my 
 granddaughter, until a proper time calls upon me to consider of her 
 education. Gr. R.”* 
 
 On February 11th the royal child was christened Chaklotte 
 Augusta, destined with her father and mother, uncle and aunt, to 
 form one ill-fated circle. The name Charlotte was chosen in com- 
 pliment to the Queen; Augusta, in honor of her mother and grand- 
 mother. 
 
 * “Memoirs of Lord Brougham,” ii. 155, 
 
324 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 There were of course great rejoicings, but it was unfortunate that 
 even on this occasion the Prince’s humor should have drawn him 
 into a foolish embarrassment. The Corporation of London desiring 
 to present an address, w^ere informed that the Prince, having now 
 reduced his establishment, was unable to receive their address “ in 
 a manner suitable to his situation.” It was intimated that the ad- 
 dress might be sent to him. The Common Council immediately 
 passed a resolution to the effect that it was inconsistent with their 
 dignity to present it in any but the usual w’ay. The Prince, 
 alarmed, sent for the Lord Mayor to explain. “His royal high- 
 ness,” said this functionary, “declared that his sentiments, he con- 
 ceived, had been mistaken or misunderstood, or at least a very 
 different construction had been given to them than he meant, or 
 was intended to be conveyed by that letter. He thought it incum- 
 bent on him to preserve a consistent character; that as his establish- 
 ment, for certain reasons, had been reduced, and that the necessary 
 state appendages attached to the character and rank of the Prince 
 of Wales did not in consequence exist, his royal highness conceived 
 he could not receive an address in state, and particularly from the 
 Corporation of the City of London, for wdiich he entertained the 
 highest veneration and respect.” In situations like this he could 
 always acquit himself gracefully enough. 
 
 Scarcely was the Princess recovered when the old state of things 
 w^as renewed. The Prince quitted Carlton House, and removed to 
 Windsor about the middle of March. This was what Lord Col- 
 chester calls “an open difference,” though at the opera they were 
 noticed to affect an extraordinary cordialit}". The same peer de- 
 clares she w’as used unpardonably — obliged to dine alone, seeing no 
 one but old people selected for her by the Queen and Lady Jersey, 
 wdio were on excellent terms. Neither w’as she alloAved to go any- 
 wdiere except to take airings in the Park. Angered at last by this 
 treatment, she began to utter complaints, appealing now to the 
 King, now to the Prince, who for many weeks had not seen her. 
 The reply she received through Lady Cholmondele}" was that “ they 
 ought to separate!” This proposal seems to have been repeatedly 
 made, but she declared she would be quite happy to live wdth him, 
 provided a change w'as made in his behavior. In April, as she 
 herself said to her friend, “ Well, after I lay \n—je wusjure, ’tis 
 true, upon my honor, upon my soul ’tis true — I received a message 
 through Lord Cholmondeley to tell me I never was to have de 
 great honor of inhabiting de same room wid my husband again, I 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 325 
 
 said- ‘Very well: but as my memory was short, I begged to have 
 dis polite message in writing from him.’ I had it, and was free.” * 
 
 The extraordinary letter that was sent to her is well known. 
 
 ‘ ‘ Madam, 
 
 “As Lord Cholmondeley informs me that you wish I would 
 define, in writing, the terms upon which we are to live, I shall 
 endeavor to explain myself on that head with as much clearness 
 and with as much propriety as the nature of the subject will admit. 
 Our inclinations are not in our power, nor should either of us be 
 held answerable to the other because nature has not made us suit- 
 able to each other. Tranquil and comfortable society is, however, 
 in our power; let our intercourse, therefore, be restricted to that, 
 and I will distinctly subscribe to the condition which you required 
 through Lady Cholmondeley, that even in the event of any accident 
 happening to my daughter (which I trust Providence in its mercy 
 will avert) I shall not infringe the terms of the restriction by pro 
 posing, at any period, a connection of a more particular nature, I 
 shall now finally close this disagreeable correspondence, trusting 
 that, as we have completely explained ourselves to each other, the 
 rest of our lives will be passed in uninterrupted tranquillity. 
 
 “I am. Madam, 
 
 “With great truth, very sincerely yours, 
 
 “ George P. 
 
 “Windsor Castle, April 30th, 1796." 
 
 This cynical document is unique, the most unpleasant portion 
 being the pious appeal to “Providence in its mercy” and the con- 
 venient principles of morality laid down. To this she replies in 
 French on May 6, and the letters afford a strange contrast : 
 
 “ The avowal of your conversation with Lord Cholmondeley 
 neither surprises nor offends me. It merely confirmed what you 
 have tacitly insinuated for this twelvemonth. But after this it 
 would be a want of delicacy, or rather an unworthy meanness in 
 me, were I to complain of those conditions which you impose upon 
 yourself. 
 
 “ 1 should have returned no answer to your letter if it had not 
 been conceived in terms to make it doubtful whether this arrange- 
 
 * “ Diary of George IV.," i. 37. 
 
326 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 ment proceeds from you or from me; and you are aware that the 
 credit of it belongs to you alone. 
 
 “ The letter which you announce to me as the last obliges me to 
 communicate to the King, as to my sovereign and my father, both 
 your avowal and my answer. You will find enclosed the copy of 
 my letter to the King. I apprise you of it, that I may not incur 
 the slightest reproach of duplicity from you. As I have at this 
 moment no protector but his Majesty, I refer myself solely to him 
 upon this subject; and if my conduct meets his approbation I shall 
 be in some degree at least consoled. I retain every sentiment of 
 gratitude for the situation in which I find myself as Princess of 
 Wales; enabled, by your means, to indulge in the free exercise of 
 a virtue dear to my heart — I mean charity. 
 
 “ It will be my duty likewise to act upon another motive, that 
 of giving an example of patience and resignation under every trial. 
 
 “Do me the justice to believe that I shall never cease to pray for 
 your happiness, and to be Your much devoted 
 
 (Signed) “ Caroline. 
 
 “ May 6, 1796.” 
 
 The delay of nearly a week was owing to her deliberations as to 
 which course she was to take. She thought first of writing to her 
 parents, and even of returning to them; then of appealing to the 
 King to bring about a reconciliation. Lord Cholmondeley gave her 
 to understand with much politeness the Prince disliked her too cor- 
 dially to think of such a thing. The King did make some attempts 
 at arrangement, but matters had gone too far. He suggested an 
 arrangehient that she should have an allowance of £20,000; but, 
 advised by friends who were beginning to gather about her, she 
 rejected the pension, and declared that her bills should be sent to 
 the Prince;* and some rooms were to be kept for her at Carlton 
 House, as a sort of pied de terre, the Prince retiring to Windsor or 
 Brighton. Thus was war declared. 
 
 There could be but one opinion on the behavior of the husband 
 that could come to an irreconcilable breach with his wife within 
 the first year. His defence, “that he had taken a dislike to her,” 
 or, as he put it, “our inclinations are not in our power” — almost 
 childish — puts him out of court. The honest public, which soon 
 learned the truth, at once took her side. At the opera she was ap- 
 
 Lloyd, p. 221. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 327 
 
 plaiided “with a transport of affectionate respect.” She came 
 attended by her ladies — Lady Carnarvon and Mrs. Pitzroy — and 
 with the Duke of Leeds, to whom she said she supposed the public 
 had “been acquainted with what was vexj trop vrai that “the 
 Prince had not spoken to her for three months past, but that she 
 had nothing to reproach herself with.” The Duke of Leeds, in his 
 “Memoranda,” describes her agitation and even alarm at this recep- 
 tion, and her natural remark that when the Prince came to town 
 “she supposed she would be guillotined for what had passed that 
 evening.” Yet, notwithstanding this treatment, she still pressed 
 for reconciliation; only firmly stipulating that the chief cause of 
 their difference should be dismissed from her service.* 
 
 At this time it is clearly shown that the Princess was driven by a 
 consistent course of ill-treatment to the follies of her later life. All 
 her friends now were people known for their rank, respectability, 
 and character. Even the rude Thurlow thus spoke of her to the 
 Duke of Leeds; “He thought with me the Prince’s strange con- 
 duct could only be imputed to madness, and expressed himself as 
 much struck by the good sense and discretion of the Princess. He 
 declared the letter to the King, for which he very undeservedly had 
 the credit, was written by the Princess of her own will, and, though 
 in his presence, without assistance from him.” She made a very 
 humble and most proper appeal to the Prince, to be relieved from 
 her attendance; also to the King. Her request could not be re- 
 fused, as the public were now beginning to clamor against the 
 indecency of the proceeding. The King, in a fatherly and admira- 
 ble letter, advised another attempt at reconciliation, now that her 
 wishes had been complied with in regard to the lady-in-waiting. 
 He advised her to show a wish that the Prince should return to her. 
 on both sides all reproaches should be avoided, as well as any con- 
 fidences in third parties. The tone of the letter was most cordial, 
 affectionate, and sensible. On the same day the poor Princess 
 
 * This favorite was soon dismissed, supplanted by others. Another Lady 
 Jersey, her daughter-in-law, became the object of his enmity. Mr. Rogers 
 one night found himself seated with her at a ball in a long gallery, down 
 which the Regent had entered without seeing her. When he saw her he 
 stopped a moment, but could not retreat, then marched past her with a look 
 of the utmost disdain. “ She returned the look,” says Mr. Rogers, “and then 
 turning to me with a smile, said: ‘Did not I do it well? Table Talk.’ 
 Such were the contests in which our Prince came off victorious; such, too, is 
 the fate that attends the too obsequious service of princes. 
 
328 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 wrote to her husband an eager and humble letter, which it would 
 have been hard to resist. 
 
 “I avail myself with the greatest ardor of the King’s desire, 
 whose letter shows me that you are willing to yield to his wishes, 
 which tills me with the greatest delight. I look forward with 
 infinite pleasure to the moment that will bring you to Carlton 
 House, and that will forever terminate a misunderstanding wliicli, 
 on my side, I assure you, will never be thought of again. If you 
 do me the honor of seeking my society in future, I will do every- 
 thing to make it agreeable to you. If I should displease you, you 
 must be generous enough to forgive me, and count upon my grati- 
 tude, which I shall feel to the end of my life. I may look for this, 
 as mother of your daughter, and as one who is ever yours.” 
 
 That this appeal would be unfruitful is evident. A month later, 
 the Duke of Leeds, as he tells in his interesting “Memoranda,” 
 informed her that he would leave the Duchess at Weymouth, “as 
 long as her liking for the place continued;” when the Princess 
 exclaimed: '‘Ah! musn'Ues pas tyran!” On the same authority 
 we learn that Lady Cliolmondeley could venture to say to the Queen 
 that “ she wondered the Prince would ever return to Carlton House, 
 after the usage he had received. ” 
 
 Some of the Princesses were eager for family quiet, and the 
 Queen was seen to “speak good-humoredly twice” to the Princess 
 of Wales at the Drawing Room. The latter, naturally finding that 
 it was hopeless to look for being reconciled to the Prince, now 
 removed to Montague House (or Villa), at Charlton, near Blackheath. 
 She was not allowed to have her child with her, who was kept at 
 Carlton House under the direction of Lady Elgin with Miss Hay- 
 man, the sub-governess. Mrs. Harcourt and Miss Garth were the 
 Princess’s ladies. So envenomed was the factious spirit in this 
 unhappy quarrel, that it was given out that the Prince “set on” 
 drivers of the Greenwich coaches to run her carriage down; and 
 once her life was in actual peril. The Prince himself lived at Carl- 
 ton House in his old style, but had not much time to devote to his 
 child. It was thus that the Prince impressed the sub-governess at 
 the first interview, by his gracious and elegant manners : 
 
 “ In going across the hall I met his royal highness full butt in the 
 doorway, coming, I believe, to my apartment. He requested me to 
 return into the ante-room, which we did. He spoke to the follow- 
 
THE LIFE OF GEOROE IV. 
 
 329 
 
 ing effect : ‘ Miss Hayman, I am very happy in this opportunity of 
 becoming acquainted with you. I sincerely hope you will find 
 everything tolerably comfortable here, and I wish it was in my 
 power to make it more so, but I fear you may have some circum- 
 stances of difficulty to contend with. My good Lady Elgin knows 
 and fulfils every wish of my heart relative to your little charge, and 
 I doubt not she has informed you of everything necessary; on her 
 goodness you may rely, etc. I am afraid you will find the confine- 
 ment irksome, but it is unavoidable ! ’ I assured him my only doubts 
 were of my ability to please him. He said he had no doubts; that 
 all he heard of me from many people beside those who recommended 
 me, and on whose judgment he had the greatest dependence, made 
 him think himself fortunate in this appointment. He hoped I 
 
 should not dislike it, but my remaining was optional He 
 
 then turned to Lady Elgin and said, ‘ It is an additional pleasure to 
 me that Miss Hayman is one of my own countrywomen,’ and, taking 
 both by the hand, said, ‘You are both my countrywomen: my two 
 first titles are Welsh and Scotch.’ 
 
 “The business part of the interview ended, he talked of more 
 indifferent matters, and took his leave with all that grace and dig- 
 nity for which he is so remarkable. Never (Miss Hayman con- 
 tinues) had any one such captivating manners. I could have sat 
 down and cried that he is not all that he ought to be — sometimes 
 it is impossible to think his heart is not naturally good. 
 
 “ The Princess came in to see me (she goes on); she spoke very 
 affably to me, and asked me if I did not see the infant wonder- 
 fully like the Prince of Wales, whether I was fond of children, and 
 told me hers was very hot, but very soon pacified, that she had been 
 naughty, but was now, by Lady Elgin’s care, quite good. She 
 stayed about half-an-hour, chose some lace for frocks, and was most 
 kind. The next day, when Lady Elgin came in and said, ‘ Miss 
 Hayman must now kiss her royal highness’s hand,’ she got up and 
 said, ‘Oh! we will shake shands,’and turned the whole formality 
 into a jest; she then began a gossiping conversation on novels, and 
 showed throughout the warmheartedness and kindliness, the indis- 
 cretion and want of dignity which Lord Malmesbury had noticed 
 in her. ” * 
 
 Miss Haynfan, however, notwithstanding this fair promise, was 
 dismissed at the end of three months, probably, as Lady Rose 
 
 * Lady Rose Weigall, “ Memoirs of Princess Charlotte,” 
 
330 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 Weigall suggests, because she was regarded with too much favor 
 by the Princess — and she was then taken into the latter’s service. 
 
 The mother was eager to have her engaging child with her, and 
 applied to the Prince for peimission, but no notice was taken of the 
 request. She continued her mode of life at Blackheath in great 
 intimacy with such persons as Sir Gilbert Elliot, Lord and Lady 
 Wood, Lord Thurlow, who, strange to say, was the friend and 
 adviser of both husband and wife, the Duke and Duchess of Hamil- 
 ton, the Edens and others. Again and again Sir G. Elliot, who saw 
 much of her at this time, declares that her behavior was everything 
 that was proper. She was utterly undeserving of “ such strange neg- 
 lect.” Even her attractions were of some power, “ her countenance 
 being remarkably lively and pleasing.” “I think her positively a 
 handsome woman.” The only blemish he noted was the significant 
 one of an indiscreet and voluble confidence imparted to the first 
 comer. At her little alfres^co parties she delighted in pouring out 
 the whole of her story to a guest whom she fancied- while the rest 
 looked on. 
 
 He says, “ Princess Charlotte was in the room till dinner, and is 
 really one of the finest and pleasantest children I ever saw. The 
 Princess of Wales romped with her about the carpet on her knees. 
 INIiss Garth said to her, ‘ You have been so very naughty I don’t know 
 what we must do with you.’ The little girl answered, crying and 
 quite penitently, ‘ You must soot me,’ meaning shoot her. 
 
 “At the Drawing Room, when she and the Prince attended, he 
 did not bow to her, though they were quite close. He declared 
 afterwards that she would not meet his eye. When the King said 
 to her that a new arrival, the Countess d’Almeyda, could not be 
 handsome as she was not fair, the lively Princess curtseyed and 
 said she wished others of his Majesty’s family were of the same 
 opinion. The good King laughed very heartily, and said he 
 wished so too, and that he thought it a proof of very bad taste. ” * 
 
 Strange to say, she did not give up hope of their differences 
 being arranged, and towards the autumn of 1798 the idea of a 
 reconciliation was broached — on this occasion by the Prince and 
 his friends. As she saw, or fancied she saw, that it was merely for 
 some object of little reference to her, she was determined not to 
 tolerate the suggestion unless the matter was entered on in regular 
 substantial shape. That she was right in this view is shown by the 
 
 * Lady Rose Weigall, “ Memoirs of Princess Charlotte,” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 331 
 
 fact that at the very time he was eagerly engaged in pressing Mrs. 
 Fitzherbert to renew their old relations. 
 
 When the Princess heard of this she said to a friend and com- 
 panion of the Prince, that “she hoped her husband would not feel 
 her any impediment to the reconciliation he was so desirous for.” 
 A few days afterwards the same gentleman informed her that he 
 had delivered “the message” to the Prince, who said: “Did she 
 say so? Indeed she is very good-natured ; ” and the Princess was 
 not long in hearing that she was represented as having taken an 
 active part in the reconciliation referred to, to the great disgust of the 
 Prince, who commented to her informant, a gentleman of his house- 
 hold, on the indelicacy of the proceedings. “Indelicacy, indeed!’ 
 she said, “ and I wonder who could say such a thing or suppose I 
 could ever have thought it? All I said was, that I hoped I did not 
 stand in the way of his happiness.” It was remarked with regret by 
 those who frequented her society that she was apt to prosecute 
 inquiries concerning the movements of the lady in question which 
 it did not become her dignity to know.* 
 
 The last time the Prince had been near Mrs. Fitzherbert was the 
 day before the marriage, when he galloped by her house at Marble 
 Hill. The grief and mortification this step had brought her may 
 be conceived ; but, by the advice of her friends, she courageously 
 faced the public, and went through the hard ordeal of receiving her 
 friends. All made a point to attend, including the royal Dukes. 
 “ Upon this, as upon all other occasions,” says Lord Stourton, 
 “ she was supported by the Duke of York, with whom, through 
 life, she was always united in the most friendly and confidential 
 relations. Indeed, she frequently assured me, that there was not 
 one of the royal family who had not acted with kindness to her. 
 She particularly instanced the Queen; and, as for George III., from 
 the time she set footing in England till he ceased to reign, had he 
 been her own father, he could not have acted with greater tender 
 ness. That she should have been reconciled to him was but the 
 logical consequence of the original marriage, for she looked on her 
 own as the true one. She did not act on her own responsibility. 
 
 * About the time of the Queen’s trial it was stated in a mixed company that 
 the Speaker of the House of Commons had condescended to join in a game of 
 romps with her Majesty. One or two past Speakers happened to be present, 
 including Lord Colchester, who seriously repelled the charge. No one, how- 
 ever, thought of the sober Addington, who privately confessed that he had 
 been the delinquent. 
 
832 
 
 'THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 Her agent was despatched to lay the matter before the Pope, The 
 reply from Rome was favorable to the wishes of the Prince ; faith- 
 ful to her own determination to act as much as possible in the face 
 of the public, she resisted all importunities to meet him clandes- 
 tinely. The day on which she joined him again at her own house, 
 was the same on which she gave a public breakfast to the whole 
 town of London, and to which he was invited. She told me, she 
 hardly knew how she could summon resolution to pass that severe 
 ordeal, but she thanked God she had the courage to do so. The 
 next eight years were, she said, the happiest of her connection with 
 the Prince. She used to say that they were extremely poor, but as 
 merry as crickets ; and once, on their returning to London, they 
 mustered their common means, and could not raise £5 between 
 them. Upon this, or some such occasion, she related to me, that an 
 old and faithful servant endeavored to force them to accept £60.” 
 
 In this singular relation, she now occupied a large house in Park 
 Lane, and, during the season, one in Brighton, which the Prince 
 fitted up for her. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 333 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 1798. 
 
 Yet in the Prince’s disposition, and united with this undomestic 
 temper, there was a strain of impulsive sympathy that might fairly 
 pass as symptoms of a good heart. 
 
 In illustration of this tender feeling, and which he felt pleasure 
 in gratifying when its effect was fresh and no interval had elapsed, 
 may be mentioned his interest in the family of the unfortunate 
 Lord Edward Fitzgerald. This presents him in a pleasing light. 
 The unfortunate nobleman was lying in the Dublin Newgate, suf- 
 fering from a mortal wound, and treated with extraordinary rigor. 
 The real piteousness of the situation centres in his family, and 
 there is really nothing more heart-rending than the picture of the 
 crowd of agitated relatives — including Charles Fox, Lady Louisa 
 Connolly, Lady Sarah Napier, the aged Duchess of Leinster — all 
 pleading, not for grace, but for delay and fair trial; and, above all, 
 for the poor privilege of being allowed to see their kinsman for a 
 few moments. Not until he was within a few hours of his death 
 was this favor granted. The wretched wife — the well-known Pa- 
 mela — had been hurriedly put on board a packet, with a view of 
 getting to town to throw herself at the King’s feet to beg for mercy. 
 Nor were the ministers in London inclined to be harsh. 
 
 It was truly pathetic to find his mother, then at a distance from 
 him, “ working heaven and earth,” as it is called, to obtain mercy. 
 She flew to the Duke of York, who, though he only listened with 
 compassion and made no promise, exerted himself, and succeeded 
 in obtaining from the King that the trial should be delayed. 
 
 The Prince’s interference, as may be imagined, was not likely to 
 have much weight, considering the feelings of his father towards 
 him.. But to the husband of the agonized mother he addressed the 
 following genuine and feeling letter: 
 
 THE PRINCE OF WALES TO WILLIAM OGILVIE, ESQ. 
 
 “ Carlton House, June 6, 1798. 
 
 “ Three quarters past 6 p.m. 
 
 “My dear Sir, 
 
 “ I feel so truly for the Duchess and the unfortunate Edward, 
 that I am sure there is nothing in the world I would not attempt to 
 
834 
 
 THE LIFE OF OEOROE IV. 
 
 mitigate the pangs which I am afraid but too much distress her 
 grace at the present dreadful crisis. I would, were I in the habit 
 of so doing, most undoubtedly write to Lord Clare; though, even 
 were that the case, I should hesitate as to the propriety of so doing, 
 thinking that such an application to the Chancellor might be sub- 
 ject to misconstruction, and consequently detrimental to Lord 
 Edward’s interests. But I have no hesitation in allowing you to 
 state to his lordship how much pleased I shall be, and how much I 
 am sensible it will conciliate to him the affections of eVery humane 
 and delicate mind, if every opportunity is given to poor Lord 
 Edward to obtain an impartial trial, by delaying it till his state of 
 health shall be so recruited as to enable him to go through the 
 awful scene with fortitude;* and until the minds of men have 
 recovered their usual tone, so absolutely necessary for the firm 
 administration of justice. 
 
 “This, my dear Sir, I have no scruple to admit of your stating in 
 confidence, and with my best compliments, to the Lord Chancellor. 
 My long and sincere regard for both the Duchess and Duke of 
 Leinster would have naturally made me wish to exert myself still 
 more, were I not afraid by such exertion I might do more harm 
 than good. 
 
 “Excuse this scrawl, which I pen in the utmost hurry, fearing 
 that you may have left London before this reaches Harley Street. 
 I am, dear Sir, with many compliments to the Duchess, 
 
 “ Very sincerely yours, 
 
 “ George P.” 
 
 For this generous conduct he earned a handsome tribute from 
 Lord Byron : 
 
 To be the father of the fatherless, t 
 To stretch the hand from the throne’s height, and raise 
 His offspring, who expired in other days. 
 
 To make thy sire’s sway by a kingdom less, — 
 
 This is to be a monarch, and repress 
 Envy into unutterable praise. 
 
 Dismiss thy guard, and trust thee to such traits, * 
 
 For who would lift a hand, except to bless? 
 
 * Moore, “ Life of Lord E. Fitzgerald,” p. 203, edit. 1875. 
 
 t He promised to take care of Lord Edward’s child, and later gave him a 
 commission in his own regiment. He was a young man of spirit, and highly 
 popular as “Mike” Fitzgerald. Colonel Gronow describes him during the 
 occupation of Paris as ever ready to fight the French officers, and placing his 
 card on the chimney-piece in a caf6, with an offer to meet all comers. 
 
335 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 Were it not easy, Sir, and is’t not sweet 
 To make thyself beloved? and to be 
 Omnipotent by mercy’s means? for thus 
 Thy sovereignty would grow but more complete, — 
 
 A despot thou, and yet thy people free, 
 
 And by the heart, not hand, enslaving us. 
 
 Of late the Prince was beginning to affect the airs of a connoisseur. 
 He had a sort of^naturaLfficIing for art and things connected with 
 art, and could no doubt discourse of the “ correggiosity of Correg- 
 gio.” But his taste was, in truth, uncultivated, and therefore 
 remained always indifferent. We now find him concerned in an 
 artistic matter of a sensational kind. When the “Ireland” impos- 
 ture was attracting attention the Prince’s curiosity was excited, and 
 the papers were brought to him. His remarks and general behavior 
 are all in character. 
 
 “At Mr. Ireland’s entrance, his royal highness, with his usual 
 affability, rose to receive him. On the production of the manu- 
 scripts, his royal highness began to inspect them with the strictest 
 scrutiny, when, to Mr. Ireland’s infinite astonishment, he not only 
 questioned him on every point with an acuteness which he had 
 never before witnessed from the learned who had inspected the 
 papers, but he also displayed a knowledge of antiquity and an inti- 
 mate acquaintance with documents of the period of Elizabeth, 
 which Mr. Ireland had conceived to be confined to those only that 
 had made this particular subject the object of their study. Having 
 examined the manuscripts, his royal highness said: “ As far as the 
 external appearance will witness for the validity of the documents, 
 they certainly bear a strong semblance of age; to decide, however, 
 peremptorily from this cursory inspection, would be unjustifiable, 
 as in matters of this nature so much is to be said pro and con, that 
 the decision requires mature refiection. I certainly, Mr. Ireland, 
 must compliment you much upon the discovery; as the name of 
 Shakespeare, and everything appertaining to him, is not confined 
 idone to the literary world, but to the English nation, to which the 
 publication will, I trust, afford that gratification which is expected 
 to be derived from it.” 
 
 The taste for anything bizarre, and the natural wish to be consid- 
 ered a patron of the fine arts, led the Prince to sanction the interest- 
 ing process of /‘unrolling papyri,^ with which view he actually 
 despatched an agent to Italy, who thus reported to him: “About 
 thirty years ago the King of Naples ordered the development, the 
 
336 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 transcription, and the printing of those volumes which had then 
 been saved. This operation was accordingly begun, and went on 
 till the invasion of Naples by the French. But the mode was slow, 
 being performed by a single person, with only one frame. The 
 frame consists of several taper and oblong pieces of wood, with 
 parallel threads of silk running on each side the whole length of 
 each piece. When the frame is laid on any volume, each piece 
 of wood must be fixed precisely over each line of the page, while 
 the respective threads, being worked beneath each line, and assisted 
 by the corresponding piece of wood above, raise the line upwards, 
 and disclose the characters to view. The operation was, I believe, 
 invented by a Capuchin at Naples. The fruits of it are said to be 
 two publications only — one on music, by Philodemus, who was a 
 contemporary of Cicero; and the other on cookeiy. The first is in 
 his Majesty’s library, at the Queen’s palace. Through the obliging 
 politeness of Mr. Barnard, the King’s librarian, I have had the 
 advantage of perusing it. I hope your Royal Highness will not 
 disapprove my acknowledging in this place the very warm and 
 respectful interest which both this gentleman and the right hdnor- 
 able the president of the Royal Society have expressed for the 
 furtherance of your Royal Highness’s great and good design.” 
 
 The Prince was encouraged to go on, and he incurred an im- 
 mense expense to little benefit. Six rolls of manuscripts came to 
 Carlton House; but none of value, except a fragment of Epicurus. 
 
 That surprising graciousness of manner — which was indeed more 
 than manner and reached to good nature — was shown in his recep- 
 tion of the young and friendless Irishman, Moore, who Avrote home 
 in delight of the condescending Prince and his “fascinating man- 
 ners.” “ He said he was happy to know a man of my abilities; and 
 when I thanked him for the honor of being alloAved to dedicate 
 ‘ Anacreon ’ to him, he replied that the honor Avas his, in being 
 allowed to put his name to a work of such merit.” He added, that 
 he hoped during the Avinter they would have opportunities of enjoy- 
 ing each other’s society. When the poet returned from his dis- 
 astrous Bermuda expedition, he met the Prince for the first time at 
 a small supper-party. There was again something happily gracious 
 in the manner of his welcome. With a judicious tact — for Moore 
 was at the moment “under a cloud,” as it is called, and such recog- 
 nition would be useful — “I am very glad to see you here again, 
 Moore,” he said heartily: “from Avhat I had heard, I Avas afraid wo 
 had lost you. I assure you (laying his hand upon his shoulder) it 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 837 
 
 was a subject of general concern!” The good-natured Prince did 
 not dream how, within a dozen ;^ears, the poet was to turn his 
 talents on which he had been complimented against him, and that 
 the most bitter of the long series of lampoons which stung and tor- 
 tured him for years was to come from that airy and facile pen. 
 Moore was also struck by his genuine passion for music, the Prince 
 being engrossed with his favorite pastimes of music and attending 
 theatricals. 
 
 A taste for the best music and the stage was at this period culti- 
 vated to a remarkable degree by the nobility. The Duke of 
 Queensberry, Lords Buckingham, Boyle, Hampden, and many 
 others of ton and fashion, were in the habit of giving concerts at 
 their houses, at which the best music was performed. The Duchess 
 of Devonshire united this to her other graces, and Sheridan’s well- 
 known song, introduced in “The Stranger,” “I have a silent sor- 
 row here,” was set to a plaintive melody by her. The well-known 
 taste of the Prince of Wales no doubt encouraged this pleasing 
 accomplishment. The opera was then an exclusively aristocratic 
 pastime. It has since become the delight of the people in general, 
 and rests on a purely commercial support: then it was a costly and 
 exclusive enjoyment. When it was installed at the handsome Pan- 
 theon, in the year 1791, under R. O’Reilly, Esq., the list of patrons 
 filling the tiers of boxes was truly imposing; and a little volume was 
 published, containing elaborate plans and references, with a full 
 list of the subscribers, furnished with which any visitor could find 
 his way to any particular loge. There the King and Queen, the 
 royal Princes and Dukes regularly attended. The staff was on a 
 handsome scale. For “serious opera,” there were six leading 
 singers; for “comic opera,” eight. The ballet (or “ dancers,” as it 
 was styled) consisted of nearly fifty leading “subjects.” The 
 orchestra comprised forty performers, with Mr. Cramer as leader 
 of the band, and Mazzinghi as composer and accompanist, a harp- 
 sichord being always beside the conductor. It is curious indeed to 
 find here many of the names that now figure at Co vent Garden and 
 Her Majesty’s Theatres — the Hills, Lavenus, Howards, etc. 
 
 The taste for the theatre was stimulated by the patronage of the 
 King, who not only favored the stage in London but took delight 
 in the little provincial houses at Windsor and Weymouth, where 
 he had always a good-natured speech or nod for such players as he 
 relished. And it is significant of this interest to find Lord Har- 
 court thus writing to the admirable Elliston: 
 
 15 
 
338 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 “ Sm, 
 
 “As I understand tlicir' Majesties will not leave Windsor 
 before the beginning of next month, I am glad to hear that you are 
 in treaty with Mr. Thornton, as it will be the means of making 
 3'^our talents known to the King and Queen, who, I doubt not, will 
 honor you with their commands. I have apprised them of the 
 probability of your engagement at Windsor, and allow me to say 
 their Majesties are no strangers to the opinion I entertain of your 
 abilities in the art you profess. Don Felix, Charles Surfaee, 
 Young Wilding, the Jew (in ‘The Jew and Doctor’), and Vapour, 
 are characters which would please their Majesties, and represent 
 you to advantage. Walter, one of your best performances, I do 
 not mention, because I’m sure the King will never again see ‘The 
 Children in the Wood.’" 
 
 In consequence of this flattering correspondence wdth his noble 
 patron, Elliston arrived at Windsor, and by command of his Maj- 
 esty acted on the following night. 
 
 It was at Weymouth that a curious little, adventure befell this 
 comedian. On the morning of this actor’s benefit, his Majesty had 
 been rambling about the suburbs of the town, when the rain coming 
 on just as he was passing the theatre-door, in he went, and finding 
 no one immediately at hand proceeded at once to the royal box, and 
 seated himself in his own chair. 
 
 The dim daylight of the theatre, and slight fatigue which exer- 
 cise had occasioned, induced an inclination to drowsiness. His 
 Majesty, in fact, fell into a comfortable doze, which presently 
 became a sound sleep. In the meantime. Lord Townsend, who 
 had encountered Elliston in the neighborhood, inquired whether he 
 had seen the King, as his Majesty had not been at the palace since 
 his three-o’clock dinner; and it being then nearly five, the Queen 
 and Princesses were in some little anxiety about him. Elliston, 
 now making his w\ay to the theatre for the purpose of superintend- 
 ing all things necessary for the reception of his august patrons, 
 went straight into the King’s box, and on perceiving a man fast 
 asleep in his Majesty’s chair was about recalling him to his senses 
 in no gentle a manner when, very fortunatel}’', he recognized the 
 King himself. What was to be done? Elliston hit on the follow- 
 ing expedient; taking up a violin from the orchestra he stepped into 
 the pit, and, placing himself just beneath his truly exalted guest. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 339 
 
 struck up, dolcemente, ‘God save the King!’ The expedient had 
 the desired effect; the royal sleeper was gently loosened from the 
 spell which had bound him, and, awaking, up he sprang, and, star- 
 ing the genuflecting comedian full in the face, exclaimed: ‘Hey! 
 hey! hey! what, what! Oh yes! I sec, Elliston — ha! ha! rain come 
 on — took a seat — took a nap. What’s o’clock?” 
 
 “ ‘ Approaching six, your Majesty.’ 
 
 “ ‘Six! — six o’clock!’ interrupted the King. ‘Send to her Maj- 
 esty — say I’m here. Stay — stay — this wig won’t do — eh, eh? Don’t 
 keep the people waiting — light up — light up — let ’em in — let ’em in 
 — ha! ha! fast asleep. Play well to-night, Elliston. Great favorite 
 with the Queen. Let ’em in — let ’em in.’ 
 
 “ The house was presently illuminated; messengers were sent off 
 to the royal party, which, in a short lapse of time, reached the 
 theatre. Elliston then quitted the side of his most affable mon- 
 arch, and, dressing himself in five minutes for his part in the 
 drama, went through his business with bounding spirit; nor was his 
 glee at all diminished when, on attending the royal visitors to their 
 carriage, the King once more nodded his head, saying: ‘Fast 
 asleep, eh, Elliston! — fast asleep!’” 
 
 It would indeed be hard to give an idea of the extent to which 
 private theatricals were indulged by the nobility; for a time they 
 literally raged, and at every country house and mansion these enter- 
 tainments formed the favorite pastime. With the aid of “Albina, 
 Countess of Buckinghamshire,” a rather eccentric lady of fashion. 
 Colonel Greville, a fop of the first water, founded the “ Picnic 
 Society,” which gave its performance in Tottenham Court Road, 
 and also at the Pantheon. In the orchestra were found lords and 
 men of fashion performing on the flageolet and double-bass, and 
 the Lady Albina herself presided at the harpsichord. French 
 jproverhes and English vaudevilles formed the regular performance, 
 while the evening was concluded with a picnic supper, for which 
 the contributions were settled by lot. As a large number drew 
 lots the result was a very handsome banquet, and the quaint uncer- 
 tainty as to what each was obliged to supply furnishing the diver- 
 sion. “ Some luckless wight,” says a friend of the Prince of Wales, 
 one of the performers, “whose beauty was her sole dowry, drew a 
 Perigord pie, value three guineas at least, whilst her rich neighbor 
 drew a pound-cake, value half-a-crown. Then some needy sprig 
 of fashion, a younger brother, drew his lot of misery in a ticket for 
 
340 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 a dozen of champagne, and a wealthy nabob another for half-a- 
 dozen China oranges.”* Mr. Greville figures in Miss Burney’s 
 memoirs of her father, and is there sketched with much vivacity. 
 In due course he was utterly ruined by his Picnic Society and other 
 fashionable pursuits, and the gay elegant was compelled to accept 
 an appointment in the Isle of France, where, like Brummell and 
 other professors of fashion, he died in exile. 
 
 At this place, too, may be noted a curious incident which excited 
 some attention. Gaming had never been one of the Prince’s favor- 
 ite vices, though he indulged in it; but it was a passion with his 
 brother, who, to his death, suffered the most humiliating straits in 
 consequence. For some years before, we have seen the ladies all 
 embarked in such speculating. Mrs. Strutt, Lady Archer, Mrs. 
 Hobart, Lady Elizabeth Luttrell (sister of the Duchess of Cumber- 
 land) were avowed bankers — in other words, held gaming-tables. 
 
 Another noble person who gave “garden-parties” was conspicu- 
 ous for the same practice. But at last an information was actually 
 laid against two persons of fashion, Mrs. Archer and Lady Bucking- 
 hamshire, who were brought up and fined; and Lord Kenyon, giving 
 judgment in a case of less importance, declared boldly that if any 
 ladies of rank were convicted of this offence before him they should 
 stand in the pillory! A little later the Middlesex magistrates 
 were applied to to license rooms where gaming was to be carried 
 on, and it was urged that this undertaking was patronized by the 
 Prince of Wales. These worthies, rather awe-stricken by the 
 influence, appealed to the judge to take the matter on himself, on 
 which the latter boldly said, there was a rumor that a gaming-house 
 was to be opened under the patronage of a very high and illustrious 
 personage ; he trusted, however, the magistrates would do their duty 
 fearlessly and refuse the license. 
 
 On this the Prince, with some spirit, wrote to Lord Kenyon this 
 following vindication of himself : 
 
 THE PRmCE OP WALES TO LORD KENYON. 
 
 “Carlton House, Nov. 15th, 1799. 
 
 “My Lord, 
 
 “ As I am thoroughly persuaded that in the administration of 
 justice the very last thing that could enter your lordship’s thoughts 
 would be by any remark that would fall from your lips to unwar- 
 
 ♦ Angelo, “Reminis.,” i. 293. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 341 
 
 rantably prejudice the public mind against an individual of any 
 description whatever, I am confident that your lordship could never 
 have used the expression which in the notion of every one so decidedly 
 alludes to me, as stated in a morning paper of yesterday, which my 
 Attorney-General has the honor to bear you. It is true that, from 
 applications from many respected quarters, I have been induced to 
 assent to my name being placed among others as a member of a new 
 Club, to be instituted under the management of a Mr. Martindale, 
 merely for the purpose of social intercourse, of which I never can 
 object to be a promoter, and especially as it was represented to me, 
 that the object of this institution was to enable his trustees to render 
 justice to various honorable and fair claimants. But if these were 
 really your lordship’s words (which I cannot for a moment suppose), 
 give me leave to tell you that you have totally mistaken my char- 
 acter and turn, for of all men universally known to have the least 
 predilection to play, I am perliaps the very man in the w^orld who 
 stands the strongest and the most proverbially so upon that point. I 
 shall not trouble your lordship further upon this strange circum- 
 stance, as Mr. Graham will convey to you my feelings and senti- 
 ments upon it, and I am well persuaded that your own knowledge 
 of the world, as well as the urgency of the case, will suggest to you 
 the propriety of taking such measures in consequence as are 
 requisite and ought to be adopted.” 
 
 Lord Kenyon answered that he was acting according to whafhe 
 thought was his duty, and that Mr. Martindale was an improper 
 person to receive a license, “considering what had passed respect- 
 ing him judicially. I can only add that I am confident that I 
 meant nothing offensive to you. They know little of my senti 
 ments who conceive me capable of using language tending to 
 expose the higher orders of the state to censure or light observations. 
 May I presume to hope that your royal highness will pardon this 
 trouble.” 
 
 Turning from these dilettante pursuits, and disappointed in his 
 aims at political office, the Prince of Wales was presently filled with 
 what was called^^^artial ardor, and a longing to take part in the 
 general preparations for the defence of the country.” It was in 1798 
 that the enthusiasm for volunteering and enrolment in patriotic 
 corps became universal. Every one was armed and belonged to 
 some corps; even the Speaker of the House of Commons and the 
 Prime Minister took service and were seen practising their drill. 
 
342 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEOBGE IV. 
 
 “My study,” the former writes, “exhibits a curious scene; the 
 journals are diversified by helmets and sabres; and a book of mili- 
 tary tactics is now lying upon my table in close contact with the 
 orders of the day.” 
 
 “ We can remember,” says Mr. Croker, “that the fine figure and 
 consequential air of the Speaker emerging from the wig and gown 
 in a gay cavalry uniform was one of the amusing topics of the day.” 
 Indeed the ‘ ‘ martial ardor ” at this time was so hot and furious that 
 the strange spectacle was presented of the Prims Minister resorting 
 to the duello in vindication of his measures for the defence of the 
 country. This quarrel arose out of his comment on the behavior 
 of Mr. Tierney, of whom he said, indignantly, that “ no man could 
 oppose it in the manner Mr. Tierney had done unless it were from 
 a wish to impede the defence of the country.” On which he was 
 challenged by the offended gentleman. As everything connected 
 with this business was to be singular, almost the Premier’s first act 
 was to send for the Speaker (!), who found him making his will. 
 Whitsunday was the day fixed for the encounter, and the represent- 
 ative of the House of Commons attended him to the ground. “I 
 went,” says the latter, “with him and Ryder down the Birdcage 
 AYalk, up the steps into Queen Street, where their chaise waited to 
 take them to Wimbledon Common. Unable to rest, I then mounted 
 my horse and rode that way. When I arrived on the hill, I knew, 
 from seeing a crowd looking down into the valley, that the duel was 
 then proceeding. After a time I saw the same chaise which had 
 conveyed Pitt to the spot mounting the ascent, and riding up to it, 
 I found him safe, when he said, ‘ You must dine with me to-day. 
 Someone afterwards observed, ‘The Speaker knew of the meeting, 
 and ought to have prevented it;’ but Lord Chatham remarked that 
 I could not have taken any step so injurious to his family; in fact, 
 as I had received the information from Pitt himself, my interfering 
 would have looked too much like collusion.” 
 
 For so decorous and righteous a man as Mr. Addington, this 
 seems a strange proceeding. It is a remarkable fact that four most 
 conspicuous men, who all filled the office of Prime Minister, should, 
 during a short period of about thirty years, have condescended to 
 expose their lives in this fashion. Mr. Fox fought Mr. Adam; Mr. 
 Pitt, as we have seen, Mr. Tierney; Mr. Canning, Lord Castlereagh; 
 and, finally, the Duke of Wellington, Lord Winchelsea. Two, viz., 
 Pitt and the Duke, were actually holding the office of Prime Minis- 
 ter at the time. This seems an almost incredible state of things; 
 
THE LIFE OF GEOROE IV. 343 
 
 yet three of these encounters might be within the memory of some 
 now living. 
 
 The volunteer enthusiasm seized on the nation, and we find our 
 I impulsive Prince wearing his uniform, making glowing and warlike 
 I speeches to~the~men, and reviewing his regiment, the well-known 
 ' 10th. Finally, he was so filled with ardor that he applied for leave 
 to go on active service. Bonaparte and his firmies were supposed 
 to be about invading England, and to his father he now addressed 
 the following appeal : 
 
 THE PRINCE OP WALES TO THE KING. 
 
 “Carlton House, April 25th, 1T98. 
 
 “Sir, 
 
 “ I have, from various considerations of duty and respect, 
 delayed to the latest hour obtruding myself by a direct application 
 to your Majesty; and it is now with an earnestness that I never 
 before ventured to approach you, sir, that I presume to throw my- 
 self at your feet, and to implore your gracious attention to the 
 humble sentiments 1 offer in this letter. 
 
 “The serious and awful crisis in which this country now stands 
 calls for the united efforts of every British arm in the defence of all 
 that can be dear to Englishmen; and it is with glowing pride that 
 I behold the prevalence of this sentiment through every part of your 
 Majesty’s kingdom. 
 
 “ Whatever may some time back have been your Majesty’s objec- 
 tions to my being in the way of actual service, 3^et at a crisis like 
 this, unexampled in our history, when every subject in the realm is 
 eagerly seeking for and lias his post assigned him, those objections 
 will, I humbly trust, yield to the pressure of the times, and your 
 Majesty will be graciously pleased to call me forth to a station 
 wherein I may prove myself worthy of the confidence of my coun- 
 tr}', and of the high rank I hold in it, by staking my life in its 
 defence; death would be preferable to being marked as the only 
 man that was not suffered to come forth on such an occasion. 
 
 “ Should it be my fate to fall in so glorious a contest, no injury 
 could arise to the line of succession, on account of the number 
 happily remaining of your Majesty’s children. At the same time, 
 were there fifty princes, or were I the single one, it would, in my 
 humble judgment, be equally incumbent on them, or me, to stand 
 foremost in the ranks of danger at so decisive a period as the 
 present. 
 
844 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 “ I am the more induced to confide that your Majesty’s goodness 
 will comply with this humble petition, from the conviction I feel, 
 that, had similar circumstances prevailed in the reign of the late 
 King, when your Majesty was Prince of Wales, you would have 
 panted, sir, for the opportunity I now so earnestly covet. I know 
 your Majesty, and am fixed in this belief ; and I should hold myself 
 unworthy of my descent and station if a tamer impulse could now 
 possess me ; still more to justify this confidence, allow me to recall 
 to your Majesty’s recollection the expressions you were graciously 
 pleased to use when I solicited foreign service upon my first coming 
 into the army. They were, sir, that your Majesty did not then see 
 the opportunity for it; but that if anything was to arise at home, I 
 ought to be one of the first and foremost 
 
 “My character with the nation, my honor, my future fame and 
 prospects in life, are now all at stake. I therefore supplicate your 
 Majesty to afford me those means for their preservation which 
 affection for my country and devotion to my sovereign would have 
 prompted me to solicit, even though my birth and station had not 
 rendered it my duty to claim them. I presume in no respect to 
 prescribe to your Majesty the mode of being employed; what I 
 humbly, but most earnestly, solicit is the certainty of active service, 
 in such a character as to your Majesty shall seem fit. 
 
 “ With the profoundest humility, I have the honor to subscribe 
 myself, your Majesty’s most dutiful and most affectionate Son and 
 Subject, 
 
 “ George P.” 
 
 The “ should I fall ” must have produced a grim smile on the lips 
 of the King, whose fixed opinion was that there was but one of his 
 family deficient in personal courage. His answer was a blunt 
 refusal, on the ground “that military command was incompatible 
 with the situation of the Prince of Wales.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 345 
 
 CHAPTER XXX 
 1801. 
 
 We have now arrived at the curious incident which obliged Mr. 
 Pitt to retire from office and brought into prominence the feeble 
 Addington and his family party — the “clan” of relations, Hiley, 
 Bragge Bathurst, and Vansittart, without due provision for whom 
 his services could never be obtained. Never, indeed, were the 
 claims of family connection carried so far, or political interest made 
 so subservient to the ties of kindred. Mr. Croker, who interspersed 
 his spirited, though often truculent, articles with reminiscences of 
 curious facts gathered from the important men with whom he had 
 associated, tells us how Mr. Bragge, “ the Premier’s brother-in-law, 
 then in his first Parliament, was raised to the Privy Councillor’s 
 office of Treasurer of the Navy. His brother, Mr. Hiley Adding- 
 ton, was Secretary of the Treasury. His schoolfellow and intimate, 
 Mr. Bond, just come into Parliament, was a Lord of the Treasury. 
 So afterward was his cousin, Mr. Golding, who does not seem to 
 have been in Parliament at all. Mr. Adams, another brother-in- 
 law, was a Lord of the Admiralty. These were all respectable 
 gentlemen, whose abilities were equal to their positions — and we do 
 not know that they at all exceeded the proportion of private friends 
 that every first minister used, and perhaps ought to have, in- his 
 administration — but they were as yet little known, and their con- 
 nection with the Premier was easily misrepresented as being their 
 sole merit. This, with Addington’s own inferiority to the great 
 masters of debate amongst whom he stood, gave ample scope to the 
 satiric pleasantries' of Canning,* a strophe of one of whose sallies. 
 
 * “ The pleasantries of Canning, though nowhere alluded to in these vol- 
 umes, and only now lingering in a few failing memories, had so much influ- 
 ence in Addington’s defeat, that we think it worth while to preserve two or 
 three specimens of this kind of small shot. In allusion to those specious ora- 
 tions with which Addington used to captivate the country gentlemen. Can- 
 ning quoted, ‘I do remember an apothecary .... culling of simples!’ 
 On another occasion, when Addington was loftily enumerating his various 
 
 15 * 
 
846 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 caricaturing the style of the Doctor’s oratory and the class of its 
 admirers, had no small effect in its day, and still clings to the 
 memory ; 
 
 Cheer him when he hobbles vilely, 
 
 Brother Bragge and Brother Hileyl 
 Cheer him when his audience flag. 
 
 Brother Hiley— Brother Bragge 1 
 
 “Brother Bragge, however, was a well-informed and judicious 
 man, who spoke with considerable weight; and we have heard that, 
 in his earlier day, Brother Hiley was remarkably lively and clever; 
 and he certainly was, in our time, a sensible as well as amiable 
 gentleman.” 
 
 The wit of Canning would have been more exercised had he 
 known that “ Brother Hiley ” later indulged in a romantic tender- 
 ness for the fascinating Miss Stephens, which he seemed to have 
 even confided to ]\Ir. Jordan, through whose good offices his admir- 
 ing strains were inserted in a popular journal. 
 
 The retirement of Pitt was owing, as is well known, to the measure 
 for the relief of the Catholics, the irresponsible question which was. 
 to overset or impede so many ministries. It is remarkable that the 
 Prince had signified to Mr. Pitt his approbation of the measure, and 
 indeed avowed, on several occasions, that he was favorable to it. 
 And this, of course, was to be accounted for, as Lord Moira, his 
 present friend, was an ardent “ Catholic.”* 
 
 But at this moment he was more than usually reckless in associat- 
 ing with the Jacobins and the Opposition, uttering the most violent 
 
 measures of national defence, Canning interjected, loud enough to be heard, 
 ‘ Oh, most forcible Feeble! ’ ‘ The relative merits of Pitt and Addington,’ he 
 said, ‘ might be determined by the Rule of Three Inverse: 
 
 “ ‘ Pitt is to Addington— 
 
 As London is to Paddington 1 ’ 
 
 And we have half forgotten a French epitaph which concluded: 
 
 “ ‘ Cy git 
 
 Ministre par hasard et M6decin malgr6 lui.’ 
 
 Mr. Pitt himself would in private indulge a smile at his successor’s somewhat 
 prosy orations. We heard very lately from one of the company still happily 
 surviving, that about this time Pitt, who was expected to a dinner-party, did 
 not come in till the second course, ‘ begging pardon for being so late, as he 
 was obliged to hear Addington out; and the Doctor, you know, travels with 
 his own horses! ’ ” 
 
 * Rose, “Diaries,” i. £02. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEOBGE IK 
 
 347 
 
 speeches; * the Duke of York, however, remained firm to the King. 
 A strange surprise, however, was at hand, which was once more to 
 raise his hopes. Unfortunately the agitation commenced with the 
 late change, and the struggles he had gone through were now to 
 have their effect on the King. Agitated and distracted by different 
 forms of excitement, his life attempted in the theatre, the behavior 
 of his son and daughter-in-law, and above all, shocked at the pro- 
 posals of his minister to concede what with him was a matter of 
 morbid horror — indulgence to the Catholics — it had not been a sur- 
 prise to any one that the mind of the King should have for the third 
 time given way. 
 
 About the middle of February he caught cold; the old “hurries” 
 set in, and within a fortnight the fatal Willis had arrived on the 
 scene, and he was “ as bad as ever.” From his ravings it was easy 
 to learn what had caused his disorder, for he was heard to mutter 
 frequently, “ I will be true to the Church,” 
 
 Never was there such an awkward contretemps, for the arrange- 
 ments were only in progress : Mr. Pitt had not gone out, or rather 
 Mr. Addington had not come in. All was confusion. But the 
 hopes of the Prince and his friends were raised, and once more the 
 regency became the existing topic. It is amusing to find that the 
 Prince, bearing in mind a wholesome recollection of his encounter 
 with Mr. Pitt on the last occasion, took the first opportunity to 
 make eager approaches to him. On the 23d February he sent for 
 him to ask his advice, which the minister — for he was still such de 
 facto — firmly and significantly said he would be glad to give, but on 
 this condition: “that he would not be advised by his friends of the 
 Opposition.” The Prince agreed at once, only stipulating that he 
 might occasionally consult his friend Lord Moira. f 
 
 Pitt added a further stipulation, that if unhappily there should 
 be a necessity for a regency, his royal highness should acquiesce in 
 the arrangement as settled in 1789; “that the Prince seemed to be 
 struck at that being put to him so distinctly, and perhaps a little 
 averse to the unqualified tones used (as if Mr. Pitt was conscious of 
 his manner of stating his determination having been severe), and 
 that his royal highness asked how some of those now acting with 
 Mr. Pitt would feel on the subject who had taken a very different 
 line on the former occasion; to which Mr. Pitt replied he thought 
 every one coscerned in it, without excepting his royal highness, 
 
 ♦ Malmesbury, “ Diaries,” iv. 6. 
 
 + Rose, ” Diaries,” i. 311. 
 
348 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 could not do better than accord T;\’ith what was most evidently the 
 clear sense of the legislature, expressed so as not to be mistaken. 
 The Prince then expressed uneasiness at some of the restrictions as 
 likely to be found extremely inconvenient. Nothing, however, 
 passed conclusive between them as to any arrangement of an admin- 
 istration. The interview ended with the Prince saying that he 
 must take time to consider all that Mr. Pitt had said; his whole 
 demeanor perfectly decorous and proper, as well with Mr. Pitt as 
 at the Queen’s House, when he 'was there. Mr. Fox has certainly 
 not been with his royal highness, and Mr. Pitt thinks he has not 
 seen Mr. Sheridan.” 
 
 There was a second interview a few da5"s later. Both parties 
 were inclined to put aside any burning question of principle, and 
 arrange the matter by a sort of compromise. Pitt (Mr. Abbott 
 says), at one of the interviews, advised the Prince to carry out the 
 Addington arrangement, which had been in train; to which the 
 Prince consented. Neither did the Prince consult any of the Oppo- 
 sition, but with his usual lack of propriety he appeared at a concert 
 given by the notorious Lady Hamilton, and was heard to say to 
 Calonne, the ex-minister, Savez vous, M. Galonne, mon pere est 
 aussifou que jamais?” At Carlton House dancing and singing were 
 going on. 
 
 As the Prince found Mr. Pitt on the whole rather stiff — indeed, 
 he said “ that no good came of it,” as Lord Malmesbury repeats, 
 “ it Avas natural that the Prince’s next step was to see what he 
 could do with Addington.” Accordingly, “ Jack Payne” was de- 
 spatched for him. The Prince asked him bluntly, “Was he or 
 Mr. Pitt minister?” He said that Mr. Pitt was. “In that case, 
 pray send Mr. Pitt to me.” The other naturally hesitated, and 
 said something about consulting the Duke of York, on which the 
 Prince, with a certain readiness or smartness which never deserted 
 him, replied, “No advice can be wanting on such an occasion, Mr. 
 Addington: if you decline acceding to my request, be so good as 
 to obey my commands.” * 
 
 Another account says the Prince declared that he would look to 
 Mr. Addington if necessary. f The Prince, it may be said, had no 
 authority to give commands to Mr. Addington, and could only 
 “request.” Among other topics, he dwelt on the improper sign- 
 
 * Lord Malmesbury, “Diaries.” 
 tLord Colchester, “Diaries,” i. 249. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 349 
 
 ing of a paper by the King, which he had been made to do by one 
 of his physicians at the instigation of the Chancellor, a matter on 
 which the Prince was eager to have Mr. Addington’s opinion ; but 
 the latter was reserved and begged to be excused. The Prince was 
 gracious, and praised his general behavior.* 
 
 All, however, seemed anxious that the Prince should “keep him- 
 self quiet” and be “passive.” But this he could not do. He was 
 remarked to be in great agitation of mind and spirits, uttering com- 
 plaints of the way he was treated at the palace, how he was fur- 
 nished with no news of the King, and talked “Opposition lan- 
 guage.” His brother, the Duke of York, was remarkable for his 
 devotion to the royal family, and seemed to be worn out with his 
 affectionate attendance. The Duke of Cumberland, exhibiting his 
 natural contending disposition on this as on other occasions, was 
 going about uttering sentiments of great violence, declaring that 
 the Chancellor who had procured the King’s signature deserved a 
 hatchet. This Prince was busy at his favorite labor of embroiling 
 people, for on one of the last days of February, when the King’s 
 life was despaired of, he sent at once for the Duke of York but not 
 for the Prince of Wales. The latter protested against such treat- 
 ment, on which he gave the excuse that the Prince was not accept- 
 able to the King. By March the 7th the King had recovered after 
 about a three weeks’ illness, so that once more the Prince had been 
 beguiled into following a will-o’-the-wisp. The first admitted was 
 his favorite son, the Duke of York, and at the interview it is 
 remarkable that while questions were eagerly put as to all his 
 family, there was no allusion to his eldest son.f 
 Not until March the 11th— four days later — did the Prince see his 
 father. The Court party malignantly gave out that this was his 
 own fault, that he had purposely chosen to come at times when he 
 knew he would not be admitted, etc. We know enough of the 
 feelings of the Queen and her faction to see that this exclusion was 
 part of their policy. Payne, describing this interview to Mr. Bose, 
 
 ♦In Dean Pellew’s “Life of Lord Sidmouth,” Lord Malmesbury’s story of 
 the Prince’s rebuke is dismissed as untrue ; yet, in the very account of the 
 interview given by Addington to Mr. Abbott, we find that “ Mr. Addington 
 explained that, not having received his royal highness’s commands to go 
 before, he had voluntarily forborne to call, as it must appear to be courting a 
 situation; but that being now commanded to go,” etc. From this apology, it 
 is evident that something of the kind had taken place. _ 
 
 t Malmesbury, “Diaries,” p. 31. 
 
350 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 declared that the Prince had not been "with him more than a min- 
 ute or two before Doctor Thomas Willis came into the room with- 
 out having been sent for, and remained in it the whole time his 
 royal highness was there, w^hich of course prevented any confi- 
 dential conversation; but that much passed of a general nature. 
 Among other matters entered upon by his Majesty, he said he w’as 
 glad to find the inquiries made about his health had been very gen- 
 eral. The Prince answered, he believed everybody had been to the 
 Queen's house who could either go there or be carried; to which the 
 King replied, Mr. Fox had not been, but that Mr. Sheridan had, 
 who he verily thought had a respect and regard for him; particu- 
 larly dwelling on his conduct at Drury Lane Theatre, when the 
 attempt was made on his Majesty’s life by the madman ■who had 
 been in the Dragoons; which led his Majesty to ask whether the 
 Prince was in the house at the time; who said he was not, but 
 that he repaired there the moment he heard of the transaction.'^ 
 
 It would seem that the Prince "was misinformed as to Fox’s 
 inquiries at the palace. Fox left his name only on that evening. 
 Thus he seemed destined to turn everything to his own disadvan- 
 tage, and set himself in a worse light than ever in his father’s eyes. 
 One matter, however, arose out of the crisis which comes in aid of 
 his consistency- later, when we come to deal •udth his “desertion of 
 the Whigs,” and the charge of his retaining his father’s advisers; 
 for he had now declared to Lord St. Helens, who repeated it to 
 Mr. Abbott, that his purpose had been “to maintain his father’s 
 ministers in their situation. ”f The Oppositio.a, too, had not been 
 very eager for place; for Fox and the rest expressed themselves 
 glad and relieved at the crisis being over. The Prince was there- 
 fore the only one mortified and discredited. 
 
 But there soon came evidences of a relapse in the King’s condi- 
 tion, and at the Drawing Room held on March the 2Gth it was 
 noted how pale the Queen was, and the Princesses seemed as if they 
 had been weeping. The Prince of Wales, Lord Malmesbury states, 
 behaved rudely to the Queen. His adviser, Lord Thurlow, who 
 was talked of for Chancellor in case the party had come in, was 
 reported to have used shocking language about the King, so that 
 Lord Kenyon, who heard him, declared that of the two he was the 
 one who was really mad. 
 
 The Prince, however, found it advisable to be on good terms 
 
 *Eose, “Diaries,” i. 332. 
 
 + Colchester, “Diaries,” i. 262. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 351 
 
 with the Court, as he was now, as ever, in want of money. He 
 wished to make an arrangement for borrowing a sum of money from 
 the King, on the security of extending for a year more the pres- 
 ent plan for paying off his debts. On one day in April he and the 
 King rode down to Kew together, and after dinner rode again. 
 This, or the discussion during the exercise, brought on agitation, 
 and he was heard putting questions to workpeople and others. On 
 these rides the Prince founded an extraordinary legend, for he 
 sent for the Chancellor, Lord Eldon, on the following day, and 
 announced to him that his Majesty was about to retire to Hanover 
 or to America, and resign the government to him! He wished the 
 Chancellor, therefore, to take the necessary steps, and see Lord 
 Thurlow for the purpose. The Queen and his brothers wished him 
 to confine the King, etc. The Chancellor received this extraordi- 
 nary communication very coolly and bluntly, and declined to adopt 
 any of the measures suggested. He then pressed Lord Rosslyn, the 
 late Chancellor, with similar proposals, sending him earnest mes- 
 sages by Payne. This in itself seemed like madness. Yet his fore- 
 cast came true. 
 
 In a few weeks the poor King had relapsed. Dr. Willis riding 
 out with him, he would tell his physician that he had a “most 
 charming night: no sleep from eleven till half after four,” the time 
 being passed in getting out of bed, opening the shutters, in praying 
 at times violently, and in making such remarks as betrayed a con- 
 sciousness of his own situation. He frequently called out: “I am 
 now perfectly well, and my Queen, my Queen has saved me!” * 
 
 In fact, his body, mind, and tongue were all upon the stretch 
 every minute, and his eldest son and his eldest son’s affairs were 
 unfortunately too much connected with this agitation. Good and 
 conscientious king as he was, he had now before his mind the 
 trouble of his little grandchild’s future, which he felt, he alone was 
 competent to decide on, and had determined to take the charge of 
 her himself. 
 
 That there was scarcely a more wretched household in the king- 
 dom than that at Kew will be seen from the following piteous 
 letter: 
 
 T^E PRINCESS ELIZABETH TO THE REV. DR. THOMAS WILLIS. 
 
 “June Gtli, 1801. 
 
 “After receiving one note you will be surprised at this: but 
 
 * “ Life of Lord Eldon,” i. 376. 
 
352 
 
 TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 second thoughts are sometimes best; besides which I am com- 
 manded by the Queen to inform you by letter how much this sub- 
 ject of the Princess is still in the King’s mind, to a degree that is 
 distressing, from the unfortunate situation of the family; Mama is 
 of opinion that the Lord Chancellor should be informed of it. The 
 Queen commands me to add, that if you could see her heart, you 
 would see that she is guided by every principle of justice, and with 
 a most fervent wish that the dear King may do nothing to form a 
 breach between him and the Prince, — for she really lives in dread 
 of it ; for, from the moment my Brother comes into the room till the 
 instant he quits it, there is nothing that is not kind that the King 
 does not do by him. This is so different to his manner when well, 
 and his ideas concerning the child so extraordinary, that, to own to 
 you the truth, I am not astonished at Mama’s uneasiness. She took 
 courage and told the King, that now my Brother was quiet, he had 
 better leave him so, as he never had forbid the Princess seeing the 
 child when she pleased ; to which he answered, ‘ That does not sig- 
 nify; the Princess shall have her child, and I will speak to Mr. 
 Wyatt about the building of the wing to her present house.’ You 
 know full well how speedily everything is now ordered and done. 
 In short, what Mama wishes is, that you would inform the Lord 
 Chancellor that his assistance is much wanted in preventing the 
 King doing anything that shall hurt him. The Princess spoke to 
 me on the conversation the King had had with her, expressed her dis- 
 tress, and I told her how right she was in not answering, as I feared 
 the King’s intentions, though most kindly meant, might serve to 
 hurt and injure her in the world. I hope I was not wrong, but I am 
 always afraid when she speaks to me on such unfortunate subjects. 
 I think the king heated and fatigued, which I am not surprised at, 
 not having been one minute quiet the whole day. I assure you it 
 is a very great trial, the anxiety we must go through; but we trust 
 in God, — therefore we hope for the best. 
 
 “ Your friend, 
 
 “Elizabeth.” 
 
 THE PRINCESS ELIZABETH, PROBABLY TO THE REV. DR. THOMAS 
 
 WILLIS. 
 
 “June 9th, 1801. 
 
 “I am but just come into my room, where I found your very 
 comfortable letter, which I return you many thanks for. I had 
 promised Mama to tell you, etc. 
 
 ******** 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 353 
 
 “She commands me to say to you that she wishes the Lord 
 Chancellor would show Mr. Addington, that, as the King is con- 
 tented with it, that he had better not hurry our going, as he is so 
 much better, that there is hope that in gaining strength it will 
 ensure us from having a relapse, which you may easily believe is 
 her earnest and daily prayer. He has been very quiet, very heavy, 
 and very sleepy, all the evening, and has said two or three times, 
 yesterday was too much for him. God grant that his eyes may 
 soon open, and that he may see his real and true friends in their 
 true colors. How it grieves one to see so fine a character clouded 
 by complaint! but He who inflicted it may dispel it, so I hope all 
 will soon be well. Your friend, 
 
 “Elizabeth.” 
 
 A change of scene, fresh country air, with perfect quiet, was 
 absolutely necessary, and the King, who delighted in staying at a 
 favorite subject’s house for a few days, honored Mr. Rose with a 
 visit at Cufnels. Gradually he was restored to health, for a time 
 at least. 
 
 It was when he w^as at Weymouth that the military taste of the^ 
 kingdom was enlisted by the behavior of the First Consul: drill- 
 ing, volunteering, addresses going forward with great animation. 
 Mr. Addington, now established as Prime Minister, was being 
 pressed by the Duke of York and his brother for military employ- 
 ment, the former proposing to go down and urge the matter on 
 the King. Once more the Prince of Wales’s military ardor flamed 
 up, and he addressed the ministers in the following strain: 
 
 THE PRINCE OF WALES TO MR. ADDINGTON. 
 
 “ Brighton, August 3rd, 1801. 
 
 “Dear Sir, 
 
 “ In the present anxious pressure of public affairs I am 
 extremely unwilling to obtrude the smallest additional weight of 
 business upon you, and more especially to intrude any which 
 could belong personally to myself. But the station you fill renders 
 it necessary that all such communications as I have to state should 
 be made directly to you. Besides, the zeal which I am conscious 
 animates you in the cause of all the royal family, together with the 
 kind and obliging interest I believe you so particularly to take in 
 whatever essentially relates to myself, induce me to communicate 
 
354 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 with you in thorough confidence, and under the impression of high 
 personal opinion and esteem. 
 
 “As I wish to make you perfectly master of the subject I am 
 about to treat I enclose you a copy of a letter* which I wrote to 
 the King in April, 1798, when the alarm of invasion was universal, 
 although very wide of the formidable aspect which this measure 
 unquestionably w’ears at the present day. I cannot immediately 
 put my hand on the answer his Majesty wrote me to this letter 
 (it being among my papers in London), but it went distinctly to 
 this, that, in case of the enemy’s landing, my regiment was to be 
 foremost of the cavalry, and myself at their head. The feelings 
 I have expressed to the King in this letter, as possessing me at that 
 day, be assured have lived in my breast ever since, and operate at 
 this moment with a tenfold increase; yet, dreading even the appre- 
 hension of offering any proposition that might tend, however 
 slightly, to flurry the King, I have determined not to repeat a simi- 
 lar mode of application to his Majesty on the present occasion; 
 but, confiding in your friendly discretion, place these uppermost 
 wishes of my heart entirely in your hands, requesting that you 
 will take the earliest convenient opportunity of bringing this sub- 
 ject before his Majesty as a suggestion from yourself, not only 
 founded upon the infinite anxiety you know it to excite in my 
 mind, but from the high rank I bear in the country, as a measure 
 of national expectation at so eventful a crisis as the present, and in 
 its consequences materially affecting my future character and con- 
 sequence in life in the estimation of the world. I again submit, as 
 before, to be called out in whatever character his Majest}'’ shall 
 think fit. I own that a command of cavalry would be most pleas- 
 ing to me, because I think in that line I could best serve my King 
 and country; but I have no difficulties. I am willing and ready to 
 serve in any command and with any rank a letter of service may 
 assign me; or even to serve under the command of any officer 
 whatever it may be his Majesty’s pleasure to place over me. Inde- 
 pendent of an ardent love for actual service, the consideration of 
 my fame and character with the world engrosses, as you may 
 readily conceive, my every thought, and will, I make no doubt, 
 insure to me your good offices and cordial co-operation in the 
 attainment of an object I have so earnestly at heart; for I can with 
 the utmost sincerity conclude this letter with assuring you of the 
 
 * Ante, p. 343. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV, 
 
 355 
 
 truth of the declaration I made in my letter to the King, ‘that 
 death would be preferable to the being marked as the only man 
 that was not suffered to stand forth on such an occasion.’ 
 
 “ I am, dear Sir, ever very sincerely yours, 
 
 “ George P.” 
 
 A month was allcwed to elapse before an answer was returned 
 to this appeal. It was of the conventional kind. The King, it 
 seems, declared there was no situation suited to the rank of the 
 Prince. “The conversation,” the minister adds significantly, 
 “ from causes which it is unnecessary for me to state, was unavoid- 
 ably short; but he should have thought himself justified in attempt- 
 ing to protract it.” 
 
 Peace, however, was presently concluded, due notice of which 
 the minister gave to the Prince. 
 
 THE PRINCE OF WALES TO MR. ADDINGTON. 
 
 “ Windsor Castle, Oct. 2nd, 1801. 
 
 “ Many thanks, my dear sir, for your obliging communication. 
 It is a matter of amazing importance, and upon which I most 
 heartily congratulate you. Everything, I have no doubt, will smile 
 upon us now. ... As I am this moment summoned to his Majes- 
 ty’s dinner, excuse my not adding anything more, except that I am, 
 with the truest regard, dear Sir, 
 
 “ Ever most sincerely yours, 
 
 “George P.” 
 
 Indeed, so soon as Otto, the French plenipotentiary, arrived in 
 London, we find the Prince, with a kind of emotional view of the 
 event, taking an interest in the negotiations, and closeted with the 
 envoy. Sir John Macpherson, one of his favorites, was engaged in 
 the matter. “We all knew and appreciate thoroughly,” wrote Otto 
 to the latter, “ the talents of the Prince, who so ably expounded to 
 us the true system that should guide the relations of his country as 
 well as of all Europe. Peace, founded on such consideration, 
 becomes not a simple exchange of snuff-boxes or a ten 5"ears’ truce, 
 but a solemn pact, guaranteed by all that humanity holds most 
 dear. ‘All is new in this age of ours,’ said the Prince. All is 
 indeed new, and so, too, was the language he used, and which will 
 never be effaced from my recollection.”* AVe can sec the figure of 
 
 * Lord Sidmouth, “ Life,” ii. 25. 
 
356 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 the Prince as he thus expatiated at Carlton House, and fancied he 
 was controverting events. Otto’s letter was shown to the Prince 
 by Macpherson, and the former, much gratitied, forwarded it to 
 the Prime Minister: 
 
 THE PRmCE OF WALES TO MR. ADDINGTON. 
 
 “Jan. 22nd, 1802. 
 
 “When the letter of M. Otto, which I have now the pleasure to 
 inclose to you, was communicated to me, I desired Admiral Payne 
 to lay it before you: he called twice in Downing Street, butmissed 
 you. It is neither from the compliments that M. Otto has been 
 pleased to pa}’’ me, nor even from the justice which he renders to 
 your administration, that I am anxious to draw your attention to 
 the contents of his letter. It is the wisdom, the temper, and the 
 pleasing harmony of the political order which it embraces, that 
 have won my admiration. Fortunate shall I reckon my own des- 
 tiny in life, if I can in any way be useful to favor a political sys- 
 tem of such extensive good. I know what you will naturally feel 
 on the subject; and no one can wish you more success in the 
 arduous and noble duty you are discharging for your country. 
 
 “George P.” 
 
 The minister of course gratefully acknowledged these compli- 
 ments. On the conclusion of the peace in 1802, festivities and 
 revels of all kinds followed. The Lord Mayor gave a magnificent 
 entertainment, which the Prince attended, whose horses were taken 
 off at Temple Bar, and his carriage drawn by the mob to the 
 Mansion House. A ball given by the Gaming Club in Bond Street 
 followed. 
 
 We are told how their rooms were decorated upon the most 
 magnificent scale. “ The windows, by excellent mechanical skill, 
 served as so many entrances, and were ornamented with fiowers; 
 gilt corbeilles depended from them, containing lights. The great 
 room was illuminated with about forty lustres; and it was covered 
 with a green and buff treillage paper. Each recess formed a green- 
 house, which was stocked with the choicest plants, trees of consid- 
 erable size, beauty, and value. A grand orchestra contained a full 
 band of musicians; and a number of Indians performed their war- 
 dance, battle, and song. The Prince of Wales was habited in a 
 rich Highland dress, and he had a room exclusively for his own 
 party. An adjoining one represented a subterraneous cave for a 
 
THE LIFE OP GEORGE IV. 
 
 357 
 
 number of bffnditti. These sung several excellent comic songs, for 
 the amusement of his royal highness. The banditti consisted of 
 Lord Craven, the Hon, Berkeley Craven, Mr. Manners, and Mr. T. 
 Sheridan. The greater part of the foreign ministers were present, 
 and also several strangers of distinction, among whom was the 
 beautiful Madame Kecamier. This was one of the most splendid 
 f^tes ever given in this country.” 
 
 He was now indeed beginning to exhibit that curious taste for 
 costume and fancy dressing for which he was to be so remarkable. 
 AT the Lord Mayor’s he had worn “a general’s frock uniform,” 
 which, considering that he did not hold the rank, seems strange. 
 
 At one of these balls a difficulty had arisen out of the position 
 that two important ladies, the Duchess of York and Mrs. Fitzher- 
 bert, were to take. The King and Queen would not hear of them 
 being placed at the same table, and the Duke was distracted between 
 his father and brother. It was arranged by having separate tables. 
 Here the Prince’s rude speech to “ Old Baggs” (Lord Eldon) caused 
 much amusement. The latter was pressing on him the necessity of 
 consulting the dignity and comfort of the Princess of Wales, when 
 the Prince declared roughly, “ That he was not the sort of person 
 to let his hair grow under his wig to please his wife.” The Chan- 
 cellor answered him firmly: “Your Royal Highness condescends 
 to be personal. I beg leave to retire.” The Prince wrote to him to 
 say that nothing was intended, that he had quoted a proverb ; but it 
 was awkward that the practice alluded to was one in which the 
 Chancellor indulged! 
 
 During this year the Prince seems to have been more than usually 
 restless, and some eccentric boutades of his are recorded. He seri- 
 ously proposed to one of the ministers to go abroad ‘ ‘ and form a 
 Northern Confederacy.” His plan was to gain the Duke of Bruns- 
 wick, which he said he could do, and through him Russia and 
 Prussia. In this he was to be assisted by one Baron Hompesch, 
 “a rank adventurer.” He pressed the matter on Lord Pelham, 
 who only put it aside as one of the ten thousand chimeras his royal 
 highness had conceived. The following day Hompesch was de- 
 spatched by him to Lord Pelham to talk the plan over, but the 
 latter declined entering on such a subject with the baron.* 
 
 * Malmesbury, “ Diaries,” iv. 263. 
 
358 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 1802—1803. 
 
 The Prince’s affairs had now for some five or six years been sub- 
 mitted to strict regulation, and, it having been made illegal by Act 
 of Parliament to trust him, it was presumed that he was secured 
 against all relapse into debt. The public was now to be surprised 
 by learning that it was the father, and not the son, that was in debt; 
 and an application was made to Parliament to discharge the arrears 
 of the Civil List, amounting to nearly a million sterling. Lord Hol- 
 land was bold enough to suggest that his Majesty should be treated 
 as his son had been, and a portion of the royal income set apart. It 
 is but fair to state that this deficit was attributed to public charges 
 — secret service money and, strange to say, outlay upon elections. 
 This was a favorable opening, and accordingly the old wearying 
 subject of the Prince’s situation was brought forward, and Mr. 
 Manners Sutton, the Solicitor-General, once more made an appeal 
 for the Duchy of Cornwall arrears. This long-disputed claim was 
 now in the Court of Chancery, where it had remained without 
 decision for some years. The old arguments were put forward, and 
 it was shown that the King had not only appropriated the arrears, but 
 taken fines from tenants for long leases, leaving the Prince’s powers 
 as a landlord much impaired. The motion for a committee was 
 defeated by a not very large majority — 160 to 103. The minister 
 was beginning to feel the weakness of the position, and in Decem- 
 ber, 1802, sent to consult Mr. Pitt as to making a compromise with 
 the Prince on the terms of discharging him from the arrangement of 
 1795, by paying oft' whatever debts remained due. In return, the 
 Prince was not to press for the Cornwall arrears. Mr, Pitt declared 
 himself against all compromise. If the arrears were justly owing, 
 he said, they should be paid; if not, the question of increased allow- 
 ance should be considered separately. On February 16th, Mr. 
 Addington came to the House with a message from his Majesty, to 
 this effect: * 
 
 * Dean Pellew’s mode of appreciating his hero may be conceived from the 
 following passage: “Speaking of this event ” (the execution of the xmfortu- 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 859 
 
 The minister dwelt on the necessity of the position of splendor a 
 Prince of Wales ought to hold, and proposed that a sum of money, 
 not exceeding £60,000 in the year, should be granted for three 
 years from January 5th, 1803. This was not to affect the previous 
 arrangement of 1795.* * In the succeeding debates it came out that 
 the legal procceedings for the arrears had been suddenly stopped, so 
 that this step had the air of a compromise. It was also announeed 
 that no less a sum than £575,000 of debt had been paid off by the 
 commissioners. Mr. Sheridan made himself conspicuous by his 
 devotion to his master’s interest, declaring that the Prince considered 
 himself bound in honor to pay his creditors the ten per cent, which 
 the commissioners had deducted, and that until he was quite clear 
 he would decline to rcassume his state and position. Lord Malmes- 
 bury seems to have truly interpreted the meaning of these protes- 
 tations, viz., that the Prince had incurred a new tale of debt in the 
 teeth of the Act of Parliament. And, indeed, it is evident that there 
 would have been found persons ready to advance an heir-apparent 
 money as he required, on usurious terms, in spite of any Act.f 
 Mr. Fox boasted in extravagant terms that the Prince had now 
 shown himself worthy of the management of a large income by his 
 prudenco^the only virtue he was ever charged with wanting. Mr. 
 Erskine declared for him, that now, at forty years of age, he did not 
 owe one shilling to the public. Mr. Tierney said he was the least 
 expensive Prince of Wales that ever existed! However, on Feb.- 
 ruary 28th, the Prince’s equerry. Colonel Tyrwhitt, brought down a 
 message to the House, stating that the Prince gratefully accepted the 
 promised Act, declaring that there were still claims on him for 
 which he must set apart a portion of his income. Mr. Calcraft on 
 March 4th brought forward a motion in this spirit, for a committee 
 to examine the Prince’s affairs, and enable him to resume his posi- 
 tion with proper state and dignity. All his friends declared that 
 
 nate Governor Wall), Lord Sidmonth observed: “In the case of Governor 
 Wall, Lord Eldon said he would not say he ought to be hanged and he would 
 not say he ought not. He was hanged,” added Lord Sidmouth, in that calm 
 tone which marked the mild decision of his character. — “ Life,” i. 478. 
 
 * In 1801, Mr. Addington had sanctioned an increased allowance of £8000 a 
 year to the Prince. It becomes difficult to follow the changes in the arrange- 
 ments: the Prince, however, was the gainer. 
 
 + The Chancellor, however, explained that there virtually had been no 
 reduction, as they were given the full sum in debentures at three per cent, 
 or the reduced sum with five per cent., no interest being due on mere book 
 debts. 
 
360 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 the Prince had not directed this motion, though he did not prevent 
 it, and Sheridan made a humorous and effective speech. 
 
 The ministers carried the previous question by a small majority 
 of about 40. In the House of Lords, however. Lord Moira brought 
 the matter to a conclusion, by a sort of official acceptance on the 
 Prince’s part. The Prince also declared, by the mouth of Mr. 
 Erskine, his chancellor, that he could not think of adding further 
 to the burden of the country, and that he was perfectly satisfied 
 with what Parliament had done.* For, as Lord Malmsbury learned 
 from Lord Pelham, “ it is understood the Prince is to restore his 
 establishment.” He asked, “Was this put in writing?” He 
 answered, “No; but it was implied by the Prince’s promise.” In 
 short, it is clear that the whole is a compromise between the Prince 
 and Addington, to induce the Prince to waive his claims on the 
 arrears of the Duchy, and which the Crown lawyers consider to be 
 a fair one, and so withdraw his petition of right. No terms are 
 made with the Prince but this (Lord Pelham was one of the Gov- 
 ernment, it must be borne in mind): “None of his income (which 
 will now be net which is paid him by the public) is appropriated to 
 any specific purpose, as the Civil List is; and the whole will evi- 
 dently be squandered away, without his assuming any one single 
 extensive work of ro 3 'alty or splendor, to prove that he and his 
 hangers-on do not consider it a farce. ”f 
 
 The reader will recall Mr. Addington consulting with Mr. Pitt 
 on the compromise. Yet we now find him denying it. The Prince 
 also denied it, and abruptly stopped his suit, which was ripe for 
 decision. The affair, however, was arranged; the public were not 
 to learn more of the matter for a long period. 
 
 The peace, one which “ every one was glad of and no one proud 
 of,” soon ended in a violent rupture, and once more the kingdom 
 re-echoed with valorous shouts and the noise of preparation. Once 
 more, too, was our Prince fired with martial ardor, and put for- 
 ward his claim to be allowed to serve his country as a soldier. He 
 addressed Mr, Addington in a number of letters. 
 
 * It is characteristic that, while the Prince’s friends were thus clamoring in 
 his behalf, their principal should have arranged matters with the minister; 
 to whom Mr. Sutton had written apologetically, that the Prince did not wish 
 to embarrass the Government or reflect upon any one, but merely to satisfy 
 the public that he had not been a burden on the country, and that the state of 
 accounts should be in his favor. — “ Life of Lord Sidmouth,” i. 493. 
 t “ Diaries,” iv. 205. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 361 
 
 THE PKINCE OP WALES TO MR. ADDINGTON. 
 
 “ Carlton House, July 18th, 1803. 
 
 “ Sir, 
 
 “ The subject on which I address you presses so heavily on 
 my mind, and daily acquires such additional importance, that, not- 
 withstanding my wish to avoid any interference with the disposition 
 made by his Majesty’s ministers, I find it impossible to withhold or 
 delay an explicit statement of my feelings, to which I would direct 
 your most serious consideration. 
 
 “When it was officially communicated to Parliament that the 
 avowed object of the enemy was a descent on our kingdoms, the 
 question became so obvious that the circumstances of the times 
 required the voluntary tender of personal services; when Parlia- 
 ment, in consequence of this representation, agreed to extraordinary 
 measures for the defence of these realms alone, it was evident the 
 danger was not believed dubious nor remote. Animated by the 
 same spirit which pervaded the nation at large, conscious of the 
 duties which I owed to his Majesty and the country, I seized the 
 earliest opportunity to express my desire of undertaking the respon- 
 sibility of a military command; I neither did nor do presume on 
 supposed talents as entitling me to such an appointment. I am 
 aware I do not possess the experience of actual warfare ; at the 
 same time I cannot regard myself as totally unqualified, nor defi- 
 cient in military science, since I have long made the service my 
 particular study. My chief pretensions were founded on a sense 
 of those advantages which my example might produce to the State, 
 by exciting the loyal energies of the nation, and a knowledge of 
 those expectations which the public had a right to form as to the 
 personal exertion of their princes at a moment like the present. 
 The more elevated my situation, in so much the efforts of zeal 
 became necessarily greater; and I confess, that if duty has not 
 been so paramount, a reflection on the splendid achievements of 
 my predecessors would have excited in me the spirit of emulation. 
 When, however, in addition to such reccllections, the nature of 
 the contest in which we are about to engage was impressed on my 
 consideration, I should indeed have been devoid of every virtuous 
 sentiment if I felt no reluctance in remaining a passive spectator of 
 armaments which have for their object the very existence of the 
 British empire. 
 
 “ Thus was I influenced to make my offer of service, and I did 
 
 16 
 
362 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE lY, 
 
 hope that his Majesty’s ininisters would have attached to it more 
 value. But when I find that, from some unknown cause, my 
 appointment seems to remain so long undetermined; when I feel 
 myself exposed to the obloquy of being regarded by the country of 
 passing my time indifferent to the events which menace, and insen- 
 sible to the call of patriotism, much more of glory, it then becomes 
 me to examine my rights, and to remind his Majesty’s ministers 
 that the claim which I have advanced is strictly constitutional, and 
 justified by precedent; and that in the present situation of Europe, 
 to deny my exercising it is fatal to my own immediate honor and 
 the future interests of the crown. 
 
 “I can never forget that I have solemn obligations imposed on 
 me by my birth, and that I should ever show myself foremost in 
 contributing to the preservation of the country. The time is arrived 
 when I may prove myself sensible of the duties of my situation, 
 and of evincing my devotion to that sovereign, wdio by nature as 
 well as public worth commands my most affectionate attachment. 
 
 “ I repeat that I should be sorry to embarrass the Government at 
 any time, most particularly at such a crisis; but since no event in 
 my future life can compensate me for the misfortune of not parti- 
 cipating in the honors and dangers that await the brave men des- 
 tined to oppose an invading enemy, I cannot forego the earnest 
 renewal of my application. 
 
 “ All I solicit is a more ostensible situation than that in which I 
 am at present placed; for, situated as I am — a mere colonel of a 
 regiment — the major-general commanding the brigade, of which 
 such regiment must form a part, would justly expect and receive 
 the full credit of prearrangement and successful enterprise. 
 
 “ I am. Sir, very sincerely yours, 
 
 “G. R» 
 
 THE PRrtsCE OP WALES TO MR. ADDINGTON. 
 
 “July 26th, 1803. 
 
 “A week has now elapsed since the Prince of Wales transmitted 
 to Mr. Addington a letter on the subject of the highest importance. 
 Though he cannot anticipate a refusal to so reasonable a demand, he 
 must still express some surprise that a communication of such a 
 nature should have remained so long unanswered. 
 
 “When the Prince of Wales desired to be placed in a situation 
 which might enable him to show the people of England an example 
 of zeal, fidelity, and devotion to his sovereign, he -naturally thought 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 363 
 
 that he was only fulfilling his appropriate duty as the first subject of 
 the realm, in which, as it has pleased Providence to cause him to be 
 born, so he is determined to maintain himself, by all those honor- 
 able exertions which the exigencies of these critical times peculiarly 
 demand. The motives of his conduct cannot be misconceived nor 
 misrepresented; he has, at a moment when everything is at stake 
 that is dear and sacred to him and to the nation, asked to be advanced 
 in military rank, because he may have his birthright to fight for, the 
 throne of hhs father to defend, the glory of the people of England 
 to uphold, vdiich is dearer to him than life, which has yet remained 
 unsullied under the princes of the house of Brunswick, and which, 
 he trusts, will he transmitted pure and unsullied to the latest genera- 
 tions. Animated by such sentiments, he has naturally desired to be 
 placed in a situation where he can act according to the feelings 
 of his heart and the dictates of his conscience. 
 
 “ In making the offer, in again repeating it, the Prince of Wales 
 considers that he has only performed his duty to himself, to the 
 State, to the King, and to Europe, whose fate may be involved in 
 the issue of this contest. If this tender of his services is rejected, 
 he shall ever lament that all his efforts have been fruitless, and that 
 he has been deprived of making those exertions which the circum- 
 stances of the empire, his own inclinations, and his early and long 
 attention to military affairs, would have rendered so peculiarly 
 grateful to himself, and, he trusts, not entirely useless to the 
 public.” 
 
 Mr. Addington explained that though a verbal answer had been 
 sent he could now declare that the King “ applauded” the Prince’s 
 spirit, but referred him to the answers given before. 
 
 The Prince of Wales then desired Mr. Addington to lay his note 
 of the 26th of July before the King. 
 
 MR. ADDINGTON TO THE PRINCE OP WALES. 
 
 “ Downing Street, August 1, 1803. 
 
 “Sir, 
 
 “In obedience to the commands of your Royal Highness, I 
 laid before his Majesty the letter dated the 26th of July, with which 
 your Royal Highness honored me; and I have it in command from 
 his Majesty to acquaint your Royal Highness, that the King had 
 referred Mr. Addington to the orders he had before given him, 
 
364 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 with the addition, that the King’s opinion being fixed he desired 
 that no further mention should be made to him upon the subject. 
 
 “I liave the honor to be, with every sentiment of respect and 
 deference, Sir, your Royal Highness’s most humble Servant, 
 
 “ Henry Addington.” 
 
 THE PRINCE OP WALES TO THE KING. 
 
 “ Brighthelmstone, Aug. 6, 1803. 
 
 “Sir, 
 
 “A correspondence has taken place between Mr. Addington 
 and myself on a subject which deeply involves my honor and char- 
 acter. The answers which I have received from that gentleman, 
 the communication which he has made to the House of Commons, 
 leave me no hope but an appeal to the justice of your Majesty. I 
 make that appeal with confidence, because I feel that you are my 
 natural advocate, and with the sanguine hope that the ears of an 
 affectionate father may still be opened to the applications of a duti- 
 ful son. 
 
 “ I ask to be allowed to display the best energies of my charac- 
 ter; to shed the last drop of my blood in support of your Majesty’s 
 person, crown, and dignity, for this is not a war for empire, glory, 
 or dominion, but for existence. In this contest, the lowest and 
 humblest of your Majesty’s subjects have been called on ; it would 
 therefore little become me, who am the first, and who stand at the 
 very footstool of the throne, to remain a tame, an idle, and a life- 
 less spectator of the mischiefs which threaten us, unconscious of 
 the dangers which surround us, and indifferent to the consequences 
 which may follow. Hanover is lost — England is menaced with in- 
 vasion — Ireland i« in rebellion — Europe is at the foot of France. 
 At such a moment the Prince of Wales, yielding to none of youi 
 servants in zeal and devotion — to none of your subjects in duty^ 
 to none of your children in tenderness and affection — presumes to 
 approach you, and again to repeat those offers which he has already 
 made through your Majesty’s minister. A feeling of honest am- 
 bition, a sense of wdiat I owe to myself and to my family — and, 
 above all, the fear of sinking in the estimation of that gallant 
 army, which may be the support of your Majesty’s crown and my 
 best hope hereafter, command me to persevere, and to assure your 
 Majesty with all humility and respect, that, conscious of the justice 
 of my claim, no human power can ever induce me to relinquish it. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 365 
 
 “ Allow me to say, Sir, that I am bound to adopt this line of 
 conduct by every motive dear to me as a man, and sacred to me as 
 a Prince. Ought I not to come forward in a moment of unexam- 
 pled difficulty and danger? Ought I not to share in the glory of 
 the victory when I have everything to lose by defeat? The highest 
 places in your Majesty’s service are filled by the younger branches 
 of the Koyal family: to me alone no place is assigned. I am not 
 thought worthy to be the junior major-general of your army. If 
 I could submit in silence to such indignities, I should indeed 
 deserve such treatment, and prove to the satisfaction of your ene- 
 mies, and my own, that I am entirely incapable of those exertions 
 which my birth and the circumstances of the times peculiarly call 
 for. Standing so near the throne, when I am debased, the cause of 
 royalty is wounded ; I cannot sink in the public opinion without 
 the participation of your Majesty in my degredation. Therefore 
 every motive of private feeling and of public duty induces me to 
 implore your Majesty to review your decision, and to place me in 
 that situation which my birth, the duties of my station, the exam- 
 ple of my predecessors, and the expectations of the people of Eng- 
 land entitle me to claim. 
 
 “Should I be disappointed in the hope which I have formed, 
 should this last appeal to the justice of my sovereign, and to the 
 affection of my father, fail of success, I shall lament in silent sub- 
 mission his determination; but Europe, the world, and posterity 
 must judge between us. 
 
 “I have done my duty; my conscience acquits me; my reason 
 tells me that I was perfectly justified in the request which I have 
 made, because no reasonable arguments have ever been adduced in 
 answer to my pretensions. The precedents in our history are in 
 my favor; but if they were not, the times in which we live, and 
 especially the exigencies of the present moment, require us to be- 
 come an example to our posterity. 
 
 “ No other cause of refusal has or can be assigned, except that 
 it is the will of your Majesty. To that will and pleasure I bow 
 with every degree of humility and resignation; but I can never 
 cease to complain of the severity which has been exercised against 
 me, and the injustice I have suffered, till I have ceased to exist. 
 
 “I have the honor to subscribe myself, with all possible devo- 
 tion, your Majesty’s most dutiful and allectionate Son and Subject, 
 
 “G. P.” 
 
866 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 THE KING TO THE PKINCE OP WALES. 
 
 “ Windsor, August 7, 1803. 
 
 “My deah Son, 
 
 “ Though I applaud your zeal and spirit, of which, I trust, 
 no one can suppose any of my family wanting, yet, considering the 
 repeated declarations I have made of my determination on your 
 former applications to the same purpose, I had flattered myself to 
 have heard no further on the subject. 
 
 “ Should the implacable enemy so far succeed as to land, you will 
 have an opportunity of showing your zeal at the head of your regi- 
 ment; it will be the duty of every man to stand forward on such 
 an occasion, and I shall certainly think it mine to set an example, 
 in defence of everything that is dear to me, and to my people. 
 
 “ I ever remain, my dear Son, your most affectionate Father, 
 
 “ George R.” 
 
 THE PRINCE OF WALES TO THE KING. 
 
 “ Brighthelmstone, August 23, 1803. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 “I have delayed thus long an answer to the letter which 
 your Majesty did me the honor to WTite, from the wish to refer to 
 a former correspondence which took place betw^een us in the year 
 1798. Those letters were mislaid, and some days elapsed before I 
 could discover them. They have since been found. Allow me 
 then. Sir, to recall to your recollection the expressions you were 
 then graciously pleased to use, and which I once before took the 
 liberty of reminding you of, W'hen I solicited foreign service, upon 
 my first entering into the army. They were. Sir, that your Majesty 
 did not then see the opportunity for it, but if anything w’as to arise 
 at home, ‘ I ought to be first and foremost.’ There cannot be a 
 stronger expression in the English language, or one more consonant 
 to the feelings which animate my heart. In this I agree most per- 
 fectly wdth your Majesty — ‘ I ought to be first and foremost.’ It is 
 the place w^hich my birth assigns me — which Europe — which the 
 English nation — expect me to fill — and which the former assurances 
 of your Majesty might naturally have led me to hope I should 
 occupy. After such a declaration I could hardly expect to be told 
 that my place was at the head of a regiment of dragoons. 
 
 “I understand from your Majesty, that it is your intention. Sir, 
 in pursuance of that noble example which you have shown during 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 367 
 
 the course of your reign, to place yourself at the head of the people 
 of England. My next brother, the Duke of York, commands the 
 army; the younger branches of my family are either generals or 
 lieutenant-generals; and I, who am Prince of Wales, am to remain 
 colonel of dragoons. There is sometliing so humiliating in the con- 
 trast that those who are at a distance would either doubt the reality, 
 or suppose that to be my fault which is only my misfortune. 
 
 “Who could imagine that I, who am the oldest colonel in the ser- 
 vice, had asked for the rank of a general officer in the army of the 
 King, my father, and that it had been refused me? 
 
 “I am sorry, much more than sorry, to be obliged to break in 
 upon your leisure, and to trespass thus, a second time, on the atten- 
 tion of your Majesty; but I have. Sir, an interest in my character 
 more valuable to me than the throne, and dearer, far dearer to me, 
 than life. I am called upon by that interest to persevere, and pledge 
 myself never to desist, till I receive that satisfaction which the jus- 
 tice of my claim leads me to expect. 
 
 “In these unhappy times, the world, Sir, examines the conduct 
 of princes with a jealous, a scrutinizing, a malignant eye. Ko man 
 is more aware than I am of the existence of such a disposition, and 
 no man is therefore more determined to place himself above all sus- 
 picion. 
 
 “ In desiring to be placed in a forward situation, I have performed 
 one duty to the people of England; I must now perform another, 
 and humbly supplicate yOur Majesty to assign those reasons which 
 have induced you to refuse a request which appears to me and to 
 the world so reasonable and so rational. 
 
 “I must again repeat my concern, that I am obliged to continue 
 a correspondence which, I fear, is not so grateful to your Majesty 
 as I could wish. I have examined my own heart — I am convinced 
 of the justice of my cause — of the purity of my motives. Reason 
 and honor forbid me to yield , where no reason is alleged I am justi- 
 fied in the conclusion that none can be given. 
 
 “In this candid exposition of the feelings which have agitated 
 and depressed my wounded mind, I hope no expressions have 
 escaped me which can be construed to mean the slightest disrespect 
 to your Majesty. I most solemnly disavow any such intention, 
 but the circumstances of the times — the danger of invasion, the 
 appeal which has been made to all your subjects, oblige me to recol- 
 lect what I owe to my own honor and to my own character, to 
 state to your IVfcijesty, with plainness^ truth, and candor, but with 
 
368 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 all the submission of a subject and the duty of an affectionate son, 
 the injuries under which I labor, and which it is in the power of 
 your Majesty alone at one moment to redress, 
 
 “ It is with sentiments of the profoundest veneration and respect 
 that I have the honor to subscribe myself, 
 
 “Your Majesty’s most dutiful and most affectionate 
 “ Son and Subject, 
 
 “G. P.” 
 
 Up to this point we have the Prince addressing these official pro- 
 tests assisted by his political friends. But now we shall find him 
 adopting his own characteristic style in continuing tins singular 
 controversy with his “dear brother” of York. This interchange 
 of ideas had something ludicrous. 
 
 THE rKmCE OP WALES TO THE DUKE OF YORK. 
 
 “ Brighton, October 2, 1803. 
 
 “My dear Brother, 
 
 “By last night’s Gazette, which I have this moment re- 
 ceived, I perceive that an extensive promotion has taken place in 
 the arm}^ wherein my pretensions are not noticed; a circumstance 
 which, whatever may have happened on other occasions, it is im- 
 possible for me to pass by, at this momentous crisis, without 
 observation. 
 
 “My standing in the army, according to the most ordinary rou- 
 tine of promotion, had it been followed up, would have placed me 
 either at the bottom of the list of generals, or at the head of the 
 list of lieutenant-generals. When the junior branches of my 
 family are promoted to the highest military situations, my birth, 
 according to the distinctions usually conferred on it, should have 
 placed me first on that list. 
 
 “I hope you know me too well to imagine that idle, inactive 
 rank is in my view; much less is the direction and patronage of 
 the military departments an object which suits my place in the 
 State or my inclinations; but in a moment when the danger of the 
 country is thought by Government so urgent as to call forth the 
 energy of every arm in its defence, I cannot but feel myself de- 
 gi-adcd, both as a Prince and a soldier, if I am not allowed to take 
 a forward and distinguished part in the defence of that empire and 
 crown, of the glory, prosperity, and even existence of that people, 
 in all which mine is the greatest stake. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 369 
 
 “To be told I may display this zeal solely and simply at the 
 head of my regiment is a degrading mockery. 
 
 “If that be the only situation allotted me, I shall certainly do 
 my duty, as others will; but the considerations to which I have 
 already alluded entitle me to expect, and bind me every way to 
 require, a situation more correspondent to the dignity of my own 
 character, and to the public expectation. It is for the sake of ten- 
 dering my services in a way more formal and official than I have 
 before pursued, that I address this to you, my dear brother, as the 
 Commander-in-chief, by whose counsels the Constitution pre- 
 sumes that the military department is administered. 
 
 “If those who have the honor to advise his Majesty on this oc- 
 casion shall deem my pretensions, among those of all the royal 
 family, to be the only one fit to be rejected and disdained, I may 
 at least hope, as a debt of justice and honor, to have it explained 
 that I am laid by in virtue of that judgment, and not in conse- 
 quence of any omission or want of energy on my part. 
 
 “ Etc. etc. etc., 
 
 “G. P. W.” 
 
 The Duke of York replied to his “dearest brother,” regretting 
 “ the impossibility there is, upon the present occasion, of my exe- 
 cuting your wishes of laying the representation contained in your 
 letter before his Majesty. Suffer me, my dearest brother, as the 
 only answer that I can properly give you, to recall to your mem- 
 ory what passed upon the same subject soon after his Majesty was 
 graciously pleased to place me at the head of the army ; and I have 
 no doubt tliat, with your usual candor, you will yourself see the abso- 
 lute necessity of my declining it.” He then explained that “in the 
 year 1795, upon a general promotion taking place, at your instance 
 I delivered a letter from you to his Majesty, urging your preten- 
 sions to promotion in the army; to which his Majesty was pleased 
 to answer, that, before ever he had appointed you to the command 
 of the 10th Light Dragoons, he had caused it to be fully explained 
 to you what his sentiments were with respect to a Prince of Wales 
 entering into the army, and the public grounds upon which he 
 could never admit of your considering it as a profession, or of your 
 being promoted in the service. And his Majesty, at the same time, 
 added bis positive commands and injunctions to me, never to men- 
 tion this subject again to lum, and to decline being the bearer of 
 any application of the same nature, should it be proposed to me; 
 
 1G“- 
 
370 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 which message I was, of course, under the necessity of delivering 
 to you, and have constantly made it the mle of my conduct ever 
 since; and, indeed, I have ever considered it as one of the greatest 
 proofs of affection and consideration towards me, on the part of his 
 Majesty, that he never allowed me to become a party in this busi- 
 ness. Having thus stated to you, fairly and candidly, what has 
 passed, I must trust you will see that there can be no ground for 
 the apprehension expressed in the latter part of your letter, that 
 any slur can attach to your character as an officer, particularly as I 
 recollect your mentioning to me yourself, on the day on which 
 you received the notification of your appointment to the 10th Light 
 Dragoons, the explanation and condition attached to it by his 
 Majesty.” 
 
 THE PHmCE OF WALES TO THE DUKE OF YORK. 
 
 “ My dear Brother, “ Brighton, Oct. 9, 1803. 
 
 “I have taken two days to consider the contents of your 
 letter of the 6th instant, in order to be as accurate as possible in my 
 answer, which must account to you for its being longer, perhaps, 
 than I intended or I could have wished. 
 
 “ I confide entirely in the personal kindness and affection ex- 
 pressed in your letter; and am, for that reason, the more unwilling 
 to trouble j^ou again on a painful subject, in which you are not free 
 to act as your inclination, I am sure, would lead you. But as it is 
 not at all improbable that every part of this transaction may be 
 publicly canvassed hereafter, it is of the utmost importance to my 
 honor, without which I can have no happiness, that my conduct in 
 it shall be fairly represented and correctly understood. When I 
 made a tender of my services to his Majesty’s ministers, it was with 
 a just and natural expectation that my offer would have been ac- 
 cepted in the way in which alone it could have been most beneficial 
 to my country, or creditable to myself; or, if that failed, that at 
 least (in justice to me) the reasons for a refusal would have been 
 distinctly stated; so that the nation might be satisfied that nothing 
 had been omitted on my part, and enabled to judge of the validity 
 of the reasons assigned for such a refusal. In the first instance, I 
 was referred to his Majesty’s will and pleasure, and now I am in- 
 formed by your letter that, before ‘ he had appointed me to the 
 command of the 10th Light Dragoons, he had caused it to be fully 
 explained to me what his sentiments were with respect to a Prince 
 of Wales entering into the army.’ 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 371 
 
 “ It is impossible, my dear brother, that I should know all that 
 passed between the King and you; but I perfectly recollect the 
 statement you made of tlie conversation you had with his Majesty, 
 and which strictly corresponds with that in your letter now before 
 me. But I must, at the same time, recall to your memory my 
 positive denial, at that time, of any condition or stipulation having 
 been made upon my first coming into the army; and I am in pos- 
 session of full and complete documents, which prove that no terms 
 whatever were then proposed, at least to me, whatever might have 
 been the intention; and the communications which I have found it 
 necessary subsequently to make have ever disclaimed the existence 
 of such a compromise at any period, as nothing could be more 
 averse to my nature, or more remote from my mind. 
 
 “ As to the conversation you quote in 1796 (when the King was 
 pleased to appoint me to succeed Sir William Pitt), I have not the 
 most slight recollection of its having taken place between us. My 
 dear brother, if your date is right, you must be mistaken in your 
 exact terms, or at least in the conclusion you draw from it; for, in 
 the intimacy and familiarity of private conversation, it is not at all 
 unlikely that I should have remembered the communication you 
 made me the year before; but that I should have acquiesced in, or 
 referred to, a compromise which I never made, is utterly impos- 
 sible. 
 
 “ Neither in his Majesty’s letter to me, nor fn the correspondence 
 with Mr. Addington (of which you may not be fully informed), is 
 there one word, or the most distant allusion to the condition stated 
 in your letter; and even if I had accepted the command of a regi- 
 ment on such terms, my acquiescence could only have relation to 
 the ordinary situation of the country, and not to a case so com- 
 pletely out of all contemplation at that time, as the probable or 
 projected invasion of this kingdom by a foreign force sufficient to 
 bring its safety into question. When the King is pleased to tell 
 me, ‘ that, should the enemy land, he shall think it his duty to set 
 an example in defence of the country ’ — that is, to expose the only 
 life which, for the public welfare, ought not to be hazarded — I re- 
 spect and admire the principles which dictate that resolution; and 
 as my heart glows with the same sentiments, I wish to partake in 
 the same danger — that is, with dignity and effect. Whenever his 
 Majesty appears as King, he acts and commands; you are Com- 
 mander-in-chief; others of my family are high in military stations; 
 and even by the last brevet, a considerable number of junior otfi- 
 
372 
 
 TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 cers are put over me. In all these arrangements, the Prince of 
 Wales alone, whose interest in the event yields to none but that of 
 the King, is disregarded, omitted — his services rejected: so that, in 
 fact, he has no post or station whatsoever in a contest on which the 
 fate of the crown and the kingdom may depend, 
 
 “ I do not, my dear brother, wonder that, in the hurry of your 
 present occupation, these considerations should have been over- 
 looked. They are now in your view, and, I think, cannot fail to 
 make a due impression. 
 
 “As to the rest, with every degree of esteem possible for your 
 judgment of what is due to a soldier’s honor, I must be the guardian 
 of mine to the utmost of my power. Etc. etc., 
 
 “G. P.” 
 
 The Duke of York replied: 
 
 “ Horse Guards, Oct. 11, 1803, 
 
 “My dear Brother, 
 
 “I have this moment, upon my arrival in town, found your 
 letter, and lose no time in answering that part of it which appears 
 to me highly necessary should be clearly understood. Indeed, my 
 dear brother, you must give me leave to repeat to you, that, upon the 
 fullest consideration, I perfectly recollect your having yourself told 
 me at Carlton House, in the year 1793, on the day on which you were 
 informed of his Majesty’s having acquiesced in your request of being 
 appointed to the command of the 10th Regiment of Light Dragoons, 
 the message and condition which was delivered to you from his 
 Majesty. And I have the fullest reason to know that there are 
 others to whom, at that time, you mentioned the same circumstance; 
 nor have I the least recollection of your having denied it to me, 
 when I delivered to 5"ou the King’s answer; and I conceive that 
 your mentioning in your letter my having stated a conversation 
 to have passed between us in 1798, must have arisen from some 
 apprehension, as I do not find that year ever adverted to in my 
 letter. 
 
 “I have thought it due to us both, my dear brother, thus fully 
 to reply to those parts of your letter in which you appear to have 
 mistaken mine ; but as I am totally unacquainted with the corre- 
 spondence which has taken place upon this subject, I must decline 
 entering any further into it,” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 373 
 
 THE PRINCE OP WALES TO THE DIJEE OP YORK. 
 
 “ Brighton, Oct. 22, 1803. 
 
 “ My dear Brother, 
 
 “By my replying to your letter of the 6th instant, which 
 contained no sort of answer to mine of the second, we have fallen 
 into a very frivolous altercation upon a topic which is quite foreign 
 to the present purpose. Indeed, the whole importance of it lies 
 in a seeming contradiction in the statement of a fact, which is 
 unpleasant even upon the idlest occasion. 
 
 “I meant to assert, that no previous condition to forego all pre- 
 tensions to ulterior rank, under any circumstances, had been 
 imposed upon me, or even submittted to me, in any shape whatso- 
 ever, on my first coming into the service ; and with as much confi- 
 dence as can be used in maintaining a negative, I repeat that 
 assertion. 
 
 “When I first became acquainted with his Majesty’s purpose to 
 withhold from me further advancement, it is impossible to recollect; 
 but that it was so early as the year 1793, 1 do not remember, and, if 
 your expressions were less positive, I should add, nor believe; but 
 I certainly knew it, as you well knew, in 1795, and possibly before. 
 We were then engaged in war, therefore I couid not think of resign- 
 ing my regiment, if under other circumstances I had been disposed 
 to do so; but, in truth, my rank in the nation made military rank, 
 in ordinary times, a matter of little consequence, except to my own 
 private feelings. This sentiment I conveyed to you in my letter of 
 the 2d, saying expressly that mere idle, inactive rank was in no sort 
 my object; but upon the prospect of an emergency, when the King 
 was to take the field, and the spirit of every Briton was roused to 
 exertion, the place which I occupy in the nation made it indispen- 
 sable to demand a post correspondent to that place, and to the pub- 
 lic expectation. This sentiment I have the happiness to be assured, 
 in a letter on this occasion, made a strong impression upon the 
 mind, and commanded the respect and admiration, of one very high 
 in Government. 
 
 “ The only purpose of this letter, my dear brother, is to explain, 
 since that is necessary, that my former ones meant not to give you 
 the trouble of interceding as my advocate for mere rank in the 
 army. Urging further my other more important claims upon Gov- 
 ernment, would be vainly addressed to any person, who can really 
 think that a former refusal of mere rank, under circumstances so 
 
374 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 widely different, or the most express waiving of such pretensions, 
 if that had been the case, furnishes the slightest color for the 
 answer I have received to the tenders I have now made of my ser- 
 vices. 
 
 “Your department, my dear brother, was meant, if I must 
 repeat it, simply as a channel to convey that tender to Government, 
 and to obtain either their attention to it, or their avowed refusal, 
 etc. 
 
 “ G. P.” 
 
 THE DUKE OP YORK TO THE PRINCE OF WALES. 
 
 “ Horse Guards, October 13, 1803. 
 
 “Dear Brother, 
 
 “I have received your letter this morning, and am sorry to 
 find that you think that I have misconceived the meaning of your 
 first letter, the whole tenor of which, and the military promotion 
 which gave rise to it, led me naturally to suppose your desire w’as, 
 that I should apply to his Majesty, in my official capacity, to give 
 you military rank, to which might be attached the idea of subse- 
 quent command. 
 
 “ That I found myself under the necessity of declining, in obedi- 
 ence to his Majesty’s pointed orders, as I explained to you in my 
 letter of the 16 th instant. But from your letter of to-day, I am to 
 understand that your object is not military rank, but that a post 
 should be allotted to you, upon the present emergency, suitable to 
 your situation in the state. This I conceive to be purely a political 
 consideration, and as such totally out of my department; and as I 
 have most carefully avoided, at all times, and under all circum- 
 stances, ever interfering in any political points, I must hope that 
 you will not call upon me to deviate from the principles by which 
 I have been invariably governed. 
 
 “Believe me, my dear Brother, 
 
 “ Your most affectionate Brother, 
 
 “ Frederick." 
 
 THE PRINCE OF WALES TO THE DUKE OP YORK. 
 
 *‘Carlton House, October 14, 1803. 
 
 “ My dear Brother, 
 
 “ It cannot but be painful to me to be reduced to the neces- 
 sity of further explanation on the subject which it was my earnest 
 wish to have closed, and lyhich was of so clear and distinct a 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 375 
 
 nature, as, in my humble judgment, to have precluded the possi- 
 bility of either doubt or misunderstanding. 
 
 “Surely there must some strange fatality obscure my language 
 in statement, or leave me somewhat deficient in the powers of 
 explanation, when it can lead your mind, my dear brother, to such 
 a palpable misconstruction (for far be it from me to fancy it wilful) 
 of my meaning, as to suppose, for a moment, I had unconnected 
 my object with efficient military rank, and transferred it entirely to 
 the view of a political station, w^hen you venture to tell me ‘ my 
 object is not military rank, but that a post should be allotted to me, 
 upon the present emergency, suitable to my situation in the state.’ 
 Upon what ground you can hazard such an assertion, or upon what 
 principles you can draw such an inference, I am utterly at a loss to 
 determine; fori defy the skilful logician, in torturing the English 
 language, to apply with fairness such a construction of any word 
 or phrase of mine, contained in any one of the letters I have ever 
 written on this, to me, most interesting subject, I call upon you 
 to reperuse the correspondence. In my letter of the 2d instant, I 
 told you unequivocally that I hoped you knew me too well to 
 imagine that idle, inactive rank was in my view; and that senth 
 ment, I beg you carefully to observe, I have in no instance what» 
 ever, for one single moment, relinquished or departed from. 
 
 “Giving, as I did, all the considerations of m}'- heart to the deli- 
 cacy and difficulties of your situation, nothing could have been 
 more repugnant to my thoughts, or to my disposition, than to have 
 imposed upon you, my dear brother, either in your capacity as com- 
 mander-in-chief, or in the near relationship which subsists between 
 us, the task, much less the expectation, of causing you to risk any 
 displeasure from his Majesty, by disobeying in any degree his com- 
 mands, although they were even to militate against myself. But, 
 with the impulse of my feelings towards you, and quickly conceiv- 
 ing what friendship and affection may be capable of, I did not, I 
 own, think it entirely impossible, that you might, considering the 
 magnitude and importance which the object carries with it, have 
 ofiicially advanced my wishes, as a matter of propriety, to military 
 rank and subsequent command, through his Majesty’s ministers, for 
 that direct purpose; especially when the honor of my character 
 and my future fame in life were so deeply involved in the considera- 
 tion: for I must here again emphatically repeat, that idle, inactive 
 rank was never in my view; and that military rank, with its con- 
 sequent command, was never out of it. 
 
376 
 
 TEE LIFE OF OEOROE IV. 
 
 " Feeling how useless, as well as ungracious, controversy is, upon 
 every occasion, and feeling how fatally it operates upon human 
 friendship, I must trust that our correspondence on this subject 
 shall cease here; for nothing could he more distressing to me, than 
 to prolong a topic, on which it is now clear to me, my dear brother, 
 that you and I can never agree, etc. etc. 
 
 “ G. P.” 
 
 While this odd controversy was going on between the brothers, 
 serious news of invasion reached the Prime Minister, who sent off 
 a despatch to the Prince. 
 
 MB. ADDINGTON TO THE PBINCE OF WALES. 
 
 “ Richmond Park, Oct. 23, 1803. 
 
 “ Sm, 
 
 In consequence of some intelligence which has reached me, 
 I am impelled by a sense of duty to your Royal Highness, and to 
 the public, to express an earnest and anxious hope, that you may 
 be induced to postpone your return to Brighton until I shall have 
 had an opportunity of making further inquiries, and of stating the 
 results of them to your Royal Highness. ^ 
 
 “I have the honor to be, with the utmost deference and re- 
 spect, Sir, your Royal Highness’s most faithful and most humble 
 Servant, 
 
 “ Henky Addington.” 
 
 The Prince at once availed himself of the opening this communi- 
 cation offered, and replied : • 
 
 THE PRINCE OF WALEG TO MR. ADDINGTON. 
 
 “ Carlton House, Oct. 24, 1803. 
 
 “ Sir, 
 
 ‘‘By your grounding your letter to me upon intelligence 
 which has just reached you, I apprehend that you allude to infor- 
 mation which leads you to expect some immediate attempt from 
 the enemy. My wish to accommodate myself to anything which you 
 represent as material to the public service would of course make me 
 desirous to comply with your request; but if there be any reason tc 
 imagine that invasion will take place directly, I am bound l)y the 
 King’s precise order, and by that honest zeal, which if not allowe d 
 any fitter sphere for its action, to hasten instantly to my regiment. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 377 
 
 If I learn that my construction of the word ‘ intelligence ’ be right, 
 I must deem it necessary to repair to Brighton immediately, etc. etc. 
 
 “G. P.” 
 
 The first letters to Addington were supposed to have been written 
 by Sheridan, but one, Mr. Moore states, was the work of Sir R. 
 Wilson, the second of Lord Hutchinson.* It has been stated, how- 
 ever, in The Morning Chronicle, that they were written by Mr. 
 Fonblanque, who was then in the Prince’s confidence.f On the 
 other hand, in one of Sir Philip Francis’s letters he alludes to his 
 claim of having written letters for the Princes; and his family 
 always maintained that he was the author of these offers of military 
 service. 
 
 The correspondence between the brothers shows that the Duke 
 had chosen his line, and cast his lot with the King. But there was 
 only a coolness between them, and the affection between the Prince 
 and his brother continued to the last. 
 
 Unfortunately, this refusal inflamed the Prince still more against 
 the King. He showed the correspondence to every one, and uttered 
 the most violent complaints of the treatment he had met with. In 
 the House of Commons the matter was taken up, and on December 
 2nd direct allusions were made to the proscription of the Prince, the 
 matter becoming so delicate that strangers were excluded. The 
 question arose on a motion of Colonel Crawford as to the defences 
 of the country, and became of an exciting kind, owing to the 
 episode being prolonged till nearly three in the morning — then 
 unusual. A report of what took place, however, got into the news- 
 papers, where we find Colonel Tyrwhitt indiscreetly disclosing 
 what had passed with the King. 
 
 From this communication we learn that Colonel Tyrwhitt said: 
 “ I esteem it my duty, sir, here to declare (deprecating any imputa- 
 tion that might be thrown upon a character of such value to us all 
 to preserve unshaded), that if the services of the illustrious person- 
 age alluded to have been rejected, I have proof that the fault does 
 not lie at his door.” “Several members, and in particular Mr. 
 Fox, having, upon this, pressed ministers to give an explanation of 
 their reasons for refusing the services of the heir-apparent, the 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer rose, and, it is said, spoke nearly as 
 follows: ‘No man is more ready to bear attestation to feelings so 
 
 * “Life of Sheridan,” ii. 317. 
 
 t Huish, i. 444. 
 
378 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 worthy of the rank and character of the illustrious personage alluded 
 to than I am. Having made this declaration, I must here pause, 
 and declare that nothing short of the commands of the King, and 
 the united authority of this House, shall in future ever compel me 
 to say one word more upon the subject.’ ” 
 
 Mr. Calcraft observed, that “the Prince of Wales had been a 
 colonel in the army from the year 1782. His brother was a field- 
 marshal and commander-in-chief. Three younger brothers were 
 lieutenant-generals. And you leave the heir-apparent to the mon- 
 archy to fight for that crown which he is one day to wear, as the 
 colonel of the regiment, under the command of a major-general, his 
 own equerry.” 
 
 A few days later, public curiosity, thus irresistibly stimulated, 
 was further gratified by the correspondence being published. It 
 appeared in TJie Morning Chronicle of December 7th, Lords Thurlow 
 and Hutchinson, with Mr. Francis, who were then his gnides and 
 directors, having advised the proceedings. Its effect on the King 
 was extraordinary, and gave the last touch to the hateful and 
 degrading picture he had conceived of his son. He looked on 
 it as an affront — as it were, something unbecoming and ungentle- 
 manly. Often afterwards he would allude to this crowning insult 
 on the part of his son — that “ he had published his letters.” 
 
 The Prince consoled himself by making martial addresses; and 
 on one occasion harangued a corps of volunteers to this effect: 
 “Volunteers, — It is with the highest satisfaction I take upon me 
 the honorable office of presenting the Koyal Spelthorn Legion this 
 day with their colors. When I view so respectable a corps, and 
 consider the high character attached to it, it would be supeilluous in 
 me to point out those duties and obligations which have been so 
 fully exemplified in its conduct. When you behold these colors,” 
 taking them in his hand, “ they will remind you of the common cause 
 in which you are engaged for your King, your country, your 
 religion, your laws, liberty, and property, your children and 3 mur 
 wives — nay, in short, for everything dear to Englishmen! Accept, 
 then, this pledge, this sacred pledge, which you will take care to 
 defend with your last drop of blood, and only resign with your 
 lives!” * 
 
 * His brother, the * sailor prince,” on a similar occasion, was brief and to 
 the point. ” My friends and neighbors, wherever duty calls us I will go with 
 you, fight in your ranks, and never return without 3*ou.” This, it must be saidi 
 had more of the true ring than the Prince's elaborate periods. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 379 
 
 After the declaration of war in 1803, Fox was living in retirement, 
 when some views of the Prince were communicated to him through 
 Mr, Adair. It will be amusing to peruse them, and see that Fox 
 only considered them worth notice from a sort of good-natured 
 toleration. By this time he had found there could be no union 
 between him and a person directed by Moiras and Sheridans. 
 
 Mr. Fox wrote in answer: “ I can only say that if the P. of W 
 wants to see me it will of course be my duty to wait upon him, 
 either in London, or wherever else he chooses to appoint: but that 
 as to attending Parliament at present, it appears to me impossible 
 that any good can come of it. It is, as the P. very properly says, 
 respecting the war, both too soon and too late; too soon for any- 
 thing like a junction and strength, and too late for opposing the 
 Defence Bill, etc. At the same time you may tell H.R.H. that I 
 am veiy happy to find that my general opinions are nearly the same 
 as his. To add the conscripts to the regulars would be far the best 
 plan, but whether his mode of raising recruits be at all right, even 
 for the purpose which I best like of a regular army, is another 
 question. If the conduct of ministers respecting Hanover be as 
 blamable as H.R.H, supposes (and I have little doubt but he is 
 right), a motion of inquiry may certainly be made on that subject; 
 and indeed this is the only thing like a parliamentary measure that 
 can be now taken. 
 
 “The part of the P.’s opinions in which I most heartily concur 
 is that which relates to the propriety he thinks there would have 
 been m waiting for some cause of war in which other nations 
 would have concurred. Now as to men, you know I have no 
 objection to any set, and to some of those mentioned I have some- 
 thing like partiality; but you know the strong impressions which 
 many of my friends entertain against Windham, and everything of the 
 name of Grenville. That these prejudices must, if there is occasion, 
 be resisted, I am most ready to admit; but until there seems some 
 opportunity of doing good, there is no use in doing violence to the 
 feelings of friends. Lord Spencer’s influence with the K. I suspect 
 to exist only in the P.’s imagination, nor do I conceive that any 
 influence can turn him against a ministry made in a manner .so 
 agreeable to him. What, then, is to be done ? Alas! I know not; 
 but I think the best chance is to wait for the effect which these 
 violent measures and outward events will produce, and then if 
 much discontent should arise, a junction, such as the P. seems to 
 wish, may be produced, and the exertion of H.R.H.’s influence may 
 
380 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 very mucli contribute to give strength — ay, and cordiality too — to 
 such a junction. 
 
 “One thing, however, it maybe necessary to premise, viz.; that 
 I cannot be one of any party who do not see the possibility and the 
 eligibility of being at peace with Bonaparte upon certain conditions. 
 The only question with me at all doubtful is, whether in the expec- 
 tation of the propriety of such a junction as has been hinted at, 
 hereafter, it might not be advisable soon to have some concert pro- 
 visionally, if I may so express myself, between the P. and some at 
 least of the Grenvilles, Lord Spencer, etc., in order that our respec- 
 tive modes of conduct might be such as at least not to create new 
 difficulties, if not to facilitate a union next session. One good conse- 
 quence of such an understanding might be to put a stop to Moira’s 
 rhodomontades, and other things of the kind. I am sensible all 
 this is a proceeding far too slow for the Prince’s impetuosity, an 
 impetuosity which upon this occasion, however, is much to his 
 credit. If he and those most immediately connected with him can 
 suggest any plan of more rapid operation, I am sure I have no 
 unwillingness to listen to it with all imaginable deference. In the 
 mean time pray say everything from me to H.R.H. that is respecta- 
 ble and affectionate, and if I might venture one piece of advice, it 
 would be to take great care not to say or do anything that can tend 
 to declare a personal enmity between him and Bonaparte. I am 
 
 sure this advice is unnecessary, but the follies of and 
 
 make one feel an inclination to give it. 
 
 It will be seen from this communication how uncertain Fox was 
 as to his royal friend and patron, and that he was in fact humoring 
 him. He might have had suspicions as. to his fealty, for in this 
 very year Mr. Pitt was astonished at receiving a message from him 
 in a circuitous manner, to the effect that his royal highness had not 
 the slightest disinclination towards him; that he had entertained the 
 thought, when he came to power, of giving his confidence to Lord 
 Moira, and at one time he had intended employing Mr. Fox; but 
 now he was satisfied, from the parties themselves, that he could not 
 do better than employ him, Mr. Pitt. But he could not make way 
 with the haughty statesman, who never compromised what he felt 
 towards him — something, it would seem, bordering on contempt. 
 He merely replied that he entertained a “due respect and proper 
 sense of duty” towards the Prince, but gave him what was only a 
 rebuke, saying he trusted, as he was certain his royal highness did, 
 that the occasion for coming to a decision on such matters was very 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 381 
 
 far off, and that in the mean time he might give his confidence to 
 such ministers as had his father’s confidence. Relating this to Mr. 
 Rose, Mr. Pitt set the overture down to a wish to win his support 
 during this very discussion of his offer to take a command.* This 
 was a harsh and prejudiced view, and we may rather accept the 
 idea that it was a caprice, that came of anger and disgust at his 
 treatment by the Prime Minister. 
 
382 
 
 TEE LIFE OF GEORGE lY. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 1801—1803. 
 
 Unfortunately Ir January, 1804, the King, agitated 
 harassed by political difficulties and family quarrels, was 
 more to hover on the gulf of derangement. The publi 
 his letter to his son, which amounted, as he considered 
 attempt to excite the nation against him, had sunk into his h 
 helped to disorder his intellect. Once more the hopes of the 
 and his friends were excited. Though the King “recovere 
 it was considered, in a few weeks, bis intellect seems to have 
 tinned disordered during the greater part of the year. Xor cai 
 think it surprising when we consider how the unfortunate monai 
 was baited and worried both within and without his househol 
 Instead of approaching him with the most soothing and tender 
 treatment, the Queen, affecting to dread some outburst, avoided his 
 presence, and assumed a perpetual silence. His own family looked 
 on him with distrust. The proper doctors (the Willises), who un- 
 derstood his case, were not suffered to attend, and his mind was 
 hopelessly distracted with ministerial changes. 
 
 All students of political life are familiar with the curious attitude 
 of Mr. Pitt, the real leader of the party now in power, and who 
 had allowed the faineant Addington to take his place until the 
 moment came when it suited to thrust him out of office. More 
 amusing, however, were the airs of the substitute, who, with an 
 exquisite self-complacency, began to take the matter seriously, and 
 to think that it was owing to his own force that he was where he 
 was. However, the nation was not inclined to endure him longer, 
 and were calling loudU for his deposition. 
 
 The Prince, who had been declaring that his father’s illness 
 would last many months (“The wish, Harry, was father to the 
 thought!” exclaimed Pitt scornfully when this was reported to him), 
 had been closeted with IMr. Addington on several occasions, but 
 was soon to learn that there was nothing to be gained. We, how- 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 383 
 
 ever, now find him engaged in negotiating arrangements about a 
 regency with the Premier. Sheridan, on the question of the 
 Prince’s inability to command, had taken Mr. Addington’s side, 
 which produced a coolness between him and his royal patron. But 
 he M’as now once more in high favor. The post of receivership of 
 the Duchy of Cornwall had fallen vacant on the death of Lord 
 Elliot, and the Prince, unsolicited, now conferred it on Sheridan 
 “as a trifiing proof of that sincere friendship he had always pro- 
 fessed and felt for him during a long series of years. I wish to 
 Gcd,” he added fervently, “it was better worth your acceptance.” 
 The person to whom the recipient, full of gratitude, wrote the news 
 was Mr. Addington, as “a person who would be glad of it.” 
 
 “It has been my pride and pleasure to have exerted my humble 
 efforts to serve the Prince without ever accepting the slightest obli- 
 gation from him; but in the present case, and under the present 
 circumstances, I think it would have been really false pride and 
 apparently mischievous affectation to have declined this mark of his 
 royal highness’s confidence and favor. I will not disguise that, at 
 this peculiar crisis, I am greatly gratified at this event. Had it 
 been the result of a mean and subservient devotion to the Prince’s 
 every wish and object, I could neither have respected the gift, the 
 giver, nor myself. I trust I need not add, that whatever small por- 
 tion of fair influence I may at any time possess with the Prince, it 
 shall be uniformly exerted to promote those feelings of duty and 
 affection towards their Majesties, which, though seemingly inter- 
 rupted by adverse circumstances, I am sure are in his heart warm 
 and unalterable — and, as far as I may presume, that general con- 
 cord throughout his illustrious family, which must be looked to by 
 every honest subject as an essential part of the public strength at 
 this momentous period.”* 
 
 This oflBce was worth £2000 a year; but it is curious to find 
 that on the appointment being made a claim was made to it by 
 Lord General Lake, whose brother produced a formal deed promis- 
 ing the reversion ! f 
 
 It is not easy to gather up the threads of these advances. The 
 clue, however, will be found in what we fear was the clue to most 
 of the transactions in which the unsteady Prince engaged, viz., his 
 own immediate interest, and the chance of succeeding to the re- 
 
 * Moore, “ Life of Sheridan,” ii. 321. 
 t Lord Colchester, “ Diary,” i. 481. 
 
384 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 gency. As it seemed to be at hand, he would take the shortest 
 and readiest mode to the issue; as it became remote, he abandoned 
 what he had undertaken. Thus, as the King’s illness seemed gain- 
 ing ground, we find him eagerly negotiating with the minister. 
 As he recovered, he returned to the old Opposition principles. 
 This may seem a harsh view, but it is the only one that makes all 
 consistent. 
 
 Sheridan (says Mr. Moore, who had seen all the letters and 
 papers) formed a sort of connecting link between Carlton House 
 and the minister, and took a leading part in the negotiations for 
 the regency. The Prince was indeed a little alarmed at a rumor 
 that got abroad that it was intended associating the Queen and the 
 Duke of York in the Government, but was reassured on this point 
 by Fox. The latter, as is well known, took a wholly different view, 
 and possessed with a sort of hatred of “the Doctor,” founded on 
 the lowest possible opinion of his “lies” and taste for scheming, 
 was for the sounder and broader policy of joining with the old 
 Whigs, or semi-Tories, the Grenvilles, and the rest, for the pur- 
 pose of ejecting the obnoxious minister. An address got up at 
 Carlton House by Sheridan and his friends was presented to Fox, 
 entreating him not to adopt such a course, “his royal highness 
 deprecating all party struggle at a moment when the defence of all 
 that is dear to Britons ought to be the single sentiment that should 
 fill the public mind.” * 
 
 Mr. Tierney had already joined the administration; Sheridan, 
 Moore says, was willing to do so ; and now Erskine, being offered 
 the Attorney- Generalship, might naturally suppose he was at liberty 
 to accept. He, however, consulted the Prince through Sheridan, 
 and received a reply that no doubt astonished him. “ While he 
 expressed the most friendly feelings towards Erskine he declined at 
 the same time giving any opinion as to either his acceptance or refusal 
 of the office of Attorney-General, if offered to him under the present 
 circumstances. He also added the expression of his regret that a 
 proposal of this nature should have been submitted to his considera- 
 tion by one, of whose attachment and fidelity to himself he was well 
 convinced, but who ought to have felt, from the line of conduct 
 adopted and persevered in by his royal highness, that he was the 
 very last person that should have been applied to for either his 
 opinion or countenance respecting the political conduct or connec- 
 
 * “ Life of Sheridan,” ii. 326. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 385 
 
 tions of any public character, especially of one so intimately con- 
 nected with him, and belonging to his family.” * 
 
 He was now much under the influence of this new favorite — 
 Lord Moira. He had generally some such friend of the kind, whom 
 he took up in this almost romantic style, and discarded as speedily. 
 In due course Lord Moira fell, and Lord Wellesley succeeded; in- 
 deed, a long list could be made of those privileged whom he affec- 
 tionately called by their Christian names, and soon grew tired of. 
 By Lord Moira’s direction he was now regulating his conduct. 
 
 There was another of his friends and boon companions who had 
 begun to complain of the fickleness of a Prince’s attachments, un- 
 der the sense of obligations unrequited, of promises unkept. The 
 fierce and uncontrolled Francis, the liahitue at the Pavilion, whose 
 children had been fondled by his royal highness, was now a bitter 
 disappointed man — discontented with Fox, with his party, with all 
 things. There was some just retribution, however, in the fact that 
 he, who had been so pitiless and even cruel, should himself feel 
 some sharp pangs, taking the shape of neglect and mortification. 
 It may be said in favor of the Prince that it must have been diffi 
 cult to live on harmonious terms with such a man. One that would 
 impatiently quicken his royal host when lagging through some 
 rambling story, with a “Well, sir; well, sir; what then?” — (to be, 
 however, thus rebuked- “If Sir Philip Francis will let me pro- 
 ceed”) — or thunder unceremoniously if kept waiting too long at 
 Carlton House gate; or, as we have seen, burst out laughing during 
 the Prince’s song, must have been rather a trying companion. There 
 were claims and promises. When Francis was offered the govern- 
 ment of the Cape, the Prince engaged — we are now anticipating — 
 impulsively, if he accepted the post, to get him promoted to some- 
 thing substantial. In one of his letters he shows an almost piteous 
 obsequiousness. 
 
 “ September 24, 1801. 
 
 “ Sir, 
 
 “ Confiding in your Royal Highness’s constant goodness to 
 me, I cannot restrain myself from taking the liberty to express to 
 you the concern and anxiety with which I heard last night of the 
 unfortunate accident your Royal Highness has met with. The 
 same intelligence says that, although you suffer considerable pain, 
 it is not attended with danger. I hope soon to have the honor of 
 
 17 
 
 * “ Life of Sheridan,” ii. 323, 
 
386 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV, 
 
 waiting on your Royal Highness, and the happiness of finding you 
 perfectly recovered. Believe me, Sir, that in every event m which 
 your Royal Highness is concerned I take the part that belongs to 
 the sincerest attachment to you. It was inclination before it was 
 gratitude, and assuredly will live as long as I do 
 
 “There is another subject, Sir, on which I have nothing to ex 
 press to you but pleasure and thankfulness. I have just heard of 
 your generous intentions in favor of Ralph Johnson. What the 
 young man’s engagements or views maybe, or those of his guar- 
 dians for him, Ido not know; but I can answer for him that he 
 feels the honor done him by 3mur Royal Highness more sensibly 
 and with deeper acknowledgment than perhaps he may submit to 
 you in proper terms for himself. 
 
 “ 1 have the honor to be, etc. 
 
 “P. Francis.” 
 
 But his bitterness seems to have been chiefly against Fox, against 
 whom he inveighed and nourished the deepest resentment. In 1798 
 Fox had withdrawn from politics, thus causing the division in his 
 party. And, d 'pro'pos of this secession, Francis entered into a cor- 
 respondence with the attractive Duchess of Devonshire, who, as 
 we have seen, was devoted to the man of the people. The mix- 
 ture of serious argument and gallantry is here well illustrated, and 
 makes us lament that the talent of writing in such a strain seems 
 now to be almost a lost art. 
 
 “ I am particular!}’’ vexed,” she wrote to him, on November 29th, 
 1798, “at having been prevented writing, lest you should think I 
 was affronted or unworthy of your kindness. But, besides having 
 been at a country ball, and having had a house full of Derb^’shire 
 savages, I have been vexed to my heart’s core. Oh ! my dear Mr. 
 Francis, you must have spoilt me, since I feel a pleasure in telling 
 you how worried I have been, though 1 cannot tel! you the cause, 
 though you can do me no good, and though my poor heart has been 
 torn to pieces. You know not what you have done in taking some 
 interest in such a being as I am; you must often listen to lamen- 
 tation, because, though in reality an old woman, my heart and 
 mind are still childish; nor can I encounter. without pain a world 
 that is too wise for me. I must feel unkindness when I meet with 
 It, and auxiet}’ when it presses round me. Do not be angry at my 
 boring you with all this stuff; indeed, if you knew me such as I 
 am, you would know that I pay you a compliment in writing thus. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 387 
 
 “ How can you suppose me angry for your averring your opim 
 ion! I knew it long ago, and wished to bring you to own it, 
 that I might attack it; but low spirits, which have taken from me 
 the power of writing for these ten days, have also weakened my 
 strength as a champion. You are wrong, indeed you are. Charles 
 has, and always had, faults of heedlessness, that may injure him, 
 and have, as a statesmen, but never as the greatest of men. Who, 
 at one glance, took in the view of the French Revolution? Who 
 saw its consequence, and warned us of the inutility of opposing its 
 progress? Will not posterity remember this and bless him? Will 
 not they remember his merciful wishes on the condemnation of 
 Louis XVI., and the various times he would have checked (and it 
 could have been done then) our wild career? Who has sacrificed 
 even his darling popularity to his principles? His standard is in 
 the hearts of men, in my heart of hearts, in your own, for you are 
 one of those formed by Nature with the fire, the animation that, I 
 am sure, must make you shrink from any other cause. I blame 
 not George Tierney; but he is no great man. A man who is only 
 bright in the absence of superior merit is in the right to make use 
 of his opportunity, for it will not last long. No, would I were a 
 man, to unite my talents, my hopes, my fortune with Charles’s, to 
 make common cause, and fall or rule, with him. 
 
 “The confidence of men is with Pitt; they respect him, as often 
 a wife does her husband; think him a very disagreeable fellow, but 
 a good manager of their views and happiness; and now, though they 
 think he has been going and going on too far, yet they still cling 
 to their spouse, lest the separation or divorce should bring on im- 
 mediate ruin ; for they have given up all their settlements, jointure, 
 and even pin-money into his hands; but, whilst they are mingled 
 in the interests of il caro sposo, their hearts are with Charles. He 
 is not rich enough for an elopement with him; and the husband, by 
 extreme jealousy and misrepresentation, has hurt him a little in 
 their opinion; but still they love him in secret. He has a heart. 
 Pitt has none. Now I cannot think that they will look on Tierney 
 or Lord Moira, or any pretender I know of, even in the light of a 
 gallant, or even flirt. They feel tharnselves in a bad situation, and, 
 if long trial at last engages the people to break all connection with 
 Pitt, it will be for no petty intrigue, but for the lover whose abilities 
 and genius could save them by some vast effort of genius, and 
 whom they have so long felt to be their destiny. 
 
 “ As I am very sure you do not think that I, as a woman, ever 
 
388 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 was, could be, or am, in love with Charles Fox, you will allow 
 that, in fervor, enthusiasm, and devotion, I am a good friend, and 
 I assure you, dear Mr. Francis, short as our acquaintance has been, 
 I could and would make a very noble battle for you, should any- 
 body attack you, which hitherto has not been the case, as all I 
 have seen admired you as I do. Tell me that you are not angry, 
 and that I may write on as I think. Form no judgment of my dear 
 sister; for she is ill and low, as she too often is at the beginning of 
 the cold weather.” 
 
 He replied in the same strain: “ Some cruel words in the letter I 
 received from you yesterday have filled me with deep and serious 
 anxiety, and the more as I cannot, if I would, conjecture what 
 grief they relate to, or what is the nature or extent of it. Do not 
 believe it possible that your heart can be ‘ torn in pieces,’ and that 
 mine can be unwounded. On a subject so described, it would be 
 equally unbecoming and useless in me to ask a question, or to so- 
 licit an explanation. Sorrow is certainly softened by participation. 
 To share the burden is to lighten it; but that case supposes a long 
 and mutual intimacy, and cannot be extended to many. From 
 woman to woman, it is most dangerous. In a few minutes, I have 
 hated at first sight. In others, as you perhaps may think possible 
 enough, I have loved without waiting for a second. But mere 
 love should beware of confessing anything to its object, except its 
 own passion. The party that desires more intends to command. 
 With all these wise considerations before you, it is for yourself to 
 judge whether any service, or council, or consolation, of mine can 
 be of any use to ^’’ou. If not, you ought not to tell me; for though 
 I know you would be safe, you do not. Religion comes late, and 
 serves only to console. Can you endure, and will you forgive, 
 these moral airs in a man who never pretended to be anything, and 
 to be a moralist least of all? With all possible veracity, I do con- 
 fess to you that I am very wise for everybody but myself. Wis- 
 dom has been beaten into me by experience, of which no man, I do 
 believe, has had more than I have had, to my cost, crowded into 
 the same number of years. Yet, born and bred as I was in adver- 
 sity, and traversed by disappointment in every pursuit of 1113^ life, I 
 never should have been unhappy if it had been possible for me never 
 to be imprudent. My mind is come at last to maturity, of which 3-ou, 
 if you please and if you want it, may at all times have the benefit. 
 Should I fail in judgment, you will find me safe, faithful, and dis- 
 creet. You talk of the shortness of our acquaintance, why. then, 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 889 
 
 if all this be not mere moonshine, and if we are really and seriously 
 to be friends, we have no time to lose. The fact, however, is that 
 I Lave known you many years, and long before the date of our ac- 
 quaintance. It is true I saw you at a great distance, and as a bird 
 of passage. The planet passed by, and knew nothing of the poor 
 astronomer who watched her motions and w^aited for the transit. 
 Hereafter, I hope you will not insist on my seeing you through a 
 telescope. Honestly and honorably, I believe I meant nothing but 
 that, while you were writing to me, you thought of nobody but C. F. 
 Not at all, however, in the sense of being in love with him. That 
 idea never entered into my thoughts. On that subject, I begin to be 
 what fine ladies call nettled, by your eternally answering me at 
 cross purposes, or telling me, as you do in effect, that six and four 
 do not make nineteen, and as if I had maintained the contrary. My 
 allegation is that I am forsaken, etc. Your defence is that he is a 
 man of transcendent abilities, and externally amiable in private life. 
 I admire the discovery, but it gives me no sort of consolation. . . . 
 I feel like gummed velvet, and wish I could hate you for half an 
 hour, that I might cut you into a thousand little stars, and live under 
 the canopy. On Monday I wrote till I could not see, without saying 
 half what I intended. You say I must have spoilt you. Will you 
 be so good as to tell me what sort of being you were before you were 
 spoiled? As for me, it is a clear case that I must be bewitched, or 
 I never would trust a declared enemy with such a letter as the en- 
 closed. . . . You say, ‘I knew your opinion long ago, and wish to 
 bring you to own it, that I might attack it.’ Most dear insidious 
 person! I had no disposition to inveigh against Mr. Fox’s conduct, 
 nor should I have said anything about it if you had not provoked 
 me on one side and ensnared me on the other. Will you now be 
 honorable, and can you be just? Did such a letter deserve no an- 
 swer?” 
 
 With much more in the same style. Both these gay and gallant 
 personages passed through a life of trouble and disappointment: 
 the “Beautiful Duchess” was to close her life entangled in embar- 
 rassments, chiefly owing to play.* 
 
 In the preceding year the Prince had sent a gracious message to 
 Mr. Pitt, which had been coldly received. In view of the serious 
 
 * I have given these extracts at this length, because they illustrate the 
 almost elegant style of communication between an accomplished man and 
 woman of the time. 
 
J590 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE /F. 
 
 condition of the King, the Prince seems to have recurred to this 
 idea — or at least hoped to conciliate the great commoner; but his 
 advances seemed to lack sincerity and found no favor. This will 
 be seen by following the course of the intrigues his confidants set 
 on foot. In March, 1804, Lord Moira, who was at Edinburgh, 
 opened himself to the Lord Advocate (Hope), who reported to Lord 
 Melville, who in his turn reported to Pitt. The Prince, Lord Moira 
 said with a curious confidence, had early sent a message to Fox and 
 Grey, assuring them that he was sensible of their attachment, but 
 that in the event of a regency he intended to throw himself into 
 Lord Moira’s hands. He would not therefore see them. He (Lord 
 Moira) had on this assured him that Addington and the present 
 ministry were incapable (i.e. of doing anything for him). K union 
 of all talents was necessary: “ Stretch forth your hand to Mr. Pitt! 
 Have you the magnanimity and good sense to lay aside all feeling 
 of estrangement?” The Prince at first put this aside, saying that 
 Mr. Pitt would not act with others, and declaring that Lord Moira 
 and no other should be his minister. “But let me know your feel- 
 ing as to Mr. Pitt,” persisted Lord Moira; but the Prince declared 
 that “Fox and Pitt would never act together.” The other again 
 urging it, and adding that he thought it for his good, the Prince 
 exclaimed ardently: “ Then I submit entirely to your opinion — to 
 have the broadest ministry possible,” though he still thought the 
 elements too discordant, and that Pitt would never be subordinate 
 in the Cabinet. “ But,” he added, “ I shall moderate between Pitt 
 and Fox!” This being duly transmitted to Pitt, it is curious to see 
 with what cold contempt he received it. 
 
 “ With respect to the Prince’s intentions, I must also say to you 
 confidentially that I fear no very certain dependence is to be placed 
 on any language which he holds. The conversation which Lord 
 Moira reports is certainly at variance with the assurances which I 
 have good reason to believe the Prince has held out in other quar- 
 ters. He has certainly seen both Fox and Grey. The former, I 
 have good reason to believe, understands that in the event of the 
 Prince having the Government in his hands, it is by his (Fox’s) 
 advice that he would be guided, and I believe, too, that his advice 
 is likely to be to apply to me.” He added that he could not take 
 part in any Government of which he was not the head.* 
 
 * Lord Stanhope, “ Life of Pitt,” iv. 137. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 891 
 
 Fox seems to have been kept in the dark, for we find him writ- 
 ing, much puzzled at what was going on: 
 
 “Since last Monday I have not heard one word hut from the 
 newspapers, from which I understand that the P.’s visit to Windsor, 
 Friday (of which, by the way, he had apprised me), was prolonged 
 till this day. Moira must, I think, have seen Pitt by this time, as 
 he said he was in a hurry to return to Scotland. I saw Sheridan, 
 and I need not tell you that he was in a terrible fidget. My opin- 
 ion is that, notwithstanding all these intrigues, the P, will be in 
 essentials quite steady. I think, too, that Pitt and Melville will 
 not be able to get authority to offer him anything that will shake 
 him. I have this day intelligence (which I believe) of an event 
 which will bring all these matters to a crisis — and which, on that, 
 as well as many other accounts, I shall think a very good one. I 
 hear it is quite certain that the Irish Catholics will petition both 
 Houses for complete Emancipation. Upon that question, the P. 
 and Moira must declare themselves, and what will be most satis- 
 factory to me, the Opposition will be marshalled together in a cause 
 that is not merely of a personal nature; for to have so much stress 
 laid upon my coming or not coming into office is, to say the least, 
 very unpleasant.”* 
 
 This scheme having failed, we next learn that upon the critical 
 attacks upon “the milk-and-water Addington” (as Mr. Fox styled 
 him), whose majorities were hourly lessening, the Prince, with 
 much wavering, had made up his mind. He was heard expressing 
 great satisfaction at the prospect of the Doctor’s overthrow, and in- 
 deed he helped to drive the minister with whom he had been nego- 
 tiating from power. It is clear that Fox’s influence had asserted 
 itself. 
 
 Yet what was the end, after all these months of busy intrigue 
 and finesse, but failure and discredit! The King, as is well known, 
 laid Fox under a ban. Mr. Pitt, the uncompromising, came into 
 office, and the Prince, baffled, disappointed, and hopeless, was left 
 to console himself with his Moiras and Sheridans. 
 
 It was evident that the King was still anything but restored. He 
 was seized with a suspicious mania for dismissing everybody about 
 him — old and faithful servants, lords-in-waiting, and others. In all 
 these illnesses their divisions and jealousies seemed to have hin- 
 dered due and proper care being taken, and the eagerness of his 
 
 * “ JMemorials of Fox,” iv. 63. 
 
392 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 friends to defeat their foes, dragged him from his retirement before 
 he was restored. 
 
 At the Drawing Room held in June, he was not well enough to 
 be present: neither was his son, who, however, was seen driving 
 through the town on the box of his barouche. The baffled Prince 
 was himself only recovering from one of those serious sudden 
 attacks to which he was subject all his life, and which he treated 
 with profuse bleeding. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 393 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 1804. 
 
 We now turn to another household which for a time has been 
 lost sight of. The young Princess Charlotte was now eight years 
 old; a very pleasing child from the high spirit and character, that 
 gave some anxiety to her aunt, the Princess Royal, in Germany. 
 She exhibited a hot and rather uncontrolled temper, but in other 
 respects was most engaging. Her grandfather appeared to dote 
 upon her. Miss Berry sketches her at this time: “ Her face dam- 
 aged by small-pox to an extent rarely seen at the time among the 
 higher classes; saying she was afraid of dark and dismal stories, 
 and telling a good one herself.” She had a taste for the “little 
 accomplishments,” could speak French, knew music, but she had a 
 nervous hesitation or stammer in her speech, which she never 
 wholly lost. Indeed it was rather increased in late years, owing to 
 the agitation of dreaded intervals with her father. 
 
 This amiable and interesting young creature seems indeed to owe 
 her defects to the intolerant system under which she was brought 
 up: her father and mother being at war, her mother at war with 
 her grandmother, her grandfather at war with her father, she her- 
 self — in hackneyed phrase — a bone of contention among them all. 
 
 Miss Gale had succeeded Miss Hayman as sub-governess; Mrs. 
 Gagarin (a worthy German who had been deceived, like Angelica 
 Kauffman, by a false marriage) was dresser; Mrs. Trew was tutor, 
 while Lady Elgin directed all. She lived at a country-place known 
 as Shrewsbury House, near Shooter’s Hill. 
 
 Her mother, residing at Montagu House, and enjoying the 
 powerful protection and favor of the King, was living a sober and 
 exemplary life, quiet and rational. We find her cultivating a taste 
 for music, painting, and modelling. Among the friends now 
 gathered around her were the Mintos, Carnarvons, Hawkesburys, 
 Dundases, Windhams, Grenvilles, Cannings, besides Lords Eldon 
 and Loughborough, the former of whom, perhaps, had rallied to 
 her because of his “dear qld master.” These she received at 
 
 17 * 
 
'894 
 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE TV. 
 
 dinner and seemed to have attached to her and the only objection 
 that could be taken to her behavior was a certain indiscretion of 
 speech — talking loudly, and abusing the Prince at her own table. 
 The first ride taken by the King after his recovery in 1801 was 
 down to Blackheath to see her, nor did he tell any one whither he 
 was going till he just reached her door. She was not up, but 
 jumped out of bed to receive him, arrayed in her bedgown and 
 nightcap! He told Lord Uxbridge that she ran in his head perpet- 
 ually during his illness, and he had resolved to visit her the first 
 time he went out, without telling anybody.* It was owing to his 
 prevision that the Princess was allowed the pleasure of seeing her 
 child, with suitable restraint, so as not to interfere with the prog- 
 ress of her education. 
 
 Lord Albemarle gives some child-letters of the young Princess 
 that are singularly interesting and engaging. Like her father, she 
 had violent likings and dislikes; her special aversion being the 
 Bishop of Salisbury (Dr. Fisher), whom she nicknamed the Great 
 “U-p,” and Mrs. Udney. A most amusing incident connected 
 with this prejudice is the will the little girl drew up, excluding 
 them from any share in her property, f 
 
 This harmless pleasantry caused much agitation among her gov- 
 erning powers, and it seemes incredible that it could be treated 
 seriously. In the journal of Lady Susan O’Brien, heroine of the 
 well-known runaway episode, what occurred is thus described: 
 
 “While I was in town, I was informed of a curious transaction 
 
 * Sir G. Elliot, “ Life,” iii. 217, 
 
 t “ I make my will. First, I leave all my best books, and all my books to 
 the Rev. Mr. Nott. Secondly, to Mrs. Campbell my three watches and half 
 my jewels. Thirdly, I beg Mr. Nott, whatever money he finds me in posses- 
 sion of, to distribute to the poor, and 1 leave with Mr. Nott all my papers, 
 which he knows of. I beg the Prayer Book which Lady Elgin gave me may 
 be given to the Bishop of Exeter, and that the Bible Lady Elgin gave me may 
 be given to him also. Also my playthings the Miss Fishers are to have; and 
 lastly, concerning Mrs. Gagarin and Mrs. Lewis, I beg they may be very hand- 
 somely paid, and that they may have an house. Lady de Clifford the rest of 
 my jewels, except those that are most valuable, and these my father and 
 mother, the Prince and Princess of Wales, are to take. Nothing to Mrs. 
 Udney for reasons. I have done my Will, and trust that after I am dead, a 
 great deal may be done for Mr. Nott. I hope the King wdll make him a 
 Bishop. Charlotte. 
 
 March, 1806. 
 
 ” My birds to Mrs. Gagarin, and my dog or dogs to Mrs. Anne Hutton, my 
 chambermaid.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 395 
 
 going on at Carlton House, on account of a childish will the Prin- 
 cess Charlotte had made, in which she left half her jewels to Lady 
 de Clifford, half to Mrs. Campbell, and all her valuable jewels to 
 her papa and mamma. They suppose Mrs. Campbell concerned in 
 making it, and told the bishop of it, who smiled. [Dr. Fisher, 
 Bishop of Salisbury, preceptor to the Princess Charlotte.] The 
 Prince was displeased, and said ‘ it was high treason,’ and called 
 Mr. Adam, Chancellor of the Duchy of Cornwall, who answered: 
 ‘Your Royal Highness has a just conception of the matter.’ All 
 this nonsense has been before the Privy Council, whose time might 
 be better employed. The will expresses a wish that Mr. Nott, sub- 
 preceptor, might be made a bishop.”* 
 
 In short, the matter led to the dismissal of the worthy Mrs. 
 Campbell. 
 
 There are many stories of her waywardness, of her affection, of 
 her amusing insubordination. She used to leave the doors wide 
 open, rushing tumultuously into her governess’s room. “ My dear 
 Princess!” would exclaim the latter, “you should always shut the 
 door after you.” “Not I, indeed,” she answered, “if 5’ou want 
 the door shut, ring the bell;” and then rushed away. Self-willed 
 enough, she would commit some forbidden act, and then say defi- 
 antly, “I have done it, now punish me.” She went to dine on 
 fixed days with her mother. We find the Princess of Wales giving 
 her daughter such excellent advice as this: “ It must have been an 
 honor and pleasure to you that your father wished to see you on 
 his birthday, and I trust you will never in any day of your life 
 deviate from the respect and attachment which is due to the Prince, 
 your father.” f 
 
 But the good King, hovering as he often was between recovering 
 stages of his malady, saw enough to convince him that this situa- 
 tion of a child of ten years old was dangerous enough. The life 
 led by the father made him quite unsuitable as director of her edu- 
 cation, or even as inmate of the same house. Her mother, for other 
 reasons, was equally undesirable. He determined to take her edu- 
 cation into his own hands, acting as trustee for the nation. 
 
 Mr. Pitt, now in the plenitude of power, feeling that this state 
 of discord w'ould not suit a well-ordered Government, began at 
 once to try and reconcile the parties. As a preparatory step, the 
 
 * She had a childish attachment to Dr. Nott. 
 t Lady Rose Weigall, “ Princess Charlotte,” 883. 
 
396 
 
 TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 Lord Chancellor, who was high in favor at Court, labored to rec- 
 oncile the Queen to her son. This was not so difficult a task. It 
 will be seen that the Prince was eager “to befriends” with his 
 father by the following letter: 
 
 THE PRINCE OF WALES TO THE QUEEN. 
 
 “ Carlton House, July 4th, 1804. 
 
 “ My dearest Mother, 
 
 “It is impossible for me, when so many embarrassing cir- 
 cumstances surround us, to refrain longer from assuring you of my 
 undiminished and unalterable tenderness. Believe me that I deeply 
 regret the not having it in my power to do that in person; for, 
 independent of what I suffer from such a cruel privation, as the 
 being separated from you and my sisters, I lament heavily the not 
 paying my duty to the King. Were this allowed me, I should fly 
 to throw myself at the King’s feet, and offer to him the testimony 
 of my ever-un varying attachment. I have long grieved that mis- 
 representations have estranged his Majesty’s mind from me; and 
 the most anxious wish of my heart is for the opportunity of dis- 
 pelling that coldness. Every consideration renders this distance 
 most severely painful. My first object is the gratification of the 
 feelings of affection, leaving all else to the spontaneous dictates of 
 my father’s kindness; and, if any public view can mingle with this 
 sentiment, it is the incalculable importance to his Majesty, and to 
 the country, of the whole Royal Family appearing united in a 
 moment so awful as the present. 
 
 “ I am ever, my dearest Mother, 
 
 “ Your dutiful and affectionate Son, 
 
 “ George P.” 
 
 Not the Prince only, but ministers, whenever their position was 
 imperilled, were fond of resorting to the appeal of “the present 
 awful position of the country.” 
 
 THE queen to the PRINCE OF WALES. 
 
 “ Kew, July 4th, 1804. 
 
 “ My dearest Son, 
 
 “ I have this instant received through the hands of Lady 
 Aylesbury, your most affectionate, and I must say, most joyful 
 letter. 
 
 “lam anxious to acquaint the King with the contents, which I 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 397 
 
 will do at the first opportunity. Assuring you that I shall not be 
 behindhand to seize that moment, for which I have so long anx- 
 iously prayed, and I trust will be the means of again uniting our 
 too long separated family, in which event no one has suffered more 
 than, 
 
 “ My dearest Son, 
 
 “ Your most affectionate Mother and Friend, 
 
 “ Charlotte. 
 
 “ 1 cannot say more at present, being in such a hurry.” 
 
 This was a natural and touching reply, showing “ heart.” The 
 King, however, was not to be at once beguiled, and the bitterness 
 of his reply to the proposal made to him, shows how deeply he felt 
 the treatment he had received. The Prince had determined to give 
 earnest of his desire to bo on good terms with his father by offering 
 him the complete charge of the little Princess, and he perhaps as- 
 sumed that this spontaneous gift would be received gratefully. 
 
 THE KING TO LORD ELDON. 
 
 “ Kew, July 18th, 1804, 10 m. past 4 p.m. 
 
 “The King has this instant received the Lord Chancellor’s note, 
 enclosing the one from the Earl of Moira. Undoubtedly the Prince 
 of Wales’s making the offer of having the dear little Charlotte’s 
 education and principles attended to, is the best earnest he can give 
 of returning to a sense of what he owes to his father, and indeed to 
 his country, and may, to a degree, mollify the feelings of an injured 
 father; but it wdll require some reflection before the King can an- 
 swer how soon he can bring himself to receive the publisher of his 
 letters. So much he can add at present, that if he takes the super- 
 intendence of his granddaughter, he does not mean to destroy the 
 rights of the mother; that therefore the Princess of Wales, whose 
 Injuries deserve the utmost attention of the King, as her own con- 
 duct has proved irreproachable, and the attention to what sum the 
 Prince is to pay for the maintenance of the child, though anything 
 which exceeds what he receives on that head from the public must 
 undoubtedly be exonerated by the King. George R.” 
 
 However, more than a month passed away, and father and son 
 had not met. As the King told Mr. Rose at Ciufnels, he was not 
 willing to meet his son, feeling that “no good could come of it.” 
 He seems to have sagaciously suspected that there was some object 
 
398 
 
 TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 behind; and indeed there was a sort of wish expressed that Lord 
 jMoira should receive office as Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, and thus 
 the Prince would have his “friends” in the ministry, though he 
 himself would not have joined. However, persuaded by the Chan- 
 cellor and Mr. Pitt, the King at last consented to an interview. 
 
 THE KING TO LORD ELDON. 
 
 “ Windsor, August 20th, 1804. 
 
 “ Though the King trusts his excellent Lord Chancellor, he felt 
 himself authorized on Saturday to acquaint the Prince of Wales, 
 that in consequence of what the Earl of Moira had been authorized 
 to express, his Majesty is willing to receive the Prince of Wales on 
 Wednesday at Kcw, provided no explanation or excuses are 
 attempted to be made by the Prince of Wales; but that it is merely 
 to be a visit of civility, as any retrospect could but oblige the King 
 to utter truths, which, instead of healing, must widen the present 
 breach. His Majesty will have the Queen, Princesses, and at least, 
 of his sons, the Duke of Cambridge, present on the occasion. The 
 Lord Chancellor is to fix on twelve o’clock for the hour of the 
 Prince of Wales’s coming to Kew. The King cannot conclude 
 without expressing his earnest wishes that the union to take place 
 on Wednesday in the Scott family may prove a source of happiness 
 to them, as his Majesty must ever be a sharer in an}'^ event that may 
 add to the domestic felicity of his Lord Chancellor. 
 
 “George R.” 
 
 Another letter, written on the same day, is devoted to praises of 
 the Princess of Wales, who at an interview had given him the great- 
 est satisfaction, “ She will be entirely guided by the King, who 
 has directed her to state whatever she pleases to the Chancellor, as 
 the person alone to be trusted by her in any difficult occasion that 
 ma}^ arise.” A charge that fully explains the zeal shown by that 
 functionary in her cause.* Mr, Pitt, however, complained that 
 though she had promised an alteration in her bearing towards the 
 Prince, she had stated “particulars in the Prince’s behavior that 
 
 * “ What think you now, my Lord,” said the Prince to Lord Thurlow in one 
 of these contentions, “ of your old friend Scott, whom you puffed to me as a 
 sound lawyer and an honest man?” “ Indeed, sir,” answered Thurlow, whose 
 advanced age had abated neither his convenient courtliness nor his .locular 
 coarseness, “I think he has lost the little law he once had, and is become a 
 very great scoimdrel.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 399 
 
 created alarms in her mind of which she could not get the better." 
 The minister uttered gloomy prognostications as to her future, but 
 admitted that her behavior might be prompted by jealousy.* But 
 in the interval the Prince seems to have changed his mind, pleading 
 indisposition. The King came specially to Kew for the interview. 
 
 THE KING TO LORD ELDON. 
 
 “ Kew, August 22nd, 1804, 
 
 “ 10 m, past 1 p.M. 
 
 ** The King, soon after his arrival here with the Queen and his 
 daughters, found the Dukes of Kent and Cambridge; since which 
 the Lord Cliancellor’s letter has been brought by a servant of the 
 Prince of Wales. The King authorizes the Lord Chancellor to ex- 
 press to the Prince of Wales his sorrow at his being unwell; that 
 in consequence of this his Majesty will postpone his interview with 
 the Prince of Wales until his return from Weymouth; and then, as 
 was now intended, it will be in presence of his family at Kew, of 
 which the Lord Chancellor will be empowered to give due notice to 
 the Prince of Wales. George R.” 
 
 There is here an air of relief at being spared the meeting. The 
 Prince did not write, but he sent the Chancellor’s letter by a groom, 
 which was much remarked on. The Chancellor naturally remon- 
 strated at his disrespect to the King, when the Prince, in his rough- 
 est mood, said, “ Sir, who gave you authority to advise me?” The 
 sturdy Eldon answered him as haughtily, telling him he was his 
 Majesty’s Chancellor, that he must get some one else to take mes- 
 sages of the kind— “ I will not.” The Prince, however, wrote to 
 one of the Princesses, announcing that the meeting might take place 
 after the King’s return, and in presence of the Queen and Princesses. + 
 
 Indisposition was not the cause of this change. The Prince had 
 learned what an increase of favor had been extended to his wife, 
 and that if he gave up his daughter to the King the Princess of 
 Wales was to benefit by the step. The little Princess had been 
 asked to a ball at the Castle, and being told that she might bring a 
 friend, instantly named her mother, j: A house, too, had been 
 already secured for her, with apartments for her mother whenever 
 she should choose to visit her. 
 
 * Rose. “ Diaries,” ii. 173. 
 
 + Auckland, ” Correspondence,” iv. 209 
 
 t Ibid. 
 
400 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV, 
 
 The Prince’s relations to Fox since the later crisis had consider- 
 ably improved. On Fox’s rejection by the King, the Prince had 
 taken the matter up warmly, assuring Sir Philip Francis of his 
 “ entire and perfect approbation of these resolutions, and desires 
 further that it may be known, and understood, and published to all 
 the world in his name and authority that, in this personal rejection 
 of Ml-. Fox, he considers himself as the party injured; that he is 
 not at all the dupe of Mr. Pitt’s excuses and explanations; that he 
 sees clearly that Mr. Fox is rejected as his friend, and that it was 
 meant to wound him through his side.” 
 
 It should be stated, however, that old Mr. Coke, of Norfolk, 
 told Haydon that when he heard that Fox was willing enough to 
 join the Government, he had declared to him that he would sever 
 himself from him; and that Fox on this had written, assuring him 
 that he was determined never to join Mr. Pitt. 
 
 “You may think, perhaps, that I might have written on the 
 Prince’s negotiation, if it may be so called ” (wrote Mr. Fox to his 
 friend Grey in September); “ but I cannot make out the facts, and 
 still less all the motives, to my own satisfaction. Lauderdale 
 would, of course, tell you all he knew, when he left London, and 
 I knew no more till my return from Cheltenham, when the thing 
 was quite over, and I am not sorry (as you may suppose) that I had 
 no advice to answer for. It originated with Tierney; and Sheridan 
 was, I believe, kept out of it till quite towards the close. My 
 judgment is, that if a reconciliation could have taken place by the 
 Queen it was right, if by Pitt it was wrong; but Tierney saw no 
 such distinction. The refusal to see the King had gone before I 
 knew anything more than when I went to Cheltenham; I should 
 not have advised it. It seems to be all over; and the only thing 
 that is of any consequence is to know how far Moira acted fairly in 
 it, or indeed how far he was concerned at all. His advice to the 
 Prince to offer the young Princess to the King was certainly very 
 bad, but I believe it was only folly; and the Prince has (upon good 
 pretences enough) done away the offer completely. Some accounts 
 from Weymouth say the King is very well, others the reverse. My 
 way of reconciling them is, that he is better in health, but still 
 insane.” 
 
 Fox himself, or some one inspired by Fox, now pointed out to 
 the Prince this danger. The King thought that Sheridan had inter- 
 fered. 
 
 The King had repaired later to Mr. Rose’s place at Cuf nels, where 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 401 
 
 he had many interesting conversations with his host, which give a 
 high opinion of his sagacity and observation, and show wliat a 
 pleasant companion he could be In these interviews were also 
 revealed, with a terrible intensity, the state of his feelings towards 
 his son. 
 
 When his daughter was thrown from her horse on the road, he 
 peremptorily required her to take her choice if hurt, to drive 
 home; but if not, to remount and drive on. When remonstrated 
 with, he answered quietly that "he could not bear that any of his 
 family should want courage.” It being urged that driving home 
 after such an accident scarcely amounted to lack of courage, he 
 made the remarkable speech- ‘‘Perhaps it may be so; but I thank 
 God there is but one of my children who wants courage, and I will 
 not name him because he is to succeed me !” 
 
 This most painful utterance of course came of an excited state of 
 mind; and rationally as the King could discourse, it seems he 
 uttered many incoherences. And when he was at Weymouth, Sir 
 R. Wilson, later one of the Prince’s faction, was busily engaged in 
 noting down the most extravagant of his speeches, which was 
 shown about, to the Prince among others, who sent back a very 
 civil message to the effect that " he would make it as public as he 
 could. ” * 
 
 The King, however, felt quite satisfied that he was to have the 
 charge of his favorite, the young Princess; and in his rides with 
 his host explained the plans he had formed. He had thought of 
 Lady George Murray as governess, widow of a bishop of St. David’s. 
 In one very pleasing conversation he discussed the point in all its 
 bearings, suggesting that there might be a danger of the Duke of 
 Athole having an influence over her, with other matters, which 
 showed that he had weighed the subject carefully. 
 
 On November 7th, the King wrote to "his” Lord Chancellor, to 
 inform him that he was now ready to receive the Prince, as had 
 been proposed. 
 
 THE PRINCE OF WALES TO THE LORD CHANCELLOR. 
 
 “ Brighton, November 8th, 1804. 
 
 “The Prince of Wales without delay acknowledges the receipt 
 of the Chancellor’s letter, and will, in consequence ot the gracious 
 intention signified from his Majesty, be in London to-morrow even- 
 
 * “ Life of Sir R. Wilson,” p. 327. 
 
402 
 
 TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IF. 
 
 ing with Lord Moira, who has just arrived at Brighthelmstone. 
 The Earl of Moira is authorized by the Prince to wait upon the 
 Chancellor at any hour on Saturday morning that his lordship may 
 please to appoint.”* 
 
 Lord Moira accordingly saw the Chancellor, and begged him to 
 assure the King of his son’s dutiful and affectionate sentiments. 
 
 The meeting at last took place between the father and son on 
 November 12th, and the first person to whom the King communi- 
 cated the result was his favorite, the Princess of Wales. It will be 
 seen how warmly he wrote to her: 
 
 “ Windsor Castle, November 13th, 1804. 
 “My dearest Daughter-in-law and Niece, 
 
 “ Yesterday I and the rest of the family had an interview with 
 the Prince of Wales, at Kew. Care was taken on all sides to avoid 
 all subjects of altercation or explanation, consequently the conver- 
 sation was neither instructive nor entertaining; but it leaves the 
 Prince of Wales in a situation to shew whether his desire to 
 return to the family is only verbal or real, which time alone can 
 prove. I am not idle in my endeavors to make inquiries that may 
 enable me to communicate some plan for the advantage of the dear 
 child. You and I, with so much reason, must interest ourselves; 
 and its effecting my having the happiness of living more with you 
 is no small incentive to my forming some ideas on the subject, but 
 you may depend on their not being decided upon without your 
 thorough and cordial concurrence; for your authority as a mother 
 it is my object to support. 
 
 “Believe me, at all times, my dearest daughter-in-law and niece, 
 “Your most affectionate Father-in-law and Uncle, 
 
 “George R.” 
 
 To “my” Lord Chancellor, as he always rather affectedly styled 
 Lord Eldon, he wrote that the interview had been “decent.” But 
 Mr. Pitt learned that the Prince was “uttering great lamentations 
 at having found the King so broken in all respects.” The minister, 
 however, had reason to believe that intrigues were on foot to undo 
 what had been done, clearly pointing at Fox. 
 
 Mr. Fremantle, who was present, thus describes the meeting- 
 
 * Eldon MS., quoted in Mr. Jesse’s “ Reign of George III,' 
 
TEE LIFE OF GEOROE IV. 
 
 403 
 
 *‘The royal party consisted of the King, Queen, Prince of Wales, 
 Duke and Duchess of York, Lady Ilderton and General Fitzroy, 
 the other Princes and Princesses at different tables in the same room. 
 I was very near the King’s table, and nothing could be better acted 
 than his manner. I can’t say the same of the Prince. He was evi- 
 dently very much out of spirits and in ill-humor, hardly spoke a 
 word to anybody, and looked very ill. It is quite impossible this 
 reconciliation can last.”* 
 
 This is explained by a sort of negotiation which v;as being carried 
 on simultaneously; there being thus, according to the hackneyed 
 phrase, wheels within wheels. 
 
 The heaven-born minister was now very anxious to gain over the 
 section of the Opposition known as “the Prince’s friends.” 
 
 This curious incident is thus described in a letter of Fox’s: “The 
 P. sent for me to tell me of the message he had had from the K., 
 and of an interview which Lord Moira had had with Pitt. With 
 regard to the first, it seemed only a continuation of what had passed 
 before the Weymouth journey, and when he did see the King (al- 
 most all the family present) at Kew, he says there was no cordiality 
 or pretended affection, but common talk on weather, scandal, etc. 
 — a great deal of the latter, and as the P. thought, very idle and 
 foolish in the manner, and running wildly from topic to topic 
 though not absolutely incoherent. With respect to Lord Moira’s 
 meeting with Pitt,” Fox goes on, “he said that Pitt had expressed 
 a particular desire of having him (Moira) in the Cabinet, and a gen- 
 eral wish to admit many of the P.’s friends. I rather think Moira, 
 whom I saw separately, added hopes of time bringing about all. 
 That Moira had declared explicitly that he could do nothing with- 
 out me and my friends. I asked whether it was considered that 
 any proposition had come from Pitt, to which either H.R.H. or I 
 were to give any answer; this was answered by a most explicit 
 negative; so that there was no difficulty for us — nothing having 
 been said to us, there was nothing for us to say or do. Here there 
 seemed to be an end, and a very good end, of all this folly; but I 
 understood from Moira that he was again to see either Pitt or Mel- 
 ville, and to know positively whether or no the P. was to have a 
 military command offered him.” 
 
 This seems to disclose the motive for the Prince’s eagerness for the 
 reconciliation, in the hope of obtaining something substantial, and 
 
 * “ Court and Cabinets,” p. 366, 
 
404 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 which he had set his heart upon. Mr. Fox thought that, “not- 
 withstanding all these intrigues, the P. will be in essentials quite 
 steady. But he also thought that Pitt would not get autA^ority to 
 offer him anything that will shake him.”* 
 
 The King now assuming that all had been arranged as regards 
 the transfer of the young Princess to his care, drew up a plan for 
 her education: 
 
 “Enclosure. — The Prince of Wales having, through the Earl of 
 Moira, expressed his wish that the education and care of the person 
 of his daughter should be placed under the immediate inspection 
 of the King, his Majesty is willing to take this charge on himself, 
 and has prepared a house at Windsor for the reception of the 
 Princess Charlotte. The sum now issued each quarter, out of his 
 Majesty’s Civil List,- for the maintenance and education of the 
 jmung Princess, should in future be paid into the hands of the 
 person who shall be named by the King to defray those expenses; 
 and such additional charges as may arise from the change of estab- 
 lishment will be defrayed by the King. 
 
 “His Majesty proposes to name a bishop to superintend Princess 
 Charlotte’s education, as it cannot be that alone of a female; but 
 she, being the presumptive heir of the crown, must have one of a 
 more extended nature. His Majesty also thinks it desirable that 
 the bishop should fix on a proper clergyman to instruct the young 
 Princess in religion and Latin, and daily to read prayers ‘ that there 
 should be another instructor for history, geography, belles-lettres, 
 and French; and masters for waiting, music, and dancing; that the 
 care and behavior of the Princess should be entrusted to a govern, 
 ess; and (as she must be both day and night under the care of 
 responsible persons) that a sub-governess and assistant sub-governess 
 should be named. 
 
 “These seem the necessary outlines, to form such a plan as may 
 make so promising a child turn out, as it is the common interest of 
 the King and his family, and indeed the -whole nation, eagerly to 
 wish.” 
 
 When this paper was handed to the Prince he received it with 
 much discontent. Mr. Fox learned from him what had occurred 
 on the occasion: 
 
 “The Prince expressed, in a written note, his surprise that, aftei 
 what had passed, such a proposition should be made to him, and 
 
 * “ Memorials of Fox,” iv. 62. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 405 
 
 sent it back. Both Pitt and the Chancellor replied, first insinuating 
 that the Prince ought to have shown more respect to a paper coming 
 directly from his Majesty, and saying they had not understood 
 Moira as the Prince did. The Prince sent an answer, disclaiming 
 of course all intentional disrespect to the King, refusing perempto- 
 rily to give up his daughter, and for what had passed referring them 
 to Moira, to whom he said he transmitted their notes. Luckily 
 enough, Moira had left with the Prince a written summary of what 
 had passed between Pitt and him, which entire!}^ justified the 
 Prince’s interpretation. Since this I have heard no more; but I, 
 read in the newspaper that the preparations making for the Princess 
 of Wales and the child at Windsor are discontinued.” 
 
 From another account we find that Pitt sent the Prince a very 
 harsh and uncivil rebuke for making such a reply to the King. 
 
 A very painful dispute then arose, in which a question of vera- 
 city was concerned, and as to whether the Prince had ever agreed 
 to consign his daughter to the charge of the King. It was insisted 
 that he had done so through Lord Moira. The truth seems to be, 
 that the Prince was disgusted at the mode in which his advances 
 had been received, and at not receiving anything by way of consid- 
 eration for his concessions. Finding that all was to turn to the 
 profit of the Princess of Wales, he was now eager to withdraw from 
 what he had engaged. In such cases there almost inevitably arises 
 a question of what has been promised or conceded. The version 
 that his friends gave out now follows; but Lord Grenville, dining 
 at Carlton House on November 29th, had from the Prince himself a 
 fuller account of his grievances: 
 
 “ He laid his principal stress on the following points — viz. that 
 Lord Moira had been pressed to accept a Cabinet place, which he 
 had refused, on the ground that the Prince would not separate 
 himself from those whom he had advised with at the end of last 
 session; that it had, therefore, been understood that the recon- 
 ciliation was to have no political reference whatever; that he had 
 found things at Windsor as bad as they had been represented — 
 no cordiality (hardly common civility) towards himself; a power 
 of restraining himself [i.e. the King’s] and talking rationally for 
 some time, and on some points, but no day passing without much 
 of a different description, and many points very prevalent in his 
 mind of a character extremely irrational; not a word said to him 
 during three days’ stay at Windsor of the arrangements making 
 respecting his daughter, and on his return to town a message sent 
 
406 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 to him through the Chancellor, referring to and misrepresenting 
 what had before passed on the subject between Lord Moira and Mr. 
 Pitt, which the King construes into a wish expressed by the Prince 
 that his Majesty should take upon himself the entire direction of 
 her education. This wish has been positively denied by the Prince, 
 and thereupon they are at issue, the Prince having referred to Lord 
 Moira, who is in Scotland, for the truth of his statement, and de- 
 claring that nothing shall induce him to put his child out of his 
 own control, particularly under circumstances so little auspicious 
 as those which result from the King’s present state of mind. He 
 desired you might know all this. How it is to end, I do not even 
 guess.” 
 
 The annoyance and even rage of the King at this sudden turn in 
 matters is showm by his bitter letter of December 16th, to Lord 
 Eldon. “ The King,” it ran, “though he has banished every spark 
 of irritation and impatience, from feeling truth and fair dealing is 
 the honorable line to combat misapprehension, chicane, and untruth, 
 has with stoical indifference waited the arrival of some informa- 
 tion,” etc. 
 
 Lord Moira having arrived, the controversy warmed afresh; but 
 it would seem that the harsh construction put on the Prince’s 
 behavior was not warranted, for it turns out that in the original 
 proposal the young Princess was offered to the care of the King 
 exclusively. This, as Lord Moira explained, was intended to bar 
 all interference on the part of the Princess of Wales.* 
 
 It was soon felt that this state of things could not continue. Some 
 interviews followed between Mr. Pitt and Lord Moira, and soon 
 proposals for mutual accommodation were made. Explanations 
 took place between them, in which the former admitted that the 
 Prince’s view was more or less correct, and showed himself ver}’^ 
 anxious to come to an arrangement. The King, however, showed 
 his bitterness by refusing to see Lord Moira. 
 
 This result, according to all accounts, was owing to Lord Moira, 
 w^hose position was rather an aw^kward one. Discussions followed 
 between the Prince and Chancellor, in w’hich the former, referring 
 to the statement that he had refused to see the Chancellor, used 
 singular language, saying that it w^as “a strange fabrication of the 
 
 * In May, 1805, the King showed his regard for the Princess of Wales by pre- 
 senting her with two beautiful Arabian horses and an elegant service of gold. 
 He had also given her the rangership of Greenwich Park. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 407 
 
 King,” or a “malicious suggestion of some other person.” He 
 also stated very plainly that he had had legal advice as to his rights. 
 However, he ended by graciously saying that his view was to 
 gratify the King’s wishes. In this happy disposition, though the 
 King remained cold and wounded, it was not difficult to arrange 
 matters. 
 
 The Prince had already a little encounter in the House of Lords 
 with the Chancellor. In one instance the Duke of Clarence 
 reminded the latter of the irregular frequency with which he left 
 the Woolsack to address the House upon the same question. The 
 Chancellor made no reply at the moment, but referred on a subse- 
 quent night to the expressions of the Duke of Clarence. Upon this 
 the Prince of Wales, in explanation, disclaimed, on the part of the 
 Duke, all personal offence, and declared that “he understood his 
 noble relation as merely illustrating the necessity of a liberal and 
 indulgent construction of the orders of the House.” “The obser- 
 vations of the Prince of Wales were made with a facility and pro- 
 priety which produced expressions of regret that he addressed the 
 House so rarely.” 
 
 THE KING TO THE LORD CHANCELLOR. 
 
 “ (End of December, 1804.) 
 
 “His Majesty, in the paper which the Lord Chancellor commu- 
 nicated by the King’s command on the 23rd November to the Prince, 
 refen-ed in the preamble to the Prince’s wish, expressed through the 
 Earl of Moira. That wish was expressed in the Earl’s letter of the 
 17th July last, in which the Lord Chancellor was requested to tender 
 the Prince’s humble duty to his Majesty, with the profession that, 
 if it was his Majesty’s inclination, nothing could be more highly 
 gratifying to the Prince than to see the Princess Charlotte taken 
 under the King’s especial direction. 
 
 “His Majesty, therefore, in the preamble of the paper, referred 
 to the wish which had been so communicated on the part of the 
 Prince, and has accordingly considered the communication through 
 the Earl of Moira as representing that the Prince wished to see the 
 Princess Charlotte taken under his Majesty’s special direction, in 
 consequence of the Prince’s understanding that such was his Majes- 
 ty’s wish and desire. 
 
 “The King repeats, what he has before stated to the Lord Chan- 
 cellor and Mr. Pitt, and which he has been informed they repre- 
 •ented to the Earl of Moira, that his Majesty regarded the commu- 
 
408 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 nication from the Prince, founded upon his desire to gratify what 
 he understood to be the King’s wishes, as a step very acceptable to 
 his Majesty, and conformable to the sentiments of duty which the 
 Prince had expressed. 
 
 “His Majesty has uniformly stated that, in his taking upon him- 
 self the care and management of the Princess Chaidotte, he must be 
 understood to do so in a sense consistent with all the attention due 
 to each of the parents of the Princess. 
 
 “His meaning was to form the best plan he could for the educa- 
 tion and governance of the Princess, and to refer that plan to the 
 consideration of the Prince, and to make such communications 
 respecting it to the Princess of Wales as the nature of their respect- 
 ive relations to the Princess Charlotte seemed to require. It will be 
 his Majesty’s earnest desire to act according to this principle. 
 
 “His Majesty has great satisfaction in believing that there is 
 reason to think that the Prince is likely to concur in the measures 
 proposed by his Majesty, if the misapprehensions which have been 
 entertained are removed; and he trusts that the explanations which 
 have taken place may effectually remove them. If that should 
 happily be the case, his Majesty will proceed to state, for the con- 
 sideration of the Prince, the names of the persons who may appear 
 proper to till the very important stations mentioned in his Majesty’s 
 paper; and as this measure originated and has been carried on in 
 consequence of the Prince’s having expressed a wish to meet his 
 Majesty’s inclination, it will be most satisfactory to the King that 
 the arrangement should be completed upon the same footing, and 
 that his Majesty’s choice should be made with the Prince’s entire 
 concurrence.” 
 
 The Prince’s answer to this document has not been found; but 
 its purport appears from the following letter of the King: 
 
 THE KING TO LORD ELDON. 
 
 “Windsor Castle, Jan. 5th, 1805. 
 
 “ The King received the Lord Chancellor’s note, accompanying 
 the paper of the Prince of Wales, intended as an answer to the one 
 drawn up by the Lord Chancellor and Mr. Pitt; which having met 
 with his Majesty’s approbation, he sent a copy of it on the 31st of 
 last month to be delivered or sent by the Lord Chancellor to the 
 Prince of Wales. His Majesty entirely joins in opinion with the 
 Lord Chancellor and Mr, Pitt, that undoubtedly the paper contains 
 
THE LIFE OF GEOBOE IV. 
 
 409 
 
 expressions liable to observations; but, if the King was to enter 
 into such minute discussion, the main object might be retarded; 
 and, as truth, and what he owes to his subjects, have alone dictated 
 his conduct, provided right is effected, he will not stoop to cavilling 
 on words, which is ever the path of those actuated by meaner senti- 
 ments. The King has therefore drawn up a paper this morning, 
 which he trusts is consonant with the opinion contained in the 
 Lord Chancellor’s note, which if the Lord Chancellor views in the 
 same light, he desires may be forwarded to the Prince of Wales. 
 
 “George R.” 
 
 18 
 
410 
 
 TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IK 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 1805. 
 
 The person appointed to succeed Lady Elgin in the charge of 
 the young Princess was the Dowager Lady de Clifford, a lady who 
 had seen much of the French Court, and, while remarkable for 
 firmness, and even intrepidity of character, seems to have possessed 
 a charm and graciousness that was very attractive. Once travel- 
 ling with her dying husband in France, she surprised a robber 
 stealing into his room. She seized him by the collar and flung 
 him down stairs. She is pleasantly described in her grandson’s 
 (Lord Albemarle) agreeable “ Recollections.”* 
 
 On March 1st, 1805, the King had written to direct the Chan- 
 cellor to inform the Prince. It is painful to find that he could not 
 bring himself to communicate directly with his son, for he had 
 harshly declared that “he could never forgive his conduct because 
 it was impossible to forget it;” that in a week or two the Court 
 Lodge would be ready to receive the Princess. The same evening 
 Lady de Clifford received the following communication: 
 
 THE PRINCE OF WALES TO LADY DE CLIFFORD. 
 
 “ My dearest Lady de Clifford, 
 
 “lam only this instant returned home, and I have so many 
 letters to write and so much to do this evening that will not admit 
 of delay, in order to summon an early meeting to-morrow morning, 
 that it will be too late before I have finished all my business to 
 attempt to come and see your little charge and you. However, at 
 
 * Under her there were two sub-govemesses, Mrs, Udney and Mrs, Camp- 
 bell. Dr. Fisher, then Bishop of Exeter, was the preceptor; and it is curious 
 to find that Lady Pembroke, for whom the King had always a sort of pen- 
 chant, was originally named as governess. Lady George Murray, whom he 
 had spoken of so warmly to Mr. Rose, he seems not to have thought of. Mrs. 
 Campbell had lamented her own unfitness for the post to the King, who replied 
 in Johnsonian phrase: “Madam, I hope we can afford to purchase accom- 
 plishments, but we cannot buy principles,” 
 
THE LIFE OF OEOEGE IV. 
 
 411 
 
 one to-morrow you may be certain of seeing me and, I hope, Mrs. 
 Udney. 
 
 “Pray, if possible, let me have the little watch that I may give 
 it to Charlotte in your presence. I shall be most happy to do so 
 for every reason, but I shall consider myself most fortunate the 
 having it in my power thus early in life, after your very short ac- 
 quaintance with her, not only to prove to her my readiness to ac- 
 quiesce in, and to forward every reasonable wish she may entertain, 
 but also the implicit confidence I place in you, as well as that you 
 are the medium, and ever must be the properest medium, through 
 which her wishes and inclinations must be conveyed to me. Ex- 
 cuse my saying anything more at present, for I am, as you may 
 believe after so long and so very irritating a day, quite worried to 
 death. If you wish for me later this evening — I mean by that be- 
 tween eleven and twelve o’clock — you will know where to find me.* 
 “Ever most affectionately yours, 
 
 “George P. 
 
 “ Carlton House, Friday, 8 o’clock, March 1, 1805. 
 
 “P.S. — Say everything that is most kind to the child and to Mrs. 
 Udney, whose goodness in temporizing with her present situation 
 I can never forget.” 
 
 Here was again the recommencement of the old tortuous system ; 
 and it is scarcely surprising that the King wrote angrily to Lord 
 Eldon, to declare that he must have full control over the child, de- 
 claring too his suspicions that the Prince “meant further chica- 
 nery.” 
 
 Further, a few days before the Prince had been using language 
 to his “dearest Lady de Clifford,” which the King declared “he 
 could not sanction.” The latter seems to have had an idea of plac- 
 ing his grandchild under the formal guardianship of Lord Eldon, 
 declaring also, that it was “quite charming to see the mother and 
 daughter together, which he had seen on the day before.” This 
 extravagant partiality of the sovereign, which blinded him to her 
 defects, explains, as was before hinted, the devotion of the Tories 
 to the cause. 
 
 A few days later the Prince, full of good purposes, furnished 
 Lady de Cliftord with a paper of instruction for her guidance. 
 
 * At Mrs. Fitzherbert’s in Tilney Street. 
 
412 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 MEMOKANDUM FOR LADY DE CLIFFORD FROM THE PRINCE OF 
 WALES 
 
 “ March 4, 1805. 
 
 “Lady de Clifford and the Bishop of Exeter having now entered 
 upon the important functions committed to them, the Prince is de^ 
 sirous that they should from time to time lay before his Majesty 
 such ideas as occur to him as to the details necessary for carrying 
 into execution the general opinion adopted respecting the education 
 of Princess Charlotte. This memorandum is intended to apprise 
 them of the present state of the business, and to serve as a guide 
 for them in such conversations as his Majesty may honor them with 
 on this subject. 
 
 “In consequence of some previous intimation which the Prince 
 had received of his Majesty’s wishes, the Prince has expressed that 
 without meaning to discharge himself in any degree of that duty of 
 superintendence and control which nature imposes upon a father 
 in all that relates to the education of his child, he was at the same 
 time desirous of receiving the benefit of his Majesty’s gracious as- 
 sistance and advice in a matter so interesting to his feelings, and of 
 giving the Princess Charlotte the full advantage of that affectionate 
 interest which his Majesty is graciously pleased to take in her wel- 
 fare. But a reason which it is not here necessary to particularize 
 compelled the Prince to require that the person through whom this 
 communication was made should respectfully but distinctly explain 
 to his Majesty that the Prince could on no account agree to the in- 
 terference of any other person whatever except his Majesty in the 
 dispositions to be made on this subject, and that this point must at 
 all times be considered as the indispensable condition of the Prince’s 
 consent to any arrangement present or future. 
 
 “What has hitherto been done on the subject has, as tb.e Prince 
 conceives, been intended to be regulated by this principle. The 
 next point to be adjusted for giving effect to it is that which relates 
 to the residence of Princess Charlotte, on which subject the Prince 
 desires that Lady de Clifford and the Bishop will submit to his 
 Majesty for his gracious consideration the following ideas: 
 
 “The Prince thinks that during the period of the year in which 
 he is usually resident in London his daughter can nowhere so prop- 
 erly be placed as under her father’s roof, where her education may 
 be carried on without interruption, and where he himself will have 
 the constant opportunity of observing its course and progress. His 
 
THE LIFE OF GEOROE IV. 
 
 413 
 
 Majesty’s habit of doing business in London several days in each 
 week during most part of the year will afford to the Princess Char- 
 lotte ample opportunities of paying her duty there to the King and 
 Queen as often as they may be pleased to require it, and it is by no 
 means the Prince’s idea that this arrangement should exclude such 
 short visits to Windsor during the season of holidays or on other 
 temporary occasions as may be found not to break in too much on 
 the course of her education. 
 
 “During those months when the Prince is, usually not resident in 
 London, he would have great satisfaction in his daughter’s being 
 allowed to reside with his Majesty at Windsor, Weymouth, or else- 
 where, reserving to himself in the same manner as above stated the 
 pleasure of seeing her sometimes, if he should wish it, on short and 
 occasional visits. 
 
 “The communications already made to Lady de Clifford seem to 
 give every reason to hope that- these ideas are very little, if at all, 
 different from those entertained by his Majesty on the subject. And 
 at all events the Prince is confident that they cannot fail to be con- 
 sidered as fresh proofs of his respectful desire to meet his Majesty’s 
 wishes in every way consistent with his honor and with the feelings 
 of paternal affection and duty toward his daughter.”* 
 
 Only a few weeks before this festival he expounded his views at 
 the Antient Music Concert to the Speaker of the House of Com- 
 mons; and Lord Cplchester, in his “Diary,” gives a rather favorable 
 idea of the vivacity and even cleverness of his mode of expressing 
 himself : 
 
 May 8th . — The Prince of Wales entered into a long conversation 
 with me, condemned the altercations in the House of Commons 
 about naval papers, expressed his surprise at Mr. Pitt saying one 
 day that he would not advise Lord Melville’s being struck out of 
 the Privy Council, and announcing upon a subsequent day that he 
 had advised it. Spoke very favorably of Whitbread’s manner of 
 opening the charge and carrying on the proceedings against Lord 
 Melville. Wondered Lord Melville did not offer himself for exam- 
 ination ; thought that nothing was now left but impeachment. Spoke 
 of the Master of the Rolls’s two last speeches as having fallen much 
 below his expectations. Endeavored to persuade all his friends not 
 to meddle with these quarrels, but to look to the greater concerns 
 of the country in these times of external danger. Ridiculed the idea 
 
 * Lord Albemarle, “ Fifty Years of My Life,” i. 264. 
 
414 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEOMOE IV. 
 
 of Lord Barham, at eighty-two, becoming First Lord of the Admi- 
 ralty and having a peerage for himself and daughter, accompanied 
 with an intimation that he was only a temporary First Lord, and 
 not to last many weeks. He mentioned also the Catholic question ; 
 said that he had so far prevailed with Mr. Fox as not to think of 
 bringing forward the whole claim, but to soften it down to a ques- 
 tion for a committee. That he had not succeeded quite so easily 
 with his friend Lord Grenville, etc., and then went into high enco- 
 miums on his talents,” etc. 
 
 After this we find him at Stowe, where Lord Buckingham enter- 
 tained him magnificently, and assembled all “the Grenvilles ” to 
 meet him. The festivities began on August 25, and lasted for a 
 week; the Prince, with his brother the Duke of Clarence, and some 
 fifty guests, being welcomed by four hundred of the leading per- 
 sons of the kingdom. Mr. Fox was also of the party. 
 
 We have a pleasing glimpse of him at this time in a picture 
 drawn by the venerable Dr. Burney, Johnson’s friend and admirer, 
 who seems to have been enchanted with the polite attentions of the 
 gracious Prince. This, again, is infinitely in his favor, and a mark 
 of true good-nature. 
 
 “1805. — In May, at a concert at Lady Salisbury’s, 1 was ex- 
 tremely pleased, both with the music and the performance. The 
 former was chiefly selected by the Prince of Wales. ... I had not 
 been five minutes in the concert-room, before a messenger, sent to 
 me by his royal highness, gave me a command. to join him, which 
 I did eagerly enough; when his royal highness graciously conde- 
 scended to order me to sit down by him, and kept me to that high 
 honor the whole evening. Our ideas, by his engaging invitation, 
 were reciprocated upon every piece and its execution. After the 
 concert. Lady Melbourne, who, when Miss Milbanke, had been one 
 of my first scholars on my return to Loudon from Lynn, obligingly 
 complained that she had often vainly tried to tempt me to dine with 
 her, but would make one effort more now, by his royal highness’s 
 permission, that I might meet, at Lord Melbourne’s table, with the 
 Prince of Wales. Of course I expressed, as well as I could, mj' 
 sense of so high and unexpected an honor; and the Prince, with a 
 smile of unequalled courtesy, said, “Aye, do come. Dr. Burney, 
 and bring your son with you.” And then, turning to Lady Mel- 
 bourne, he added: “It is singular that the father should be the 
 best and almost the only good judge of music in the kingdom, and 
 his son the best scholar.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 415 
 
 “But I heard nothing more of the projected dinner, till I met 
 Lady Melbourne at an assembly at the Dowager Lady Sefton’s; 
 when I ventured to tell her ladyship that I feared the dinner which 
 my son and I were most ambitious should take place, was relin- 
 quished, “By no means,” she answered, “for the Prince really 
 desired it.” And, after a note or two of the best bred civility from 
 her ladyship, the day was settled by his royal highness for July the 
 9th, The Prince did not make the compan;^ wait at Whitehall 
 (Lord Melbourne’s); he was not five minutes beyond the appointed 
 time, a quarter-past six o’clock; though he is said never to dine at 
 Carlton House before eight. The company consisted, besides the 
 Prince and the lord and lady of the house, with their two sons and 
 two daughters, of Earls Egremont and Cowper, Mr. and Lady Caro- 
 line Lamb, Mr. Lutterel, Mr. Horner, and Mr. Windham. 
 
 “ The dinner was sumptuous, of course, etc. 
 
 “I had almost made a solemn vow, early in life, to quit the 
 world without ever drinking a dry dram; but the heroic virtue of a 
 long life was overset by his royal highness, through the irresistible 
 temptation to bobbing and nobbing with such a partner in a glass 
 of cherry brandy! The spirit of it, however, was so finely sub- 
 dued, that it was not more potent than a dose of peppermint water; 
 which I have always called a dram. 
 
 “ The conversation was lively and general the chief part of the 
 evening; but about midnight it turned upon music, on which sub- 
 ject his royal highness deigned so wholly to address himself to me, 
 that we kept it up a full half hour, without any else offering a 
 word. We were, generally, in perfect tune in our opinions; though 
 once or twice I ventured to dissent from his royal highness; and 
 once he condescended to come over to my argument; and he had 
 the skill, as well as nobleness, to put me as perfectly at my ease in 
 expressing my notions, as I should have been with any other per- 
 fectly well-bred man. 
 
 “The subject was then changed to classical lore; and here his 
 royal highness, with similar condescension, addressed himself to my 
 son, as a man of erudition whose ideas on learned topics he re- 
 spected; and*a full discussion followed of several literary matters. 
 
 “When the Prince rose to go to another room, we met Lady 
 Melbourne and her daughter, just returned from the opera; to 
 which they had been while we sat over the wine (and eke the 
 cherry brandy); and from which they came back in exact time for 
 coffee! The Prince here, coming up tome, most graciously took 
 
416 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 my hand, and said, ‘ I am glad we got, at last, to our favorite sub- 
 ject.’ He then made me sit down by him, close to the keys of 
 a pianoforte, where, in a low voice, but face to face, we talked 
 again upon music, and uttered our sentiments with, I may safely 
 say, equal ease and freedom ; so politely he encouraged my open- 
 ness and sincerity. 
 
 ‘ ‘ I then ventured to mention that I had a book in my possession 
 that I regarded as the property of his royal highness. It was set of 
 my “Commemoration of Handel,” which I had had splendidly 
 bound for permitted presentation through the medium of Lord St. 
 Asaph; but which had not been received, from public casualties. 
 His royal highness answered me with the most engaging good- 
 humor, saying that he was now building a library, and that, when 
 it was finished, mine should be the first book placed in his collec- 
 tion. Nobody is so prompt at polite and gratifying compliments 
 as this gracious Prince. I had no conception of his accomplish- 
 ments. He quite astonished me by his learning, in conversing with 
 my son, after my own musical tete-a-tete dialogue with him. He 
 quoted Homer in Greek as readily as if quoting Dryden or Pope in 
 English; and, in general conversation, during the dinner, he dis- 
 covered a fund of wit and humor such as demonstrated him a man 
 of reading and parts, who kqew how to discriminate characters. 
 He is, besides, an incomparable mimic. He counterfeited Dr. 
 Parr’s lisp, language, andmaniTer; and Kemble’s voice and accent, 
 both on and off the stage, so accurately, so nicely, so free from 
 caricature, that, had I been in another room, I should have sworn 
 they had been speaking themselves. Upon the whole, I cannot 
 terminate my account of this Prince better than by asserting it as 
 my opinion, from the knowledge I acquired by my. observations of 
 this night, that he has as much conversational talent and far more 
 learning that Charles the Second, who knew no more, even of 
 orthography, than Moliere’s ‘Bourgeois Gentilhomme.’ 
 
 “My next great concert was at Mr. Thomson’s, in Grosvenor 
 Square. Before I arrived, from not knowing there was a royal 
 motive for every one to be early, I found the crowd of company so 
 excessively great, that I was a considerable time before I could make 
 my way into the music-room; which I found also so full, that not 
 only I could not discern a place where I might get a seat (and to 
 stand the whole night in such a heat would have been impossible 
 for me), but also I could not discover a spot where I might look on 
 even fo^ a few minutes, to see what was going forwards, without 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE tV. 
 
 417 
 
 being bodily jammed; except quite close to the orchestra, where 
 alone there seemed to be a little breathing room left. To gain this 
 desirable little opening, I ventured to follow closely, as if of their 
 party, two very fine ladies, who made their way (heaven knows 
 how!) to some sofa, I fancy, reserved for them. But what was my 
 surprise, and shame, when upon attaining thus my coveted harbor, 
 I found I came bounce upon the Prince of Wales, from respect to 
 whom alone no crowd had there resorted! I had no time, however, 
 for repentance, and no room for apology; for that gracious and 
 kind Prince laughed at my exploit, and shook me very heartily by 
 the hand, as if glad to see me again; and obliged me to sit down by 
 him immediately. Nor would he suffer me to relinquish my place, 
 even to any of the Princes, his brothers, when they came to him! 
 nor even to any fine lady! always making a motion to me, that was 
 a command, to be quiet. We talked, as before, over every piece 
 and performance, with full ease of expression to our thoughts: but 
 how great was my gratification, when, upon going into a cooler 
 room, between the acts, he put his hat on his seat, and said, “ Dr, 
 Burney, will you take care of my place for me?” thus obviating 
 from my stay all fear of intrusion, by making it an obedience. And 
 his notions about music so constantly agree with my own, that I 
 know of no individual, male or female, with whom I talk about 
 music with more sincerity, as well as pleasure, than with this most 
 captivating Prince. 
 
 “Another time, at the Opera, the Prince of Wales, perceiving 
 me in the pit, sent for me to his splendid box; and, making me 
 take a snug seat close behind his royal highness, entered with his 
 usual vivacity into discussions upon the performance; and so re- 
 jeunied me by his gayety and condescension, joined to his extraor- 
 dinary judgment on musical subjects, that I held forth in return as 
 if I had been but five-and-twenty!” 
 
 To this may be added the better-known anecdote of his consider- 
 ate behavior to one of his servants. It is thus related by Dr. Croly : 
 
 “Being at Brighton, and going rather earlier than usual to visit 
 his stud, he inquired of a groom: ‘Where is Tom Cross? * Is he 
 unwell? I have missed him for some days.’ ‘ Please your royal 
 highness, he is gone away.’ ‘ Gone away! — what for? ’ ‘ Please your 
 royal highness (hesitating), I believe — for — Mr. can inform your 
 
 * This name is assumed. 
 18 * 
 
418 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 royal highness. ’ ‘ I desire to know, sir, of you — what has he done ? ’ 
 
 ‘ I believe — your royal highness — something — not — quite correct — 
 
 something about the oats.’ ‘ Where is Mr. ? Send him to me 
 
 immediately.’ The Prince appeared much disturbed at the discov- 
 ery. The absentee, quite a youth, had been employed in the stable, 
 and was the son of an old groom who had died in the Prince’s ser 
 vice. The officer of the stable appeared before the Prince. ‘ Where 
 is Tom Cross? — what has become of him?’ ‘I do not know, your 
 royal highness. ’ ‘ What has he been doing ? ’ ‘ Purloining the oats, 
 
 your royal highness; and I discharged him.’ ‘What, sirl send him 
 away without acquainting me! — not know whither he is gone! — a 
 fatherless boy, driven into the world from my service with a blight- 
 ed character! Why, the poor fellow will be destroyed; Mr. ! 
 
 I did not expect this from you! Seek him out, sir, and let me not 
 see you till you have discovered him.’ Tom was found and brought 
 before his royal master. He hung down his head, while the tears 
 trickled from his eyes. After looking steadfastly at him for some 
 moments, ‘Tom, Tom,’ said the Prince, ‘what have you been 
 doing? Happy it is for your poor father that he is gone; it w’ould 
 have broken his heart to see you in such a situation. I hope this is 
 your first offence?’ The youth wept bitterly. ‘Ah, Tom; I am 
 glad to see that you are penitent. Your father was an honest man ; 
 I had a great regard for him; so I should have for you, if you were 
 
 a good lad, for his sake. Now, if I desire Mr. to take you 
 
 into the stable again, do you think I may trust you?’ Tom wept 
 still more vehemently, implored forgiveness, and promised refor- 
 mation. ‘Well, then,’ said the gracious Prince, ‘you shall be 
 restored. Avoid evil company: go, and recover your character; 
 be diligent, be honest, and make me your friend; and — hark ye, 
 Tom — I will take care that no one shall ever taunt you with what 
 is past.’ ” 
 
 “ Some years since, a gentleman, whilst copying a picture in one 
 of the State apartments at Carlton House, overheard the following 
 conversation between an elderly woman, one of the housemaids, 
 then employed in cleaning a stove-grate, and a glazier, wdio was 
 supplying a broken pane of glass: ‘ Have you heard how the Prince 
 is to-day?’ said he (his royal highness had been confined by illness). 
 ‘Much better,’ was the reply. ‘I suppose,’ said the glazier, ‘you 
 are glad of that;’ subjoining, ‘though, to be sure, it can’t concern 
 you much.’ ‘It does concern me,’ replied the housemaid; ‘fori 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 419 
 
 have never been ill but bis royal highness has concerned himself 
 about me, and has always been pleased, on my coming to work, to 
 say, “I am glad to see you about again; I hope you have been 
 taken good care of; do not exert yourself too much, lest you should 
 be ill again.” If I did not rejoice at his royal highness’s recovery, 
 ay, and every one who eats his bread, we should be ungrateful in- 
 deed!’” 
 
 On the news of the death of Nelson, he addressed the following 
 effusive letter in answer to a person who suggested his attendance 
 at the funeral : 
 
 THE PRINCE OF WALES TO MR. ALEXANDER DAVISON. 
 
 “ I am extremely obliged to you, my dear Sir, for your con- 
 fidential letter, which I received this morning. You may be well 
 assured, that did it depend upon me, there would not be a wish, a 
 desire of our ever-to-be-lamented and much-loved friend, as well as 
 adored hero, that I would not consider as a solemn obligation upon 
 his friends and his country to fulfil; it is a duty they owe his 
 memory, and his matchless and unrivalled excellence. Such are 
 my sentiments; and I hope that there is still in this country suffi- 
 cient honor, virtue, and gratitude, to prompt us to ratify and to 
 carry into effect the last dying request of our Nelson — by that 
 means proving, not only to the whole world, but to future ages, 
 that we were worthy of having such a man belonging to us. It 
 must be needless, my dear Sir, to discuss over, with you in par- 
 ticular, the irreparable loss dear Nelson ever must be, not merely 
 to his friends, but to his country, especially at the present crisis, 
 and during the present most awful contest : his very name was a 
 host of itself — Nelson and victory were one and the same to us, and 
 it carried dismay and terror to the hearts of our enemies. But the 
 subject is too painful a one to dwell longer upon. As to myself, 
 all that I can do, either publicly or privately, to testify the rever- 
 ence, the respect I entertain for his memory as a hero, and as the 
 greatest public character that ever embellished the page of history, 
 independent of what I can, with the greatest truth, term the enthu- 
 siastic attachment I felt for him as a friend, I consider it as my duty 
 to fulfil; and therefore, though I may be prevented from taking 
 that ostensible and prominent situation -at his funeral which I think 
 my birth and high rank entitle me to claim, still nothing shall pre- 
 vent me, in a private character, following his remains to their last 
 
420 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 resting-place; for though the station and the character may be less 
 ostensible, less prominent, yet the feelings of the heart will not 
 therefore be the less poignant or the less acute, 
 
 “I am, my dear Sir, with the greatest truth, 
 
 “Ever very sincerely yours, 
 
 “ Geokge P.” 
 
 His feelings on this subject were even more excited by meeting 
 with Mr. Scott, Nelson’s chaplain and attendant in the Victory. “I 
 was once, ” he says, ‘ ‘ without preparation or the least knowledge of 
 his royal highness, suddenly, I may say somewhat clumsily, in the 
 midst of a party, introduced to the Prince, He immediately rose, 
 grasped my hand, and shed tears; in short, his feelings were so 
 acute, that I retreated into the crowd to spare him. I never can 
 forget the pressure of his hand, nor the sensibility he evinced.” 
 The poor chaplain was writing this appeal from the Charterhouse, the 
 only retreat he could obtain from a grateful country. It would 
 seem that he appealed vainly to the Regent and Lord Moira. Lady 
 Hamilton’s treatment is well known; Magrath, his medical officer, 
 met with similar neglect. The midshipman Pollard, who had 
 avenged Nelson’s death by shooting the man that killed him, ob- 
 tained a retreat at Greenwich: having no interest, he never rose 
 higher than a lieutenant. 
 
 A long list, indeed, could be furnished of instances of the Prince’s 
 generous sympathy for cases of this kind; that is, where there was 
 a certain dramatic element to stir his kindly emotions. Connected 
 with the fate of Nelson was the hard treatment of Lady Hamilton — 
 as to which the Prince declared that his desire was, that Nelson’s 
 last wishes should be given effect to in every particular. But, as 
 may be conceived, he had no power and no influence at court, or 
 with ministers. Mr. AVarren Hastings was induced to lay his case 
 before him, and bent his proud spirit so far as to set out what would 
 atone for the treatment he had received, mentioning in particular a 
 peerage. He describes in his diary the gracious kindly way in 
 which he was treated. Lord Moira was instructed to do his best, 
 but nothing came of it. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 421 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 1805. 
 
 With this year now came the first remarkable symptom of the 
 change in the Prince’s political opinions, and which have been 
 generally associated with what is called his treatment of the Whigs 
 five years later. This is a fair element in his vindication, and 
 shows that not only was it the influence of Mr. Fox that had 
 attached him to the party, but that even before Mr. Fox’s death 
 his views had been changing. That he should have changed his 
 views can be scarcely urged as a serious reproach, when statesmen 
 of importance did the same^, and, without scruple, shifted from 
 ministry to ministry. Xor is he to be judged as severely as a sub- 
 ject. The Catholic question was at this time being pressed, and 
 became, as it generally did, the test or solvent of much clouded 
 opinion. It was significant that Fox now should have doubts of 
 his royal friend as to this crucial point. These misgivings are 
 expressed in letters to his friends. 
 
 There was scarcely a year of the Prince’s life in which, as John- 
 son would have called it, his “ superfoetation of activity,” or rather 
 his habit of thoughtlessly taking action where his feelings were 
 involved, did not plunge him into some awkward embarrassment. 
 Early in 1805, he found himself eagerly engaged in ardently for- 
 warding a lawsuit, which related, says Sir S. Romilly, “to the 
 guardianship of a daughter of Lord Hugh Seymour, who had 
 remained, at the death of her parents while she was of very tender 
 years, under the care of Mrs. Fitzherbert. With that lady she had 
 been left by her family till she was between five and six years old, 
 and they then required to have her returned to them. Being an 
 orphan, and without a legal guardian, no person had a right to 
 remove her, and the principal object of the suit was to have a 
 guardian for her appointed. On the one side were proposed for this 
 office Lord Euston and Lord Henry Seymour, who had been named 
 by Lord Hugh in a will made before the birth of this little orphan ; 
 and on the other, Mrs. Fitzherbert, who had in truth become a 
 mother to it. The Master, to whom the matter was referred, 
 
422 
 
 TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 approved of Lord Euston and Lord Henry Seymour as guardians; 
 and from his decision Mrs, Fitzherbert brought the matter, by an 
 exception to the report, before the Lord Chancellor, who, after a 
 long hearing, and with less than his usual deliberation, confirmed 
 the Master’s report. While the cause was depending, the Prince 
 of Wales, who lived at Mrs. Fitzherbert’s house as his own, was 
 extremely anxious about the event of it. He loved the child with 
 paternal affection, and the idea of having her torn from him seemed 
 to be as painful to him as it was to Mrs. Fitzherbert. It was upon 
 the occasion of this cause that he desired once that I, who was one 
 of the counsel for Mrs. Fitzherbert, would meet him at her house. 
 I met him accordingly, and had a very long conversation with his 
 Royal Highness,” * 
 
 It was thus that he was brought in contact with Romilly. Some 
 years (as Lord Moira had told Lord Lansdowne) he had been eager 
 to know some “sound lawyer of high character and judgment,” in 
 whom he might place unbounded confidence, and with whom he 
 was desirous of forming a connection before his accession to the 
 throne, f This was a prudent and praiseworthy idea, but, un- 
 luckily, it is not in the power of princes of his nature to secure 
 advisers of this stamp, who, after a time, are alienated or whose 
 advice becomes unpalatable. The Prince, however, during the 
 course of the business took a great liking to him, and in September, 
 1805, offered to bring him into Parliament. Mr. Creevy was the 
 person to whom the Prince proposed the idea: 
 
 “ On Monday last, the day after his return from Weymouth and 
 London, in the course of a very long discussion upon these matters, 
 he said he had done one excellent thing during his absence — ‘ he 
 had got a seat in Parliament for Romilly.’ He then went at great 
 length into your history and your merits; pronounced you to be 
 the chief of your profession, and a certain future chancellor; and 
 expressed the greatest desire for himself to be the means of your 
 coming into Parliament, He said he had mentioned this in an 
 interview with Fox, in town last week, who had likewise expressed 
 the greatest delight at it. You would have been amused had you 
 heard the familiarity with which he handled the possible objections 
 to this measure: he said your parliamentary business was princi- 
 pally in the House of Lords, with which it would not interfere, and 
 that you seldom or never attended election committees.” 
 
 * “ Memoirs,” ii. 117, 
 
 t Ibid., ii. 126. 
 
The life Of georoe it. 
 
 423 
 
 Romiliy, however, declined the otfer on principle, not wishing 
 to be a nominee of the Prince’s, or to enter Parliament save 
 through popular election. Though mortified at his refusal, the 
 Prince’s partiality was so great that he declared enthusiastically 
 that, “ if he was not permitted to give him a seat, he would take 
 care that he should be sure of one when he wanted it.” And pres- 
 ently he found his services useful in a most critical business, which 
 we shall presently deal with. 
 
 Meanwhile this affair of young Miss Mary Seymour was engag- 
 ing his attention. She was with Mrs. Fitzherbert at No. 6 Tilney 
 Street. The present Earl of Albemarle, author of a most interest- 
 ing book of “ Recollections,” was living close by, in Audley Street, 
 with Lady de Clifford, the governess of the young Princess. Young 
 Keppel was often found at Tilney Street. 
 
 “By my little hostess,” he says, “I had the honor of being 
 presented to the Prince of Wales, afterwards George the Fourth. 
 His appearance and manners were both of a nature to produce a 
 lively impression on the mind of a child — a merry good-humored 
 man, tall, though somewhat portly in stature, in the prime of life, 
 with laughing eyes, pouting lips, and nose which very slightly turned 
 up, gave a peculiar poignancy to the expression of his face. He 
 wore a well-powdei 3d wig, adorned with a profusion of curls which 
 in my innocence I believed to be his own hair, as I did a very large 
 pigtail appended thereto. His clothes fitted him like a glove, his 
 coat was single-breasted and buttoned up to the chin. His nether 
 garments were leather pantaloons and Hessian boots. Round his 
 throat was a huge white neck-cloth of many folds, out of which his 
 chin seemed to be always struggling to emerge. 
 
 “No sooner was his royal highness seated in his arm-chair than 
 my young companion would jump up on one of his knees, to which 
 she seemed to claim a prescriptive right. Straightway would arise 
 an animated talk between ‘ Prinny and Minnie, ’ as they respectively 
 called each other.” ! 
 
 This pleasant sketch shows the Prince in an amiable light. 
 His affection for the child amounted to a passion. He offered to 
 adopt it, and settle £10,000 on it, but Lord Henry Seymour, the 
 guardian, was inflexible.* Being thus opposed, he became more 
 bent on having his way, and even swore an affidavit in Chancery, 
 in which he set out that he believed Mrs, Fitzherbert was the best 
 
 ♦Auckland, “Correspondence,” iv. 219. 
 
424 
 
 THE LIFE OF OEOROE IV. 
 
 person to have charge of the education of the child. The Chan- 
 cellor having decided against the Prince, the case came before 
 the House of Lords on appeal, before another Chancellor, Lord 
 Erskine. The Prince indiscreetly made the most open exertions, 
 canvassing all the peers to support him.* This proceeding was 
 much to the amazement of Romilly, who earnestly deprecated the 
 step to Colonel MacMrdion. In the arguments, the high character 
 of Mrs. Fitzherbert received due acknowledgment on all sides. 
 The objection was the entrusting of a Protestant child to her care. 
 The peers mustered strongly; there were some seventy or eighty 
 present. But there was no division, and the Chancellor reversed 
 his decree. Thus was the child handed over to the charge of the 
 Hertfords, wdio, it w^as known, w^ould consign her to Mrs. Fitz- 
 herbert’s care. For her, this day of triumph was to bear fresh 
 troubles. 
 
 Mrs. Fitzherbert had indeed felt the matter acutely, and there 
 were circumstances in the case almost of pathetic interest. Lady 
 Horace Seymour had been her dearest friend, and, in the last 
 stage of decline, had been ordered abroad in her husband’s ship. 
 Her last act was to confide her infant to her friend. She told 
 Lord Stourton she had tried everything, but at last took a step 
 by which she unconsciously was to sacrifice her own happiness. 
 She had recourse to Lady Hertford, with whom she was formerly 
 intimately acquainted. She requested her to intercede with Lord 
 Hertford, as head of his house, to come to her aid, and demand for 
 himself the guardianship of the child, to give it up to her upon cer- 
 tain conditions as to its education. “This long negotiation, in 
 wdiich the Prince was the principal instrument, led him at last to 
 those confidential relations which ultimately gave to Lady Hertford 
 an ascendency over him superior to that possessed by Mrs. Fitzher- 
 bert herself, and from a friend converted her into a successful rival. 
 Lady Hertford, anxious for the preservation of her owm reputation, 
 which she was not willing to compromise with the public even when 
 she ruled the Prince with the most absolute sway, exposed Mrs. 
 
 *THE PRINCE OP WALES TO THE DUKE OF NORFOLK. 
 
 “ Carlton House, Monday Morning, Jan. 8, 1805. 
 
 “My Dear Duke, 
 
 “ I have seen Lord Hertford, who will call upon you in the course of the 
 day, or, at any rate, before the business is brought before the Committee. 
 
 “ I am ever, my dear Duke, your very sincere friend, 
 
 “ George P.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 425 
 
 Fitzherbert at this time to very severe trials, which at last almost, 
 as she said, ruined her health and destroyed her nerves. Attentions 
 were required from her towards Lady Hertford herself, even when 
 most aware of her superior influence over the Prince.” 
 
 Returning now to the 10th of May, when the debate came on, we 
 find that the Prince had actually sent the pliant Sheridan to his 
 friend Fox to dissuade him from taking part in the matter. But 
 Fox, ever manly, straightforward, and independent, sent the fol- 
 lowing reply, after stating that he was committed to the cause, from 
 having presented a Catholic petition. He says: 
 
 “Now, therefore, any discussion on tJus part of the subject 
 would be too late ; but I will fairly own, that, if it were not, I 
 could not be dissuaded from doing the public act, which, of all 
 others, it will give me the greatest satisfaction and pride to per- 
 form. No past event in my political life ever did, and no future 
 one ever can, give me such pleasure. 
 
 “I am sure you know how painful it would be to me to disobey 
 any command of his Royal Highness’s, or even to act in any man- 
 ner that might be in the slightest degree contrary to his wishes, 
 and, therefore, I am not sorry that your intimation came too late. 
 I shall endeavor to see the Prince to-day; but if I should fail, 
 pray take care that he knows how things stand before we meet at 
 dinner, lest any conversation there should appear to come upon 
 him by surprise.” * 
 
 There were “ opportunists” then, as now, who looked to a con- 
 venient mode of shelving a question without sacrificing principle, 
 as will be seen from what next occurred. 
 
 “ Soon after the return of Mr. Pitt to office,” says Mr. Wallace in 
 his “ History,” “ the following semi-official announcement appeared 
 in a journal devoted to the Prince, and the known vehicle of party 
 squibs and political notifications by Sheridan. ‘ The leading mem- 
 bers of both (Fox and Grenville) Oppositions have declared them- 
 selves decidedly in favor of Catholic Emancipation, the personal 
 friends of an illustrious personage alone excepted.’ A second para- 
 graph appeared in the same paper only a few days before the dis- 
 cussion of the question. ‘ The Irish Catholic question, we have 
 reason to believe, will not for the present, at least, be brought 
 under parliamentary discussion. Mr. Fox, we understand, is dis- 
 posed to concede to the public opinion as to the inexpediency of 
 
 * Moore, “ Life of Sheridan,” ii. 333. 
 
426 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEOUGE IV. 
 
 moving it at this time; and it is not improbable that Lord Gren- 
 ville may also relax so far from his prejudices as to yield to the 
 more discreet judgment of an illustrious personage, who, although 
 he continues to approve the measure of emancipation, deprecates 
 this polemical inquiry at so momentous a period.’ ” 
 
 All this shows what suspicions there were of the change having 
 taken place in the Prince’s views. 
 
 By the death of Mr. Pitt, which occurred on the morning of 
 January 24th, 1806, the long-deferred change in the Prince’s for- 
 tune was at last to arrive, and his old friend and partisan, Mr. Fox, 
 was now in power. It was unfortunate, however, that at such a 
 time the old warmth of friendship should have abated, and that the 
 Prince, through the agency of his henchman Sheridan, should have 
 been making advances even during the last ministry to Mr. Adding- 
 ton. The first direct communication from Lord Grenville and Mr. 
 Fox was received by Lord Sidmouth on the 29th : 
 
 “In consequence of a note received this morning,” wrote Lord 
 Sidmouth, ‘ ‘ from Lord Grenville and Mr. Fox, I am to see them 
 to-day; but a connection with them will not result from it unless I 
 have a perfect conviction that it would be advantageous to the 
 country, and honorable to myself.” 
 
 A few days later he wrote to “Brother Hiley” the following 
 amusing communication, by which it will be seen how admirably 
 the family were provided for: 
 
 “Hiley has, I believe, explained to you how and by whom the 
 overture was made to me.* Lord Grenville and Mr. Fox were 
 nearly inundated by the pretensions which poured in from their 
 respective connexions; and I was, therefore, as moderate as I could 
 be without unbecoming concession or sacrifice. I have laid a strong 
 claim for you, which was readily admitted, to a situation of ade- 
 quate importance whenever a vacancy may take place. For Hiley 
 the joint paymastership is promised; and Vansittart is to return to 
 his former station at the Treasury (at his own request), if his 
 INlajesty will dispense with the punctilio arising from his rank as a 
 Privy Councillor, which I think very questionable.” 
 
 It was curious, too, to find him about this time warmly uniting 
 with the head of the “centre ” party. Lord Grenville. 
 
 “As early as the 23rd of January” (when Mr. Pitt was in ex- 
 tremis), “Mr. Sheridan told him by note that ‘he had been com- 
 
 * From the Prince of Wales, through Mr. Sheridan. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEOBGE IV. 
 
 427 
 
 manded to have a confidential communication with him, and re- 
 quested permission to wait upon him at Richmond Park for that 
 purpose.’ ” 
 
 What inspired this communication is indicated in a letter which 
 Lord St. Vincent addressed to Lord Sidmouth on the 25th of Janu- 
 ary: “The Prince of Wales came to me at five o’clock, while I 
 was dressing, and desired I would lose no time in giving you infor- 
 mation that the ministry was entirely broken up, and that the King 
 meant to send for Lord Grenville. . . . From all that passed, it 
 appears your moderation has produced a good effect upon the new 
 and old Opposition, amongst whom Windham is the most violent.” 
 The next morning, January 26th, Mr. Sheridan was again com- 
 manded to write to appoint an interview. Two other notes shortly 
 afterwards arrived from the same party, in the last of w^hich, dated 
 January 29th, he stated, “that he had something to communicate 
 to Lord Sidmouth from the Prince and Mr. Fox.” 
 
 Mr. Grey Bennett, in his MS. Diary, writes : “Lord Aberdare 
 told me that the Dukes of York and Cumberland, who told him, 
 went to announce death of Pitt to King, who tears and said, ‘ This 
 will be my death-blow ! ’ When Grenville sent for Mr. Fox, the 
 King required him to sign a paper in which he claimed right of 
 refusing or accepting any plan of Cabinet. Lord Grenville and 
 Fox said of course that this was unnecessary, as it was his con- 
 stitutional right. This showed King’s alarm. . . . Fox, at his 
 first interview, made a speech, in which he said he had been mis- 
 represented, and yielded to no man in attachment to constitution 
 for his Majesty. The King agitated, and said : ‘ I believe you, 
 Mr. Fox. I know you to be a man of honor, and thank you for 
 what you have said.’ Lord Grenville told Lord Derby that tlie 
 King expressed himself much pleased with the kind treatment he 
 had received ; and that he had not expected it.” * 
 
 * From these curious and entertaining notes, kept during a number of years, 
 I propose taking large extracts during the comse of this work. They fill 
 several volumes, and are full of parliamentary and other sketches, gossip, 
 and bits of “secret history,” and I am indebted for them to Mr. W. J. Fitz- 
 patrick, the author of the “ Life of Dr. Doyle.” 
 
428 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEOBGE IV. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 1806. 
 
 We are now arrived at one of the most singular episodes that 
 has been connected with the royal family. The disagreements of 
 the Prince and Princess of Wales had long passed from public 
 observation, and it was assumed that the ill-assorted pair had 
 settled down into a state of decent incompatibility and indifference. 
 But about the summer of 1806 strange rumors got abroad of scan- 
 dals at Blackheath, and that a secret tribunal had sat in judgment 
 on the Princess. A committee of noblemen had actually tried her 
 in her absence, brought her servants before them, and accepted 
 their testimony without its being tested on her behalf. It is enough 
 to state the terms of this truly Venetian proceedi ng , which was the 
 first Stage in the persecution that was for fourteen years to assail 
 this unfortunate lady. 
 
 It is not necessary to go into the unpleasant details of what was 
 called “the delicate investigation,” or indeed of any of the other 
 proceedings against her. A very simple statement will show what 
 the character of the whole affair was. It will be seen that the 
 Princess, becoming careless and reckless, had, with her usual indis- 
 creetness, adopted strangers as though they were old friends. She 
 had always an extraordinary fancy for children, and indeed up to 
 her death she adopted some half-a-dozen, and was scarcely ever 
 without a child of low degree in her train. This hobby, or folly 
 — for such it was — notoriously gave rise to stories and speculations. 
 
 It was to be lamented indeed that, with the King and nation on 
 her side, she could not have behaved with ordinary discretion 
 among her neighbors. It seems that the Princess, now living at 
 Blackheath, had heard that Lady Douglas — her neighbor, an utter 
 stranger to her — had been confined, and introduced herself on the 
 occasion. On this, an extravagant intimacy followed, which con- 
 tinued for some years, until the end of 1804, when the lady was 
 suddenly dismissed and her letters returned unopened. Much 
 exasperated at this treatment. Lady Douglas soon after declared 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 429 
 
 that she had received anonymous letters and drawings of a scandal- 
 ous character. On which her husband threatened that he would 
 expose the Princess, and informed the Duke of Kent that he would 
 do so. The latter interposed, and begged that the matter would 
 not be mentioned, as it would annoy the King. It should be noted 
 that at this stage it was merely “a private squabble ” between the 
 parties, the Douglases complaining of the Princess’s slanders, and 
 requiring redress. In November, 1805, the Duke of Sussex ap- 
 peared on the scene, and waited on the Prince of Wales with a 
 new and startling communication that Sir John had told him some 
 facts relative to the Princess, and which “might affect the royal 
 succession.” 
 
 This must have been welcome information to the Prince, who felt 
 himself bound by “ duty ” to move in the matter. On this Sir John 
 and Lady Do uglas m ade declarations before the Duke of Sussex at 
 Greenwich Park, dated December 3rd, 1805. Lady Douglas’s was 
 virtually the “act of accusation,” and it was of extraordinary 
 length. It set out such charges that Lord Thurlow, to whom the 
 Prince submitted the papers, called in the assistance of Romilly, 
 now the Prince’s legal friend; two men likely to come to an honest 
 opinion on the matter, even though Thurlow was now the Prince’s 
 private adviser on every important subject. Colonel Macmahon 
 and Lord Moira, two of the Prince’s familiars, were also busy in the 
 case. It may be said here that, w^hen such a matter was brought 
 to the Prince’s notice, he could not avoid taking the matter up and 
 investigating it. 
 
 Lord Thurlow’s opinion, expressed with his usual coarse energy, 
 was that “he did not believe Lady Douglas’s account.” There was 
 “ no composition,” he said, “in her narrative — i.e. it did not hang 
 together; no dates; that some parts were grossly improbable ; that 
 the Princess could hardly have said such things when he first knew 
 her, but she might have altered. But to be sure it was a strange 
 thing to take a beggar’s child, but a few days old, and adopt it as 
 her own; but that, however, the Princess had strange whims.” 
 
 Upon the whole, his opinion was there was no evidence on which 
 to found action, and the Prince must wait and see what facts would 
 come to light in future. This was a sound and correct judgment. 
 He then advised that evidence should be collected respecting her 
 general behavior, and suggested that a skilled practitioner should 
 be employed. 
 
 Thus, when we add the verdict of the later commission to the 
 
430 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 declarations of the Prince’s advisers, it is clear that the Princess 
 was acquitted almost as soon as the charge was made. 
 
 This statement of Lady Douglas — filling some sixty octavo pages 
 — is the most extraordinary document conceivable, and seems rather 
 the rambling incoherence of some of those wild women who come 
 into court as plaintiffs in strange and romantic trials, than that of a 
 sober accuser. In this she raked together conversations of the most 
 extraordinary kind — coarse and impmdent, which probably did take 
 place. A single passage shows the spirit of the whole: “I now 
 received, by the twopenny post, a long anonymous letter, written 
 by this restless, mischievous person, the Princess of Wales, in 
 which, in language w^hich any one who had ever heard her speak, 
 would have known to be hers, she called me all kinds of names 
 — impudent, silly, wretched, ungrateful, and illiteral (meaning 
 illiterate); she tells me to take that, and it will mend my ill 
 temper, etc. etc. etc., and says she is a person high in this govern- 
 ment, and has often an opportunity of (sic) freely with his Majesty; 
 and she thinks my conduct authorizes her to tell him of, and that 
 she is my only true and ‘integer friend.’ Such is the spirit of this 
 foreigner, which would have disgraced a housemaid to have 
 written.” 
 
 Seeing that the case had broken down, it was determined to make 
 one; and at this point it is difficult to acquit the Prince and his 
 advisers. The solicitor to the Douglases, this Lowten, was ap- 
 pointed to “get up” facts; and the amiable Romilly, who had 
 declined to advise on this part of the business, w^as talked over 
 into himself examining Lady Douglas. All the Prince’s servants 
 were “got at,” and two — Bidgood and Cole — detailed stories of 
 familiarities with visitors. On the truth of these and other charges 
 it is impossible to decide; rather, it is beyond the province of a 
 work like the present to decide. To this and the later investiga- 
 tions may be applied a development of the acute remark of Maiy 
 Lamb: “They talk of the Queen’s guilt. I should not think the 
 better of her if she were what is called innocent.” But there can 
 be no doubt that the whole was a most improper, unfair, and unjust 
 proceeding. 
 
 More than five months were consumed in raking together these 
 accusations and trying to strengthen them. Lord Grenville, Mr. 
 Fox, and the Prince’s friends were now in office. These were 
 honorable and upright men, but it is certainly remarkable that 
 no official action should have been taken till they were in power. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 431 
 
 But Fox was dying, and the papers were at last submitted to her 
 friend the King, who gave his consent to a commission of inquiry, 
 naming, on May 29, 1806, Lord Erskine, the Chancellor, Lord 
 Grenville, Lord Spencer, and Lord Ellenborough for the purpose. 
 There was a certain impropriety in choosing Erskine, who had 
 been consulted by Romilly on the papers, and who was one of the 
 Prince’s most devoted followers. Romilly assisted at the inquiry, and 
 may be said to have been conducting counsel against the Princess; 
 but his presence was a guarantee of impartiality. On the 7th of 
 June it began. Six of the servants were brought from her house 
 without notice to the Princess. The Duke of Kent communicated 
 to her this resolution, and she said, with dignity, they were wel- 
 come to examine all. “The result,” says Romilly, “was such as 
 left a perfect conviction on my mind, and I believe on the minds 
 of the four lords, that the boy in question is the son of Sophia 
 Austin. The evidence of all the servants as to the general conduct 
 of the Princess was extremely favorable to her royal highness, and 
 Lady Douglas’s account was contradicted in many very important 
 particulars.” This from the counsel for the prosecution is remark- 
 able testimony. In fact the refutal of the charge was complete, 
 and Lady Douglas’s account was not only “contradicted” — the 
 amiable word of Romilly — but seemed to furnish ground for an 
 indictment for perjury. 
 
 On July 14th, 1806, the report was furnished to the King. They 
 completely acquitted her of the charge of being mother of the boy, 
 whose parentage they traced in the most convincing manner. But 
 they added this singular censure: “We do not, however, feel our- 
 selves at liberty, much as we should wish it, to close our report 
 here. Besides the allegations of the pregnancy and delivery of the 
 Princess, those declarations, on the whole of which your Majesty 
 has been pleased to command us to inquire and report, contain, as 
 we have already remarked, other particulars respecting her royal 
 highness, such as must, especially considering her exalted rank and 
 station, necessarily give occasion to very unfavorable interpreta- 
 tions, particularly from the examinations of Robert Bidgood, Wil- 
 liam Cole, Frances Lloyd, and Mrs. Lisle. Your Majest}’’ will per- 
 ceive that several strong circumstances of this description have 
 been positively sworn to by witnesses who cannot, in our judg- 
 ment, be suspected of any unfavorable bias, and whose veracity, in 
 this respect, we have seen no ground to question. On the precise 
 bearing and effects of the facts thus appearing it is not for us to 
 
432 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 decide; these we submit to your Majesty’s wisdom; but we con- 
 ceive it to be our duty to report on this part of the inquiry as 
 distinctly as on the former facts, that, as on the one hand the facts 
 of pregnancy and delivery are to our minds satisfactorily disproved, 
 so on the other hand we think that the circumstances to which we 
 now refer, particularly those stated to have passed between her 
 royal highness and Captain Manby, must be credited until they 
 shall receive some decisive contradiction, and, if tme, are justly 
 entitled to the most serious consideration.” 
 
 It is sufficient to quote these words, to show their injustice, for 
 how were the charges alluded to to receive “some decided, contra- 
 diction,” unless opportunity was given? They also attempted to 
 vindicate the Prince from having had any share in the matter; and 
 it must be said that the Princess generously joined in this view.* 
 He is certainly entitled to indulgence in this respect; for when the 
 affidavits were laid before him, he consulted Lord Thurlow, who 
 advised him to consult his father’s ministers, on which the Prince 
 asked Lord Grenville: “What am I to do?” “I know what I 
 must do,” was the reply. 
 
 But during the investigation his favorite. Lord Moira, was busy 
 examining witnesses for himself, and tried to intimidate one 
 Edmeades, a doctor, who flatly contradicted one of fhe servants, 
 by examining him in presence of a magistrate. The real view to 
 take would seem to be this: That as the main charge had so com- 
 pletely broken down, it looked as though the rest had been “got 
 up” as a supplemental accusation, and would naturally share the 
 fate of the first. 
 
 All that followed was of a piece with the rest. After the process 
 was concluded, the Princess was keep waiting for months a decision. 
 It was not until the January of 1807 that the King was allowed to 
 decide on the question. 
 
 An unfortunate and unusual accident now occurred, which 
 might be considered of evil omen. Driving with Miss Cholmon- 
 deley and Lady Sheffield in September, near Leatherhead, the car- 
 riage was overturned ; the Princess herself was much contused, but 
 the young lady was killed on the spot. 
 
 As she was not allowed to defend herself at the trial, it was 
 determined that this should be done now. The Princess, however, 
 had important friends to defend her, and none more warm and eager 
 
 * As she told Lord Minto. “ Life of Sir G. Elliot,” iii. 388. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 433 
 
 at this time than the late Chancellor, Lord Eldon. He was in 
 constant communication with her, and advised and supported her 
 through these trials. It was to him that she complained of her 
 papers being stolen, and later of the monstrous affront that she was 
 forced to keep in her service the very servants who had made 
 criminal charges against her. 
 
 But a more valuable ally was Mr. Perceval, afterward minister, 
 who had now become her ardent champion. “To the tower or 
 scaffold in such a cause,” he had exclaimed enthusiastically to Lady 
 Malmesbury, as they returned together from a visit to the Princess. 
 The service he did her consisted in drawing up a statement of her 
 case. It has always been considered one of the most masterly and 
 powerful defences ever written, and indeed she was always for- 
 tunate in having such friends, whose adroit management nearly 
 brought this and other incidents of her persecution to a successful 
 issue, in the face of terrible odds. In this task he was mainly 
 assisted by Mr. Plumer and Sir Vicary Gibbs, later so notorious for 
 his prosecutions; but the chief credit must be given to Perceval. 
 
 In October she writes thus gratefully to Lord Eldon: 
 
 THE PRmCESS OF WALES TO LORD ELDON. 
 
 “ Blackheath, Oct. 13th, 1806. 
 
 “The Princess of Wales, with the most grateful sense, is most 
 sincerely obliged to Lord Eldon for his kind inquiry through Lady 
 Sheffield. 
 
 “Her body as well as her mind have naturally much suffered 
 from the last melancholy catastrophe, having lost in so short a time, 
 and so unexpectedly, a most kind and affectionate brother and a 
 sincere friend. The affiictions which Providence has sent so recently 
 to her are very severe trials of patience and resignation, and noth- 
 ing than strong feelings of religion and piety could with any sort of 
 fortitude carry the Princess’s dejected mind through this. She puts 
 her only trust in Providence, which has so kindly protected her in 
 various ways since she is in this kingdom. 
 
 “The Princess also has the pleasure to inform his Lordship that 
 the Queen has twice made inquiry, by Lady Ilchester, through Lady 
 Sheffield, about the Princess’s bodily and mental state. The Duch- 
 ess of York, through her Lady to Lady Sheffield, and the Duke of 
 Cambridge, in the same way, made their inquiries. The Duke of 
 Kent wrote himself to the Princess, whieh of course she answered 
 herself. The Duke of Cumberland, who has twice been with the 
 19 
 
434 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 Princess after the melandioly event took place, desired her to 
 announce, lierself, to his Majesty the unexpected event of the death 
 of the Prince Hereditary of Brunswick. She followed his advice, 
 and the letter was sent through Lady Sheffield to Colonel Taylor. 
 The answer was kind from his IMajesty, and full of feeling of inter- 
 est for the severe loss she sustained in her brother.” 
 
 By October 3rd it was ready for presentation to the King. “It 
 was a matter of much delicacy, as it was difficult to avoid the ap- 
 pearance of impeaching the credit of those who conducted the 
 inquiry, which was dangerous.” He wrote to Mr. Rose: “The 
 report was so framed that she could not acquiesce under it in silence 
 without admitting its truth; and that, in fact, there was evidently 
 so much disposition to be hostile to her manifested in the whole 
 course of the proceeding, that looking forward to a new reign, there 
 could be no possible security for her being permitted to hold her 
 rank or station in this country, but from the existence ot a strong 
 sentiment in her favor throughout the kingdom; and that, there- 
 fore, her letter to the King should be so prepared, that if published, 
 it should have the effect of producing rather than checking that sen- 
 timent. The copies of this letter, undoubtedly, unless it should be 
 determined to publish it, ought to be kept very secret; but as soon 
 as I conveniently can, I will endeavor to procure you a sight of one 
 of them, as I really shall be very anxious to know your opinion upon 
 it.” 
 
 The admirable vindication was presented to the King early in 
 October. The effect of reading it must have been complete and 
 irresistible. As Lord Colchester said: “The answer renders the 
 evidence on which the Lords have relied very incredible, from its 
 inconsistency and absurdity.”* But no notice was taken of it. 
 After waiting nine weeks, she once more appealed to the King; but 
 still no answer came. The fact was the Cabinet felt themselves in 
 a serious difficulty, owing to the awkAvardness of two of their mem- 
 bers having been concerned in the matter. Then arrived piteous 
 letters from her father and mother, who acutely felt the disgiace, 
 imploring a speedy decision in the case of their unfortunate child, 
 but without result. 
 
 Not until January 28th, 1807, did she receive a letter from the 
 King, announcing that the ministry had considered the papers and 
 
 * “ Diary,” ii. 106. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 435 
 
 agreed as to report; that no furtlier steps need be taken, save so far 
 as it might be advisable to consider whether Lady Douglas should 
 be prosecuted. He was advised it was no longer necessary for him 
 to decline receiving the Princess into his royal presence. That the 
 King saw with satisfaction the decided proof of the falsehood of 
 the accusation of pregnancy and delivery, brought forward against 
 her by Lady Douglas. But that there were other circumstances 
 against her which he regarded with serious concern, and he desired 
 and expected that such conduct might in future be observed by the 
 Princess, as might fully justify those marks of paternal regard and 
 affection which he always wished to show to every part of the 
 royal family. 
 
 “ Other circumstances stated against her”! This extraordinary 
 phrase is her vindication. For if the accusations of the servants 
 were to be accepted as true, then she was surely unfitted to be 
 received at Court; if false, she did not deserve the reproof! 
 
 The Princess accepted it as it was, and wrote to be allowed to 
 visit at Windsor; but the King said London would be more con- 
 venient. But now the Prince interposed, and on seeing the strength 
 of her case, declared that he would put it into the hands of his 
 lawyers, to make a reply. The King was induced to declare that 
 he would put off receiving her until this was done — i.e. .nne die. In 
 another masterly paper, also drawn up by Perceval, she urged, 
 with irresistible logic, that the tribunal to which the Prince had 
 appealed had declared that “ there was no longer any reason why 
 his Majesty should not receive her. Why, then, was she not 
 received months before, since but for this cruel, unjust, and unrea- 
 sonable interposition of the Prince?” She then renewed her defence. 
 Her position was logical; for the Prince had now come forward in 
 person: hitherto it had been the proceeding of a neutral tribunal. 
 
 Some extracts from this powerful indictment of the Princess of 
 Wales may be given here: 
 
 “ There may be circumstances disclosed, manifesting a degree of 
 condescension and familiarity in my behavior and conduct, which, 
 in the opinions of many, may be considered as not sufficiently 
 guarded, dignified, and reserved. Circumstances, however, which 
 my foreign education and foreign habits misled me to think, in the 
 humble and retired situation in which it was my fate to live, and 
 where I had no relation, no equal, no friend to advise me, were 
 wholly free from offence. But when they have been dragged 
 
436 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 forward, from the scenes of private life, in a grave proceeding on 
 a charge of high treason and adultery, they seem to derive a color 
 and character from the nature of the charge which they are brought 
 forward to support. 
 
 “In making that determination, however, it will not escape 
 your Majesty to consider that the conduct which does or does not 
 become a married woman, materially depends upon what is or is 
 not known by her to be agreeable to her husband. His pleasure 
 and happiness ought unquestionably to be her law; and his appro- 
 bation the most favorite object of her pursuit. Different characters 
 of men require different modes of conduct in their wives; but w^hen 
 a wife can no longer be capable of perceiving, from time to time, 
 what is agreeable or offensive to her husband, when her conduct 
 can no longer contribute to his happiness, no longer hope to be 
 rewarded by his approbation, surely to examine that conduct by 
 the standard of what ought, in general, to be the conduct of a mar- 
 ried woman, is altogether unreasonable and unjust. 
 
 “ What then is my case? Your Majesty will do me the justice 
 to remark that, in the letter of the Prince of Wales, there is not 
 the most distant surmise, that crime, that vice, that indelicacy of 
 any description, gave occasion to his determination; and all the 
 tales of infamy and discredit, which the inventive malice of my 
 enemies has brought forward on these charges, have their date 
 years and years after the period to which I am now alluding. What 
 then, let me repeat the question, is my case? After the receipt of 
 the above letter, and in about two years from my arrival in this 
 country, I had the misfortune entirely to lose the support, the 
 countenance, the protection of my husband — I was banished, as it 
 were, into a sort of bumble retirement, at a distance from him, and 
 almost estranged from the whole of the royal family. I had no 
 means of having recourse, either for society or advice, to those from 
 whom my inexperience could have best received the advantages of 
 the one, and with whom I could, most becomingly, have enjoyed 
 the comforts of the other. 
 
 “Your Majesty’s confidential servants say: ‘They agree in the 
 opinions of the four lords;’ and they say this, ‘ after the fullest 
 consideration of my observations, and of the affidavits which were 
 annexed to them.’ Some of these opinions, your Majesty will 
 recollect, are, that ‘William Cole, Fanny Lloyd, Robert Bidgood, 
 and Mrs. Lisle, are witnesses who cannot,’ in the judgment of the 
 four lords, ‘be suspected of any unfavorable bias;’ and ‘whose 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 437 
 
 Veracity, in this respect, they had seen no ground to question;’ and 
 ‘ that the circumstances to which they speak, particularly as relat- 
 ing to Captain Manby, must be credited until they are decisively 
 contradicted,’ Am I then to understand your Majesty’s confiden- 
 tial servants to mean, that they agree with the four noble lords in 
 these opinions? Am I to understand, that after having read, with 
 the fullest consideration, the observations which I have offered to 
 your Majesty; after having seen William Cole there proved to have 
 submitted himself, five times at least, to private, unauthorized, 
 voluntary examination by Sir John Douglas’s solicitor, for the 
 express purpose of confirming the statement of Lady Douglas (of 
 that Lady Douglas whose statement and deposition they are con- 
 vinced to be so malicious and false, that they propose to institute 
 such prosecution against her as your Majesty’s law officers may 
 advise, upon a reference, now at length, after six months from the 
 detection of that malice and falsehood, intended to be made) — after 
 having seen this William Cole submitting to such repeated volun- 
 tary examinations for such a purpose, and although he was all that 
 time a servant on my establishment, and eating my bread, yet never 
 once communicating to me that such examinations were going on 
 — am I to understand, that your Majesty’s confidential servants 
 agree with the four lords in thinking that he cannot, under such 
 circumstances, be suspected of unfavorable bias? — that after having 
 had pointed out to them the direct flat contradiction between the 
 same William Cole and Fanny Lloyd, they nevertheless agree to 
 think them both (though in direct contradiction to each other, 
 yet both) witnesses, whose veracity they see no ground to question? 
 
 “Was it then noble, was it generous, was it manly, was it just, in 
 your Majesty’s confidential servants, instead of fairly admitting the 
 injustice which had been — inadvertently and unintentionally, no 
 doubt — done to me by the four noble lords in their report, upon the 
 evidence of these witnesses, to state to your Majesty that they agree 
 with these noble lords in their opinion, though they cannot, it 
 seems, go the length of agreeing any longer to withhold the advice 
 which restores me to your Majesty’s presence? 
 
 “They agree in the opinion that the facts or allegations, though 
 stated in preliminary examinations, carried on in the absence of the 
 parties interested, must be credited till decisively contradicted, and 
 deserve the most serious consideration. They read, with the fullest 
 consideration, the contradiction which I have tendered to them; 
 they must have known that no other sort of contradiction could, by 
 
438 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 possibility, from the nature of things, have been offered upon such 
 subjects; they do not question the truth, they do not point out the 
 insufficiency of the contradiction, but in loose, general, indefinite 
 terms, referring to my answer, consisting, as it does, of above two 
 hundred written pages, and coupling it with those examinations 
 (which they admit establish nothing against an absent party), they 
 advise your Majesty, that ‘there appear many circumstances of 
 conduct, which could not be regarded by your Majesty without 
 serious concern.’ 
 
 “And here, Sire, your majesty will graciously permit me to 
 notice the hardship of the advice v.diich has suggested to your 
 Majesty to convey to me this reproof. I complain not so much for 
 what it does, as for what it does not, contain : I mean the absence 
 of all particular mention of what it is that is the object of their 
 blame. 
 
 “For my future conduct. Sire, impressed with every sense of 
 gratitude for all former kindness, I shall be bound unquestionably, 
 by sentiment as well as duty, to study your Majesty’s pleasure. Any 
 advice which your Majesty may wish to give to me in respect of 
 any particulars of my conduct, I shall be bound and be anxious to 
 obey as my law. But I must trust that your Majesty will point 
 out to me the particulars, which may happen to displease you, and 
 which you may wish to have altered. 
 
 “ Surrounded, as it is now proved that I have been for years, by 
 domestic spies, your Majesty must, I trust, feel convinced that if I 
 had been guilty, there could not have been wanting evidence to 
 have proved iny guilt. And that these spies have been obliged to 
 have resort to their own invention for the support of the charge, is 
 the strongest demonstration that the truth, undisguised and cor- 
 rectly represented, could furnish them with no handle against me. 
 And when I consider the nature and malignity of that conspiracy, 
 which I feel confident I have completely detected and exposed, I 
 cannot but think of that detection with the liveliest gratitude as the 
 special blessing of Providence, who, by confounding the machina- 
 tions of my enemies, has enabled me to find, in the excess and 
 extravagance of their malice, in the very weapons which they fabri- 
 cated and sharpened for my destruction, the sufficient guard to my 
 innocence, and the effectual means of my justification and defence. 
 
 “1 trust therefore. Sire, that I may now close this long letter in 
 confidence that many days will not elapse before I shall receive 
 from your Majesty that assurance that my just requests may be 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 439 
 
 so completely granted, as may render it possible for me (which 
 nothing else can) to avoid the painful disclosure to the world of all 
 the circi, instances of that injustice, and of those unmerited suffer- 
 ings which these proceedings, in the manner in which they have 
 been conducted, have brought upon me. 
 
 “I remain, Sire, 
 
 “With every sentiment of gratitude, 
 
 “Your Majesty’s most dutiful, 
 
 “Most submissive Daughter in-law, 
 “.Subject and Servant, 
 
 “(Signed) C. P. 
 
 “ Montagus House, February 16, 1807.” 
 
 Such was this admirable defence. More effective, however, was 
 the alarming declaration that she would iay her case before the 
 public Still a month more went by. The ministry was in its last 
 agony. “The Book”* — the name it was long known by — was 
 actually printed, and five thousand copies were got ready to be 
 launched on the town, under circumstances of extraordinary secrecy 
 and mystery. 
 
 At last, irritated by these delays, the Princess wrote to the King, 
 naming a particular Monday, after which the bolt would certainly 
 be launched. Suddenly, the “Ministry of all the Talents” col- 
 lapsed — turned out in the unceremonious fashion so often described. 
 It is not unlikely that this very business and its embarrassment 
 helped the other causes of the fall. 
 
 Lord Holland throws some curious light on the contending 
 interests that were at work and causing the long delay. He is 
 inclined to believe that it was at the suggestion of the King that 
 
 * One Edwards, of Crane Court, Fleet Street, was the printer, and a Mem- 
 ber of Parliament was “ confidential assistant,” or “reader.” We may pre- 
 sume the proof-sheets were sent to an ostensible editor, and returned in same 
 fashion. The wnole impression, except two copies, was delivered at Mr. 
 Perceval’s house. These two copies were, later, destined to cause much em- 
 barrassment and annoyance. See Wilks’ “Memoirs of Queen Caroline,’ 
 i. 261, a work containing many curious and authentic details. 
 
 Another legend ran that it had been printed at a press set up in Lord 
 Eldon’s house. Mr. Canning seems to have disproved of the book, and when 
 Mr. Perceval sent him a copy (and he seems to have shown copies to Mr. 
 Abbott and others) he replied that he was sorry it had been printed; that it 
 was certain to be published ; and that, in order that he might not be held 
 responsible, he returned his copy. 
 
440 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 the Commissioners were named. Mr. Fox excused himself on the 
 score of his health, business, and connections with the Prince. 
 The report was evidently, he said, a compromise. The King 
 adroitly referred the Princess’s appeal to him to the Cabinet, saying 
 he would be guided by them. Some were inclined to be severe. 
 Lords Sidmouth and Grenville “thought that after so broad an 
 acquittal upon the main charge, we would exceed our powers by 
 touching on levities, and wished to decline giving an opinion at all. 
 The King perceived our embarrassment, and dexterously insisted 
 on an opinion. Then AVindbam sent in a separate minute acquit- 
 ting her altogether, which was never made known.” The Prince, 
 Lord Holland adds, was dissatisfied with the report, and declared 
 that he was not bound by it. He called on the Cabinet to say so, 
 and acquit him of all complicity in the business. Lord Holland 
 pressed that this should be done. On the last day the Cabinet met 
 “a cold testimony to his conduct ” was despatched to the King. 
 This is a curious proof of his shrewdness, for some years later, when 
 it was necessary to inquire into the Princess’s conduct, this recogni- 
 tion of his having had no share in the business fairly gave him a 
 ground for reopening it. 
 
 Kow came her triumph. Never was an injured woman so happily 
 rescued. Here were all her friends and champions in ofiice — Lord 
 Eldon, Mr. Canning, and Perceval. Within two or three weeks a 
 minute of Council was drawn up, in which it was set out that: 
 
 “After the most deliberate consideration, however, of the evi- 
 dence which has been brought before the Commissioners, and of the 
 previous examinations, as well as of the answer and observations 
 which have been submitted to your Majesty upon them, they feel it 
 necessary to declare their decided concurrence in the clear and 
 unanimous opinion of the Commissioners, confirmed by all your 
 Majesty’s late confidential servants, that the two main charges 
 alleged against her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, of preg- 
 nancy and delivery, are completely disproved; and they further 
 submit to your Majesty their unanimous opinion that all other par- 
 ticulars of conduct brought in accusation against her royal high- 
 ness, to which the character of criminality can be ascribed, are satis- 
 factorily contradicted, or rest upon evidence of such a nature, and 
 which was given under such circumstances as render it, in the 
 judgment of your Majesty’s confidential servants, undeserving of 
 credit.” 
 
 In another minute they recommended that she should have apart- 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 441 
 
 ments in one of the palaces, and that she should be treated in a 
 manner worthy of her high position. 
 
 Such was the ignominious repulse of this first organized attack 
 upon the character and honor of the Princess; and the Prince of 
 Wales had now the mortification of defeat to add a poignancy to 
 his dislike. 
 
 In the mean time — to anticipate a little — Mr. Fox had died, and 
 the disappearance of the Prince’s chief friend and ally may have 
 been connected with the decisions taken in her case. 
 
 Her friend. Lord Eldon, went specially to the King, and warned 
 him of the dangers that would ensue if Mr. Perceval published 
 ^LThe Book, ” and there can be little doubt but that such intimation, 
 coming from “my dear old master’s devoted friend,” would have 
 secured the result, even had her friends not come into power.* 
 The threatened publication was of course suspended bj'- the very 
 terms of the menace, as the end was gained. It was often made a 
 subject of reproach to Mr. Perceval and Lord Eldon that, when they 
 had gained their aim and attained power, they found it convenient 
 to abandon their advocacy of the Princess; and their suppression of 
 “ The Book ” is put forward as a proof. The fact was, the “ inci- 
 dent was closed,” as the French say. The object had been attained. 
 Unfortunately, too, the Princess, from this time forth, instead of 
 profiting by this narrow escape, seems to have grown reckless, and 
 herself was to furnish sufficient grounds for the desertion of her 
 best friends. 
 
 This episode may be closed by the singular meeting that took 
 place some months later between the parties to this quarrel. “ Soon 
 after the entrance of the Queen into the drawing-room, the Prince 
 arrived, and conversed with her for some time. About three 
 o’clock the Princess of Wales came, elegantly attired. After com- 
 plimenting her Majesty and the Princesses, she entered into con- 
 versation with the Prince; during which there was a profound 
 silence in the room ; all eyes were fixed upon them. But nothing 
 appeared beyond the forms of politeness; it was thence conjectured 
 that further connection was impossible.” 
 
 * Lord Eldon assured Lord Grey (who told Romilly) that his visit was for 
 this purpose.— Romilly, iii. 104. 
 
 19 * 
 
442 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIL 
 1806—1807. 
 
 With the death of Pitt, and the arrival of his friend Fox at the 
 pleiiiUide of power, the Prince might fairly look for a welcome 
 change and a share in its enjoyment. We have seen that he was 
 partly instrumental in introducing Lord Sidmouth, and seems to 
 have been consulted in the arrangements. But Fox was near his 
 last sickness and enjoyed but a brief snatch of office. 
 
 The Prince of Wales now set off on a sort of progress, leaving 
 London on the 25th of August for Bushy Park, taking with him, 
 by appointment, the Duke of Clarence on an extensive tour. They 
 were attended by Colonel Lee and Major Bloomfield. Their royal 
 highnesses slept that night at Benson, Oxfordshire, and passed 
 through Oxford. They then proceeded to Blenheim, and drove 
 through the park. The royal brothers next proceeded to the Earl 
 of Guildford’s, at Wroxton Abbey, where they dined. A round of 
 entertainments was provided for the amusement of the guests dur- 
 ing their stay, among which a play was performed. On their route 
 to Ragley, the Marquis of Hertford’s, they stopped at the Lion Inn, 
 in Stratford, where the volunteers assembled to receive them. The 
 Prince of Wales was waited upon by the mayor and corporation, 
 who presented a loyal address to his royal highness, accompanied 
 with an elegant box, adorned with an appropriate inscription, made 
 of the celebrated mulberry-tree planted by the immortal Warwick- 
 shire bard. While at Ragle3% the royal brothers visited Warwick 
 and Warwick Castle. After leaving Raglej'-, the}' passed through 
 Shrewsbury on their way to Ross Hall, the seat of Cecil Forester, 
 Esq., M.P. ; they were escorted by a detachment of the Shrewsbur}" 
 Yeomaniy. Their rov'al highnesses, leaving Ross Hall, proceeded 
 to Loton, the seat of Sir Robert Leighton, Bart., and from thence 
 to Trentham Hall, on a visit to the Marquis of Stafford. 
 
 Addi'essos were presented from various corporations, etc., and 
 most graciously answered. The volunteers who turned out were 
 noticed with great and peculiar condescension by the royal tourists. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 443 
 
 The next visit was paid to Liverpool ; to which place they went 
 from Knowsley in a coach and six of the Earl of Derby’s, followed 
 by twenty other carriages. On their arrival they were received by 
 the Duke of Gloucester, the Dragoon Guards, Devon Militia, Liver- 
 pool Volunteers, etc. After the royal brothers had inspected the 
 docks and various other establishments, they partook of an elegant 
 dinner provided by the Mayor, and in the evening returned to 
 Knowsley. The entertainment cost the Corporation of Liverpool 
 not less than £10,000. The number of persons who flocked to 
 Liverpool upon the occasion was immense. Such was this gay 
 progress. 
 
 Within a few months Fox had followed his great rival to the 
 grave. The Prince was at Brighton when his illness had grown 
 critical, and hurried to his bedside. Fox had rallied a little after 
 the operation of tapping, and was encouraged by the Prince to hope 
 for recovery. The other shook his head, and said the relief “ only 
 made room for fresh attack.” That was the last time they saw each 
 other. It was remarked, however, with some surprise, that the 
 Prince did not attend his funeral, though this was said to have been 
 owing to the interference of the King. 
 
 Not long before the Prince had lost another friend and useful 
 favorite, one of his most faithful servants. Admiral Payne, “treas- 
 urer of Greenwich Hospital, warden of the Stannaries, and auditor- 
 general to his master.”* The Prince seems to have had a deep 
 regard for him, though, as we have seen, it was somewhat cooled 
 by his lack of. subserviency on the occasion of the Prince’s marriage. 
 The loss of Fox reall}'’ marked an era in the Prince’s life, for though 
 his influence had been clearly waning, and was but precarious, there 
 was no one left with equal power. Lord Grey’s son, indeed, is 
 inclined to accept, au serieux, that sort of impulsive letter, which 
 the Prince would deliver himself of at seasons of emotion, and 
 appeals to one addressed to Mr. Grey in proof of the stanchness of 
 the Prince’s opinion, as well as friendship for his father. But such 
 liave little value, as a few months was to show. 
 
 ♦The world, we are told, called him “Jack Payne,” the Prince “honest 
 Jack Payne,” and had his portrait painted for Carlton House. The Prince’s 
 deputy at the funeral attended in a coach-and-six. His own librarian and 
 chaplain. Dr. Clarke, read the service, and he lies in St. Margaret's, West- 
 minster. His place had been already taken by another favorite, who became 
 far better known. Colonel Macmahon. 
 
444 
 
 TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 THE PRmCE OF WALES TO MR. GREY. 
 
 “ Knowsley, Sept. 18, 1806. 
 
 “My dear Grey, 
 
 “I am hardly in state to write at all, much less to answer 
 your very friendly letter. As to my feelings, it would he superflu- 
 ous to say anything, as they exceed all belief, and all power of 
 description. I consider the loss we have sustained as incalculable 
 to the country, and irreparable to all his friends, and to myself in 
 particular. Having from the earliest period of my life, when I first 
 entered a political career, looked up to no one but to Fox; having 
 been constantly and invariably attached to him and to his princi- 
 ples; having trodden that path which he marked out for me; and 
 having been guided through it by the support of his hand; I do 
 candidly acknowledge to you, that the difference is so prodigious, 
 the loss so immense, that my thoughts are quite bewildered, and 
 that as yet I have not been able to collect my ideas so as to bring 
 them to any one point. 
 
 “As to Lord Grenville, for whom I entertain the very highest 
 personal regard and friendship, I felt quite confident that you would 
 find him everything that could be wished or expected from a strictly 
 honorable and great-minded man; which opinion I have long enter- 
 tained of him, and which induced me so anxiously to wish to bring 
 him and our departed and forever-to-be-lamented friend together, 
 and to frame and consolidate that union in which I afterwards so 
 fortunately succeeded. But as to ourselves, my friend, the old and 
 steady adherents and friends of Fox, we have but one fine to pursue, 
 one course to steer — to stick together, to remain united, and to prove 
 by our conduct, in our steady and unshaken adherence to those 
 principles which we imbibed from Fox when living, that now 
 (though alas he is no more!) we were not merely nominally his 
 friends, but that we are not unworthy of him, and that his memoiy 
 will forever live in our hearts. In saying this, all I mean to convey 
 is, what my sentiments are as to the line which it behoves us to trace, 
 and abstractedly attaches to us, as the old, firm, and uniform adher- 
 ents of Fox. 
 
 “As to my opinions, if I can form any at the present moment, 
 and to which I profess myself perfectly unequal, it does appear to 
 me that everything ought to be done wliich can be done, for every 
 possible reason, to convince and to substantiate to our own nation, 
 as well as to foreign Powers, that such is the respect, such the regard, 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 445 
 
 that the present ministers not only feel individually as men, but 
 collectively as a Government, for the memory of our dear departed 
 friend, and such the estimation in which they hold his principles, 
 and the reverence with which they view the great and enlightened 
 system which he had prepared, and was so indefatigably pursuing; 
 and which no one was able to frame but himself ; and which there 
 is no doubt he would have successfully brought to the desired point ; 
 that they are resolutely resofved, steadily and firmly to adhere to, 
 and to follow up those ideas, those views, those plans, which were 
 laid down by his masterly hand, and which line will be attended, I 
 have no doubt, with the happiest consequences, as it will infallibly 
 be the means of establishing confidence at home, as well as all over 
 the Continent. 
 
 “The simplest and most natural mode, it does, I confess to you, 
 appear to me of effecting this in the first instance (subject always 
 to better and wiser opinions than mine, and subject also to any sub- 
 sequent arrangements that it might be thought necessary or advisa- 
 ble to make) would be, without any delay, not to make any change 
 whatever just at the present moment, but to put the seals for the 
 Foreign Department into the hands of Holland. You know Hol- 
 land too well to make it necessary to say one word about him; but 
 as far as I can allow or induce myself to view anything that tends 
 to business under our present most distressing situation, this is what 
 appears to me to be the most correct, as well as desirable measure, 
 and it cannot but be attended with universal satisfaction, and pecu- 
 liarly so to all Fox’s old friends, and, though last, most singularly 
 grateful to myself. 
 
 “With respect to what you so delicately state to me, my dear 
 Grey, concerning yourself, as you know me to detest all flattery and 
 all prolixity of expression, I shall merely say that the regard and 
 admiration with which I have viewed your talents, and the friend- 
 ship which has always subsisted between us, decide my opinion 
 upon the propriety and wisdom of those duties which rested upon 
 that great and for-ever-to-be-lamented man, devolving upon you. 
 It remains only for me to assure you how truly happy I shall be, 
 and what comfort it will afford me, to communicate in the fullest 
 confidence with you, and by every means in my power to aid and 
 strengthen the views and wishes of the Government. 
 
 “I am, ever very affectionately yours, George P.” 
 
 My father (says General Grey) having told the Prince the plan 
 
446 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 which had been proposed for reorganizing the ministry — the diffi- 
 culties which interposed — and having alluded to the possible alter- 
 native of having to declare to the King that they were unable to 
 form an administration capable of meeting the present crisis, his 
 royal highness wrote in answer as follows: 
 
 THE PRIKCE OF WALES TO MR. GREY. 
 
 “ [Private a>'d Secret,] Doncaster, Sept. 22, 1806. 
 
 “My DEAR Grey, 
 
 “Although it is now past three in the morning, and that I am 
 quite knocked up with the long journey of this day, I cannot delay 
 writing a few lines in answer to both your letters, the one of wdiich 
 I received at Know.sley this morning previous to my departure, 
 and the other which I have this instant found on my arrival here. 
 I think myself peculiarly fortunate that the cursory view I took m 
 my letter to 3 ’ou of our present situation coincides so entirely wuth 
 your opinions; but I must candidly and most confidentially acknowd- 
 edge to you that it grieves me much that any of Fox’s old friends 
 should, of themselves, think of retiring from their situations at a 
 moment like the present; as there never was a moment, in my poor 
 opinion, that could so imperiously call upon them to remain in 
 office, were it only by every exertion on their part, to further and 
 bring to bear, as far as lay in their power, that general system, but 
 more especially that sj'stem upon the Continent, which the great 
 and powerful mind of our poor friend would soon have effected. 
 I think it is a duty they owe his memory, and a duty they owe to 
 this countr}", as well as to. Europe. For God’s sake talk not to me 
 of such an alternative as you mentioned in the letter which I 
 received from you this morning. I really conceive it would be 
 ruinous in every point that I can view it; ruinous to the country in 
 the first instance, and ruinous to your own reputations in the sec- 
 ond; and 1 am certain, w^ere he alive, it w'ould be what he would 
 deprecate more than anything else; and last of all it would be con- 
 sidered as a miserable copy of the grounds which the last despicable 
 and odious administration took, upon the death of Pitt, for send- 
 ing in their resignations. 
 
 “ My dear friend, this is a strange world we live in, and nothing 
 can be done in it without a little temper and a little policy. We 
 must do the best we can, and because we cannot have everything 
 our own way, w’e must not, therefore, instantly throw up the whole 
 game, and by that means become the tool of others. This would 
 
TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 447 
 
 not be consistent with what we owe to our own characters; to the 
 langua'^e we have held; to the line we have publicly pursued; and, 
 last of all, to what we ought never to lose sight of — the precepts we 
 have learnt from Fox, and what 1 am confident, were he now able 
 to advise, would be his wishes. At the same time that I say this, 
 I desire, my good friend, that jmu will clearly understand me — that 
 I by no means mean that we should relax, in any one instance, to 
 carry such points as may be necessary to the completion of those 
 great views, nor in any effort that may tend towards the acconi' 
 plishment of them; though there maybe difficulties and delays, 
 still we must not be disheartened, but boldly meet them, and, if it 
 should be necessary, reasonably to submit to them. I should hope 
 that when you mentioned such an alternative to me, you were influ- 
 enced by the distress under vdiich we were both suffering, and 
 which may mislead the very best judgment. Besides what I have 
 already said, reflect one instant how fatal it would be to me, in this 
 peculiarly delicate and awful moment, to be left in such a situation 
 by all my friends, exposed to the accumulation of distress both 
 public and private. I need not, I am sure, my dear Grey, say more 
 to you than this — only to call upon you to rouse all the energies of 
 your mind — but, proudly and with cool judgment, let us meet what- 
 ever may arise, thereby performing, to our best, our duties to the 
 country, as well as those which we owe to the memory of our 
 departed friend. 
 
 “I really am so fatigued that I cannot answer for any inaccu- 
 racies you may find in this letter; but I will answer for my firm 
 and steady adherence to these principles and opinions. 
 
 I am ever, my dear Grey, most truly yours, 
 
 “George P.” 
 
 It is amusing to find what hopes always filled the Prince’s parti- 
 sans on any news of change. Writes Mr. Grey Bennett: 
 
 “My father told me, September 27, 180G, that when at Alnwick, 
 the Duke of Northumberland had said that upon the death of Mr. 
 Pitt, and during the first plan of the formation of the present 
 administration, Lord Moira passed through Alnwick, being sent 
 for to town from Scotland. As he passed through the town he sent 
 a note to the Duke, expressing his sorrow at not being able, from 
 his anxiety to get forward, to call upon him, but to assure him of 
 his regards, etc., and that, as no administration could be formed 
 
448 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 without his presence and concurrence, he was obliged to be in town 
 with all speed. Soon after his arrival in London, he wrote again 
 to the Duke, saying that he was kept quite in the dark ; he had 
 been neglected like all the rest of the world ; and that, at last, they 
 had offered him the place of Master of the Ordnance, with a seat 
 at the Cabinet, which he considered as an insult, and would not 
 have taken, had it not been joined to a promise of the patronage of 
 Scotland. This is a strange mixture of vanity and falsehood. His 
 place is as good as he had any title to expect, and the Scotch patron- 
 age was never offered to him. He expected it, and accordingly 
 wrote to the Lord Justice-Clerk, ‘Hope’ (the gentleman with the 
 ardent mind), to inform him that the patronage would go on in its 
 old channel, that is to say, through him. Lord Melville’s friend: so 
 much for Lord Moira, his truth, his sense, and his principles.” 
 
 To Fox’s ministry was now to succeed the “composite.” one — that 
 strange mixture of Foxites, Grenvillites, and “Doctors,” which, as 
 Moore happily said, was more like the brass of Corinth in the vari- 
 ety of the metals than in their excellence. It of course provided 
 handsomely for the “Prince’s friends.” He, indeed, pressed, it was 
 thought rather with a want of dignity, for provision for too many 
 of his followers. Lord 3Ioira was in the Cabinet, and the Prince 
 pushed the claim of his friend Erskine to the Chancellorship. It 
 was certainly a most favorable state of things for his interests. He 
 was also eager to see Mr. Tierney in the Speaker’s chair. 
 
 But here, over the division of spoil, we trace the beginning of 
 that coldness which reached to positive dislike between the Prince 
 and Lord Grenville. This was mortifying, considering how 
 recently had an alliance been cemented. Almost at once we find 
 Lord Grenville speaking of his “most unreasonable demands.” He 
 particularly resisted the appointment of Mr. Calcraft, which he 
 complained was pressed on him “ in a mode amounting to persecu- 
 tion.” * The Prince assured Romilly, through the mouth of Colonel 
 MacMahon, that he had owed his appointment as Attorney-General 
 to him, to his pressure on Lord Grenville and Mr. Fox. But the 
 downfall of the ministry becomes the more remarkable from the 
 change that was to take place in the Prince of Wales’s opinions. 
 The death of Fox had removed the last influence which had any 
 positive control over him; though, as we have seen, he had long 
 
 * “ Court and-Cabinets of George III.,” 17. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV, 
 
 449 
 
 been already wavering. On the Catholic question his views seemed 
 to have advanced from regarding it as “ inopportune ” to positive 
 hostility. Here we can believe he was sincere. 
 
 When the “ Talents” Ministry fell, to no one was the news more 
 welcome than to the Prince of Wales. His high regard for Lord 
 Grenville had passed away; and how bitter his feelings were will 
 be seen from the following manifesto, which he addressed to his 
 friend Moira, and was of course intended to be shown: 
 
 THE PRINCE OP WALES TO LORD MOIRA. 
 
 “ Carlton House, March 30, 1807. 
 
 “My dear Friend, 
 
 “Although I think it perfectly beneath me to notice with 
 any degree of personal anxiety the unfounded and calumnious 
 reports, which, I have reason to believe, have been industriously 
 propagated respecting my motives and purposes in the present 
 important and unfortunate crisis, yet I think it fit to place in your 
 hands, to be used at your discretion, the only notice or refutation 
 of the misrepresentations I allude to, which I conceive it becomes 
 my character and my sense of my own rectitude to give to any one. 
 
 “No one, my dear friend, knows better than yourself how much 
 and how long I have been used to find myself the mark of the most 
 false, contemptible, and, at the same time, the most malignant 
 slanders; nor how little disposition has ever been shown to feel for 
 me, suffering under these attacks, or to afford me the redress which 
 I could not but conceive myself entitled to. The motives upon 
 which I have acted, and my future intentions, I will explain to 
 you, my friend, in a very few sentences. From the hour of Fox’s 
 death — that friend towards whom and in whom my attachment 
 was unbounded — it is known that my earnest wish was to retire 
 from further concern and interference in public affairs; still, how- 
 ever, I was induced (upon what grounds, wii at arguments, and what 
 application is not now the question, but certainly upon no personal 
 consideration) to continue my endeavors to give every countenance 
 and assistance in my power to the new arrangements, and to per- 
 severe to place m}’- trust in an administration still formed of men 
 whom I respected and esteemed; and this most sincere and warm 
 disposition of my mind and view^s Ixjommunicated in a letter to 
 Lord Howick, wudtten a very short time after the death of my ever- 
 to-be-lamented friend. From that period, I must declare to you 
 with the frankness with which I have ever opened my mind to you. 
 
450 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 I have conceived myself to have experienced the most marked neg- 
 lect (to use no stronger term) from the newly constituted Adminis- 
 tration; having been, according to my own conception, neither 
 consulted nor considered in any one important instance — a proceed- 
 ing the more observed by me on account of the contrast it exhibited 
 to the conduct of my dear friend Fox. But of this I desire dis- 
 tinctly to observe that I am not now complaining, because the 
 recollection of it has no influence whatever on my present decision, 
 nor on the course I have thought it incumbent on me to adopt. 
 
 “For the same reason I waive entirely all observations, however 
 painful I feel those which at this moment arise in my mind, upon 
 the extraordinary condition in which I have been so long kept, 
 while a victim to the most envenomed attacks of malice and false- 
 hood, during the investigation commanded by his Majesty, respect- 
 ing the conduct of the Princess of Wales; so far am I from blend- 
 ing any feelings (and I wish they may have been mistaken ones) 
 which may have arisen in my breast during the discussion, with 
 the present question. The only remark I shall make is, that I con- 
 sider the last minute of the Cabinet on this subject as evincing the 
 justice and decision of men of the highest honor, entertaining a due 
 interest of my private character and public estimation. 
 
 “I am, at all events, incapable of allowing personal pique or dis- 
 appointment, whether such opinions have been entertained through 
 my own misapprehension or otherwise, to interfere with the great 
 duties of my situation, 
 
 “ On the subject which has occasioned the unfortunate and, I 
 fear, irreconcilable difference between the late Ministers and my 
 father, my opinion was ever known to themselves respecting the 
 agitation of this question; yet neither was my advice asked when it 
 might have been of use in the commencement of the discussion, 
 nor my interposition desired when it might possibly have prevented 
 an ultimate mischief. Ministers quitting office on this ground of 
 di.spute with the King, it w\as not possible for me to appear as the 
 advocate and defender of the ground they had taken. I determined 
 to resume my original purpose, sincerel}' prepared in my own mind 
 on the death of poor Fox to cease to be a parly man (although in 
 alliance with him it had been the pride of my life to avow myself 
 to be so), and to retire from taking any active line wdiatever, at 
 least for the present, in political affairs. 
 
 “ To this extent I deemed it my duty to communicate my resolu- 
 tion to the King, accompanied by such expressions of duty and 
 
THE LIFE OF GEOBOE IV. 
 
 451 
 
 affection to his person as I thought proper to use on the occasion. 
 Whoever by insinuation or assertion has given a different turn, or 
 ascribed a different motive, to the course I have adopted, and to 
 the communication above referred to with his Majesty, has most 
 ignorantly and presumptuously misstated the fact and misrepre- 
 sented me. 
 
 “ I liave only to add, my dear friend, that you are too well ac- 
 quainted with my heart, and the steadiness of my attachments 
 where I have once professed a friendship, not to be convinced that 
 I continue to cherish strong sentiments of regard and esteem for 
 many of the late ministers individually, and which I trust I shall 
 never have any occasion to alter; and still more confident am I that 
 it is not necessary for me to renew to you any declaration of those 
 sentiments of unalterable affection and regard which never have 3'et 
 been interrupted, and never can cease but with my life. I am, my 
 dearest friend, Most affectionately yours, 
 
 “ G. P. 
 
 “ Earl of Moira, etc.” 
 
 Nothing could be more distinct. He had ceased to be “a party 
 man.” No wonder it had evidently already gone about that the 
 Prince had deserted his friends as well as his old principles. 
 
 This letter speaks for itself, and really amounted to a break off 
 with the old Whigs, whom he so cordially disliked in the person of 
 Lords Grey and Grenville. Tlie paper was (as Mr. Moore tells us) 
 w’ritten by Sheridan, and the arguments were, no doubt, found by 
 him. He also shows that the key to the Prince’s politics was hence- 
 forth to be found in men and “predilections.” 
 
 Lord Holland, too, confirms this change of opinions, and frankly 
 owns that not the Prince but the party were to blame. 
 
 “Grey has, perhaps, neglected consulting persons somewhat too 
 much. He wrote, however, at my request, to the Prince; and the 
 Prince is in beUer humor than he was. Sheridan has been behav- 
 ing strangely, and will, I fear, do much mischief. But considering 
 his connections, talents, and appearance of steadiness to the mob 
 and the public, I fear there is too much disposition to set him at 
 defiance, and a greater desire to get rid of him altogether than is 
 either prudent or perhaps right. It must be owned that the man- 
 ners and tone of our Administration, amidst its many Aviso and 
 liberal measures, contributed very sensibly to accelerate [its fall]. 
 
 . . . The Prince of Wales, who had been active in the formation 
 
452 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 of it, Tvas neglected, or thought himself so. Some symptoms of his 
 ill-humor had transpired before I was in office. That circumstance 
 was an additional motive with me for making his approbation a 
 condition in my acceptance of the ofiice. His letter to me on the 
 occasion was more than gracious; it was kind and friendly. But 
 though he approved my taking office, and expressed some good-will 
 to the Ministry, he distinctly disclaimed all connection with them, 
 and repeated above once his total indifference to politics since the 
 death of Mr. Fox. ... I paid my personal homage pretty con- 
 stantly at Carlton House ; but I never sought, or rather I avoided, 
 being the channel of any intercourse between him and the Govern- 
 ment. I believe I did wrong; I am sure I acted unwisely for the 
 interests of the Administration. If I had been aware of Lord 
 Moira’s overstrained scruples, I should have recommended to my 
 colleagues a more unreserved communication with Carlton House 
 from motives of policj"; but had I been apprised of the degree to 
 which the Prince had been consulted, not only on the formation but 
 on the principles of the ^Ministry, I should have thought every mem- 
 ber of it bound to concert with him certain public measures more 
 fully than they did. . . . Truth compels me to acknowledge that he 
 had some reason to complain of the Ministers, and that their impar- 
 tial historian has yet more reason to lament their impolicy in neg- 
 lecting him.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 453 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 1807 — 1808 . 
 
 On the fall of the “Talents,” fortune again favored the Princess 
 by bringing into high office her trusty champion, Mr. Perceval. 
 Had she shown common discretion, her position would have been 
 unassailable, for she had with her the Ministry, the King, and the 
 public. Unfortunately, as if grown reckless, and after having so 
 narrowly escaped a great peril, she seems to have set out on a new 
 and erratic course, lamentably distinguished by an utter absence 
 of caution or prudence. 
 
 Since the investigation she had attracted but little attention. She 
 lived at Kensington Palace, where she held a sort of court, and was 
 duly attended by the Tory nobility, who, knowing that the King 
 was on her side, made it a point to pay their respects. Among 
 them were the Dukes of Beaufort and Rutland, Lords Harrowby 
 and Eldon, Mr. Perceval, and others. 
 
 There could be no doubt that the influence of the good old 
 monarch contributed to hold all parties in check, and that the 
 Princess herself was thus restrained from imprudent proceedings. 
 She lived in good state at her palace, keeping also her villa at 
 Blackheath, to which she would make excursions and bring friends 
 to dine. She was seen at fashionable routs and parties — a strange- 
 looking personage at times. At a ball at Mr. Hope’s, of “ Anas- 
 tasius” celebrity, she danced. “ Such an exhibition,” says Miss 
 Berry, who was presented to her that night; “but that she did not 
 at all feel for herself she should have felt for her. Such an over- 
 dressed, bare-bosomed, painted-eyebrowed flgure, one never saw.” 
 But allowance should have been made for the consciousness of her 
 false position, hunted and harassed and watched. 
 
 “Although,” says one of her observers in a graphic passage, 
 “ during the last year of her life she was bloated and disfigured by 
 sorrow and by the life she led, the Princess was in her early youth 
 a pretty woman : fine light hair — very delicately formed features, 
 and a fine complexion — quick, glancing, penetrating eyes, long cut 
 
454 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV, 
 
 and rather sunk in the head, which gave them much expression — 
 and a remarkably delicately formed mouth; but her head was 
 always too large for her body, and her neck too short; and latterly, 
 her whole figure was like a ball, and her countenance became 
 hardened, and an expression of defiance and boldness took posses- 
 sion of it, that was very unpleasant. Nevertheless, when she 
 chose to assume it, she had a very noble air.” 
 
 She had, however, friends that were really respectable, such as 
 Lady Anne Hamilton and Mrs. Darner. But these were gradually 
 supplanted by a “set” of persons whose characters were marked 
 by instability and lightness, even eccentricity. Among these were 
 the gay and airy Lady Charlotte, a passee beauty whose head was 
 turned by vanity and admiration; Lady Caroline Lamb; Lord 
 Abercorn, the odd nobleman who slept in black satin sheets; the 
 volatile “Monk” Lewis; the singular Ward; Lady Oxford, whose 
 name was “in the papers;” and the lively Charles Kirkpatrick 
 Sharpe, with many more. 
 
 “Her conversation,” says Miss Berry, “is certainly uncommonly 
 lively, odd, and clever. What a pity that she has not a grain of 
 common sense, not an ounce of ballast to prevent high spirits and 
 a coarse mind running away with her, and allowing her to act 
 indecorously and ridiculously whenever an occasion offers.” These 
 words describe her accurately. On these occasions she had with 
 her the boy “ Billy Austin,” who had been the cause of such 
 troubles, and whom she ought to have sent to school. But there 
 was a merit in the constancy with which she clung to those whom 
 she had once taken up. She was fond of wild and indiscreet 
 pranks, such as going to masquerades incognita. 
 
 She was at this time completely under the influence of some 
 Italian singers named Sapio; the result of which was that no really 
 steady persons could continue long in her establishment. 
 
 “ The Princess,” says her friend, “ is ahvays seeking amusement, 
 and unfortunately, often at the expense of prudence and propriety. 
 She cannot endure a dull person; she has often said to me: ‘ I can 
 forgive any fault but that,’ And the anathema she frequently 
 pronounces upon such persons is: ‘Mine God! dat is the dullest 
 person God Almighty ever did born! 
 
 But all this was really a foolishly assumed exaltation to cover 
 her woes, and the unhappy lady was seeking such excitement to 
 forget her trials. By 1813 she had ruefully owned to a friend that 
 her situation w^as hopeless, and that there was no issue save the 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 455 
 
 death of one of the two. This issue she used openly to discuss and 
 long for and anticipate. “After dinner,” says her attendant, “her 
 Royal Highness made a wax figure as usual, and gave it an amiable 
 addition of large horns; then took three pins out of her garment 
 and stuck them through and through, and put the figure to roast 
 and melt at the fire. What a silly piece of spite! Yet it is impos- 
 sible not to laugh when one sees it done.” 
 
 One of her ladies reported her eagerly coming in with one of 
 Mr. Burke's works in her hand. “Read it,” she said: “he has 
 drawn the Prince’s character exactly.” The passage ran; “A man 
 without any sense of duty as a prince, without any regard to the 
 dignity of his crown, and without any love to his people; dissolute, 
 false, venal, destitute of any positive good qualities whatever, 
 except a pleasant temper and the manners of a gentleman.” This 
 was told everywhere — a lamentable indiscretion, to say the least. 
 
 Passages in her letters show a lively wit and observation. Thus: 
 “Lord Deerhurst is quite a joke to the secret marriage of the ci- 
 demni Mrs. Panton with a Mr. Geldi, and whj^ it is kept a secret, 
 and why it is made public, nobody can guess, as she was her own 
 mistress — or that she thought that she was public property, and that 
 it would be essential to have an Act of Parliament to make an 
 enclosure to become private property at a moment’s warning,” 
 
 It is remarkable, and perplexing too, that she should have at- 
 tached to her interests two men of remarkable ability and charac- 
 ter, whose support through the troubles that followed were of 
 incalculable advantage — Mr. Canning and Mr. Brougham, The 
 former has been believed to enjoy a particular partiality, and his 
 extraordinary devotion to her at a later crisis, almost to the imperil- 
 ling of his interests, was remarkable, so that, as Lord Campbell 
 tells us in one of his piquant narratives, “ the Regent condescended 
 to be jealous of him.” That she should have carried on the strug- 
 gle for the next eight years that followed, without Mr. Brougham’s 
 aid, seems unlikely, for though she had many champions as ardent 
 she had none so powerful and sagacious. It was in 1809 that he 
 began to resort to her house. He had for several years previously 
 avoided being presented to her — not wishing, he said, to be mixed 
 up in her quarrel — and was presented to her by Canning. 
 
 According to the same authority Mr. Brougham recommended 
 himself highly to her by his sympathy and agreeable manners, and 
 secured a promise that he should be her future Attorney-General. 
 He himself affects to say he was drawn to her home by the pleasant 
 
456 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 society found there, and the chanee offered of meeting Mr. Canning, 
 Kogers, and others. He noticed that she always spoke of Lord 
 Eldon and Mr. Perceval, though they had abandoned her. Lord 
 Grey and the Whigs keeping away, the popular barrister felt that 
 here was an opening for his fortunes, not to come for him under the 
 existing administration, and, considering the condition of the Lib- 
 erals, not to be looked for until years had gone by. He also con- 
 trived to win the confidence of her daughter, in whose presence he 
 w^as kindly welcomed as the greatest lawyer of the day, and she was 
 taught to look on him with kindness as the friend and adviser of her 
 mother. Lord Campbell declares that he was founding hopes upon 
 the failing health of the Kegent, as of the reigning King. This 
 might seem uncomplimentary to the Queen’s new champion, save 
 for its being notorious that Brougham was thoroughly chau'cin. 
 
 At this time also we begin to have some pleasing glimpses of her 
 daughter, the engaging young Princess Charlotte, now a little girl 
 some ten years old. The Prince at this moment was laudably 
 solicitous as to her education, and the following letters show him 
 moderate and temperate in reference to the proceedings of the 
 Princess of Wales: 
 
 THE PRINCE OF WALES TO LADY DE CLIFFORD. 
 
 “Carlton House, Saturday night, Nov. 21st, 1807. 
 “My dear Lady de Clifford, 
 
 “ I have only this moment learnt from Lady Haggerston that 
 Lady Albemarle is safely delivered of a son. Pray accept my sin- 
 cere congratulations on this event, as I do assure you that no one 
 can participate more truly in everything that interests you than 
 “Your very affectionate Friend, 
 
 “ George P. 
 
 “P.S. — I hope the little lady and the new-comer are both quite 
 well. I have ordered them to be inquired after to-morrow morning, 
 for I only heard of the circumstance too late this evening to send 
 sooner.” 
 
 THE PRINCE OP WALES TO LADY DE CLIFFORD. 
 
 “ Carlton House, Tuesday night, April 19th, 1808. 
 “My dear Lady de Clifford, 
 
 “I am much obliged to you for the communication you were 
 so good as to make me respecting the notification you received from 
 the Princess of Wales. You not only have acted up to the sacred 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 457 
 
 trust imposed upon you by your office in acquainting me imme- 
 diately with the circuihstance, but you have shown your usual 
 excellent judgment and good taste, as well in your way of meeting 
 the message, as in signifying to me the proposed visit, without any 
 comment. Indeed, it was impossible for you not to know how I 
 must regard it when you notice the date of this letter, and the time 
 at which you receive it. You will comprehend that I did not wish 
 to explain my sentiments more fully to you till the visit was ac- 
 tually over, lest the Princess should put any question to you, and 
 that thereby you should be subjected to embarrassment by the an- 
 swer you would have been forced to give. The step having been 
 taken by the Princess, it was my wish that the visit should not be 
 interrupted, that nothing might appear discordant to the polite at- 
 tention always to be observed ; though I might have my suspicion 
 that the visit was not really made from a misconstruction of the 
 license I had granted in a special instance, but was an attempt to 
 pass beyond the line established by me through the King. In the 
 regulation laid down, and transmitted by his Majesty to the Prin- 
 cess, it is precisely defined that she is not to visit her daughter at 
 Warwick House, that house being considered as part of Carlton 
 House. Charlotte’s illness, which prevented her from going to 
 her mother at Blackheath, was a case not foreseen, and was suffi- 
 cient reason for relaxation in this particular instance. But as my 
 daughter has been for some time able to go about again, that pre- 
 text must no longer remain, and I cannot assent to the Princess 
 visiting at Warwick House on any other grounds. Her apartments 
 not being ready at Kensington can be no excuse whatever. Should 
 you have any apprehension of a visit hereafter, I must request of 
 you, my dear Lady de Clifford, immediately to ask for an audience 
 of the Princess at Blackheath, when, with all that respectful deli- 
 cacy which nobody knows so well as yourself how to testify, you 
 will explain to the Princess the line herein enjoined you, and 
 will entreat her not to come to Warwick House, which she can- 
 not do without my previous assent, and which can only be given 
 on some consideration as strong as what lately induced me to 
 grant it. According to the existing regulation, Charlotte may 
 always (in moderation) be sent for by her mother to Blackheath or 
 Kensington, under the limitation of its not giving any peculiar 
 interruption to her studies or the necessary train of her education. 
 
 “I remain, my dear Lady de Clifford, with the greatest truth, 
 ever your sincere friend, George P.” 
 
 30 
 
458 
 
 TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV, 
 
 Here is a natural pleasing letter of the young Princess’s, unpub- 
 lished hitherto.* 
 
 “January 28 th, 1808 . 
 
 “ My dear Mr. Conway, 
 
 “As I find you admired Mrs. Udney’s snuff-box, though I 
 should not think of making you so shabby a present, I hope you 
 will not look to the intrinsic value of it, but receive it as a mark 
 of the sincere regard of 
 
 “Your ever affectionate 
 
 ‘ ‘ Charlotte. 
 
 “P. S. — Perhaps you will deign to acknowledge this in person, 
 as I find you require some bribe to come to Warwick House; and 
 now the bust is done there is little hope of the favor of seeing you, 
 bu-t by some similar motive. My dear friend Mrs. U. begs her kind 
 compliments.” 
 
 The creditors of the Princess of Wales assembled on the 17th 
 July, in consequence of an intimation to them that Mr. Adam, the 
 Prince’s chancellor, would attend, when the plan wiiich the Prince 
 had adopted to pay their debts, and secure them in future, would 
 be laid before them. 
 
 “ Mr. Adam then stated that the Prince’s treasurer had uniformly 
 and regularly every quarter paid the allowance of £12,000 a year to 
 the officers of her royal highness; that this had never been in 
 arrear one instant from 1802 to the present time; that Mr. Gray 
 (who was present) was the person who paid it; that the Prince had 
 always paid this sum to the Princess without deducting the income- 
 tax, although there was £12,000 per annum deducted from him at 
 the Exchequer on that account. That his royal highness had now 
 increased the Princess’s income to £17,000 a year, to be paid quar- 
 terly, without deducting the income-tax. That the Princess was 
 paid ior personal expenses at the Exchequer £5000 a year, making 
 in all an income of £22,000. Unless the Prince had spontaneously 
 undertaken for the arrangement of their debts, the creditors would 
 have had no redress. In doing this, the Prince stipulated that he 
 should be fully indemnified against future demands, a claim which 
 his royal highness was justified in making, because to the £41,000 
 there was to be added the sum of £34,000 which the Princess had 
 
 ♦MSS., Brit. Mus. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 459 
 
 received from his Majesty’s Droits of Admiralty, making together 
 £75,000 of debt contracted by her royal highness; which, divided 
 on the number of years, exceeded by many thousand pounds a 
 year the greatest income ever proposed for her royal highness ; that 
 after the payment of £41,000 had been undertaken by the Prince, 
 and guarantee against future demands arranged to his satisfaction, 
 Mr. Adam said that toward the conclusion of the business it was 
 stated to him by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to be by him 
 (Mr. Adam) laid before the Prince, that the debt was £8000 more 
 than the £41,000 On this the Prince gave his commands to Mr. 
 Adam to represent to the King’s confidential servants that the 
 main and prineipal object which had uniformly directed his royai 
 highness’s determination, and which he had never for a moment 
 lost sight of in any one part of this transaction, had been to pre- 
 vent (in these times of great and necessary expenditure) any debt 
 of his own, or any other for which he might be considered liable, 
 becoming either directly or circuitously a burden upon the country. 
 That he had been likewise greatly influenced by the desire of see- 
 ing justice done to the creditors of the Princess, although under 
 no legal obligation whatever to pa}’’ those debts. On these grounds 
 the Prince of Wales gave it to be understood to those of his Maj- 
 esty’s ministers concerned in the transaction, that his royal high- 
 ness would spontaneously take upon himself the payment of the 
 sum of £8000 in addition to the rest.” 
 
460 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 1809. 
 
 In January, 1809, the public were to be entertained and shocked 
 by another unfortunate scandal connected with the Duke of York, 
 It is hardly desirable to revive the well-known business of Mrs. 
 Clarke, or of Colonel Wardle and other performers in the business; 
 and we shall pass it over as lightly as possible. Never was there an 
 affair so unlucky for all concerned — for the Duke himself, the royal 
 family, the Ministry, and the public — who, though by this time pre- 
 pared to accept any amount of scandal, were shocked at the revela- 
 tions now made. One Colonel Wardle, a Member of Parliament, 
 was the industrious agent in bringing forward the matter. It was 
 the fashion to make her out to be a person of no education, but she 
 could write well, and there was issued in 1798 a prospectus of a 
 poem, called “ lanthe,” for the benefit of Colonel Frederick’s daugh- 
 ters and children, dedicated to the Prince of Wales, by Miss Clarke.* 
 
 Mrs. Clarke was a daughter or god-daughter of the unfortunate 
 “ Colonel Frederick,” son of the ill-fated Theodore of Corsica. Cu- 
 riously enough. Colonel Frederick seems to have been employed by 
 the royal brothers in negotiating their Dutch loan. It was undis- 
 puted that this lady had engaged in the trafficking of promotions in 
 the army. These charges were solemnly made by Colonel Wardle 
 in the January of 1809, and but for the stupid and confident self- 
 assertion of the ministers, who protested that it was “impossible 
 that, after the result of the inquiry, any suspicion even would attach 
 to his royal highness,” it might have been contrived that the busi- 
 ness should not at least have been thrust upon the public. A thick 
 volume of testimony, letters, and details connected with promotions 
 attests the corruption that was going on. The defenders of the 
 Duke could urge that all these promotions were of persons deserving 
 promotion and within the Duke’s discretion to promote, and that 
 he could not help an artful woman taking bribes and giving out 
 
 * Cyrus Redding, “Yesterday and To-day,” i. 224. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEOROE IV. 
 
 461 
 
 that she had contrived them. The Ministry affected to be indignant 
 at the technical charge which they said was raised of the Duke’s 
 sharing the profits of these transactions : but tliis was a false issue, 
 the true corruption lying in his being influenced by such a person 
 and knowing that she was making a trade of her influence, A man 
 of the highest lionor and sagacity had listened to the whole case, 
 and his strict impartiality may be accepted — viz. Sir S, Romilly. 
 After stating that even the accuser Wardle was anxious that they 
 should go before a private committee, and that the Ministry, in their 
 foolish confidence in the Duke’s innocence, hoped not only to clear 
 the Duke, but confound their opponents, he mentioned that “ written 
 evidence and documents, not known to be in existence either by 
 Wardle or by the principal witness, Mrs, Clarke, were discovered, 
 and produced by the witnesses who appeared for the Duke; and 
 these did his royal highness more mischief than anything that was 
 said by the witnesses against him. It was established, beyond the pos- 
 sibility of doubt, that the Duke had permitted Mrs, Clarke to interfera 
 in military promotions, that he had given commissions at her recom- 
 mendation, and that she had taken money for the recommendations. 
 That the Duke knew that she took money, or that he knew that the 
 establishment which he had set on foot for her was partly supported 
 with the money thus illegally procured by her, did not appear other- 
 wise than from her evidence. She, however, asserted the fact di- 
 rectly and positively, and her evidence was supported in many other 
 particulars which seemed the most incredible by such strong cor- 
 roborations, that her character, her resentment, and her contradic- 
 tions were not sufficient to render her evidence altogether incredi- 
 ble.” 
 
 All the incidents that led to the transactions, some years old now, 
 were “ raked up.” The Duke had secured his release by promising 
 an annuity, which was left unpaid. He paid no one. Exasperated 
 by this treatment, she addressed threatening letters to Mr. Adam, 
 declaring that she would publish everything : 
 
 “Yet, before I do anything publicly, I will send to every one of 
 H.R.H.’s family a copy of what I mean to publish. Had H.R.H. 
 only been a little punctual, this request had never been made.” 
 No answer being given to this, she used another form of threat: 
 
 “I have employed myself since, in committing to paper every 
 circumstance within my recollection during the intimacy of H.R.H. 
 and myself. The fifty or sixty letters of H.R.H. will give weight 
 and truth to the whole. On Tuesday I have promised to give these 
 
462 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE lY. 
 
 up, if I hear nothing further after this last notice ; and when once 
 given out of my own possession, it will be impossible to recall.” 
 
 On no notice being taken of this, the letters were put in the hands 
 of Sir R, Philips. A threat having been used of publication. Lord 
 Moira was employed by the Prince to interpose. Noblemen and 
 gentlemen were thus required by the royal brethren to degrade 
 themselves by acting as agents in this description of business.* It 
 was understood that Lord Moira succeeded in his negotiations, and 
 secured the documents and letters (said to be ninety in number) as 
 well as the “disclosures,” of which 18,000 were said to have been 
 printed off. This, it might have been hoped, would have been a 
 warning to a man of prudence. But she was again set at defiance 
 — the annuity left unpaid — and the result was Colonel MacMahou 
 also took a sort of mysterious part in the affair. Mr. Lowten, the 
 agent who had hunted up evidence in the case of the Princess of 
 Wales, was employed in this equally savory case.f 
 
 There is a piquancy in the following scene which Colonel Mac- 
 Mahon described to the House of Commons: 
 
 “ In consequence of an anonymous note that was written to his 
 Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, promising very important com- 
 munications, I did, at the command of the Prince, lightly as he 
 treated the note, nevertheless call at No. 14, Bedford Row, Russell 
 Square, where the note was dated from. I was conducted upstairs, 
 where I saw the lady, whose name I was told to be Farquhar. 
 The lady in perfect good humor came out and received me, and 
 entered into a conversation of so general and so extraordinary 
 a nature, that I am confident this House would not for one mo- 
 ment entertain it, because the tendency and intention of it was to 
 make bad blood between two illustrious brothers, whose affections 
 could never be shaken by any such representation; at least, I am 
 confident that the illustrious person I have the pride and glory 
 to serve and love would be incapable. She then told me she would 
 show me letters to prove and to establish that there was a hatred on 
 one part to the other: I declined seeing any letters. In this inter- 
 view, at first, I stated that she was a friend of Mrs. Clarke; she 
 said, certainly she knew Mrs. Clarke extremely intimately; that 
 
 * See the letter given by Mr. Cyrus Eedding, who furnishes some curious 
 details in this and other matters. 
 
 tThe names Dowler, Wardle, Lowten, were later adopted bj- the author of 
 “ Pickwick ” from this very case. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 463 
 
 there was nobody she loved and regarded as she did Mrs. Clarke; 
 that she perfectly knew her. She then asked me if I knew Mrs. 
 Clarke. I said I do not. ‘Do you know her, sir, by person?’ 
 I said, I believed not. ‘ Do you know her by character? ’ Yes, 
 said I, her fame is very celebrated. I said, ‘ I am confident 
 I am addressing myself to Mrs. Clarke herself.’ She laughed, and 
 said, ‘I am Mrs. Clarke.’ I then begged her a thousand pardons 
 for the portrait I had drawn, but disclaimed being the painter. ‘ I 
 am sure you are not, for it was Adam and Greenwood that gave 
 you my character.’ She stated to me that Mr. Adam had called 
 upon her, and in a very firm, but steady manner, told her that the 
 Duke of York, if she retired into the country, and conducted her- 
 self with propriety and decorum, would allow her £400 a year; that 
 she had accordingly so retired into Devonshire for several months, 
 but failing to receive the remittances she expected, she had been 
 driven to town for the purpose of gaining her arrear. Upon the fair- 
 ness of this statement, supposing it to be true (I do not pretend to say 
 what my opinion of it was), I said, if your statement, Mrs. Clarke, 
 is correct and orthodox, I will certainly wait upon Mr. Adam, and 
 state it to him, to know where the objection lies to the payment of 
 your annuity. I had the honor of waiting upon the Duke of York, 
 and telling his royal highness exactly what she had stated, not pre- 
 tending to vouch for its veracity in any shape whatever. His royal 
 highness’s immediate and prompt answer to me was, her conduct is 
 so abominable that I will hear nothing at all about her. Anything 
 I could possibly offer after what I have now said would be super- 
 fluous; there is the conclusion, that is the epilogue of anything I 
 have to state.” 
 
 It would be beside the purpose of this work to deal with the vo- 
 luminous trial; but a single passage in one of the Duke’s own let- 
 ters to the lady is convincing: a colonel “ is mistaken in thinking 
 that any new regiments are to be raised. It is not intended; only 
 second battalions to the existing corps. You had, therefore, better 
 tell him so, and that you were sure there would be no use in apply- 
 ing for him.” 
 
 Further, the contents of Mrs. Clarke’s desk disclose the most 
 extraordinary collection of these corrupt applications from officers, 
 soldiers, footmen, and divines.* 
 
 * One clergyman had preached before the King and Queen at Weymouth, 
 and with such success that the newspapers declared that “his lips were 
 
464 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 It was unfortunate that the matter should have turned into a 
 party question. It was believed that Wardle himself was not im- 
 maculate, and was put forward by the more respectable Radicals, 
 who, except Mr. Whitbread, were cautious enough in the treatment 
 of the matter. On the other hand, the Ministry affected to believe 
 it was an attack on the Court and Constitution, and their enemies 
 said they were secretly delighted at an event which completely 
 diverted public attention from mistakes of their foreign policy. 
 But to Mr. Perceval the accused may be said to have owed the 
 unearthing of the really damning part of the case. Having dis- 
 covered that a compromising letter was lost, he recollected a favorite 
 device at Nisi Prius, and vauntingly put forward the person whom 
 it would have compromised, challenging examination. A most 
 
 touched with a live coal from the altar,” and the royal family were melted 
 into tears. A passage in the Duke’s letters explains how this honor was 
 
 attained. “ Dr. called upon me yesterday morning and delivered me 
 
 your letter. He wishes much to preach before royalty, and if I can put him 
 in the way of it I will. God bless you!” adds the Duke. Mrs. Clarke’s “ foot- 
 boy,” who waited and cleaned plate, etc., actually received a commission. 
 Indeed, the picture of society that was imconsciously painted during this 
 investigation would have delighted a cynic. 
 
 Mr. Donovan, who seems to have acted as a sort of broker for the system, 
 writes in behalf of another reverend gentleman, who is willing to give £1000 
 for the Deanery of Hereford, just then vacant. So also with another clergy- 
 man, who was anxious to get the Deanery of Salisbury; “and a party of 
 ladies, unknown to him, and headed by a well-known countess, subscribed 
 3000 guineas. He was chaplain to the Duke of Gloucester, and would be 
 strongly recommended by many persons of fashion, and the Bishops of Nor- 
 wich and Salisbury.” After waiting three months this divine took the 
 extraordinary course of calling on the Duke fo Portland, leaving the follow- 
 ing letter: 
 
 “ My Lord Duke. 
 
 “ I wished particularly to see your Grace upon the most private busi- 
 ness. I cannot be fully open by Letter. The object is, to solicit your Grace’s 
 recommendation to the Deanery of Salisbury, or some other Deanery, for 
 which the most ample pecuniary remuneration I will instantly give a draft to 
 your Grace. 
 
 “ For Salisbury, Three Thousand Pounds. 1 hope your Grace will pardon 
 
 this, and instantly commit these lines to the flames. 1 am now writing, for 
 
 the benefit of Administration, a most interesting Pamphlet. Excuse this 
 openness; and I remain your Grace’s 
 
 “Most obedient and obliged Servant, 
 
 “ T. Baskly. 
 
 “P.S.— Iwill attend your Grace whenever you may appoint, but sincerely 
 beg your Grace’s secrecy.” 
 
TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 465 
 
 dramatic scene followed. By tlie arts of cross-examination the 
 truth was wrung from the witness that this letter was in existence. 
 He was sent with the messengers of the House to his bureau, 
 whence he returned with a whole mail of letters. 
 
 Even the judgment of Sir A. Wellesley, then in Ireland as secre- 
 tary, and likely to be influenced by esprit de corps, is decidedly 
 against his chief. As the force of the evidence was cumulative, 
 and all details pointing in the same direction, all denials and vindi- 
 cations on the ground of the Duke’s character became compara- 
 tively of no avail. It was brought out that he was negotiating a 
 loan for £70,000 through one Kennett, to reward whose exertions 
 he was ineffectually trying to obtain places and offices of trust. 
 
 But what is more interesting for us is the behavior of the Prince. 
 This was of course marked with his usual vacillation. At first, 
 with one of his rather generous impulses, he espoused his brother’s 
 side corps et dme. Adam, his factotum, went about showing a 
 letter of the Prince’s, in which it was stated that he would consider 
 “ an attack upon the Duke an attack upon himself.” After a time, 
 however, the Prince saw that he could not safely indulge his 
 fraternal feelings, and determined to take no part in the business 
 whatever. What his views were may be gathered from the follow- 
 ing dramatic conversation reported by Lord Temple : 
 
 “On Sunday, February 26th, upon my entering the room, and 
 inquiring after his health, he said he was well, but worried to death. 
 He then made me sit down, and told me he wished to converse with 
 me on the horrible scene that was passing. Upon my expressing 
 my humble thanks for his condescension in permitting me to 
 approach him at such a moment, and upon such a subject, and my 
 earnest wish to learn what his opinions and feelings were, so far as 
 he would allow me to hear them, he told me that I could easily 
 guess what his feelings must be at seeing this attack made upon his 
 family at the moment when he was mounting the throne; that his 
 opinions were that his brother had brought all this upon himself, that 
 he had behaved shabbily to the woman to whom he had promised 
 an allowance which, small as it was, he had not paid; that a ‘ gen- 
 tleman’s word was sacred, and that he could not talk of his honor 
 as a Prince, who could not keep his promise as a gentleman;’ that 
 he had no wishes upon the subject, as he was determined not to 
 interfere one way or the other. He had not been consulted either 
 by the King, the Duke, or the ministers; and therefore he would 
 not meddle in the matter. That his brother had not thanked him 
 
 20 * 
 
466 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 even for communicating to liim through MacMahon an anonymous 
 letter which he had received, as appeared afterwards, from Mrs. 
 Clarke, warning him of what had since happened; that ministers he 
 detested, and would have nothing to say to them; and that from 
 his father he had received no communication; that one of his 
 sisters had written to pump him, and to her he had given no 
 answer; and that the Duke of Cumberland had called upon him 
 for the same purpose, to whom he had plainly said, that if the 
 King wished to hear his sentiments, he would not communicate 
 them to him through a third person. 
 
 “ He said he considered the letter sent to the House of Commons 
 as a most ill-advised measure, that it was a breach of privilege, and 
 could not fail of calling the attention of Parliament; that he knew 
 the circumstances attending the transaction ; that the Cabinet had 
 written a letter for the Duke, notifying to the House of Commons 
 his resignation, but that the Duke had positively refused to sign it; 
 that he had sent another form to the Cabinet, which they refused 
 to agree to, and in their turn had sent a third, which was presented.* 
 
 “I hereupon ventured to express my joy that he had determined 
 to adopt the line he had suggested to me, that the times were tre- 
 mendous, and that, however harsh it might appear to his ears, as 
 an honest man I must tell him, the opinion of the country was 
 taken as to the Duke, and that its eyes were now turned upon him; 
 that if he pursued the line he had mentioned, he would be carried 
 to the throne upon the shoulders of his people; whereas, if he joined 
 in saving the Duke, provided his guilt appeared manifest, my firm 
 opinion was, that he would have a struggle. In confirmation of 
 this, I mentioned all I knew of the ferment raised in the country, 
 the City of London, and in Westminster, and what was nightly the 
 language in the debating societies. 
 
 “Of all this he said he was aware, but he could not rise upon his 
 brother’s fall, that vigorous measures must be resorted to, for the 
 purpose of keeping the people in order, and mentioned the old 
 Sedition Bills. I told him he must pardon me, such measures 
 could not and must not be resorted to. The tranquillity of his 
 people depended upon Parliament doing its duty, and his forbear- 
 ance. He said that was true, and, however bitter the pill, it must 
 be swallowed, but that the debating clubs must ke kept in order. 
 The occasion of the whole of this cry was Mrs. Clarke’s becoming 
 
 ♦ That this is accurate is shovm by Lord Colchester’s “ Diary.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 467 
 
 the instrument of the printers against whom prosecutions were 
 pending on the Duke’s behalf, and that Wardle, Folkestone, and 
 Whitbread were at the bottom of the conspiracy. I said the real 
 conspirators were the ministers, who, looking only to their own 
 places, had, to secure momentary popularity, thrown the ball loose, 
 and could not catch it again, and had put up the son of their King 
 into a pillory for everybody to pelt and insult. 
 
 ‘ ‘ He agreed with me, and said that if Pitt or Fox had been alive 
 this would not have happened, and that if Lord Grenville had been 
 minister he w’ould never have suffered it. I replied that if Lord 
 Grenville had been minister, or if Lord Grey had remained in the 
 House of Commons, this would not have happened; that if the 
 Duke had been guilty, his guilt would not have been screened, but 
 that the peace of the country and the security of his crown would 
 not have been put into hazard. 
 
 “To all this he assented. He said, however, it was hard that a 
 man should be condemned without trial, and expressed his hope 
 that an impeachment would be the measure resorted to. I told 
 him it was my duty to tell him that I did not think that would be 
 the case. I had. not at all made up my mind upon the evidence, 
 the whole of which I M’-as not master of, but that I had no hesi- 
 tation in saying that there was nothing which could implicate the 
 Duke as participator, either directly or indirectly, in Mrs. Clarke’s 
 corruption. He said then that the Duke ought to have resigned, 
 and have taken the chance of reappointment in case of his inno- 
 cence being proved. 
 
 “ He asked whether I thought there was any way of bringing the 
 matter before the House of Peers. I told him certainly not — that 
 ministers had now put the thing out of their own control, that it 
 must take its chance and its course; that the cup must be drunk, 
 and that all that could be done was to take care that he (the Prince) 
 should not be forced to drink the dregs, and that that would be 
 best avoided by his stoutly persevering in the line he had laid down, 
 to take no part. I concluded by telling him that this neither would 
 nor should be a party business. He then put an end to the conver- 
 sation by the warmest expressions of kindness to myself, by author- 
 ising me to say that he meant to keep an exact and a bon^-fide 
 neutrality, but expressing his hope that it would be recollected 
 that the attack was made upon the throne, and that an attack upon 
 the throne was an attack upon the vital principles of the country. 
 We parted with many expressions on his part of thanks, etc. 
 
468 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEOROE IV. 
 
 “My conviction is that his alarm is very great, that he thinks 
 extremely ill of the Duke’s case, and is ready to give him up, if he 
 could think that he would be supported in so doing, and that the 
 fall of the Duke would not necessarily include a victory gained by 
 the Republican party.” 
 
 Such was this characteristic scene. No wonder the Prince was 
 disgusted ; on the other side he was being pressed by the King and 
 the Court, who were in an agony of mind on account of the 
 anxiety and impending disgrace. The Queen was writing to him, 
 imploring him to come forward and shield his brother — that the 
 King’s life and health were in the balance. But the Prince was not 
 to be moved. He determined to send his henchman, MacMahon, 
 to vote for the Duke, to show that his master did not condemn his 
 brother. But the votes he commanded, such as the Duke of Nor- 
 folk’s and Duke of Northumberland’s, he declined to interfere with. 
 
 At last, on February 23rd, the Speaker read an appeal from the 
 Duke to the House: 
 
 “ Horse Guards, Feb. 23rd, 1809. 
 
 “ Sib, 
 
 “I have waited with the greatest anxiety until the Commit- 
 tee appointed by the House of Commons to inquire into my conduct 
 as Commander-in-Chief of his Majesty’s Army had closed its exami- 
 nations, and I now hope that it will not be deemed improper to 
 address this letter through you to the House of Commons. 
 
 “I observe with the deepest concern that in the course of this 
 inquiry my name has been coupled with transactions the most crim- 
 inal and disgraceful; and I must ever regret and lament that a 
 connection should ever have existed which has thus exposed my 
 character and honor to public animadversion. 
 
 “With respect to my alleged offence, connected with the dis- 
 charge of my official duties, I do, in the most solemn manner, upon 
 my honor as a prince, distinctly assert my innocence, not only by 
 denying all corrupt participation in any of the infamous transac- 
 tions which have appeared in evidence at the bar of the House of 
 Commons, or any connivance at their existence, but also the slight- 
 est knowledge or suspicion that they existed at all. 
 
 “ My consciousness of innocence leads me confidently to hope 
 that the House of Commons will not, upon such evidence as they 
 have heard, adopt any proceedings prejudicial to my honor and 
 character; but if, upon such testimony as has been adduced against 
 
THE LIFE OF GEonOE IV. 
 
 469 
 
 me, the House of Commons can think my innocence questionable, 
 I claim of their justice that I should not be condemned without 
 trial, or be deprived of the benefit and protection which is afforded 
 to every British subject by those sanctions, under which alone evi* 
 dence is received in the ordinary administration of the law. 
 
 “ I am, Sir, yours, 
 
 “ Frederic.” 
 
 This appeal did not stay the march of the impeachment. This 
 letter had been settled by the Cabinet, who in their private councils 
 were much embarrassed as to what course to take. Lord Melville 
 — whose own turn was to come a little later — thought the position 
 so serious that he suggested, that after passing judgment, the 
 House should deliver a homily to the royal brothers generally, with 
 a hope that the unfortunate transaction might convince the various 
 members that “right and decorous conduct ” was essentially neces- 
 sary, The most emphatic condemnation of the whole course taken 
 came from Canning, His opinion all through was the sagacious 
 one: that the Duke should have resigned after the charges were 
 made, and have retired until he was cleared,* 
 
 On March 20th, the ministers succeeded in carrying the acquittal 
 of the Duke on the charges of corruption with a mild rebuke, which 
 was in an encomium, for the third resolution gave praise to his 
 exemplary conduct in the discharge of his official duties, with an 
 allusion to the regret and concern expressed by his royal highness, 
 and “ a confidence that his future life,” etc. This, however, would 
 scarcely clear him with the public, and he at once resigned. It is 
 amusing to find what view the Chancellor took of it, “ While we 
 were sitting together,” he says, “ a messenger arrived from Windsor 
 with one of the most affecting letters from the King to his servants, 
 enclosing another of the most affecting letters of the Duke of York 
 to his father, I ever read, the latter offering the Duke’s resignation, 
 the former accepting it. People, as far as I have seen anybody, 
 seem affected by this step, but whether the ‘ Bloodhounds of St. 
 Stephen’s,’ ” etc.f 
 
 Lord Dundas, a decayed veteran, was appointed in his place till 
 the matter should be forgotten, which it speedily was, all interest 
 being absorbed in the new struggle now at hand. It is pleasant to 
 
 * See his admirable letter, “ Life of Perceval,” i. 323. 
 t “Life of Lord Eldon,” ii. 71. 
 
470 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 find that on the eve of the poor King’s last aberration of mind, from 
 which he never recovered, that his son should have addressed the 
 following becoming and affectionate message. After signifying his 
 concurrence in the King’s choice of Archdeacon Short as Sub-Pre- 
 ceptor, the Prince proceeds: 
 
 “I cannot conclude this letter without expressing to your Lord- 
 ship the sincere gratification with which I have received, through 
 your Lordship, his Majesty’s sentiments respecting this most inter- 
 esting subject: and I trust to the very particular attention which 
 has marked your Lordship’s proceedings through the whole of this 
 business, to take the most suitable course of conveying to the King, 
 with the most profound respect and duty on my part, the feelings 
 with which I am impressed on this occasion by his Majesty’s most 
 gracious and condescending attention to me. 
 
 “I am, my Lord, very sincerely yours, 
 
 “George P. 
 
 Carlton House, May 8th, 1810.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 471 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 1810—1811. 
 
 Towaed the autumn of the year 1810 there were symptoms that 
 the aged King, now half blind, was fast hurrying to a renewed 
 attack of his old illness. The more remote cause was the semi-reli- 
 gious agitation due to the dread of the Catholic claims. This itself 
 seemed mania. But what plunged him into insanity was the fatal 
 illness of his loved daughter, the Princess Amelia, whose last touch- 
 ing words: “Remember me, but do not grieve for me,” must have 
 helped the stroke. She died on November 2nd. 
 
 The illness of this amiable Princess, only twenty-seven years of 
 age, caused much anxiety in her own family, by whom she was 
 tenderly beloved. This is shown by an interesting unpublished 
 letter: 
 
 PRINCESS MARY TO MRS. ANNE SMITH. 
 
 “Augusta Lodge, Windsor, 
 
 “ January the 9th, 1810. 
 
 “ My dear Mrs. Anne Smith, 
 
 “I wish it was in my power to send you as good an account 
 of dear Amelia as all those who love her must pray for. I think I 
 may venture to say that she certainly is not worse since Sir H. Hal- 
 ford and Baillie have been called in ; and, as they are gone, I trust I 
 may add, the new plan does not disagree; but, until the constant 
 pain in the side is removed, I never can feel happy about her. She 
 has very unfortunately got cold this last week, which Sir H. Hal- 
 ford still hopes to keep off her lung. Amelia desires her most affec- 
 tionate love, and begs me to say how much she is obliged to you 
 for all the kind inquiries you have made at different times after her, 
 and how happy she shall be to see you whenever she is well enough, 
 but now she is unequal to seeing anybody but her own family, and 
 . . . . both Sir H. Halford and Baillie declared much depended on 
 it. I hope you are quite well, and your little boy likewise. I am 
 
472 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 sure Adolphus will be very sorry he was not at home when her 
 Grace called. God bless you, and believe me, 
 
 “Your affectionate Friend, 
 
 “Mart.” 
 
 In these troubles the Princess of Wales came to offer her sym- 
 pathy, and thus describes her reception : 
 
 THE PRDsCESS OF WALES TO A FRIEND. 
 
 “Dear , 
 
 “ I am in a state of rage, being just returned from a visit to 
 the Queen, who received me in a most cavalier manner. Luckily I 
 restrained myself whilst in her august presence ; but I could have 
 abused her gloriously, so angry did I feel at the old Begum. I will 
 not submit again in a hurry to such a reception. She never asked 
 me to sit down. Imagine such a piece of ridiculous pride! And 
 when I asked after my poor dear uncle, and said I should like to 
 see him, she made me for answer, ‘ The King is quite well, but he 
 will not see you.’ I replied, ‘ Madame, I shall ask his Majesty 
 himself;’ she said noting, but smiled her abominable smile of deri- 
 sion. 
 
 ‘ ‘ Talking of kings and queens, I heard the other day, from a lady 
 who lives a good deal at court and with courtiers, that a most erro- 
 neous opinion is formed in general of the Princess E . The 
 
 good-humor for which she has credit is only an outward show, and 
 
 this is exemplified in her conduct to the poor Princess A , who 
 
 is dying — quite given over, though her decay may be slow and 
 
 tedious. The Princess and S are devoted to her; but 
 
 Princess E treats her with the most cmel unkindness and ill- 
 
 temper. So much for court gossip. Thank God, I do not live 
 
 with them ! Everybody believes Princess A is married to Mr. 
 
 F y, and they say she has confessed her marriage to the King, 
 
 who is miserable at his expected loss of his daughter, who is his 
 favorite; and I do not wonder, for she always appeared to me the 
 most amiable of the whole set. So she is destined to be taken 
 away. Well — perhaps it is as happy for her, 'pom' ting, that she 
 should; for there is not much felicity, I believe, amidst dem all. 
 When I left the royal presence, I thought to myself. You shall not 
 catch me here again in a hurry. Ko, truly, I would rather have 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 473 
 
 noting to do with de royal family, and be treated as a cipher, than 
 be subject to such haughtiness as I was shown to-day.” 
 
 So early as October 25th, the old “hurries ” and excited utterances 
 showed that the disease had returned with some severity. Colonel 
 Willis was sent for by the Prince on November 1st to Windsor, 
 “to make some arrangements about wine for the Queen at Frog- 
 more,” — Willis belonging to the Board of Green Cloth. He then 
 talked freely of the situation. He said that the King was as ill as 
 ever, that the Chancellor and Lord Wellesley had called him out of 
 bed in the morning to tell him of the serious condition of the King. 
 He added the significant remark, speaking “emphatically,” that 
 “ there are times that require the entire vigor of Government, while 
 its whole vigor cannot be exerted, and you must see that the present 
 state of things cannot add to the strength of the present ministry.” 
 He then went to dine with the Queen. He returned about eight 
 o’clock, with the Duke of Cumberland, “whose behavior and con- 
 versation, as was indeed to be expected, was of a nature as to coarse- 
 ness as would have disgraced one of his own grooms.” The Prince 
 seemed suspicious of the designs of the ministers, though a letter 
 sent by Mr. Perceval to inform him of what had been done in Par- 
 liament, gratified him. He was in spirits, talked of a variety of 
 subjects, and gave an imitation of Grattan that Colonel Willis 
 thought “would have done credit to the best actor of the day.” 
 The company broke up at midnight. The poor Princess died on 
 the same day! 
 
 The painful task remained of communicating the sad news to the 
 old King. When Sir Henry Halford, the physician, came to break 
 it to him, he anticipated him, saying: “I know what you would 
 tell me, my poor girl is dead, ” But a more delicate duty remained. 
 It was believed by the public that she had left a number of small 
 bequests to her friends, to discharge which she had directed that 
 all her jewels and trinkets should be sold. But “the Prince of 
 AVales,” said the newspapers, “which is another proof of the be- 
 nignity of his mind, took upon himself to pay her debts and lega- 
 cies, and presented the jewels and other ornaments to Princess 
 Mary.” “Benignity of mind” was, however, scarcely the motive. 
 The truth was that she had bequeathed all her little property to a 
 friend, and so unusual a disposition gave rise to gossip. 
 
 It has long been believed that this amiable Princess was secretly 
 married, and that on her death-bed she confided the story to her 
 
474 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 father. Of this there can he little doubt. Captain, afterwards 
 General Fitzroy, was the person to whom she was thus espoused, 
 to whom she had formed an attachment when thrown in his so- 
 ciety at "Weymouth and other places. We find the Princess repeat- 
 ing that ‘‘ every one believes that Princess Amelia is married to Mr. 
 Fitzroy.” And the lady whom he subsequently married, and who 
 survived him, often talked freely of the matter to persons now liv- 
 ing. Nay, it has been confidently asserted that all, or nearly all, 
 her sisters had contracted similar alliances with persons in private 
 stations. Colonel Garth, it has been stated, was one thus distin- 
 guished, also a well-known physician of the Court, though on no 
 foundation. 
 
 The following lines were written by her a little before her death: 
 
 . Unthinking, idle, -vrild, and young, 
 
 I laugh’d, and danc’d, and talk’d, and sung; 
 
 And proud of health, of freedom vain, 
 
 Bream’d not of sorrow, care, or pain; 
 
 Concluding, in those hours of glee. 
 
 That all the world was made for me. 
 
 But when the hour of trial came. 
 
 When sickness shook this trembling frame. 
 
 When folly’s gay pursuits were o’er, 
 
 And I could dance and sing no more ; 
 
 It then occurr’d, how sad ’twould be. 
 
 Were this world only made for me. 
 
 The original MS. was sold not long since at a public auction. 
 
 Sir H. Halford, who was now to take a leading, though not con- 
 spicuous, part in the transactions that followed, was one of those 
 adroit physicians whom a court training forms, and of which there 
 has been a regular succession about the English royal family. He 
 had the confidence of the Queen and her family, and was emplot’ed 
 in many delicate matters. The Queen dared not; Perceval and the 
 Chancellor successively undertook the disclosure and shrank from 
 it, imposing it on Sir Henry. “ Never,” he told Miss Wynne, “ can 
 he forget the feelings with which, having requested some private 
 conversation with the King after the other physicians were gone, 
 he was called into a window, with the light falling so full on his 
 countenance, that even the poor nearly blind King could see it. He 
 asked whether it would be agreeable to him to hear now how Prin- 
 cess Amelia had disposed of her little property. ‘ Certainly, cer- 
 tainly; I w'ant to know,’ with great eagerness. Sir Henry reminded 
 him at the beginning of his illness he had appointed Fitzroy to ride 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 475 
 
 with her; how he had left him with her at Weymouth; how it was 
 natural and proper that she should leave him some tokens for these 
 services; that excepting jewels she had nothing to leave, and had 
 bequeathed them all to him; that the Prince of Wales, thinking 
 jewels a very inappropriate bequest for a man, had given Fitzroy a 
 pecuniary conpensation for them (his family, by-the-bye, always 
 said it was very inadequate), and had distributed slight tokens to 
 all the attendants and friends of the Princess, giving the bulk of 
 the jewels to Princess Mary, her most constant and kindest of 
 nurses. Upon this the poor King exclaimed, ‘ Quite right and 
 proper.’ ” * 
 
 It will be seen, too, how adroitly the physician contrived to steer 
 his course between the Queen and Princes. 
 
 During the last years of the poor King’s decay it is curious to 
 note how an old romance had been called up, and added one more 
 to his other delusions. Some fifty years before there had walked at 
 his coronation a lovely’* young creature, just married — the fair Lady 
 Pembroke — who seems to have then made a deep impression on his 
 heart. This, through the long interval, had been well-nigh effaced, 
 or consigned to the limbo of boyish fancies, until his recovery from 
 the attack of derangement in 1787, when his family were surprised 
 by his recurring to this penchant. The lady was then a mature 
 matron. 
 
 Talking with Mrs. Harcourt, the dissatisfied Duke of Gloucester 
 declared that “he had heard of a wicked plot of the Prince to gain 
 over Lady P and govern the King through her, thus overset- 
 
 ting the Queen’s influence. They had kept it out of their papers, 
 but now they had disposed of his silence a few squibs had ap- 
 peared, f It was at the Windsor Court that this penchant was 
 manifested, j: 
 
 * I have heard it stated, too, that after receiving the jewels from the too- 
 confiding Fitzroy, the Prince turned his back on him at the next levee. 
 
 + “Diary,” p. 42. 
 
 t Sir G. Elliot, writing to his wife, said; “That the Queen seemed uneasy, 
 and tried to prevent it as often as she could; but that the Queen being at last 
 engaged with somebody in conversation the King slipped away from her, and 
 got to the other end of the room where Lady Pembroke was, and that Lady 
 Pembroke seemed distressed.” “ One day,” Sir H. Halford told Miss Wynne, 
 “ when the King fancied himself surrounded by servants only, and when a 
 medical attendant was watching ufiseen, he took a glass of wine and water 
 and drank to the health conjugis niece dilectissirnce Elizabethoe, meaning Lady 
 Pembroke. Here was a delusion clearly established and noted down immedi- 
 
476 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE TV. 
 
 There is a strange tragic interest in the introduction of the physi- 
 cian who alone seemed to have possessed the art of restraining the 
 royal patient. The Willises, as Dr. John Willis told Mr. Julian 
 Young when an octogenarian, had excited the anger of the Prince 
 by not allowing him access to the King, and also that of the Queen. 
 When this new attack came on, the royal family at once thought 
 of Willis, and the Chancellor came to him to say it was necessary 
 he should attend. The other firmly refused, alleging the dislike 
 with which he was regarded at Court. On which he was surprised 
 one morning, when sitting down to breakfast in his house at Bol- 
 ton, by seeing the carriage of the Regent drive up. The Prince 
 entered, put on his most seductive and gracious manner, talked of 
 everything that was a«iusing, and invited himself to breakfast. 
 After that meal was over he came to business. “ Putting his hand 
 affectionately on my knee, he said: ‘Old friend and faithful ser- 
 vant, I have risen early from my bed that I may have the satisfac- 
 tion of saying Peccam! .... The truth is, I have long felt angry 
 with you, and I will tell you why. The last time the King was 
 under your charge I was staggered by seeing a board with these 
 words printed in large characters: “ No one to pass this way with- 
 out permission from John Willis, M.D.” Knowing the objection 
 the Queen had to my seeing my father, I fancied there must be 
 some understanding between her Majesty and yourself as to my 
 exclusion. The Chancellor, however, has explained everything to 
 me. He assures me that the notice was never intended to apply to 
 me or my brother.’ And he then added, that after this explanation 
 he hoped they would be friends. Touched by such condescen- 
 sion,” goes on the doctor, “ I knelt down, kissed his hand, and at- 
 tempted to falter forth my gratitude. During his breakfast the 
 Prince was playful and jocose.” 
 
 The result was that the doctor proceeded once more to Windsor, 
 He found his way to his old quarters, where the King was, the ser- 
 vants looking at him askance. He was ascending the stairs when he 
 
 ately: the use of Latin, which was not to he understood by those whom he 
 supposed only to hear him, affording a singular proof of the odd cunning of 
 insanity. A few days after, Sir Henry was walking with him on the terrace. 
 He began talking of the Lutheran religion, of its superiority to that of the 
 Church of England, and ended with growing so vehement, that he really 
 ranted forth its praise without mentioning that which Sir Henry believes to 
 have been the real motive of this preference— the left-handed marriages 
 allowed.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 477 
 
 heard the sound of singing and whistling, and presently the figure 
 of the King was seen arrayed in the blue coat, star, cocked hat, 
 and top-boots, so familiar from pictures all over the kingdom. He 
 had a whip, with which he was switching his boots carelessly. At 
 the sight of the doctor he gave a piteous shriek : “Oh! John Willis 
 again! God help me!” and fell on the ground in a fit. 
 
 The confusion and embarrassment caused by the King’s malady 
 may be conceived, and each party, helped by the experience of 
 twenty years before, determined to take every advantage that was 
 offered. The Queen and Court had begun by trying to conceal the 
 illness, so that Lord Grenville, who on October 26th met the poor 
 King riding, heard him talking so loud and fast as to be remarked 
 at a considerable distance. 
 
 The Queen knew her power and the advantages of her situation, 
 and determined to use them. With her son in her own camp and 
 bent on carrying out his own aims, it may be conceived how pain- 
 ful was the state of things at Windsor. The position of the Prince 
 of Wales attracted all eyes, and, indeed, was an embarrassing one. 
 At first, recollecting the inconvenience and ill-success of the course 
 he had before pursued, he had determined on the rather selfish one 
 of remaining passive. When, on November 1st, the Chancellor 
 came to condole with him on the state of things, the Prince said 
 coldly: “ He had only to lament it — it was for the King’s servants 
 to act.” And the Duke of York reported to Mr. Perceval that his 
 brother had told him, “he intended to be very moderate in all his 
 proceedings;” while Lord Bulkely later on had heard that he was 
 “ very secret, guarded, and houtonneT Such behavior offended his 
 “ friends, ” who complained that “his conduct was not such as 
 would benefit his interest. It professes not to interfere, and at the 
 same time expresses a wish and hope that his friends will support 
 his object. No object can be supported unless it is avowed.” Still 
 he had expressly given authority for saying that “he abhorred the 
 present men. ” 
 
 It would appear, however, that this “game” failed, and that 
 the Queen and Mr. Perceval were not to be won. They had 
 determined to follow the course of 1789, and had no idea of leaving 
 the Prince unfettered, more particularly as they now knew or sus- 
 pected that his feelings to the more respectable wing of the Liberals 
 had cooled. There were great delays however before he could be 
 allowed to see their hand, for Parliament met on November 1st, and 
 the debate was put off by successive adjournments until December 
 
478 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV, 
 
 during wkich interval it was announced that all was going on 
 well “in that quarter, viz. the Prince’s side, but that the cabal 
 was rising rapidly, and was now become a scene of violent intrigue;” 
 while the Duke of Cumberland went about praising the Prince for 
 his “prudent and temperate conduct,” adding that he had seen 
 none of the Opposition, that he had no objection to the present 
 ministry, and insinuating very strongly that his behavior in case of 
 a regency would depend on theirs towards the Prince — that he 
 should expect to be treated like a gentleman, and not like a ruffian. 
 In addition, a correspondent of Lord Auckland’s was of opinion 
 that our present rulers were sagacious, and he forecasted that they 
 should see Sheridan and Perceval “hand in glove.” Lord Moira, 
 who talked unguardedly in the first week of November, declared 
 that the Prince did not mean to remove the present ministry, but 
 “merely to introduce a friend into the Cabinet.”* 
 
 All these remarkable confessions showed pretty convincingly what 
 the early intentions of the Prince were, and how they were antici- 
 pated. But now, on the 19th of December, he received a disagree- 
 able surprise in the shape of a communication from the minister, 
 which showed him that his moderate behavior had been in vain. 
 He learned that he was to be tied and fettered by restrictions, 
 almost the same as those which had caused him so much annoy- 
 ance before. 
 
 The Prince did not throw away a single chance, and the 
 Government complained of his ‘open canvassing. The Duke of 
 Cumberland assured one lord that it would be highly agreeable to 
 the King if he voted against the restrictions. The other replied 
 that that seemed strange, as the first act of the King, after his 
 recovery in 1789, was to thank him heartily for the way in which 
 he had defended his interests, f 
 
 The restrictions were these: 1. From making peers. 2. Granting 
 ofiices in reversion or pensions. 3. The King’s property to lie in 
 trustees. 4. The care of the King to be entrusted to the Queen and 
 a Council. To this he replied: 
 
 THE PRINCE OF WALES TO MR. PERCEVAL. 
 
 “ Carlton House, Wednesday Evening, December 19, 1810. 
 
 “ The Prince acknowledges the receipt of Mr. Perceval’s detailed 
 statement of tho^e measures which, Mr. Perceval informs him, his 
 
 * R. P. Ward, “ Diary,” i. 299. 
 
 + Ibid. 306. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 479 
 
 Majesty’s confidential servants have decided to submit to the Lords 
 and Commons now assembled, as the means of providing for the 
 exercise of the royal authority, should the King’s indisposition 
 unhappily be protracted. 
 
 “The Prince, though fully sensible of the attention of this early 
 communication, cannot but in some degree feel embarrassed by it, 
 inasmuch as it rests not with him to judge, nor does he deem him- 
 self entitled to assume, how far the wisdom of the two Houses of 
 Parliament may think it advisable for the public welfare to adopt 
 the plan communicated by Mr. Perceval. Were it not for this dif- 
 ficulty, the Prince would refer Mr. Perceval to the Prince’s answer 
 to Mr. Pitt’s letter on the 30th of December, 1788, that letter con- 
 taining the outlines of the plan intended then to be acted upon by 
 his Majesty’s confidential servants. But the Prince thinks it essen- 
 tial to observe that that communication was not made by Mr. Pitt 
 till after the two Houses of Parliament had come to certain resolu- 
 tions as the groundwork of that plan. That answer remains on 
 record, and as the sentiments contained in it were founded on a 
 solemn contemplation of the principles of the British Constitution, 
 as well as an earnest desire to be able conscientiously to discharge 
 the functions of government in behalf of his beloved and revered 
 father and sovereign, in such a manner as might best satisfy his 
 Majesty’s well-known and constant anxiety for the advantage and 
 honor of his people, the Prince has only to declare that these senti- 
 ments admit of no change. 
 
 “ The Prince cannot conclude without expressing his deep afflic- 
 tion at the melancholy event which has rendered his communica- 
 tion from Mr. Perceval necessary, and without declaring that it 
 will be the happiest moment of the Prince’s life to be enabled, by 
 the restoration of his Majesty’s health, instantly to deposit at his 
 feet those powers (and he trusts unimpaired) which the Constitution 
 has pronounced to be inseparable from the exercise of the royal 
 authority.” 
 
 On the same day the following was drawn up: 
 
 “ Carlton House, Wednesday Night, 12 o’clock, 
 
 “December 19, 1810. 
 
 “ Sir, 
 
 “The Prince of Wales having assembled the whole of the 
 male branches of the royal family, and having communicated to 
 us the plan, intended to be proposed by his Majesty’s confidential 
 
480 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 servants to the Lords and Commons, for the establishment of a re- 
 stricted Regency, should the continuance of his Majesty’s ever-to- 
 be-deplored illness render it necessary, ^ve feel it a duty we owe to 
 his Majesty, to our country, and to ourselves, to enter our solemn 
 protest against measures that we consider as perfectly unconstitu- 
 tional, as they are contrary to, and subversive of, the principles 
 which seated our family upon the throne of these realms. 
 “Frederick, William, 
 
 “Edward, Ernest, 
 
 “Augustus Frederick, Adolphus Frederick, 
 
 “William Frederick.” 
 
 On the following day the House met and the three resolutions w^ere 
 debated, namely, the incapacity of the King, the right of the House 
 to supply for it, and the mode of giving the royal assent. The last 
 resolution constituted “ the Phantom,” namely, the investing the 
 Great Seal with a kingly magic. 
 
 ■ On January 1 the restrictions were debated, and to the great 
 delight of the Opposition ; for a proposition that there should be 
 no restrictions was defeated by only twenty-four votes. This defeat 
 became a victory when it was proposed to entrust the entire house- 
 hold to the Queen, the Opposition being willing only to concede to 
 her the direction of such officials as were necessary “for the care 
 of the King’s person.” In the House of Lords ministers sustained 
 defeats. It was agreed that there was a certain stupidity and want 
 of sense in their tactics, for when they found the Prince in so fa- 
 vorable a mood they might have been expected to conciliate him. 
 This view is also supported by what he allowed to escape him to 
 Lord Wellesley, now one of his ardent friends, who waited on him to 
 explain that he had voted for the restrictions from principle. He 
 became angry, “and expressed his concern and surprise that any 
 friend of his could suppose he took his proffered restrictions well, 
 but he could not help feeling, then, a personal want of confidence 
 in himself which he did not deserve, and therefore took it person- 
 ally ill of the ministry; that it would have been the pride of his 
 heart if the King recovered to restore things to him as much as 
 possible in the same state as he found them, without being 
 restricted to do so, but that the ministers had now by their conduct 
 rendered that impossible.” The date of this utterance was early in 
 January. Considering that Lord Wellesley was then one of the 
 ministry it is scarcely surprising that this visit caused some talk. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 481 
 
 The Prince is said to have dismissed him abruptly with the remark 
 that he had business and would not keep him from his dinner.* 
 
 Accordingly, we are not surprised to find the Prince thrown 
 again into relation with his old friends of the Opposition and in 
 earnest communication with the two leaders, “Lords G. and G.,” 
 as they were often spoken of in letters of the time — Grey and 
 Grenville — solemn unbending figures that would have appeared 
 uncongenial to the debonair Prince, who desired not to be teased, 
 and above all not to be solemnly lectured. Even to the general 
 reader these two nobles always appear to come on the scene in peda- 
 goguish fashion, with long and solemn letters, arriving from 
 “Dropmore” and “ Ho wick,” returning home to those residences 
 after many a bootless errand. 
 
 Lord Grey, who had left town at the close of the debates, now 
 returned. On his road he had been met by letters informing him 
 that “the Prince had at last sent for Lord Grenville, and had also 
 required his presence.” f Both anticipated being called to power. 
 
 The Prince could not have been in the best of humors with Lord 
 Grenville, who had just voted for one of the restrictions, after 
 first voting against them, on some refinement. His position was 
 embarrassing, as on the last Regency question he had taken a dif- 
 ferent course. But they were little prepared for the rebuff they 
 were to receive almost at starting. That Sheridan had been the real 
 moving influence through all these transactions was now to be 
 shown in rather a mortifying way. Lord Grey himself tells the 
 story of this first shipwreck, and the bitterness of his tone will be 
 noted. 
 
 Writing to Lady Grey, on January 12th, he says: “I told you 
 that Sheridan was acting in his usual spirit of mischief. The 
 Prince had referred it to Lord Grenville and me to draw up an 
 answer to the two Houses. We had prepared one accordingly, 
 with some difflculty in reconciling our different opinions on the 
 subject of restrictions. Lord Gi’enville, however, gave way as 
 much as I thought necessary, and the answer, though it certainly 
 needed correction, would, I think, with such corrections as might 
 easily have been made, have done very well. I read it to the 
 Prince on Thursday evening, saying I was at Holland’s, ready to 
 receive his commands if he wished for any alterations. Instead of 
 taking this course he set to work with Sheridan and Adam after 
 
 * “ Life of Lord Grey,” p. 265. t Ward, “ Diary,” i. 323. 
 
 11 
 
482 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 dinner to examine it; and the former, after pulling it to pieces, 
 paragraph by paragraph, finally persuaded the Prince to reject it, 
 and to substitute one of his own. They came to me with the infor- 
 mation of this result at Holland’s between eleven and twelve, and 
 desired me to read the answer that had been agreed upon. I did 
 so, saying that I should do nothing more; that as the Prince had 
 rejected the answer wdiich I had framed with Lord Grenville, I 
 could not concur in framing another, and that my opinion of that 
 proposed was, that it was, in its whole tenor and character, utterly 
 objectionable. I added that the Prince had certainly a right to 
 adopt the answer which he approved most of, but that it must be 
 understood that it was adopted without the concurrence of Lord 
 Grenville and myself, and that we could not be responsible for it. 
 Sheridan attempted some discussion, w^hich I declined, seeing that 
 he w-as pursuing it in a way which I thought extremely improper, 
 and feeling that I could not very well command my temper. I 
 therefore, after expressing these opinions, remained very silent, 
 and showed what I hear he has represented, with less departure 
 from the truth than usual, a good deal of haughtiness and ill-humor. 
 I afterwards remonstrated privately with Adam on the impropriety 
 of having the advice w^hich Lord Grenville and I were called upon 
 to give subjected in this manner to the examination of an inferior 
 Council, and stated that if such was to be the practice, I must de- 
 cline giving any in future. ... I heard from Lauderdale that 
 Sheridan afterwards resumed the discussion wuth Lord Holland, 
 who expressed as strong an opinion upon the impropriety of the 
 whole proceeding as possible. Yesterday morning I had a note 
 from Adam, saying that he had been kept up till half-past three at 
 Carlton House, and enclosing the answ^er w^hich had been finally 
 agreed upon. He called soon after, and then we went to Camel- 
 ford House, from which place Lord Grenville and I sent a short 
 note to the Prince.* We afteiwvards sent a long written repre- 
 sentation on the treatment that we had received, wdiere the matter 
 now rests. 
 
 “In the course of the transaction Sheridan’s lying and baseness 
 
 * “ Lord Grey and Lord Grenville desire Mr. Adam to express on their part 
 their dutiful acknowledgments to the Prince for the gracious communication 
 of the answer which his Royal Highness intends making to the deputation 
 from the two Houses this day. On the tenour of that answer it would be pre- 
 sumptuous in them to offer any opinion in a case where their advice is not 
 required by his royal highness. January 11, 1811.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 483 
 
 have been beyond all description. Adam, on the contrary, has 
 behaved as well as possible. Upon the whole I think it lucky that 
 the thing has occurred, as it has given us in the outset an opportu- 
 nity of meeting and repelling a danger to which we should have 
 been continually liable. The answer you will see in the papers, 
 with its puling phrases of ‘reverential delicacy,’ etc., in the style 
 of a vulgar novel, but it is infinitely less objectionable, bad as it 
 still is, than in the way in which it first appeared.’* 
 
 The stand thus taken by Lord Grey and Lord Grenville against 
 the interference of secret advisers seems to have greatly alarmed 
 the Prince for the moment, and he called personally on Lord Hol- 
 land the next day, and seemed, as Lord Holland wrote to Lord 
 Grenville, “anxious to do away any unpleasant feelings on the 
 subject of the answer to the resolution of the two Houses; and 
 said he thought it best to have no more said on the subject. At 
 the same time he observed, and authorized me and Adam to repeat 
 to Lord Grey and you, that the misapprehension had arisen from 
 the different views which he and you had taken of this stage of the 
 proceeding: in which, according to his notions, you were not yet 
 in a situation when his advisers would become strictly and consti- 
 tutionally responsible, but which you had considered as placing 
 you in that situation.” 
 
 Of this explanation Lord Grey said, that it was “ in fact acknowl- 
 edging that he had no answer to give, and was, as anything would 
 have been, short of defending the practice, sufficient for our satis- 
 faction, What has haj^pened will not, therefore, I think, be with- 
 out its advantages.” 
 
 There could be no doubt that the two lords had been treated un- 
 ceremoniously, and in their complaint they reminded the Regent 
 that he had distinctly allotted to them the duty of preparing his 
 answer, a task signifying they , were his advisers, and spoke of his 
 concern that their wish should liave been submitted to the judgment 
 of another person, by whose advice he was finally guided. Lord 
 Lauderdale happened to be present when Sheridan was at his task, 
 and heard Lord Holland remonstrate earnestly, saying that the two 
 lords ought to have been sent for if objection was taken to their 
 work. “ Sheridan muttered something about his thinking that the 
 Prince was not yet in a situation to have a responsible adviser, 
 which was flatly contradicted.”* And indeed there was so much 
 
 * General Grey, “Memoir,” pp. 26G. 439. 
 
484 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE TV. 
 
 dissatisfaction, that Sheridan on January the 15th addresssd a vin- 
 dication of himself to Lord Holland, which, if we can accept it, 
 shows that the confusion arose from the vacillation of the Prince. 
 “On Sunday the 7th, he says, he mentioned at Carlton House that 
 the Prince ought to have his answer ready, and was told by Adam 
 or Lord Moira, two of* the ‘intimate counsellors,’ that the Prince 
 had directed Lord Moira to prepare one. It then occurred to him 
 that he would attempt a sketch of one, which on the Wednesday 
 he read to the Prince. As it was rather artfully composed ‘ of ex- 
 pressions and sentiments which had fallen from the Prince himself 
 in different conversations,’ it naturally pleased. The Prince care- 
 lessly said that Lord Grenville had undertaken ‘a sketch,’ as had 
 also Lord Moira. On his dining at Carlton House on Thursday the 
 paper prepared by the two lords was shown to him. The Prince, 
 however, who had read the noble lords’ paper, proceeded to state 
 how strongly he objected to almost every part of it. The draft 
 delivered by Adam he took a copy of himself, as Mr. Adam read it, 
 affixing shortly, but warmly, his comments to each paragraph. 
 Finding his royal highness’s objections to the whole radical and 
 insuperable, and seeing no means myself by which the noble lords 
 could change their draft, so as to meet the Prince’s ideas, I ventured 
 to propose, as the only expedient of which the time allowed, that 
 both the papers should be laid aside, and that a very short answer 
 indeed, keeping, clear of all topics liable to disagreement, should be 
 immediately sketched out and be submitted that night to the judg- 
 ment of Lord Grey and Lord Grenville. The lateness of the hour 
 prevented any but very hasty discussion, and Adam and myself 
 proceeded, by his royal highness’s orders, to your house to relate 
 what had passed to Lord Grey. Before we left Carlton House, it 
 was agreed between Adam and m3^self that we were not to com- 
 municate to the noble lords the marginal comments of the Prince, 
 and we determined to withhold them. But at the meeting with 
 Lord Grey, at jmur house, he appeared to me, erroneously perhaps, 
 to decline considering the objections as coming from the Prince, 
 but as originating in my suggestions. Upon this, I certainly called 
 on Adam to produce the Prince’s copy, with his notes, in his royal 
 highness’s own handwriting. Afterwards, finding mj^self consider- 
 ably hurt at an expression of Lord Grey’s, which could only be 
 pointed at me, and which expressed his opinion that the whole of 
 the paper, which he assumed me to be responsible for, was ‘drawn 
 up in an invidious spirit,’ I certainly did, with more warmth than 
 
THE LIFE OF GEOMGE IV. 
 
 48:) 
 
 was perhaps discreet, comment on the paper proposed to he substi- 
 tuted; and there ended, with no good effect, our interview. Adam 
 and I saw the Prince again that night, when his royal highness was 
 graciously pleased to meet our joint and earnest request, by strik- 
 ing out from the draft of the answer, to which he still resolved to 
 adhere, every passage which we conceived to be most liable to ob- 
 jection on the part of Lord Grey and Lord Grenville, 
 
 “On the next morning, Friday — a short time before he was to 
 receive the address — when Adam returned from the noble lords, 
 with their expressed disclaimer of the preferred answer altered as 
 it was, his royal highness still persevered to eradicate every remain- 
 ing word which he thought might yet appear exceptionable to them, 
 and made further alterations, although the fair copy of the paper 
 had been made out. 
 
 “Thus the answer, nearly reduced to the expression of the 
 Prince’s own suggestions, and without an opportunity of further 
 meeting the wishes of the noble lords, was delivered by his royal 
 highness.” 
 
 More artfully directed was Sheridan’s ridicule, and some well- 
 known lines were admirably conceived to disgust the Prince with 
 these advisers: 
 
 Then, if he’ll help us to pull down 
 His father’s dignity and crown, 
 
 We’ll make him, in some time to come, 
 The gx'eatest prince in Christendom. 
 
 The matter, however, was smoothed over, though it was hard to 
 put up with such treatment, which was really significant of worse, 
 in case power were to come to the Prince. Mr, Moore seems to 
 think that this discussion led at once to the retention of the present 
 ministers. To this it may have contributed, but indirectly. Now 
 that the matter was made up, or “patched up,” the Prince had 
 engaged them to prepare arrangements for the new government ; 
 but, as we look closer into the transaction, it is impossible not to 
 see how imperfect was what they proposed to substitute for the ex- 
 isting system. In the first place the two lords were not agreed in 
 their principles — Lord Grenville being for deriving some assistance 
 from his opponents; Lord Grey thinking he could stand alone. 
 Things had, indeed, nearly arrived at such a pass that the difficul- 
 ties raised, as Lord Grey’s son states, “ more than once threatened 
 
486 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 to compel them to declare their inability to form a Government.” * 
 Nay, on the night of the 16th Lord Grey received a sort of mani- 
 festo from Lord Grenville, reaching to fifteen pages — one of those 
 formidable documents of which the Prince stood in awe. Lord 
 Grey owns that, had he sent an answer, “ it might have endangered 
 our connection, but in the course of the day they took fright, de- 
 sired to withdraw the paper, and everything seems now more likely 
 to go on well; but still there are difficulties. In the midst of all 
 this turmoil I begin to feel that I am not, and ought not to be, 
 afraid of them.” In so happy and conciliatory a tone was this 
 auspicious venture inaugurated. Add to this Sheridan and his 
 friends plotting against the two lords — who will wonder that the 
 Prince later declined to venture to sea in a craft so ill-formed? 
 
 On the 21st they were enabled to return answers to his questions, 
 which w^ere still not calculated to reassure him ; and it will be noted 
 the brusque uncompromising tone these awkward negotiations as- 
 sumed. If he (the Prince) “was satisfied that the duties on which 
 he was about to enter must, in all human probability, be of such 
 duration as to impose on his royal highness an absolute necessity 
 of exercising his own judgment on the policy and measures of the 
 Government which he was called to administer;” in that case, the 
 opinion they had always expressed of the system pursued during 
 the last four years, founded, as it was, “ on a full consideration of 
 the state and interests of the country,” would lead them to advise 
 “an immediate and total change of public councils. Nor,” they 
 added, “ would they decline to take upon themselves all the respon- 
 sibility resulting from this opinion, if, upon full consideration, his 
 royal highness should deem it expedient to’ carry this, their hum- 
 ble advice, into execution.” In other words, a new and inglorious 
 policy as regards the war was to be set on foot. 
 
 The day for reading this debated answer was now at hand; yet 
 it was not ready. 
 
 In the secret councils of that eventful day and night, an amusing 
 scene was taking place. Mr. Michael Angelo Taylor, a familiar 
 figure in their circle, was sent for at about three o’clock on the 
 morning the address was to be presented. He found the Prince, 
 Sheridan, and Mr. Adam all in consultation. The Prince showed 
 him a rough draft of the address, asking him to make two fair 
 copies, adding, in his own style: “Those damned fellows will be 
 
 * “ Life of Lord Grey,” p. 271. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 487 
 
 here in the morning,” On Taylor’s advice the Prince went to bed, 
 while he himself proceeded with the task set to him. All the time 
 Sheridan and Adam walked up and down, the latter occasionally 
 stooping to whisper the scribe, “The damnedest rascal existing!” 
 referring to his compannion, while Sheridan would occasionally 
 mutter, “Damn them all!” Taylor went home and repaired be- 
 times to Carlton House, where he found the Prince in bed, but all 
 the deputed members waiting below. “Are those damned fellows 
 come?” his highness asked. “Yes, sir.” After a little while came 
 the ejaculation: “Damn them all!” Mr. Taylor was then directed 
 to make fresh copies, as further alterations had been made.* This 
 amusing scene shows what embarrassment reigned at Carlton House 
 councils.f 
 
 * Taylor thus related it to Mr. Moore, who reprints it in his “ Diary.” 
 
 t “My Lords and Gentlemen, 
 
 “ I receive the communication which the two Houses have directed you 
 to make to me, of their joint resolutions on the subject of providing ‘ for the 
 exercise of the royal authority during his Majesty’s illness,’ with those senti- 
 ments of regard which I must ever entertain for the united desires of the two 
 Houses. 
 
 “ With the same sentiments I receive the expressed ‘ hopes of the Lords and 
 Commons, that, from my regard for the interests of his Majesty and the 
 nation, I should be ready to undertake the weighty and important trust pro- 
 posed to be involved in me,’ under the restrictions and limitations stated in 
 those resolutions, 
 
 “ Conscious that every feeling of my heart would have prompted me, from 
 dutiful affection to my beloved father and sovereign, to have shown all the 
 reverential delicacy towards him inculcated in those resolutions, I cannot 
 refrain from expressing my regret that I should not have been allowed the 
 opportunity of manifesting to his afflicted and loyal subjects that such would 
 have been my conduct. 
 
 “Deeply impressed, however, with the necessity of tranquillizing the public 
 mind, and determined to submit to every personal sacrifice consistent with 
 the regard I owe to the security of my father’s crown, and to the equal regard 
 I owe to the welfare of his people, I do not hesitate to accept the office and 
 situation proposed to me, restricted as they are, still retaining every opinion 
 expressed by me upon a former and similar distressing occasion. 
 
 “In undertaking the trust proposed to me, I am well aware of the difficul- 
 ties of the situation in which I shall be placed ; but I shall rely vdth confidence 
 upon the constitutional advice of an enlightened Parliament, and the zealous 
 support of a generous and loyal people. I will use all the means left to me to 
 merit both. 
 
 “My Lords and Gentlemen, 
 
 “You will communicate this my answer to the two Houses, accompanied 
 by my most fervent wishes and prayers, that the Divine will may extricate 
 us and the nation from the grievous embarrassments of our present condi- 
 tion, by the speedy restoration of his Majesty’s health.” 
 
488 
 
 THE LIFE OP GEORGE IV. 
 
 After the address was presented at Carlton House, it was noticed 
 that there was an attempt at state, the room being full of gentle- 
 men and attendants, all the Princes present ; the Prince of Wales 
 in his chair, flanked on one side by his Chancellors (Mr. Adam and 
 Lord Moira), on the other b}' Sheridan and the Duke of Cumber- 
 land — his equerries grouped behind. The Prince assumed a cold 
 ceremonious manner, and as he -read marked all the significant 
 portions with “very peculiar emphasis.” Turning now to .Parlia- 
 ment, we find the answer to the address was considered an indif- 
 ferent one. It amused the men in office to hear it abused by the 
 distracted Opposition. Lord Erskine said to Mr. Ward that it was 
 indifferent, and Lord Grey, in the House of Lords, asked Lord 
 Liverpool what he thought of it. “Not much in matter or com- 
 position,” was the answer. “That,” said Lord Grej", with an air 
 of satisfaction, “is exactly my opinion.” It was easy to see the 
 jealousy caused by the preference shown to Sheridan; and it was 
 reported openly at Brookes’s that “ they were all at sixes and 
 sevens.” There was indeed complete disagreement among the 
 competitors, one great bone of contention being Canning and his 
 party. The coming ministry had heard and persistently refused to 
 take office with Canning. Such was the happy family of the Op- 
 position.* 
 
 By this time the two lords had advanced in their work, and made 
 it astipulation that there were to be no secret advisers, f and that 
 they were to be sole ministers and advisers from that time. 
 
 On January 21, they were enabled solemnly to announce to him 
 “that having considered the means of forming a new administra- 
 tion, ‘ they had concerted with each other 'such general outlines of 
 the arrangements as they had found most practicable in the present 
 divided state of parties, and under the very embarrassed state of 
 public affairs,’ and that they were prepared to enter, whenever 
 required to do so, into the details of these arrangements. 
 
 ‘ ‘ On the same day the}" had a long interview with the Prince, of 
 which Lord Grey wrote that ‘it was satisfactory in all respects;’ 
 and that, though they did not ‘ get the length of talking of particu- 
 lar arrangements, all the preliminary points were completely agreed 
 upon. Lord Grenville and I,’ he adds, ‘ understand one another 
 so well, that, with respect to our views, everything will go on 
 
 Ward, i. 329. 
 
 tlbid. i. 335; Rose, ii. 47. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 489 
 
 smoothly; but I foresee other difficulties, particularly a long list 
 from Carlton House, which may produce great embarrassment.’ ” 
 
 With a characteristic want of tact they went about proclaiming 
 what conditions they had imposed on him. But almost at once 
 they found themselves embarrassed by engagements he had been 
 making. He had pledged himself to Erskine for the Chancellor- 
 ship — to Lord St. Vincent for the Admiralty — to Sheridan for the 
 Irish Secretaryship. Of this they complained loudly. “The 
 Prince,” Lord Grey w^rites (22nd January), “is making an effort 
 for Sheridan to go to Ireland as Secretary. To this it is impossible 
 that we should agree,” “I foresee,” he repeats, on the 29th Janu- 
 ary, “so many difficulties with the Prince when we come to more 
 close conference about arrangements, that I cannot see how they 
 are to be got over. Sheridan they still fight for. If it were a 
 mere question of giving him a place, however high, with large 
 emoluments, nobody would be more ready to consent to it than I 
 should be. But I really cannot make up my mind to sending a man 
 with a lighted torch into a magazine of gunpowder. It would be 
 impossible to prevent his communicating with the agitators of Ire- 
 land; and in the present disposition of that country, of which we 
 receive daily more alarming accounts, who could look at the possi- 
 ble, or rather the probable, consequences of such communications 
 without horror? If it were not for this, it certainly would be most 
 desirable to get him out of the wa}^ ; but, with such an apprehension 
 on my mind, how could I hope for sleep or peace?” 
 
 For the disastrous failure the Grenvilles were chiefly responsible: 
 as Sheridan told Mr. Creevy: “Tliey were not the operative, but 
 the contributory, cause of the Prince’s conduct ” — for the restric- 
 tions were certainly carried by their votes. 
 
 A zealous and active member of the party gives impartial testi- 
 mony as to the rather summary style in which the Prince was dealt 
 with. The Prince (says Mr. G. Bennett in his interesting MS. diary) 
 objected to particular people, but they were all minor objections: to 
 my mind all ought to have been yielded to him. He made a re- 
 quest for the Mastership of the Ordnance for Lord Hutchinson, 
 which was refused. Lord Roslyn being designed for it; and he 
 objected to Tierney being Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Cal- 
 craftgoing Secretary to Ireland. The principal persons were: Lord 
 Grenville, First Lord of the Treasury; Lord Grey, Foreign Secre- 
 tary; Ponsonby, Home Secretaiy; Whitbread, War Secretary ; Lord 
 Holland, Admiralty; Lord Lansdowne, Privy Seal; Lord Roslyn, 
 
 21 * 
 
490 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV, 
 
 Ordnance; President of the Council, unknown; Tierney, Chancel- 
 lor of the Exchequer; Lord Auckland, India Board; Lord Lauder- 
 dale, Scotch Privy Seal, the patronage of Scotland. These persons 
 formed the Cabinet. The Seals in Commission, Lord Erskine, 
 Speaker of the House of Lords, not in the Cabinet ; Lord Moira, to 
 go to Ireland; Lord Manners, to continue Chancellor; Sir J. New- 
 port, Chancellor of the Exchequer; Calcraft, Secretary; LordCarys- 
 fort and Ponsonby, Postmasters; Lord Temple, Secretary of War; 
 Mr. Fremantle, to be Paymaster, one abolished. The Boards were 
 composed of bad people. The best — as Lords Milton, Althorp, 
 Tavistock, Messrs. Ward (who was offered the Pay mastership) and 
 Lamb (as Under-Secretary) — refused office. Report said Sheridan 
 refused the Treasurership of the Navy, and the Prince demanded it 
 for MacMahon, which, as may well be imagined, was refused. 
 
 This w^as considered as the formation of the new Government, 
 and the old were preparing to quit their places, unexpectedl}^ at 
 least, to the public. It is difficult indeed to withhold sympathy 
 from this minister, much harassed and baited during his troubled 
 course, so soon to find a bloody termination. From the Regent, as 
 well as from his ministers, he had to endure many humiliations. 
 
 This alone would show the difficulties of change. No wonder 
 there was an impression abroad of uncertainty, and that a change 
 after all might not take place. So early as the 17th of January, 
 “the general opinion now seems to be that we are not to go out, 
 the King’s recovery being so likely.”* And one sagacious Mr. 
 Brand, talking with Mr. Ward, prognosticated that the vigorous 
 stand made by Perceval drew many admirers, that this would give 
 him extraordinary influence, as the head of an Opposition which 
 must give great trouble to the new Government. “Probably,” 
 added 3Ir. Brand, laughing, “ the Regent will keep Perceval three 
 months as his father’s minister, and then fall so much in love with 
 him, that he will continue him as his own.”f But the Prince, still 
 unconscious of what the wiser heads foresaw, and resenting the 
 mortification he was suffering, declared in his coarse way to Lord 
 Grey: “ By G — ! they shall not remain an hour.” 
 
 It was now January 30th, and though ministers continued to 
 think themselves virtually “ out ” — some were even packing up and 
 preparing to go to their country houses — there was an element in 
 the situation which had not been duly considered, viz. the improve- 
 
 * Ward, “ Diary,” i. 337. 
 
 tibid. 346. 
 
THE LIFE OP GEORGE IV. 
 
 491 
 
 ment in the King’s health. . This was of a marked kind, and seems 
 to have begun about the 23rd. On the 26th the physicians had 
 thought it desirable that he should see and converse with Mr. Per- 
 ceval, which he did for the second time on the 29th. His conversa- 
 tion was certainly of a rational kind, and lie grasped the awkward 
 and painful character of his political situation, asking as to the 
 particular line taken by every individual, saying he supposed the 
 whole of the Opposition were ranged against him. On being told 
 “ Yes,” he clapped his hands and said with great emphasis, “ I am 
 glad of that !” * 
 
 On the 31st, Mr. Sheridan coming out of Carlton House and 
 meeting Mr. Ward, gleefully assured him that the new Oovernment 
 was all settled, but it was their own fault that they were going. 
 
 “ If you had not been so anxious about the d d precedent of 
 
 1789 you might have remained in ” — that is, if they had not irritated 
 the Prince with their restrictions. However, he added, oddly 
 enough, that he did not know they were going. At White’s, bets 
 were made that ministers would remain in; and Lord Temple jocu- 
 larly asked one of them, “ Would they remain till they were killed, 
 or retire gracefully ?” 
 
 But during these fevf days a fresh intrigue was going on behind 
 the old one, and the shifty Prince, who had been beguiling the two 
 lords, with the aid of Sheridan and his camarilla, was now beguil- 
 ing his own henchmen in a similar way. The agent in this business 
 was Sir Henry Halford, and there can be little doubt that it was a 
 good deal owing to his adroit management that the Court obtained 
 its victory, f At this time he scarcely knew the Prince, and at the 
 beginning of the illness was well aware, as he told Miss Wynne, 
 that he was surrounded with spies from the Prince, and “ that one 
 we well knew and would little suspect ” was living at an inn in the 
 town. Finding his position awkward, if not painful, the physician 
 took the course of going to the Prince, telling him everything con- 
 cerning the state of his patient, adding an undertaking that in 
 future he might depend on always having from him most accurate 
 information, if he would promise not to seek it from any other 
 source. The Prince, he said, was grateful, but he noticed that his 
 
 * Ward, “Diary,” i. 371. 
 
 t It has been often confidently repeated that Sir Henry Halford was mar- 
 ried to one of the Princesses. This, however, does not seem probable, as he 
 was married in 1796, and his wife lived till 1833, 
 
492 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. . 
 
 surprise at such candor was eveu more marked. He, however, 
 gave the promise, and, “wonderful to say, kept it.” Then Sir 
 Henry went to the Queen, and told her what he had done. “ She, 
 with a tremendous frown, expressed great astonishment.” Sir 
 Henry stated the obvious reasons for the step he had taken. She 
 paused, her brow cleared. “You are quite right, sir; it is proper 
 that the Prince should be informed.” “ From that moment,” as he 
 says, “ confidence and intimacy were renewed between mother and 
 son.” * But it had been remarked that the Prince had been takiug 
 the opinion of the physicians, ostensibly through Mr. Adam; but 
 was in secret communication with Sir H. Halford; as Sir J, Romilly 
 says, all this time an intrigue was being carried on with great art 
 through the habile physician, acting as the agent of the Queen. So 
 early as the 30th of January Lord Grey had his forebodings when 
 he learned that the Prince had received a letter from the Queen, 
 saying that Mr. Perceval had seen the King the day before, and 
 had laid before him the whole State business “ now pending ” in 
 Parliament. She herself had not seen the King, so, as her sou 
 remarked, it was evident she had written under his dictation; and 
 he rather acutely pointed out that the word “pending” was a 
 lawyer’s word, and was not likely to be used by the Queen. f She 
 also added many compliments on his behavior, with which the 
 King had been much gratified. Lord Grey calls this a barefaced 
 plot; but he adds, “ I believe it will be successful.” 
 
 On the following day the Chancellor and Lord Liverpool went 
 down to talk with the royal patient, when they found him rather 
 more “hurried;” and it was remarkable that his anxiety and agi- 
 tation was excited by curiosity as to the behavior of persons in 
 Parliament. He asked whether the Prince would change the 
 Government, and on being told “Yes,” declared that he would 
 bring his present servants back, but desired time.| Now, in favor 
 of the Queen it must be said that this was significant, and betokened 
 relapse; and it is scarcely necessary to presume “a barefaced plot.” 
 It was scarcely unnatural, therefore, that she should have written 
 to press the son to stay his hand. She also dwelt on the approach- 
 ing recovery of the King, and her conviction that a change in the 
 Government would bring on such a paroxysm as she would not 
 answer for the King’s life. “The Prince was much affected on 
 
 * “ Diary of a Lady of Quality,” p. 213. 
 t Romilly, ii. 361. 
 
 Rose, p. 477. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 493 
 
 reading this letter, and is said to have thrown himself back in his 
 chair, and shed many tears.” * 
 
 It was now that he consulted his lady friends, Mrs. Fitzherbert 
 and Lady Hertford, and was assured by them that he ought to re- 
 tain his ministers. Lord Hertford a few days later told Lord Cam- 
 den that the Prince intended removing the ministers, in case there 
 was a favorable prospect of his father’s recovery, and had actually 
 secured “ Lords G. and G.” as a reserve. It was noticed that the 
 Duke of York had been with the Prince the whole of the day.f It 
 was hard to resist such pressure. Accordingly, late on the night of 
 February 1 st, Lords Grey and Grenville were waited on by Lord 
 Hutchinson and Mr. Adam, who bore a message from the Prince, 
 that he now decided to make no change. “He cannot bear,” he 
 says, “the idea of doing a thing which may have the effect of 
 throwing the King into a new paroxysm, or of being thought to do 
 so ” — the words, it will be recollected, used by the Queen. The 
 reflections of the rejected Lord Grey on this mortifying situation 
 are rueful enough ; 
 
 “ It is, I confess, a great relief to me. I am now exempted from 
 the difficulty and danger of taking any part in the Government, and 
 by no fault of my own. What has passed,” he adds, “has given 
 me such an insight into the probable state of things under a new 
 Government, that I much doubt whether any circumstances could 
 ever induce me to take a share in it. The Prince’s feelings and his 
 fears have been worked upon so powerfully and so insidiously, par- 
 ticularly by our friend Halford, who has proved himself a most 
 consummate politician (I will not apply a harsher name), that his 
 decision admits of much excuse. His situation was certainly an 
 embarrassing one; and if he had not nerves to overcome his diffi- 
 culties by facing them at once, he is to be pitied rather than blamed. 
 There can rest upon him no imputation of deceit or treachery; his 
 wishes were to act otherwise ; his dislike of the present ministers is 
 unaffected and strong; and everything he has done and said with 
 respect to us has been as kind as possible. After all, he has only 
 relieved us from a situation of great difficulty and danger. I have 
 neither to complain of him nor to reproach myself. ” 
 
 This communication was private, and it is almost comical to find 
 that the rank and file of the party remained for nearly a day longer 
 in this fools’ paradise, wrangling over places and adjusting contend- 
 
 * Grey-Bennett MS. 
 
 t Rose. 
 
494 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 ing claims. Lord Moira on the following morning told Mr. Coutts’s 
 brother that he was going as Lord-Lieutenant to Ireland, and the 
 Secretary and other officials were bidden to hold themselves in 
 readiness to start ! 
 
 But there were rumors in the air. At the Duchess of Gordon’s 
 the same evening, where there was a large party assembled, the news 
 of disaster could be read in the angry and disappointed faces of 
 “ the wives of Opposition.” 
 
 On February 4th Mr. Perceval received the following letter, 
 which, it should be noted, was written by Sheiidan, the present 
 adviser, secretary, etc., of the Prince: 
 
 THE PRINCE OP WALES TO MR. PERCEVAL. 
 
 “ Carlton House, February 4th, 1811. 
 
 The Prince of Wales considers the moment to be arrived which 
 calls for his decision with respect to the persons to be employed by 
 him in the administration of the Executive Government of the 
 country, according to the powers vested in him by the Bill passed 
 by the two Houses of Parliament, and now on the point of receiv- 
 ing the sanction of the Great Seal. 
 
 “ The Prince feels it incumbent upon him at this precise juncture 
 to communicate to Mr. Perceval his intention not to remove from 
 their situations those whom he finds there as his Majesty’s official 
 servants. At the same time the Prince owes it to the truth and sin- 
 cerity of character which, he trusts, will appear in every action of 
 his life, in whatever situation he may be placed, explicitly to de- 
 clare that the irresistible impulse of filial duty and affection to his 
 beloved and afflicted father leads him to dread that any act of the 
 Kegent might, in the smallest degree, have the effect of interfering 
 with the progress of his sovereign’s recovery. 
 
 “This consideration alone dictates the decision now communi- 
 cated to Mr. Perceval. 
 
 “Having thus performed an act of indispensable duty, from a 
 just sense of what is due to his own consistency and honor, the 
 Prince has only to add that, among the many blessings to be 
 derived from his Majesty’s restoration to health and to the personal 
 exercise of his royal functions, it will not, in the Prince’s estima- 
 tion, be the least, that most fortunate event will at once rescue 
 him from a situation of unexampled embarrassment, and put an 
 end to a state of affairs ill calculated, he fears, to sustain the inter- 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 495 
 
 ests of the United Kingdom in this awful and perilous crisis, and 
 most difficult to be reconciled to the general principles of the 
 British Constitution.” 
 
 This was acknowledged the following day by the minister in 
 complimentary terms, admitting the reason so pointedly given by 
 the Prince for this step, and offering handsome excuses for the 
 restrictions put upon him. 
 
 As a comment on these transactions let us listen to the bitter 
 complaints of the neglected Sir P. Francis, addressed to Lady 
 Downshire, about this time: “And you believe he is honest, and, 
 moreover, has a heart of English mould, expansive enough to con- 
 tain, and stout enough to retain, those principles that I have been 
 trying to implant in his heart long before you were born, and very 
 soon after he was. . . . Your wishes deceive you, as mine 
 
 have done me. You have often witnessed the apparent docility 
 and conviction with which he listened when I laid before him at 
 his own seeking the principles that English monarchs should bring 
 to the throne or — they may learn them somewhere else. He was 
 out of conceit with the ministry of that day, as he is now with this; 
 they had spited him, and he relished a doctrine which contemned 
 them: he is in the same predicament now. Our friend will first 
 forget our principles, and then our persons, and the sooner for 
 having contracted debts to us, not only of honor, but promise to 
 pay. Have I not attended his call whenever he was in any extra 
 difficulty, and wished to astonish his usual counsellors by his wis- 
 dom? Have I not left my bed early, and late taken rest, and 
 waited on him long after the mezza notte ? And has not my pen, 
 my experience, knowledge, and judgment, such as they are, been 
 at his service, and when did I ever claim my own if it could gain 
 him credit? Your ladyship and MacMahon only knew of the let- 
 ters at the time, or that I have many other claims on him ; but so 
 much the worse. Is it past doubt that he hates C. and raves at 
 P. ? . . . Yet it is something that he still seeks you, and has 
 
 not yet given me up, which I am sure he will do when he deserts 
 those principles which he knows are dear to me. I have his com- 
 mand to visit him this autumn, and shall then find out whether the 
 change that E(rskine?) and I talked of has really taken place. I 
 expect there will be one ere long in his situation, but not, I trust, 
 in his political views, till power and fiattery have their usual effect 
 on him. No thanks to E(rskine?) and S(heridan?) if he be not as 
 
496 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV, 
 
 all his fathers were. But do not mind a word they say. M(oira?) 
 is not much better. Trust S. as you would a jack-a-lan thorn, E. as 
 a quicksand, and M. a mirage in the desert. These three friends 
 have been his worst enemies. They have counteracted all the good 
 I might have done.” 
 
 Here closes the long and important era of some thirty years, 
 during which the Prince had run his strange erratic purposeless 
 course of riot and pleasure. He was now virtually on the throne: 
 his reign had begun. Unhappily the twenty years of rule that were 
 to follow were to offer no improvement. 
 
BOOK 11. 
 
 REGENT.— 
 
TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 499 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 1811. 
 
 On the 5th of February, the day appointed for swearing in the 
 new Regent, a curious scene was witnessed at Carlton House. It 
 was attended with some state — the band of the Grenadier Guards 
 (the performers having “white gaiters” on) p]a3nng in the court- 
 yard, the yeomen of the old King’s Body Guard lining the stair, 
 in attendance on their new master. All the Dukes were there, and 
 nearl}" all the Privy Councillors in town, about a hundred in num- 
 ber. Lord Camden was sent to the Prince’s room, and a long delay 
 succeeded, during which we are informed the company “were 
 highly gratified with seeing the Princess Charlotte on horseback, 
 accompanied by two grooms, make the tour of the beautiful gar- 
 dens in the rear of the palace.” * At last the Prince arrived in 
 grand procession, preceded b}" the officers of his household — Lords 
 Moira, Keith, Cassilis, Hutchinson, Messrs. Sheridan, Michael 
 Angelo Taylor, Tyrwhitt, MacMahon, Bloomfield, Hulse, etc. 
 Mr. Adam was unaccountably absent, b}^ accident it was believed, 
 though the Prince’s eagerness to see him was noted. The reason 
 for this absence, it will be seen, was characteristic and a substan- 
 tial one: “ He kept the Council waiting two full hours — the King 
 never detained any one a minute — while he was looking after 
 Adam to make him a Privy Councillor, vdio shrank away declining 
 the honor, as he would have been obliged to have given up many 
 of his agencies and would have lost to the amount of £2000 per 
 annum. ”f 
 
 Thus there appears to be always something almost singular in 
 these public manifestations of the “ first gentleman” — the spectacle 
 of the eager Prince’s anxiety seeking his subordinate to the delay 
 of the important proceedings, and the anxiety of the latter to keep 
 out of the w^ay, must have been ludicrous enough. Then the pro- 
 
 ^ Hnish, ii. 33. 
 
 t Bennett MS. 
 
500 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEOROE IV. 
 
 ceedings commenced, the Prince seating himself at the top of the 
 table. 
 
 Nor must a fitting incident of the scene be omitted. The Prince, 
 among other documents, handed to the President “a certificate of 
 his having received the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper at the 
 Chapel Royal, on Sunday, the 27th of January, which was also 
 countersigned and deposited with the other documents in a box.” * 
 Then he also subscribed the declaration mentioned in an Act made 
 in the thirtieth j'-ear of King Charles II., entitled “ An Act for the 
 more Effectual Preserving the King’s Person and Government by 
 Disabling Papists from Sitting in Either House of Parliament,” 
 and which declaration his royal highness audibly made, repeated, 
 and subscribed. The Lord President signed first, and every one of 
 the Privy Councillors in succession signed these instruments as wit- 
 nesses — and the same was delivered into the hand of the Keeper of 
 the Records. 
 
 But during this ceremonial there were some significant tokens 
 which showed what were the real feelings of the principal person- 
 age. The ministers must have been confounded to see ostenta- 
 tiously displayed at the head of the room the busts of Mr. Fox and 
 the Duke of Bedford, which they learned had been introduced 
 only an hour or two before by the Regent’s order, f The situation 
 of the ministers, too, was awkward. Upon some one wishing Lord 
 Harrowby joy, he replied: “ Joy! how can I feel it? We have to 
 do business with a man who hates us, and only wishes to turn us 
 out.” He was very civil and friendly to some of those that kissed 
 hands, and very rude to others, particularly to the Speaker and 
 to Mr. Perceval, turning his head away while they kissed his 
 hand.j; 
 
 * “ The Lord President then approached the Regent, bent the knee, and had 
 the honor to kiss his hand. The royal Dukes followed, and afterwards 
 the Archbishop of Canterbury, and all the rest according to the order 
 in which they sat at the long table, advancing to the chair on both sides. 
 During the whole of this ceremony his Royal Highness maintained the most 
 dignified and graceful deportment; and it was remarked that there. was not 
 the slightest indication of partiality of behavior to one set of men more than 
 to another. 
 
 “ The ceremony being closed a short levee took place in the drawing-room, 
 where his Royal Highness addressed himself to the circle ; and aftei'wards he 
 gave an audience to Mr. Perceval, who had the honor of again kissing his 
 hand as First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer.” 
 
 t Bennett MS. His brother. Lord Ossulston, was present. 
 
 X The Speaker in his diary reports the scene in terms that show he was 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 501 
 
 However idle all this may appear — and certainly the introduc- 
 tion of the busts was as boyish a mode of protest as could be con- 
 ceived — it illustrated more clearly than anything that has gone 
 before that his late political step was a matter of humor and pre- 
 judice rather than of principle; and that the ruling motives had 
 been dislike to individuals, and a wish to avoid trouble and annoy- 
 ance. 
 
 But in his conversation with the Prime Minister the Prince had 
 also taken care to show his humor. After offering some business- 
 like suggestions as to the Parliament, he adverted to all that had 
 passed, saying that “ it w^as impossible for him to alter the opinions 
 he had entertained for so many years; but that now it was done 
 and over.” He also insisted that the speech to be made for him 
 should not be made to utter any sentiments that he was known not 
 to entertain. Neither would he deliver it, as he did not wish to go 
 down to the House and exhibit himself as a pageant during the ill- 
 ness of the King.* * 
 
 In pursuance of the same policy he shoAved his distaste to his 
 ministers by communicating with them through his henchmen, 
 MacMahon, Tyrwhitt, etc., an affront which they resented, and 
 were determined not to submit to. They made serious representa- 
 tions, and he had of course to give way, in a dignified and distant 
 manner. 
 
 When he did see the speech made for him he declared that it 
 could not be better. On some high-handed proceedings of the Irish 
 Government he entered seriously into discussion, but subsequently 
 approved the Government’s proceeding. When Mr. Perceval sug- 
 gested an additional allowance, the Prince rather ostentatiously 
 declined to add to the burdens of the nation. " 
 
 Meanwhile the King was not mending; though the regular bul- 
 letins were issued announcing that he continued to go on A^ery 
 Avell. It Avas stated, indeed, that he himself had fixed May as the 
 date when he would resume office; but it is evident from a letter 
 of the Queen’s to Lord Eldon that his condition was not promis- 
 ing, f 
 
 It was natural in the case of one so afflicted that an excessive 
 jealousy of his son should appear, the ministers indiscreetly prais- 
 ing to him the good conduct of the Prince, his capacity, modera- 
 
 offended. “The Regent repeated, or appeared to repeat, the oath.”— Lord 
 Colchester, “Diary,” ii. 318, 
 
 * Colchester, “Diary.” t “ Life of Lord Eldon,” ii, 165. 
 
502 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 tion and ability, as well as his filial affection. This was duly 
 repeated by the Queen; but it presently inflamed the King into a 
 demand for the instant resumption of his authority, “on which 
 head he became quite furious and unmanageable.” * 
 
 The levee which had been postponed owing to the Regent’s lame- 
 ness, a horse having trodden upon him, was now held. The scene, 
 however, was splendid, and very numerously attended by men of 
 all parties. He put on a most gracious appearance, all who had 
 not been presented kissing hands. Indeed, Sheridan had industri- 
 ously sent it about that members of all parties were expected to 
 call at Carlton House. The magnificence of the spacious and 
 sumptuously decorated rooms struck every one, and strangers and 
 foreign ministers declared that they exceeded Versailles. Count 
 Munster thought that it excelled the palace at St. Petersburg in its 
 decoration. It was, however, noticed that at a ball given by Mrs. 
 Montague on February 20th, he looked worn and dejected, so that 
 some wit declared that “ they ought to make the King Sub-Regent.” 
 At the end of April he appeared at the Royal Academy dinner, 
 where he gave a long speech on the advance the arts had made, and 
 was complimented in almost fulsome terms by the venerable Presi- 
 dent West. 
 
 But he had now determined to exhibit such a gala to the country 
 as would make his name celebrated. The Carlton House f^te of 
 June 19th, on which nothing that could contribute to the display of 
 magnificence or state was spared, is even now recalled ; there are 
 some alive who were present. His whole energies were given to 
 the preparations for this entertainment. The object given out was 
 to promote the use of national manufactures. It was originally 
 fixed for the 5th of June, but as the day drew near the King’s con- 
 dition became worse, and decency required that it should be put 
 off, if not given up altogether; but an expense of £10,000 had been 
 already incurred. The frivolous world was all agog with the sub- 
 ject, and there was a sort of furor to obtain invitations. It was 
 at first intended to ask no lady under the rank of a peer’s daughter; 
 but this distinction gave offence. “ There must be,” writes Mr, F. 
 Jackson, who supplies a lively account of them, “manoeuvres to 
 secure tickets, cutting and jostling among the fine ladies to be in 
 at the f6te. I know that the Prince said he would invite fifteen 
 
 * “ Buckingham Papers— The Regency,” i. 58. The account is given by the 
 anonymous and sagacious correspondent of Lord Temple. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 hundred persons. Tliere used to be at Buckingham House no one 
 under the rank of carl’s sons and daughters.” * 
 
 “Those who are invited,” he goes on to say, “and still more 
 those who are not, are making an outrageous fuss. Husbands in- 
 vited without their wives; mothers without their daughters; in 
 some instances, daughters who are not out; in others, people who 
 are dead and buried.” In the midst of this hum of preparation a 
 rumor got abroad that the King was dead, believed to be a ruse of 
 the shopkeepers, who succeeded in selling all their crape. Again 
 there was a postponement. It was at last fixed for the 19th. As 
 the day drew near ‘ ‘ the hopes and fears of the leau monde rose and 
 fell with the bulletins.” A mot was circulated to the effect that 
 the old phrase, “fixed as Fete,'' be now quite exploded, as 
 there was nothing so uncertain. But at last the exciting evening 
 came round, and the show began, and before eight o’clock the 
 streets were crowded with company. One of the guests shall 
 describe the scene: 
 
 “The f^te, then, as a whole, was the handsomest thing I have 
 ever seen in this country, or, of its kind, in any other. There was 
 greater brilliancy and richness of dress amongst the women, though 
 not so much taste as elsewhere. The supper surpassed anything I 
 ever saw or ever heard of at other Courts. At eight o’clock there 
 was a string of carriages that reached to the top of St. James’s 
 Street, and by nine to the top of Bond Street. I went out for a 
 walk amongst the crowd at the latter hour. The jostling and push- 
 ing to get a sight of the women, especially when accompanied by a 
 star or a riband, was something extraordinary; and the remarks of 
 the people on the occupants of the carriages, as the latter crawled 
 or jolted on at a snail’s pace, were sometimes very droll and apt, 
 though not always complimentary. 
 
 “To the royal family of France every refinement of attention was 
 shown. The Prince wrote to Louis XVIII. with his own hand, 
 and sent the letter of invitation by a general officer. The letter 
 was addressed ‘ A Monsieur le Comte de Lisle;' but Sire and Votre 
 Majeste were used in the letter itself. Louis slept at Monsieur’s 
 house in South Audley Street. Going to and returning from Carl- 
 ton House, be was escorted by an officer’s detachment of hussars. 
 The party consisted of the King, Monsieur, the Due and Duchesse 
 d’Angouleme, the Prince de Conde, Due de Bourbon, and Due de 
 
 * “Diaries. 
 
504 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 Berri. The Prince, who wore a very rich scarlet uniform, of not 
 very good taste or very well made, but with a most magnificent 
 star, badge, aigrette, and sabre, received them in an apartment 
 fitted up for the occasion with rich blue silk, parseme with fleurs- 
 de-lis in gold. 
 
 “The King, for a time, declined sitting, saying he was only 
 Comte de Lisle. The Prince, placing a chair for him, replied; Hci 
 mire Majeste est Roi de France.’’ Amongst the pictures that orna- 
 mented the reception-room was a Rembrandt, for which a few days 
 before the Prince gave flve thousand guineas. 
 
 “ The Duchesse d’Angoul^me looked interesting, and something 
 like the best portraits of her mother, therefore, not very pretty; but 
 she was evidently embarrassed, and her dress and demeanor were 
 those of a person who had not been much in the world. In fact, 
 she may be said to have stepped from a prison — and what a prison! 
 — to Carlton House; for she was never before in a company of a 
 hundred persons. I know, from a perfectly trustworthy source, 
 that for some time she was in agony at the idea of going to this f6te, 
 and that it was only at the most pressing entreaties of her family 
 that she consented. Both she and the Duke, who is a mean- 
 looking little man, are of a very retiring disposition, and devote 
 almost the whole of their time to works of piety and charity. The 
 Duchess of York sat with her a good deal, and looked very well; 
 her ' sposo fido’ as easy in his manners and as much like a gentleman 
 as usual. Amidst the blaze of diamonds, those of the Queen were 
 wanting; though all there — en masse — are said to have exceeded in 
 value anything ever before assembled. As the Queen did not come 
 to the fSte, of course the Princesses were absent, and by the con- 
 versation of everybody from Windsor, it was easy to collect that 
 there people thought the f<5te ill-timed.” 
 
 “The Grecian hall,” says another account, “was adorned with 
 shrubs, and an additional number of large lanterns and patent lamps. 
 The floor was carpeted; and two lines, composed of Yeomen of the 
 Guard, the King’s, the Regent’s, the Queen’s, and Royal Dukes’ 
 servants, in their grandest liveries, formed an avenue to the oc- 
 tagonal hall, where yeomen were also stationed, and which was 
 decorated with antique draperies of scarlet trimmed with gold- 
 color, and tied up by gold-colored cords and tassels. In the hall 
 were also assembled, to receive the company. Generals Keppell and 
 Turner, Colonels Bloomfield, Thomas, and Tyrwhitt, together with 
 Lords Moira, Dundas, Keith, Heathfield, and Mount-Edgecumbe. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 505 
 
 The Prince entered the state-rooms at a quarter past nine arrayed in 
 a field-marshars uniform; just after the Prince came in. the royal 
 family of France arrived. During the evening the Prince Regent 
 passed from room to room, devoid of all ceremony, conversing with 
 the utmost cheerfulness with his guests. The general amusement 
 of the company for some time was perambulating the halls and 
 apartments on the principal floor. The grand circular dining-room 
 excited particular admiration by its cupola, supported by columns 
 of porphyry, and the superior elegance of the whole of its arrange- 
 ments, The room in which the throne stood was hung with 
 crimson velvet, with gold lace and fringes. The canopy of the 
 throne was surmounted by golden helmets with lofty plumes of 
 ostrich feathers, and underneath stood the state chair. Crimson and 
 gold stools were placed round the room, which contained pictures 
 of the King, Queen, Prince Regent, and Duke of York, The ball- 
 room floors were chalked in beautiful arabesque devices. In the 
 centre of the largest were the initiale G. III. R. It was divided for 
 two sets of dancers by a crimson silk cord; but owing to the great 
 number of persons, and the excessive heat of the weather, no danc- 
 ing took place in this room, nor were the dancers numerous in the 
 ball-room. The first dance was led off by Earl Percy and Lady F. 
 Montague.” 
 
 The Queen his mother, and his sisters the Princesses, viewed the 
 affair as unbecoming, if not indecent, with the unfortunate King 
 distraught, if not dying. This did not much atfeetthe host, though 
 he would have been glad of her presence for the display of the 
 matchless crown diamonds amid the general blaze of jewels. How- 
 ever, he was attended by the Dukes his brethren — that worthy 
 cohort who did not fail him except when their jealousies inter- 
 posed.* The next person excluded was the Princess, who made a 
 jest on the matter, declaring she was like an archbishop’s wife, who 
 does not partake in her husband’s honors.f She even allowed her 
 suite to go, and furnished them with new dresses, saying, “That 
 they should certainly obey the Regent’s commands.” His only 
 daughter — now a maid of blushing fifteen, who might have been 
 allowed to look on from “ the pen” at the show, if not to take part 
 in it — was also tabooed. An artless letter, written to her “dear 
 Miss Hayman,” shows how this exclusion was felt: 
 
 * It is evident that all Windsor is highly displeased on the occasion.— Jack- 
 son, “Diaries,” i. 267 . t Ibid. i. 273. 
 
 22 
 
506 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 “My dear Hamt, 
 
 “ But a few lines, as I will write you a longer one soon again, 
 only to tell you that the Prince Regent gives a magnificent ball on 
 the 5th of June. I have not been invited, nor do I know if I shall 
 be or not. If I should not, it will make a great noise in the world, 
 as the friends I have seen have repeated over and over again it is 
 my duty to go there; it is proper that I should. Really I do think 
 it will be very hard if I am not asked.” 
 
 But there was a fourth lady whom his treatment on this festival 
 occasion kept away. The theatrical chivalry that made him wel- 
 come the royal exiles did not extend to those with real domestic 
 claims upon him. “ Upon all former occasions,’ Mrs. Fitzherbert 
 told Lord Stourton, “to avoid etiquette in circumstances of such 
 delicacy as regarded her own situation with reference to the Prince, 
 it had been customary to sit at table without regard to rank. Upon 
 the present occasion this plan was to be altered, and she was in- 
 formed through her friends at court that at the royal table the indi- 
 viduals invited were to sit according to their rank. AYhen assured 
 of this novel arrangement, she asked the Prince, who had invited 
 her with the rest of his company, where she was to sit. He said, 
 ‘You know, madam, you have no place.’ ‘ None, sir,’ she replied, 
 ‘but such as you choose to give me.’ Upon this she informed the 
 royal family that she would not go. The Duke of York and others 
 endeavored to alter the preconcerted arrangement, but the Prince 
 was inflexible. ” * Thus terminated this fatal ill-starred connec- 
 tion. 
 
 That this was done on purpose there can be no doubt. The mean- 
 
 * “ They no longer hesitated to agree with her that no advantage was to be 
 obtained by further postponement of her own anxious desire to close her con- 
 nection with the Prince, and to retire once more into private life. She told 
 me she often looked back with wonder that she had not sunk under the trials 
 of those two years. Having come to this resolution, she was obliged, on the 
 very evening, or on that which followed the royal dinner, to attend an assem- 
 bly at Devonshire House, w’hich was the last evening she saw the Prince pre- 
 viously to their final separation. The Duchess of Devonshire, taking her by 
 the arm, said to her: ‘ You must come and see the Duke in his own room, as 
 he is suffering from a fit of the gout; but he will be glad to see an old friend.’ 
 In passing through the rooms, she saw the Prince and Lady Hertford in a 
 tete-a-tete conversation, and nearly fainted under all the impressions which 
 then rushed upon her mind; but, taking a glass of water, she recovered and 
 passed on.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 607 
 
 ing of this was the present ascendency of Manchester House, of 
 Lady Hertford, and her son Lord Yarmouth. It actually led to 
 what the Regent was no doubt wishing for, a tinal breach. It will 
 be seen that he had now begun to think of a divorce from the 
 Princess, and the intimacy with Mrs. Fitzherbert might be incon- 
 venient. Meanwhile the guests noted her absence, and lightly 
 repeated that “the two wives were sitting at home.” 
 
 It was characteristic that the object of this Prince’s enmity should 
 be so often women, while those that controlled and “ led ” him were 
 women also. 
 
 But to return to the fete. The hour of supper had arrived, 
 when the Prince led the French king and royal family to the table. 
 The supper was announced at two, when the company descended 
 by the great staircase to the apartments below and the tem- 
 porary buildings on the lawn. The room at the bottom of the 
 staircase represented a bower, with a grotto lined with a pro- 
 fusion of shrubs and flowers. The grand table extended the 
 whole length of the conservatory, and across Carlton House, to the 
 length of two hundred feet. Along the centre of the table, about 
 six inches above the surface, a canal of pure water continued flow- 
 ing from a silver fountain beautifully constructed at the head of 
 the table. Its banks were covered with green moss and aquatic 
 flowers; gold and silver fish swam and sported through the bub- 
 bling current, which produced a pleasing murmur where it fell and 
 formed a cascade at the outlet. At the head of the table, above the 
 fountain, sat his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, on a plain 
 mahogany chair with a leather back. The most particular friends 
 of the Prince were arranged on each side. They were attended by 
 sixty servitors; seven waited on the Prince, besides six of the King’s 
 and six of the Queen’s footmen, in their state liveries, with one man 
 in a complete suit of ancient armor. At the back of the Prince’s 
 seat appeared aureola tables covered with crimson drapery, con- 
 structed to exhibit, with the greatest effect, a profusion of the most 
 exquisitely-wrought silver-gilt plate, consisting of fountains, tripods, 
 epergnes, dishes, and other ornaments. Above the whole of this 
 superb display appeared a royal crown and his Majesty’s cipher, 
 G. R., splendidly illumined. Behind the Prince’s chair was most 
 skilfully disposed a sideboard, covered with gold vases, urns, massy 
 salvers, etc.; the whole surmounted by a Spanish urn, taken from 
 on board the “Invincible Armada.” Adjoining to this were other 
 tables running through the library and whole lower suite of rooms, 
 
508 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IT. 
 
 the candelabras in which were so arranged that the Regent could 
 distinctly see and be seen, from one end to the other. Tlie Regent’s 
 table accommodated one hundred and twenty-two, including the 
 royal Dukes, the Bourbons, and principal nobility. On the right 
 hand of tlie Regent was the Duchess of AngouI§mc; on the left the 
 Duchess of York, the Princess Sophia of Gloucester, etc. From 
 the library and room beyond branched out two great lines of tables 
 under canvas, far into the gardens, each in the shape of a cross, all 
 richly served with silver plate, and covered with the delicacies of 
 the season. When the whole company was seated, there was a line 
 of female beauty more richly adorned, and a blaze of jewelry more 
 brilliant, than England ever probably displayed before Four 
 handsome marquees were pitched on the lawn of Carlton House, 
 with chevaux-de-frise, to prevent all intrusion; bands of music 
 were stationed in the tents; and when dancing commenced, the 
 ^ay throng moved through thickets of roses, geraniums, anil other 
 fragrant sweets, illumined by variegated lights that gleamed like 
 stars through the foliage. The upper servants wore a costume of 
 dark blue, trimmed with broad gold lace; the others wore state 
 liveries. The assistants out of livery were dressed uniformly in 
 black suits with white vests. 
 
 “ It is said,” adds Mr. Jackson, “ that near two thousand persons 
 supped; but the extraordinary part of it was, that so large a num- 
 ber should have been served in such a style; tureens, dishes, plates, 
 even soup-plates, were everywhere of silver, with as many changes 
 of everything as were wanted. There were hot soups and roasts; 
 all besides cold, but of excellent and fresh cookery. Peaches, 
 grapes, pine-apples, and every other minor fruit in and out of 
 season were in profusion. Iced champagne at every three or four 
 persons, all the other wines also excellent. There was no crowd- 
 ing, hurry, or bustle in waiting; everj'thing was done as in a 
 private house. 
 
 “ The ropes that, in various directions, supported the tent were 
 all gilded, and were ornamented with wreaths and festoons of flowers 
 without end. The lustres were large and very handsome, and of 
 the finest glass, and were so numerous that every part of the tent 
 was not only well but brilliantly lighted. 
 
 “After supper the general company walked round those parts 
 of the tent where they had not supped, and to the apartments de 
 plein pied, which are the Prince’s private rooms, but formed on this 
 occasion ante-rooms to the tent, where also tables were laid. In 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 509 
 
 this way we were led on to the conservatory, where the Prince’s 
 p arty supped, consisting of all the royalties, dukes, and marquises, 
 with their wives, and jis many earls and countesses as could be 
 stowed in. 
 
 “The conservatory was really like what one would imagine a 
 fairy-lnill to be. It is a building of the lightest Gothic, resembling 
 the choir of a cathedral. Its defects, if it baas any, were concealed, 
 and its beauties revealed by innumerable small colored lamps placed 
 allround the little cornices, and in the niches of the Gothic work. 
 In the centre were lustres of the finest and most brilliant glass that 
 can be made. The table was served with gold and silver-gilt; the 
 Prince’s own state service, and which I haul before seen at the 
 silversmith’s. Where china and glassware used, they were of the 
 most magnificent kind, and at the top of the room was a sort of 
 buffet, on which each piece of the massive sideboard vermeille was 
 separately plaiccd. 
 
 “ The Serpentine river you hear so much of was on the plateau, 
 a paltry thing of bad taste, but which amused the baiauds, espe- 
 cially as it was full of real fish — roach, dace, and gudgeons — the 
 dying and the dead. Day broke while we were at supper.” 
 
 This river excited general ridicule, Mr. Tierney likening it to a 
 Sadler’s Wells display; but like the Pavilion and the Pagodas in the 
 park (later, his uniforms) his so-called “ taste” was of the gew-gaw 
 order. “ However,” says one of the guests (Lord Colchester), “it 
 was oriental and fanciful towards the Prince’s end, particularly as 
 in that part the table widened, and the water also fell by a succes- 
 sion of cascades into a circular lake, surrounded with architectural 
 decorations and small vases burning perfumes.”* 
 
 “Nothing was ever half so magnificent as this supper scene,” 
 wrote home Thomas Moore, now at every entertainment in Lon- 
 don, and who had obtained the Prince’s patronage, for a time at 
 
 * “ Before the company rose a ridiculous scene took place, for there was a 
 ?rand crowd from the supper-room (beyond the brass i-ailing:) of fine ladies, 
 who came to lean and look over the railing at our superior lot, and to en- 
 deavor at descrying the gudgeons in our river. ‘ There, 1 see them ! ’ ‘ Look, 
 look!’ ‘ Don’t you see? ’ by all the misses and company, old and 3 'oung, not 
 to mention Lady Mansfield, Lady Buckingham and niece, old Mr. Hastings, 
 and many other souls, whose eager and ridiculous curiosity was very enter- 
 taining. I »iary of Lord Colchester." ii. 38S. It is impossible not to con 
 trast the pleasant vivacity and even humor of the letter and diar^’ writers of 
 this time with the inert style of more mo lern da"s. Everyone seemed to 
 write with the gaiet-i clu coeur that was f > "i ' in '■'le comedies of the time- 
 
510 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 least, and was dazzled with the spectacle. He writes some time 
 after that it was reported that Wailhman, “the patriotic linen- 
 draper,” had got a card, and every odd-looking fellow that ap- 
 peared, people said; “That’s Mr. Waithman.” 
 
 An amusing incident was Sheridan’s hoaxing invitation of the 
 half-cracked “Romeo” Coates, to whom a well-imitated card had 
 been sent. TIie~podr coxcomb arrived in his finest fantastic dress, 
 — the hoaxer watching him near the entrance — but was repulsed by 
 the officials, who detected the imposture. The Regent learned the 
 trick that had been played, and with gracious good feeling sent 
 excuses to the victim, with a kind and earnest invitation to come 
 and inspect the adornments of the entertainment. 
 
 This occasion prompted the lively muse of the poet: 
 
 Come to our fete, and bring with thee 
 Thy newest, best embroidery ! 
 
 Come to our fete, and show again 
 That pea-green coat, thou pink of menl 
 Which charm’d all eyes, that last survey’d it,* 
 
 When B I’s self inquired “ who made it?” — 
 
 When cits came wondering, from the East, 
 
 And thought thee Poet Pye at least ! 
 
 Oh I come— (if haply ’tis thy week 
 For looking pale)— with paly cheek; 
 
 Though more we love thy roseate days, 
 
 When the rich rouge-pot pours its blaze 
 Full o’er thy face, and, amply spread. 
 
 Tips e’en thy whisker-tops with red— 
 
 Like the last tints of dying day 
 That o’er some darkling grove delayl 
 
 Bring thy best lace, thou gay Philander I 
 (That lace, like H— rry Al— x— nd— r. 
 
 Too precious to be wash’d !)— thy rings, • 
 
 Thy seals— in short, thy prettiest things I 
 Put all thy wardrobe’s glories on, 
 
 And yield, in frogs and fringe, to none 
 But the great R— g— t’s self alone! 
 
 Who— by particular desire— 
 
 For that night only, means to hire 
 A dress from Romeo C— tes, Esquire- 
 Something between (’twere sin to hack it) 
 
 The Romeo robe and Hobby jacket! 
 
 Hail, first of actors! best of R— g— ts! 
 
 Born for each other’s fond allegiance ! 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE lY, 
 
 511 
 
 Both gay Lotharios— good dressers — 
 Of Serious Farce both learn’d Professors — 
 Both circled round, for use or show, 
 
 With cocks’-combs, wheresoe’er they go I 
 
 Thou know’st the time, thou man of lore I 
 It takes to chalk a ball-room floor — 
 
 Thou know’st the time, too, well-a-dayl 
 It takes to dance that chalk away. 
 
 The ball-room opens— far and nigh 
 Comets and suns beneath us lie ; 
 
 O’er snowy moons and stars we walk, 
 
 And the floor seems a sky of chalk I 
 But soon shall fade the bright deceit. 
 
 When many a maid, with busy feet 
 That sparkle in the lustre’s ray. 
 
 O’er the white path shall bound and play 
 Like nymphs along the Milky Way I — 
 
 At every step a star is fled, 
 
 And suns grow dim beneath their tread I 
 So passeth life— (thus Sc— tt would write. 
 And spinsters read him with delight)— 
 Hours are not feet, yet hours trip on. 
 
 Time is not chalk, yet time’s soon gone I 
 
 But, hang this long digressive flight I 
 I meant to say, thou’lt see, that night. 
 
 What falsehood rankles in their hearts. 
 
 Who say the P e neglects the arts— 
 
 Neglects the arts!— no St g! no: 
 
 Thy Cupids answer “ ’tis not so:” 
 
 And every floor, that night, shall tell 
 How quick thou daubest, and how well 1 
 Shine as thou may’st in French vermillion, 
 Thou’rt 6esf— beneath a French cotillion; 
 And still com'st off, whate’er thy faults. 
 With flying colors in a waltz ! 
 
 Nor needst thou mourn the transient date 
 To thy best works assigned by fate— 
 
 While some chefs-d'oetivre live to weary one. 
 Thine boast a short life and a merry one; 
 Their hour of glory past and gone 
 With “ Molly put the kettle on!” 
 
 But, bless my soul ! I’ve scarce a leaf 
 Of paper left— so, must be brief. 
 
 This festive fete, in fact, will be 
 The former fete’s facsimile; 
 
 The same long masquerade of rooms. 
 Trick’d in such different quaint costumes 
 
512 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV 
 
 (These, P— rt— r, are thy glorious works!), 
 
 You'd swear Egyptians, Moors, and Turks, 
 
 Bearing good taste some deadly malice 
 Had clubb'd to raise a picnic palace; 
 
 And each, to make the oglio pleasant, 
 
 Had sent a state-room as a present!— 
 
 The same fauteuils and girandoles— 
 
 The same gold asses,* pretty souls I 
 
 That, in this rich and classic dome. 
 
 Appear so perfectly at home! 
 
 The same bright river ’mongst the dishes, 
 
 But not — ah ! not the same dear fishes— 
 
 Late hours and claret kill’d the old ones! — 
 
 So, ’stead of silver and of gold ones 
 (It being rather hard to raise 
 Fish of that specie nowadays). 
 
 Some Sprats have been, by Y— rm— th’s wish, 
 
 Promoted into Silver Fish, 
 
 » And Gudgeons (so V— ns— tt— t told 
 The R— g— t) are as good as Gold! 
 
 So, prythee, come— our fete will be 
 But half a fete, if wanting thee! 
 
 The public were admitted on the following days to see the deco- 
 rations, which was lauded as an instance of “ the Prince’s feeling 
 and good nature.” Much of this must be credited to a natural wish 
 that all should see and admire his state. The crush -was tremendous 
 on this occasion, and the excitement exceeded that of the festival 
 Itself. Some thirty thousand people assembled outside, filling up 
 Pall Mall and the Haymarket. All were so packed, the fine ladies 
 and the mob, that the situation became alarming; many fainted; 
 shrieks and cries were heard. Lord Yarmouth came forward and 
 made a speech. When the gates were opened a rush w’as made — 
 the liul es thrown down and trampled on — an elderly lady had her 
 leg broken, while those of the fair sex who were rescued could not 
 leave Carlton House, their clothes being torn from their backs. 
 The Duke of Clarence then came forward, and in a speech tran- 
 quillized the crowd. But great mischief had been done, and many 
 disasters occurred. 
 
 Such was the great Carlton House Fete. 
 
 * ’• The salt-cellars on the P e’s own table were in the form of an ass 
 
 with panniers.’* 
 
TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 513 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 1811 . 
 
 While all this revelry had been going on the King was growing 
 worse; the bulletins indeed told the public that he “remains in the 
 same state as during last week,” or that his Majesty is “no worse.” 
 On review of the whole, there can be no doubt that his condition 
 often coull be fitly described as that of insanity, with occasional 
 lucid intervals, rather than, as his family and the ministers tried to 
 represent it, that of sanity with relapses into that malady. Yet 
 the persons most interested in his recovery — the Queen and Mr. 
 Perceval — in their eagerness were forcing him into premature exer- 
 cise of his faculties, experiments which could only be injurious. 
 Thus they had tried him “ by proposing to him to hear the Catholic 
 debate read, to which he said he had no objection, that he knew he 
 must practise self-command.” This was one of the topics that had 
 actually produced his insanity. But Mr. Perceval gave out that he 
 was now well enough to be restored, but that by business he might 
 relapse. 
 
 While these intrigues were proceeding, the Prince’s political 
 principles were to be almost at once put to a very awkward test. 
 Itvas not unnatural that the Catholics, finding that the “friend 
 and follower of Fox” was now ruling the kingdom, might reason- 
 ably expect that his principles would at le.ist find sympathy. They 
 were now “agitating,” and the Irish Government had been com- 
 pelled to forbid an election of delegates for “ an unlawful assem- 
 bly.” called the Catholic Committee; which, with other repressive 
 proceedings, excited discontent and symptoms of rebellion. These 
 measures were dul_y sanctioned by the Regent, somewhat to the 
 surprise of the public and indignation of those who were affected 
 by it. Lord Grenville, moodily looking on from Dropmore, wrote 
 an explanation to his friends. 
 
 22 * 
 
514 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 LOED GEENVILLE TO LOED AUCKLAND. 
 
 “ Dropmore, August 18th, 1811. 
 
 “ My Deae Loed, 
 
 •'I believe the fact about the Irish business to be, that the 
 Prince Regent sanctioned the proclamation* on the ground of hav- 
 ing agreed to let the ministers go on their own wa}", and reserving 
 to himself his own more tolerant principles and opinions. For 
 m3^self (and my friends, too, for I should be ashamed to indulge a 
 feeling merely personal on such subjects, but for all of us), I am 
 persuaded that we have great reason to rejoice in an additional 
 obstacle to our being called upon once more to undertake to serve 
 the Crown, without possessing its confidence, and to act honorably 
 on our side towards those who are hourly betraying us.” 
 
 But in truth the behavior of the Prince all through this year of 
 restrictions was a series of fluctuations. Now friendly to the min 
 ister, now turning on him; now with the King, now' going against 
 him; now with the people, now against them. Thus he had re- 
 ceived a deputation from the Lord Mayor and Common Council, in 
 presence of the ministers of state, when it w^as urged that “the 
 present representation of the Commons House of Parliament, which 
 w'as termed a read}' instrument in the hands of the minister for the 
 time being, whether for purposes of nullifying the just prerogatives 
 of the Crow'n, or of insulting and oppressing the people, and a 
 reform in which representation is therefore absolutely necessary, 
 for the safety of the Crown, the happiness of the people, and the 
 peace and independence of the country.” To w'hich he returned a 
 dignified answer, assuring the City that he should esteem it the 
 happiest moment of his life, w’hen he could resign the powers del- 
 egated to him into the hands of his sovereign; and that he should 
 alw'ays listen to the complaints of those who thought themselves 
 aggrieved. 
 
 Again, w'Jien a Radical address at a meeting held at Westminster, 
 and presided over by the well-know'n Major Cartwright, was pre- 
 sented to him, pointing out the dangers of delaying reform, it was 
 
 * “The question of Ireland is parried judiciously enough for a short time; 
 but come it must, and I know, as I dare say you do equally, that the Prince is 
 pledged as strongly as man can be (even of a very late date) to support the 
 Catholics.”— Mr. Fremantle to Duke of Buckingham, “Buckingham Papers 
 —Regency,” i. 134. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 515 
 
 printed in the official Gazette, a most unusual circumstance, and 
 considered to be owing to the positive command of the Prince 
 himself.* * * § 
 
 On a contest for the Chancellorship of Cambridge, he gave all 
 his support to his brother, the Duke of Gloucester, as against the 
 Duke of Rutland, who had received the promise of the King’s sup- 
 port, as well as the Prime Minister’s. This the candidate published 
 in a letter, adding, with great candor, that “he had no merit but 
 the good-will of these personages.’^ 
 
 Then, by another turn, when the Gold Coin Bill came on in July, 
 “the Prince’s friends ” abandoned the Opposition and voted stead- 
 ily with the Government, Sheridan speaking against Tierney. 
 “ Except on the Regency they have never attended so zealously. 
 
 . . . In short the whole Carlton House interest has been most 
 actively exerted,” wrote Mr. Brougham, “ with what views I think 
 it not very difficult to guess.” f It might fairly be surmised that 
 he reckoned on aid from the ministers in two plans that were now 
 in his thoughts, viz. the hope of getting rid of the Princess of 
 Wales by a divorce, as well as of having his debts paid once more 
 and receiving a handsome allowance. ^ As to the first of these 
 plans, he might think it feasible now that her only friend and pro- 
 tector was disabled, and that the excellent Perceval, so lately her 
 champion, had “thrown her over.”:}: 
 
 It is not remarkable, therefore, that now he should make ap- 
 proaches to the minister, and, to the astonishment and disgust of 
 the Liberals, had actually promised to dine with him. But the 
 King’s state became so serious that at half-past nine on the 19th a 
 message was despatched to Mr. Perceval from the Regent, excusing 
 himself from dining with him on the morrow, but strangely adding 
 that “when this was over, whether the event was favorable or 
 unfavorable, his royal highness would consider the engagement to 
 dine with him as still holding.” § Such was his singular character. 
 Yet only a month before there had been “ a serious misunderstand- 
 
 * Huish, ii. 41. + “ Autobiography,” i. 524. 
 
 t “It appears,” wrote this usually well-informed person, in August, “that 
 he is bent upon a divorce, and will make any man minister who will assist 
 him. I have heard he intends bringing the Princess to trial as soon as his 
 father and her mother are gone, and that then, though her life, as she knows, 
 
 would be forfeited, he should only confine her in Holyrood House forever.” — 
 Jackson, “ Diary,” i. 275. 
 
 § Colchester, ii. 342. 
 
616 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 ing between them, which had risen to such a height that one or 
 other must give way.’’ 
 
 During the recess the Kegent paid a visit to Brighton, and en- 
 joyed himself very much, casting off business. Mr. Jackson, who 
 was there at the time, furnishes a glimpse of the life at the Pa- 
 vilion. 
 
 The Regent, in fact, has been very gracious, and we have been 
 invited to all his evening receptions. On Sunday, just as he seemed 
 ready to dismiss the party, he kept them waiting a full half-hour 
 whilst he was in very animated and familiar conversation with my 
 brother and Elizabeth-. 
 
 He is now returned to London, highly pleased wdlh his stay 
 here, and regretting especially that he must go just as the weather 
 is becoming fine, for it has rained hard part of every day he has 
 been here. He had the Duke of Cumberland with him. Lord Yar 
 mouth, and two or three gentlemen of his family, with only a small 
 retinue of servants. , 
 
 “ The evening’s entertainment consists in hearing the Regent’s 
 private band play The band is a part of his establishment con- 
 fined to this place. It is composed only of wind instruments. We 
 heard some of the finest music, executed in the very finest manner; 
 all the performers being musicians of the very first talent. On one 
 or two evenings. Miss Chinnery, wdio possesses great musical ability 
 in addition to her many other accomplishments, was asked to play 
 on the pianoforte. This was considered a very great compliment, 
 and, as you will readily understand, was the cause of much envy 
 and backbiting amongst the women. Many soft sleepy eyes opened, 
 many arched brews w'ere raised higher, and amongst the dowagers 
 many significant glances were slyly exchanged. But Miss Chinnery 
 performed splendidly, and without any of the airs and graces with 
 which I have seen some girls prattle wdth the ke3's. She was com- 
 plimented greatly, and particularly so by the Regent. On one 
 occasion w^e heard Viotti, the celebrated performer on the violin 
 About twelve o’clock, sandwiches and some light refreshments are 
 brought in, and the Prince retires; having made the tour of the 
 room to speak to the compan5% both before and after the perform- 
 ance of the band. I think the company never exceeded a hundred, 
 and sometimes not more than thirty persons were present.” 
 
 These Pavilion concerts showed not only his taste for music, but 
 
 “Buckingham Papers— Regency,” i. 83. 
 
TUB LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 517 
 
 liis good-nature. It was at one of them that Kelly — “Mike,” of 
 pleasant memory — ventured to introduce a little girl who was 
 eagerly curious to see the Prince, and concealed her among the 
 musicians. The Prince however spied her, and with affected anger 
 taxed Kelly with this intrusion. But he presently had the child on 
 his knee, put her in a good place, and took care that she enjoyed 
 herself. To this Kelly he contrived in a delicate gracious way to 
 give an annuity of £100; that is, by ordering him to take a free 
 benefit annually, to which he always contributed £100. 
 
 An instance of the Prince’s lavish tastes may be quoted here. 
 At the Duke of Queensberry’s sale of wine in 1810 it was found, 
 to the surprise of the public, that his cellar had been rather poorly 
 furnished; but there were twelve lots of Tokay, which Mr. Chris- 
 tie, after an appropriate harangue, informed the amateurs had cost 
 the noble duke three guineas per bottle at Paris, half a century back. 
 The liquor was put into lots of a dozen, and put up at fifty guineas, 
 on which biddings were immediately made, and it was knocked 
 down at ninety-six guineas; another succeeded at the same enor- 
 mous price, when two gentlemen agreed to take the whole between 
 them, as they had no opponents; they were found to be an agent 
 of the Prince of Wales, and a friend of a cabinet-maker of the City: 
 his royal highness having eight lots, and the other four. 
 
 Though there was hardly any other wine worth notice, it sold 
 for immense sums. The sale wound up with a couple of dozen of 
 liqueur, the name of which was unknown, but which fetched a 
 guinea a bottle.* 
 
 Mrs. Fitzherbert was also at Brighton during the season, though 
 perhaps not at the same time as the Prince. Not by any means in 
 low spirits, she gave suppers and balls— one of the latter kept up 
 until five in the morning. Here was also the beautiful Lady Char- 
 lemont — much admired, and still recalled by many now living — and 
 the lively Lady Alborough.f 
 
 A new influence had now begun to direct his policy and inclina- 
 tions, and which grew stronger with successive years — that of Lady 
 
 * See that curious work, “ Personal Memoirs of Pryse Gordon, Esq.” 
 t The .^ffreeable Mrs. Trench described an awkward scene at Cheltenham, 
 where Mrs. Fitzherbert had been judiciously invited by a gauche colonel to a 
 fete in honor of the Princess Charlotte’s birth. He first introduced his guest 
 as “ Regentess,” by leading her in before all the ladies of rank, then gave 
 toasts, and descanted on the merits of the Prince and Princess of Wales and 
 ‘‘ the lovely fruit of their xmion.” 
 
518 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 Hertford, which has been before alluded to. This was a decorous 
 lady of quality, whose connection with her admirer must be ac- 
 cepted as that of a correct and “platonic ” kind. Shrewd observers 
 had noticed what Lord Holland calls his usual symptoms of devo- 
 tion — sufferings from illness and bad health. He would submit to 
 be bled Iw^o or three times in the course of a night, and “the sur- 
 geons were introduced unknown to each other, to obviate any objec- 
 tions.” The reader will therefore understand the supposed attempt 
 at suicide when he was burning with his early flame for Mrs. Fitz- 
 herbert. It was always considered that Lady Hertford had worked 
 on him to confirm him in his change of political views. This re- 
 gard he extended to all belonging to her — as in the instance of a 
 later attachment — and Lord Yarmouth, the maturer son of this 
 elderly dame, was long one of his bosom friends and companions. 
 
 It was at Manchester House that he became acquainted with an 
 entertaining being — Theodore Hook — whose gifts were after his 
 own heart: those of mimicry, story-telling, and joking. This was 
 to prove a most valuable intimacy, and to bring him profit during 
 the years of conflict with his Queen. Then Hook starting the John 
 Bull did his cause infinite service. “ We believe,” writes Mr. Bar- 
 ham, in the more unpretending sketch in the “Quarterly Review^” 
 which preceded his “Life of Hook,” “he owed his first entree to 
 the impression made on Sheridan by his improvisation at the Piazza 
 Tavern; he soon afterwards became familiar with Sheridan’s amia- 
 ble and richly-gifted son Thomas, and through him with various 
 young men of his own standing, who moved in the atmosphere of 
 fashion. Some of these made mention of him to the Marchioness 
 of Hertford, and after he had justified their eulogies by the display 
 of his musical and metrical facility in her ladyship’s presence, he 
 was called upon to minister in like fashion to the amusement of 
 the Regent at a supper in Manchester Square. We have heard him 
 describe his presentation to the Prince — his awe at first "was some- 
 thing quite terrible — but good-humored condescension and plenty 
 of champagne by-and-by restored him to himself, and the young 
 man so delighted his royal highness that, as he was leaving the 
 room, he laid his hand on his shoulder and said: ‘Mr. Hood, I 
 must see and hear you again.’ After a few more evenings at Lady 
 Hertford’s, and, we believe, a dinner or t-wo elsewhere, the Regent 
 made inquiry about his position, and, finding that he was without 
 profession or fixed income of any sort, signified his opinion that 
 ‘something must be done for Hook.’ 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 519 
 
 “The ladies’ tact soon discovered that, though there might he 
 something like petulance in his first address, there was no real pre- 
 sumptuousness in his composition. The wonder had passed rapidly 
 into a favorite throughout Mayfair. He had seen its boudoirs as 
 well as its saloons — and narrowly escaped various dangers incidenta 
 to that career — among the rest, from at least one duel (with General 
 Thornton), in which transaction, from first to last, he was allowed 
 to show equal spirit and temper. We have some records of his 
 airier existence also in ‘ Gilbert Gurney.’ The whole scene of the 
 Countess of Wolverhampton’s party, at the end of the first volume, 
 is copied from what occurred at the late Lady Buckingham’s — not 
 forgetting the bullock substituted for the cow, and the royal Duke’s 
 supper devoured by the Pandeans. But the richness of the harvest 
 he had gathered is apparent in the whole series of his novels. It 
 was in the midst of these gayeties that the Regent smiled on him.” 
 
 When he was on a visit to Lord Hertford at Hagley a curious 
 incident occurred. Two of the tenants begged to be allowed to 
 have a “good view ” of the Regent, and were accordingly stationed 
 in an ante-room through which he was to pass. The hostess having 
 informed the Prince of their eagerness to see him, he good-naturedly 
 and affably advanced to speak to the village lasses: one was so over- 
 come that she fell to the floor fainting, the other remained in a state 
 of daze or stupefaction. 
 
 It was in this year that the most important changes in the me- 
 tropolis were planned; and the bold scheme for adding a new 
 quarter with a park, and streets laid out with taste, which now 
 forms the most effective portion of London, seems to have been 
 prompted by the Regent. 
 
 But it was in the year 1813 that the scheme of la3nng out magnifi- 
 cent streets and buildings, joining a large tract of waste fields, 
 known as Marylebone Park, by one spacious thoroughfare was en- 
 tered on. Nothing so welcome to the Regent could have been con- 
 ceived. It opened up prospects of building and planning, and his 
 own architect directed the whole, though the undertaking was 
 under the direction of “ The Woods and Forests.” Nash conceived 
 the plan of long fa9ades, broken into blocks, then again subdivided 
 into houses, and it must be said that Waterloo Place and the ascent 
 up to Regent Street proper, and the Quadrant (a most effective de- 
 vice, with its original colonnade now removed) all combine to make 
 a most satisfactory and successful design, which modern architects, 
 with the new developments and all the Queen Anne vagaries, have 
 
520 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 not succeeded in even approaching. Stucco and paint may indeed 
 be the chief “notes,” but there is a dignity and effect that is not 
 unworthy of a great cit}'' or of a leading and busy quarter full of 
 glittering shops. This important enterprise was completed in a sur- 
 prisingly short time. Within fifteen years the park was laid out 
 and terraces built. 
 
 These improvements included the erection of the houses forming 
 Cumberland Place and Crescent, and the Duke of Portland’s prop- 
 erty was then built over. Manchester Square was begun by the 
 erection of Manchester House. Lisson Grove and the district about 
 was gradually covered with houses; there remained, where Waterloo 
 Place is now, some blocks of old mean looking streets and dingy 
 houses, quite unsuited to Carlton House, which itself, as the new 
 streets spread away from it, biaan to look dingy and shabby enough, 
 and was dwarfed by the more pretentious buildings, and by the 
 towers of Westminster, which could be seen rising over its roof. 
 
 Some were scandalized at the rash and daring character of the 
 new plans; and it is characteristic to find that some lamented the 
 loss of the new milk, butter, and other produce, purveyed from the 
 fields and market-gardens past Wimpole Street, and which would 
 now have to be supplied from many miles be3'ond. Some were sar- 
 castic, too, on the number of new churches projected, and which 
 formed a feature in all the plans. But these projects were now 
 only being talked of, and had not yet been put in action. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV, 
 
 521 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 1811 . 
 
 A TRUE estimate of Mr. Perceval as a minister has now been 
 pretty fairly arrived at, viz. that he was a man of mediocre or 
 respectable ability, inclined to ‘ d-ade,”as it is called, on a reputa- 
 tion for being: a good father and husband, and perhaps for piety.* 
 
 It is amusing to read the extravagant terms in which his humble 
 adm.irers speak of him, and record his various performances. The 
 raptures of men like Mr. Plumer Ward would have been exag- 
 gerated if applied to Lord Chatham or his son. Nothing, too, is 
 more unfounded than the statement made by Lord Eldon and 
 others as to his gradually winning his way with the Prince, or the 
 latter “falling in love with him” politically. The truth is the 
 Regent looked on him as his father’s minister, and though for a 
 time he had hopes he might find him a pliant tool, he soon was on 
 the verge of a quarrel with him, or intriguing to supplant him. 
 This latter proceeding we wdll now consider, and a very curious 
 intrigue it is. 
 
 To understand the Prince’s political conduct, one principle may 
 be assumed: that he was never guided by men of principle, but led 
 by boon companions or men of pleasure — Sheridan, Loi dsWellesley, 
 Moira, and Yarmouth; the tribe of MacMahons, Tyrwhitts, Knight- 
 ons; scheming women, needy officers, adroit doctors — these were 
 his counsellors and directors. Grey, Grenville, Erskine, Romill}'-, 
 Fox, were tried and found unsuitable. They were too consistent, 
 too straightforward, too honest, to become mere instruments or 
 advisers of what was agreeable. But even when he had committed 
 himself to guides of this description, there was, as we have seen, a 
 camarilla within, who controlled and checked them, and thus the 
 foolish Prince was ever led by Ins humors and whims, and the aims 
 of others. 
 
 * Sydney Smith has expressed this popular view in a well-known and most 
 pleasant passage, praising him for his dutiful and conscientious behavior •* to 
 Mrs. Perceval, the Master and Miss Percevals.” 
 
522 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 On the Prince’s graciously allowing Mr. Perceval and ministers 
 “to wear his uniform,” the smart pen of Moore was again at 
 work •- 
 
 NEW COSTUME OF THE MINISTERS. 
 
 Having sent off the troops of brave Major Camac, 
 
 With a swinging horse-tail at each valorous back. 
 
 And such helmets. God bless us! as never deck’d any 
 Male creature before except Signor Giovanni— 
 
 “ Let’s see," sa}’s the R— g— t (like Titus, perplex’d 
 With the duties of empire), ” whom shall I dress next?” 
 
 He looks in the glass— but perfection is there, 
 
 Wig, whiskers, and chin-tufts all right to a hair; 
 
 Not a single eo’-curl on his forehead he traces— 
 
 For curls are like Ministers, strange as the case is, 
 
 The /aiser they are, the more firm in their places. 
 
 His coat he next views— but the coat who could doubt? 
 
 For his Y— rm— th’s own Frenchified hand cut it out: 
 
 Every pucker and seam were made matters of State, 
 
 And a grand Household Council was held on each plait 1 
 
 Then whom shall he dress’ shall he new -rig his brother, 
 
 Great C— mb— rl— d’s Duke, with some kickshaw or other? 
 
 And kindly invent him more Christian-like shapes 
 For his feather-bed neckcloths and pillory capes? 
 
 Ah no!— here his ardor would meet with delays. 
 
 For the Duke had been lately pack’d up in new stays, 
 
 So complete for the winter, he saw' very plain 
 ’Twould be devilish hard work to tuipack him again 1 
 
 So, what’s to be done?— there’s the Ministers, bless ’eml — 
 
 As he made the puppets, W'hy shouldn't he dress ’em? 
 
 “An excellent thought!— call the tailors— be nimble— 
 
 Let Cum bring his spyglass, and H— rtf— d her thimble; 
 
 ■While Y— rm— th shall give us, in spite of all quizzers. 
 
 The last Paris cut with his true Gallic scissors.” 
 
 # 
 
 So saying, he calls C— stl— r— gh, and the rest 
 
 Of his Heaven-born statesmen, to come and be dress’d. 
 
 While Y— rm— th, with snip like and brisk expedition. 
 
 Cuts up, all at once, a large Cath’lic petition 
 
 In long tailors' measures (the P e crying “Well donel”) 
 
 And first puts in hand my Lord Chancellor Eld— n. 
 
 Lord Wellesley, a man of pleasure and dissipated, but certainly 
 of talents, independent and manly, had two creditable ends for his 
 policy, which he always kept in view — the one a fair and generous 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 523 
 
 support for his brother, then fighting the battles of his country in 
 Spain, the other a loyal and liberal treatment of the Catholics. 
 From this latter position he never swerved. He was now a mem- 
 ber of a Government where neither of these principles was con- 
 sidered, and was doing his best to thwart the head of it. In 
 September, when Mr. Perceval and his friends were comforting 
 themselves with having gained the Regent, he was already being 
 closeted with him, and forwarding his own favorite ends. He had 
 pressed on him the possibility of a bold and dazzling foreign policy, 
 which would add prestige to his regency. 
 
 In the meantime he continued to be a thorn in the side of the 
 Prime Minister, and at councils was studiously obstructive and 
 haughtily insolent. After a quarrel, owing to his having contested 
 a grant of a million in aid of his brother, wrung from the minister 
 “like drops of blood,” the latter amiably offered him two places in 
 succession for his son, which were declined, with the contemptu- 
 ous speech that he would consult the Prince upon it. When the 
 ministers begged the Regent to be allowed to wear the Regent’s 
 uniform in honor of his birthday, and for that occasion only, the 
 haughty nobleman declined to sign the application, but asked it in 
 person, and was graciously privileged not only on that but on all 
 other occasions.* 
 
 It becomes entertaining to follow the network of speculation and 
 intrigue that was thus set on foot by “the Prince's old friends,” 
 “the Prince’s friends,” and the Prince’s advisers, who were neither 
 old nor new friends. They were all working against one another, 
 so it was hard for the distracted Regent to know how to act. But 
 new influences were fatal to the old. Lord Moira, one of the 
 “friends,” thus gravely lectured the old friends on his policy: 
 
 “Let me honestly say,” wrote Lord Moira, “that Lord Gren- 
 ville’s immediate connections have to charge themselves considera- 
 bly with the present state of things. Then a tone so unconciliatory 
 was used towards the Prince, as inevitably repelled his dispositions, 
 and laid him open to the representations of those who insinuated 
 that he would put himself into thraldom if he persevered in his 
 original plan. To clinch the matter there came that impolitic oppo- 
 sition, by Lord Grenville’s particular friends, in the House of Com- 
 mons, to the reappointment of the Duke of York.” f 
 
 “One thing seems evident,” wrote Lord Bulkely, “that our 
 
 * “ Buckingham Papers,” pp. 126, 127. 
 
 t Auckland, iv. 371. 
 
524 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 friend of Dropmore has no chance of being our future pilot, and 
 that the Prince will proscribe him and Grey.”* But Lord Grey 
 was quite sanguine, and believed that the Prince intended to bring 
 in his old friends. ‘'Our friend of Dropmore,” on the other hand, 
 took the gloomiest view, and declared that the Prince had not the 
 smallest disposition towards what are called his old friends. “He has, 
 I am confident, no plan of conduct whatever, but is governed from 
 day to day by the two people that have taken him. ” In aid of these 
 various schemes, negotiations were going on with the Whig Dukes, 
 and it was given out “ with great exultation that the Prince had 
 gained over the great houses of Norfolk, Percy, and Cavendish.” 
 All the royal family too were eager to have Lord Wellesley at the 
 head of affairs, for patronage was to be given over to the Prince, 
 and he was besides to be handsomely treated as to debts and allow^ 
 ances, and established by some brilliant coups of foreign policy. 
 
 All, therefore, was couleur de rose when, owing to the influence 
 of the Duke of Cumberland, a coolness took place. The Chancel- 
 lor was called in, and these champions of ascendency succeeded in 
 touching the Prince in his Protestant feelings, and persuading him 
 that the late behavior of the Catholics was insolent and offensive, 
 so that he was heard to declare that he considered their conduct 
 purely hostile to him, as showing a distrust of him when he should 
 become his own master; that so long as they assumed this menacing 
 attitude, there should be no change that would favor their objects. 
 It was thought that this afforded him a plausible pretence for 
 “ opportunism,” of leaving things as they vrere. the part most con- 
 sonant to his love of ease and personal timidity of character. 
 
 This was practically destroying the old party of the Prince’s 
 friends. “ I can now tell you,” wrote a judicious observer, “ for I 
 know It, that your friends are distinctly excluded from any chance 
 of success, whatever change may take place. On this depend.'’f 
 And he added a characteristic reason which showed he was not un- 
 skilled in human character. It was because the Prince had already 
 used his friends so ill that no concession or recommendation on his 
 part could set such a compound fracture as had ,taken place. j; 
 
 * Auckland, iv. 373. t “ BuckingrhaTU Papers."’ p 1.57. 
 
 X This was from that anonymous correspondent M ho writes such piquant 
 letters, the authorship of which has puzzled Sir G. Cornwall Lewis and others. 
 A clue rna}' be found in the following. Many years ago. when the paper-< and 
 correspondence of the Buckingham f'^milv were put up to auction, there w'as 
 among the lots in the catalogue one thus described. “ 123— Stuart (Mr.), editor 
 
TEE LIFE OF OEOBGE JF. 525 
 
 With this may be contrasted the behavior of the otherwise worthy 
 Perceval, which was certainly nudiixnificd. 
 
 His eagerness to conciliate Lord Wellesley will have been noted. 
 In this view he seems to have put up with very brusque treatment 
 and many snubs; as, when the bishopric of Oxford fell vacant the 
 Prince at once thought of his old tutor Jackson (?), and in an inter- 
 view with the minister announced his intention of conferring it on 
 him. The following animated conversation took place: “On that 
 point, sir, I am positively pledged,” objected Mr. Perceval, “ Pos- 
 itively pledged, Mr. Perceval!” said the Prince, “ positively pledged 
 to give away one of my bishoprics? I don’t understand you.” “ I 
 mean,” said the other humbly, “ that it was the King’s positive and 
 declared intention to give it to Dean Legge.” “Mr. Perceval,” 
 replied the Prince insolently, “if 1 had any direct intimation of 
 what were really the King’s wishes upon the subject, I would not 
 only make Dean Legge Bishop of Oxford, but Archbishop of Can- 
 terbury, if it were in my power. But as that is not the case, I 
 shall make my own bishop. And further, I desire never more to 
 hear what were the King’s wishes upon such subjects through a 
 third person,”"^ This sharp rebuke shows that the Prince was 
 shrewd and sagacious enough; but the secret of this bitterness was 
 really owing to what was a sore subject with him, refusal of money; 
 and here the minister, no doubt looking to his own interests with 
 the nation and the King, declined to be complaisant. He had con- 
 sented to a grant of £150,000 to defray the extra expenses of the 
 regency, but had suddenly changed his views and reduced it to 
 £100,000. On this the Prince made the following angry speech 
 “ Sir, I am not afraid of your bringing the whole of my debts before 
 the country, provided you don’t misrepresent me.” No one seems 
 to have recalled the magnanimous declaration in which only a few 
 months before the Regent had declined to burden the nation with 
 any fresh demands, saying he was not eager for money. 
 
 of ‘The Oracle,’ Secret Correspondence with the Marquis of Buckingham, 
 41 letters. These letters are mostly of great length, many being of ten or 
 twelve pages; they enter very fully into the details of the political move- 
 ments of the day, and evince a degree of close intimacy with persons of high 
 position. A large portion of the correspondence, most relative to private 
 affairs of individuals, is unpublished.” This is an almost exact description of 
 the published anonymous documents. Before the sale the letters were with- 
 drawn. Stuart was brother of the “ Dan Stuart ” so pleasantly described by 
 Charles Lamb. 
 
 * *■ Buckingham Papers,” p. 172. 
 
526 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 The most singular incident in the history of cabinets is that one 
 member of the Government should have constituted himself the 
 Prince’s official advocate and champion, in opposition to its chief 
 and the rest; Lord Wellesley insisting on the Prince’s rights in an 
 almost hostile manner. As the Regent’s agent he informed Mr. 
 Perceval that what was required was that the King should have a 
 suitable establishment, sufficient for his comfort and rank; but that 
 the full Civil List, state, etc., should be transferred to the Regent, 
 who would give up his allowance as Prince of Wales. The Queen 
 and Princesses, as the Prince had taken care to assure them at the 
 beginning, should have separate allowances.* This view the min- 
 ister declined to accept in its entirety, and proposed that the Regent 
 should maintain the King out of the Civil List to the extent of 
 £100,000 a year. He agreed, however, to add £50,000 from the 
 Prince’s old allowance, so that the balance would only be £50,000. 
 
 But the strange incidents of this little struggle to overthrow by 
 personal influence and favoritism the constituted Government is mi- 
 nutely unfolded in a curious account given by Lord Wellesley him- 
 self to a friend, colored, no doubt, by his impulsive habit of 
 viewing things. From it we get a clear idea of the turns and shifts 
 of this uncertain prince. f 
 
 “ When the turn of good fortune on the Continent had come the 
 Prince Regent learned from Count Munster, the Hanoverian min- 
 ister, what great openings there were for adding to England’s pres- 
 tige. On this topic Lord Wellesley used to enlarge until the Prince 
 grew flred with enthusiasm. This, Lord Wellesley says, was a 
 bond of union. The Prince and his brothers were even anxious to 
 send out an army to Hanover, but from this Lord Wellesley dis- 
 suaded him. He proposed even that all these plans should be kept 
 secret from the other ministers; but this his friend dissuaded him 
 from. Meanwhile Mr. Perceval was complaining to Lord Welles- 
 ley “that he despaired of getting anything done; that the Prince 
 Regent talked incessantly, and would seldom listen to business; 
 that he frequently went away without having shown one of his 
 papers.” 
 
 Towards the end of the summer the Prince Regent began to 
 speak to him on the subject of the ministry he proposed to form at 
 
 * Lord Wellesley to Perceval, “Life of Perceval ’’ ii. 227. 
 
 + It seems to have been dravm up by Colonel Shawe, his secretary and 
 friend, and will be found in the Duke of Wellington's “Supplementary 
 Despatches,” vii. 257. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 527 
 
 the end of his restrictions; he pressed for Lord Wellesley’s advice 
 without stating his own intentions. Lord Wellesley, after alluding 
 to his favorite principles of carrying out a bold policy on the Con- 
 tinent, still advised him, if he had given a pledge to any particular 
 set of men, to keep his word and commence his government “ with 
 unblemished honor.” This the adviser felt would throw him out 
 of office, and he fancied the Prince’s idea was to have Lords Grey 
 and Grenville, who had too many of their own friends to provide 
 for to offer him anything. The Regent, he believed, proposed to 
 retain the present men with an infusion of his own friends, but 
 getting rid of Perceval. No doubt he wished to have a little party 
 of his own in the Cabinet whom he could influence, just as he was 
 now working on Wellesley. He wished to put an end to the distinc- 
 tion between the Pitt and Fox parties, and was continually saying; 
 “ For God’s sake, is it not time to leave at rest the ashes of the two 
 great men, now no more, who are quoted at every step?” In these 
 councils the Prince pressed his friend for his opinions on the Catho- 
 lic question, who enforced on him that something must be done for 
 the Catholics, not, certainly, so long as there was a chance of its 
 being painful to the King; but once the restrictions were removed, 
 he would have an opportunity. The result of all this is amusingly 
 described. The Prince took up these views rapturously; “they 
 were exactly his own,” except — an important exception too — that 
 the matter was not to be touched at all during the King’s life. Lord 
 Wellesley applauded this filial delicacy, but urged: “You cannot 
 refuse to listen to the Catholics; if you create peers and give away 
 the garters, the same reasoning applies to both,” This staggered 
 the Prince, who declared that the argument convinced him. 
 
 “ This was now become the favorite topic at Carlton House. 
 Lord Wellesley w^as made to repeat his intended arguments over 
 and over again; the Prince always swearing the suggestions were 
 all his own (as is usual when anything pleases him). He was desired 
 to state in the House that such were the Prince’s own opinions.” 
 But he excused himself, saying it was inconsistent. Even when 
 the Prince found that Lord Wellesley’s speech had made a noise, 
 he complained that “Wellesley had not dealt fairly by him in con- 
 cealing his share in it.” The trusting foolish lord came at last to 
 think that he was certain presently to dislodge the minister, and he 
 himself to be placed at the head of affairs. 
 
 IVIeanwhile all this talk and flourish might have been accepted as 
 “certain forecast of the Regent’s going no farther in that direc- 
 
528 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 tion.” Other talk and councils -were going on at Hertford House, 
 and it was artfully suggested to the Prince, tliat now that he was 
 wanting money allowances for the household, it was more likely 
 that one of Perceval’s “ reputation for economy and frugality 
 would be more readily followed by the House than Lord Welles- 
 le 3 ^ who is considered an extravagant fellow.” The Prince deter- 
 mined prudentl}" 'therefore to retain Mr. Perceval until he had 
 carried the Bill. Thus in every part of these transactions he was 
 veered about by his own interest. His friend now began to have 
 misgivings. He was naturally on cold and distrustful terms with 
 the colleagues he was undermining, but disdaining to act cordially, 
 absented himself as much as he could. He took the same course 
 with the Prince. 
 
 At this time a horse had trodden on the Prince’s foot, and indeed, 
 apart from this, he had been far from well, complaining of strange 
 symptoms in his head. His fingers had so swelled that his rings 
 had to be sawn off. It was during his convalesence that Lord 
 Wellesley found occasion to strengthen his influence, dwelling on 
 topics likely to touch his vanity — the war in Spain, combinations 
 with the Northern Courts, etc.* 
 
 On Nov. 27th, he writes the Prime Minister. “ As I reached 
 Oatlands this morning at half-past twelve, the Princesses arrived 
 from Windsor, which event prevented me from seeing the Prince 
 until a very late hour. I am but this moment arrived in town, and 
 have had no dinner, and am so much tired (partly from the extreme 
 heat of the room at Oatlands) that I should have no power of ren- 
 dering justice to any subject of public business to-night, even if I 
 could reach j’ou in an}' reasonable time. The subject of my au- 
 dience to-day was Sweden; but the Prince generally stated to me 
 the same ideas which I have already mentioned to you, with much 
 increased earnestness, and indeed on some points with considerable 
 force. He informed me that he had seen the Queen yesterday, and 
 that her Majesty entirely approved all his views respecting the 
 King, the household, and the settlement for the Queen and the Prin- 
 cesses. He continues to think that the dignity of the King and the 
 comfort of his situation will be best provided for by a separate 
 establishment, under a new office of the highest rank. That the 
 Regent should have the whole Civil List, and the full state, as well 
 
 * See Mr. McCullagh Torrens’ interesting memoir, “The Marquess Welles- 
 ley,” p. 465 et seq., from which I take what follows. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 529 
 
 as power, of the Crown, and should resign his allowances as Prince 
 of Wales. That the Queen should have an independent allowance, 
 and the Princesses the same. He considers this part of the arrange- 
 ment to be inseparable from the settlement of the Regency on a 
 permanent basis. He will state many very strong considerations in 
 favor of his plan, and appears intent on carrying it into execution. 
 He said to-day that, after the discussion with you shall have taken 
 place (unless you agreed), he should wait to receive your proposi- 
 tions in writing, in order that he might answer them. I rather 
 understood this to be a proof of his determination to abide by his 
 own ideas than a symptom of any intention to depart from them in 
 consequence of what he might receive in writing from you. . . . 
 The Prince Regent,” he writes again to the Prime Minister, “sent an 
 order to me, which reached me at this place last night, directing me to 
 attend his royal highness at Oatlands, at twelve to-day. He began by 
 asking me whether I had seen the paper which he had received from 
 you respecting the new settlement of the Regency. I said (as you 
 know I must have said) that I had not seen the paper, but that I 
 was acquainted with the substance of its contents. He then com- 
 municated your paper to me, and said that he intended to state his 
 ideas in writing on the whole subject; that he was aware of the 
 impropriety of desiring me to offer any advice in the present state 
 of the question, but that he wished to declare his sentiments freely 
 to me. 1 thought it was my duty to inform his royal highness that 
 I could not, in this stage of the discussion, offer any opinion on the 
 subject, either of your paper or of his intended answer; and as this 
 sentiment agreed with his own feeling he did not ask any opinion 
 from me ; but he proceeded to express nearly the same views of the 
 subject which he had stated to you and to me on former occasions. 
 I collected from his royal highness’s conversation that your paper 
 had produced no change in his opinion, and that he entertained a 
 strong persuasion that his statement would have great weight, and 
 would satisfy you that you had taken an erroneous view of the 
 question.” 
 
 Mr. Perceval replied ; “I thank you for your letter, and regret 
 extremely that his royal highness continues so attached to his former 
 opinion respecting the new settlement of the Regency. I had called 
 a Cabinet meeting for this day, at two o’clock.” On this he repaired 
 to him, remaining “four hours” at his first sitting, on which the 
 prudent Yarmouth hinted “that nothing annoyed the Prince so 
 much as a long audience ; he could not bear the sight of a man for 
 23 
 
5S0 
 
 TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 a week after.” He also offered to give him hints in future of the 
 same kind. It was, of course, the Prince that declaimed the most 
 part of the time; he was eager for his “old Cornwall arrears.” 
 But his adviser pointed out to him that he could not in honor ask 
 for them, as his claims had been abandoned by his agent in the 
 House of Commons. The Prince said this had been done without 
 his authority (“a favorite expedient of his,” says his friend). See- 
 ing that iracasserie of some kind was on foot, it was natural that 
 Perceval and his colleagues should not take Lord Wellesley much 
 into their confidence. The latter pressed to be allowed to resign, 
 but neither the Prince nor Mr. Perceval wished him to retire. He 
 really knew not what to do, as he might lose all chances by with- 
 drawing. He wished, of course, to avoid the mortification of find- 
 ing Mr. Perceval chosen as minister, and of being dismissed by 
 him; and thus, in an irresolute way, weakly consented to stay on, 
 little suspecting that they w’ere only waiting to arrange their plans. 
 He owns that he was tormented with reports of Lord Castlereagb 
 being offered his place; but the Prince kept on assuring him that 
 he should have full notice of any attempt of the kind being made. 
 When he learned from his friends that Mr. Perceval was telling 
 every one he was to be retained as Prime Minister, it was too late. 
 
 i 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 531 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 1812. 
 
 Parliament met on January 7tli, with great irritation and excite- 
 ment on both sides. The Catholic question came at once to the 
 front; and the other questions of the household, the debts, together 
 with his own illness, almost distracted the unhappy Regent, whose 
 situation was deserving of commiseration. His early and continued 
 excesses were telling on his health. He was growing large and 
 corpulent; his recent attack filled him with nervous apprehensions; 
 and the numbness in his head he fancied was a symptom of para- 
 lysis. The Queen, too, now representing a distinct interest, but 
 feeling that her rule was slipping from her, was working through 
 the Chancellor and the Council to retain as much power and influ- 
 ence as possible for herself, and, as the Speaker said, was voracious 
 in her claims, harassing her son even when he was ill. She was 
 most eager that her daughters should not have independent estab- 
 lishments; while the Prince was inclined to grant them. On the 
 Catholic question it seems he would have preferred the old laissez- 
 faire policy. Many of the Cabinet were beginning to adopt this 
 view; and the Prince himself, loudly complaining of the way he 
 had been treated, affected to declare that the Papists ought to get 
 relief, but at the proper time. He and Colonel Tyrwhitt, another 
 of the “ Prince’s men,” in a conversation with the Speaker about 
 the same time, expressed the same view — that “it was to be wished 
 the other ministers would agree to resist it only on the point of time. 
 Could not the Prince say that in the King’s present state it was not 
 to be done?” To which appeal the Speaker sensibly replied that there 
 must be a solidarite between the Prince and his ministers, and that 
 what they said must be accepted as his views; in short, finessing 
 would not do. Further evidence of his irresolution was, that after 
 offering himself to dine with the Prime Minister, and fixing a day, 
 he now excused himself, “conscious,” as Colonel Tyrwhitt said, 
 “that he was watched, and that misinterpretations would be put 
 
o32 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 upon his dining at this time ; but he would dine with him on some 
 other occasion.” * 
 
 But the Opposition were not inclined to adopt this waiting policy. 
 Lord Grenville had forced the question on, and the leader of the 
 Opposition in the other House also brought it forward. It was no 
 doubt pressed on the Regent that this was an affront. The intro- 
 duction of so embarrassing a question would make it impossible to 
 have such men as advisers. It is not surprising, therefore, to find 
 that by the 20th of January Colonel Tyrwliitt was giving put that 
 “the Regent would not increase his father’s miseries by granting 
 the Catholics’ demands, but would not deny them so as to extin- 
 guish hope.” Anyhow, the struggle for supremacy between Lord 
 'Wellesley and the ministry of which he formed part became more 
 interesting. 
 
 In reference to this matter Mr. Ward gives a curious statement. 
 “There was,” he says, “a meeting, it seems, at Ponsonby’s at 
 which he, among ninety gentlemen, was present. Ponsonby sent 
 for them in order to relate a message which he had received through 
 Sheridan from the Regent. The message was, ‘ that the Catholic 
 question was so far given up by the ministers that it was no longer 
 to be considered as a ministerial question; and that every one was 
 to be allowed to take what line he would, without being considered 
 as renouncing engagements to the Government.’ Ponsonby, how- 
 ever, added that at the same time that he received this, he had also 
 received a communication from some, either of the ministers or 
 persons nearly connected with them (I did not learn which), by 
 which he was given to understand this was all a misapprehension.” 
 
 “ The next day (Sunday), upon Lord Moira’s calling at Carlton 
 House by the Prince’s order, the Prince sent out his page-in-waiting 
 to him, to tell him that he had been so drunk the preceding night, 
 he was not well enough to see him, but ordered the page to tell him 
 that he (the Prince) had settled the Catholic question, which was 
 not any longer to form a Government question. The Prince, later 
 on Sunday, said the same thing to Sheridan, who asked if he might 
 be authorized to say that from the Prince to Ponsonby; and the 
 Prince said, ‘ Bj’- all means.’ You see in this we have only the 
 story of one side; but it remains to see what Perceval’s story will 
 be.” 
 
 It was a bold game that he was pla}'ing, but it was to fail. He 
 
 * Colchester, “Diary,” ii. 354. 
 
THE LIFE OF OEORGE IV. 
 
 533 
 
 saw that the only way of release from his troubles would be in get- 
 ting ministers to adopt this new-found principle and thus save his 
 own consistency. He accordingly insisted that Lord Wellesley 
 should meet Perceval, Lord Liverpool, and the Chancellor at Carl- 
 ton House to consider the matter. A very warm discussion was 
 opened by the Prince desiring that the- question should be con- 
 sidered on its merits, without regard to the opinions previously 
 expressed by any of the parties present. He himself cordially 
 seconded his friend’s views on the “opportunist” theory, and the 
 matter ended, as might be expected, by Mr. Perceval and the Prot- 
 estant party adopting this view.* 
 
 Lord Holland seems to have gauged the Prince thoroughly in his 
 fluctuations on the Catholic question, and describes how he came 
 to warn him seriously that his popularity in Ireland, at least, would 
 be in peril, if a belief got abroad that he was against the claims. 
 The Prince declared to him that, “if he took an active part, it 
 might occasion a relapse in the King, and expose him to imputa- 
 tions which he could not bear. He announced that he would never 
 take any part in a subject that -was hostile to the King, and by that 
 declaration he would abide. He then seemed to hint that Lord 
 Moira’s declaration in the House had been authorized by him.” 
 Later, Lord Holland brought Lord Fingall, the representative of 
 the Catholics, to Carlton House, where “the Prince spoke for an 
 hour and a half by the French clock. He recounted at great length, 
 but more adroitly than distinctly, the history of his opinions on the 
 Roman Catholic question.” He did not say distinctly that he was 
 for admitting them to Parliament and offices, but “implied his 
 opinions,” such as would satisfy Lord Fingall. He censured the 
 ministry of 1805, but authorized his visitor to repeat that his opin- 
 ions were unchanged. He doubted the policy of bringing matters 
 on now; but he hoped he was mistaken. He denied that he had 
 prompted Lord Moira. “Of course he will vote with you. He 
 cannot do otherwise.” Lord Fingall departed “ highly satisfied.’* 
 The Prince’s conduct at this interview gives an excellent idea of 
 his cleverness and art. No one knew so well how to ring the 
 changes on “ opportunism,” and make that useful auxiliary serve 
 as covert for denial. In this device, however, he had many to 
 imitate him. 
 
 The result was most mortifying for the Catholic champion; for 
 
 * “ Buckingham Papers,” p. 21G. 
 
534 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 thus the ground was, as it were, cut from beneath his feet, and the 
 lever for supplanting the ministry lost. The Regent, forgetting all 
 that he had held out to his friend, only thought of his own com- 
 fort, which had been secured. The other at once informed him 
 that he could no longer serve under Mr. Perceval, and would only 
 delay his resignation until new arrangements could be made. But 
 Perceval, perceiving that the man who had plotted against him was 
 baffled, now saw his advantage, and insisted on his immediate 
 resignation, declaring that the Government could not go on. The 
 Prince, scenting fresh troubles, objected, declaring that his resig- 
 nation was “only i)i petto,” and “that it would put him in great 
 difficulty, and produce him much uneasiness of mind,” etc. — a 
 characteristic reason. Perceval insisted pertinaciously on getting 
 rid of his colleague, and the Prince had to yield. When Lord 
 Castlereagh was named as his successor, the Regent praised the 
 choice, as indeed he might, for he was connected with the Hertford 
 camarilla; the other replied that he had not proposed the matter to 
 him, but that he was certain to accept. But that nobleman haughti- 
 ly answered, “that he would be stopgap to no man; but that when 
 the restrictions were at an end, if the Prince chose to make him a 
 formal offer, he would consider it with humble duty and acknowl- 
 edgment.” Much mortified, Perceval then proposed to take in 
 Lord Sidmouth, when the Prince warmly exclaimed: “Is it possi- 
 ble, Mr. Perceval, that you are ignorant of my feelings and senti- 
 ments towards that person? I now tell you I never will have 
 confidence in him, or in any person who forces him on me. If 
 after this you choose to employ him, be it so; but I warn you that 
 you must take all the responsibility upon yourself.” He repeatedly 
 pressed this measure on the Prince, and at last finding that he 
 could not succeed, he proposed that, as Lord Wellesley must be 
 retained, he, Mr. Perceval, should be empowered to state that he 
 possessed the Prince’s sole and exclusive confidence.” This the 
 Prince positively and repeatedly refused in a tone of sarcasm and 
 disgust. 
 
 These scenes seemed to have been reported to Lord Wellesley by 
 the Prince himself, and by the former retailed to Lord Temple’s 
 anonymous correspondent.* 
 
 Allowing for exaggeration, there could be no doubt this took 
 place, for the Prince was exasperated about the question of his 
 
 ♦ “ Buckingham Papers,” i. 219. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 535 
 
 debts. Sympathy would go with the minister who was thus flouted 
 through the agency of a subordinate, oniy for his mild amiable 
 endurance in accepting such treatment. At these interviews was 
 given a good specimen of the Prince’s “ sharpness” and that sort 
 of “cleverness” in conversation with which he was certainly gifted. 
 Perceval had stated that Mr. Yorke’s health was so bad that he was 
 to resign at the expiration of the restrictions. “And why, Mr. 
 Perceval,” asked the Prince, “should the necessity exist for Lord 
 Wellesley, and not for Mr. Yorke, of immediate resignation?” To 
 this the minister could make no reply. 
 
 This difficulty thus staved over allowed the Prince to continue 
 his display of vacidation. One day he asked Lord Wellesley, 
 
 “ Would you have any objection lo shake hands with Lord Gren- 
 ville?” The other declared he had not the least, and that he had 
 the greatest regard for him. He indeed made himself the Prince’s 
 most pliant instrument. “ His influence over him is hourly increas- 
 ing, and all the people about the Prince are entirely in his interests. 
 For the rest, having adopted as the groundwork all the Prince’s 
 views and politics, both foreign and domestic, he is willing to act 
 with any man. or set of men.” Yet this devotion was requited by 
 abandonment, and his fate was already settled. 
 
 In the preceding November the Duchess of York had given a 
 ball to introduce the young Princess, and the fashionable world 
 was horrified to learn that in dancing with his daughter, “and lead"! 
 ing her briskly along, his right foot came in contact with the leg of 
 a sofa, by which two tendons of his foot were broken.” Such was 
 the Court newsman’s account. Private letters brought a rather 
 different story of the accident. It seems that one evening they 
 were dancing tl'i.e Highland fling, and there was a laugh in making 
 Adam, the PrinceVYamiifar and a Scotchman, teach the young 
 Princess, when the Regent attempted to show her the proper step, 
 and in doing so wrenched his ankle. How such a misadventure 
 came about is not stated, but the way he was afflicted by it was 
 extraordinary. For ten days he never quitted his bed, complaining 
 of violent pains and spasmodic affections, for which he took im- 
 moderate doses of laudanum every three hours.* Lord Yarmouth, 
 coming to town, reported that he was taking as much as seven 
 hundred drops a day — twelve hundred, according to others. f This 
 
 * “ Buckingham Papers— The Regency,” i. 145. 
 t Colchester, “ Diary,” ii. 348, 
 
536 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 unmanly disinclination to bear pain made him persist in the prac- 
 tice in spite of the physicians, who found him sunk in the utmost 
 despondency, quite enervated and prostrated. They prescribed a 
 familiar medicine of the most drastic character, but he still per- 
 sisted in his laudanum, which he said relieved his pains. He would 
 lie on his stomach for hours, hear nothing of business, sign noth- 
 ing, to the great annoyance of the ministers. Truly a pitiable pic- 
 ture. His worthy brother of Cumberland went about saying “it 
 was all sham,” and that he could get up and be perfectly well if he 
 pleased, which was indeed true enough; for, as Mr. Fremantle 
 wrote, it was likely that he became so nervous at the diflaculties 
 before him, and the necessity on taking some resolve as the day of 
 decision drew near, that he could not bear to face it.* 
 
 Always to be associated with the history of the Prince was that 
 of that strange group known as the “Royal Brothers ”Vthe six 
 Dukes — one or other of whom was always to be attracting public 
 attention. The Duke of York had now been restored to the office 
 of Commander-in-Chief, its occupant, the veteran Sir David Dun- 
 das, having retired. This step excited some disgust, but was 
 accepted. In the House of Commons it was again vehemently 
 commented on by the Liberals, and Lord Grenville’s friends were 
 especially bitter, which was, of course, considered a fresh offence. 
 
 The Duke of Cumberland, long notorious as the most “ill con- 
 ditioned ” of the band, had formed a strict alliance with Lord 
 Eldon, and had contrived to establish a sort of ascendency over his 
 eldest brother. Both would come down together to see the King 
 on Sunday; and with such elements in alliance, it is not surprising 
 to hear that the Queen and the Prince were now “on very bad 
 terms. ”f Tins fraternal alliance had weakened the one between 
 him and the Duke of York, whose visits to Carlton House became 
 less frequent, while those of the other Duke increased. As he con- 
 trived to make the Chancellor one of the party, the result was that 
 the influence of such eminent Protestant champions began to be 
 felt. This, however, will be shown later.^ However, before the 
 end of the year, this royal brother also had fallen out of favor. In 
 fact, “ a complete quarrel” had taken place on a subject relating to 
 a German officer of the 15th Dragoons. The Regent henceforth 
 
 * The Queen, too, had been ill, and was only saved from death by appolexy 
 by a fortunate bleeding in her foot. She had actually taken leave of her 
 children. 
 
 t " Buckingham Papers— The Regency,” i. 134. 
 
 X Ibid. i. 155. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IT. 537 
 
 determined never to see him alone, and when he called always had 
 some one in the room. 
 
 The Duke of Sussex was a consistent Whig, and usually opposed 
 to his brother. Another of the royal brothers, the Duke of Clarence, 
 w'as attracting general attention by some ridiculous freak, which 
 might reasonably excite suspicions of his sanity. The pursuit of 
 the well-known heiress. Miss Long, by Mr. Wellesley Pole, was 
 being watched with great interest, when of a sudden the Duke of 
 Clarence struck in. “ Before he went down to Ramsgate he wrote 
 to her to offer his hand, which she declined in firm and respectful 
 terms. Fi’om Ramsgate he offered himself three or four times, and, 
 after his return, sent her an abstract of the Royal Marriage Act, 
 which, he said, the Regent had consented to have altered for his 
 benefit, and conveying to her the Queen’s best wishes and regards. 
 Neither of these personages had been consulted on the matter. 
 Upon finding that she had accepted Mr. Pole, he WTote at once to 
 Lord Keith to propose for Miss Mercer, who, in the most decided 
 terms, rejected him, notwithstanding which he went to stay at Lord 
 Keith’s. Presently, the Duke of Cumberland amiably made Mrs. 
 Jordan acquainted with the real motive of the Duke of Clarence’s 
 proposals, on which the lady wrote a furious letter, with another 
 to her informant, thanking him for the information, but directing 
 them wrongly, in consequence of which there was a scene between 
 the royal brothers. Altogether,” writes this sagacious correspon- 
 dent of Lord Temple, “ the conduct of these illustrious personages 
 is a most melancholy and alarming feature in the difficulties which 
 every hour increase upon us; and one can hardly impute it to any 
 other ground but an affliction of the same nature as that under 
 which the King labors.”* 
 
 'I^_Duke of Kent, another royal brother, was a prince with a 
 grievance, considering himself the most ill-treated man in the king- 
 dom. He had certainly been dealt with in the harshest manner by 
 his father when in possession of his senses, but he, like the rest, had 
 now to look to the risen sun. But later on we shall hear of the 
 Royal Brethren. 
 
 * Some letters of his to a German lady, in which a morganatic marriage is 
 maintained to haver taken place, have recently been published. From the 
 exaggerated style and mistakes, they must be considered as apocryphal as 
 the continuation of “ Yorick’s Letters to Eliza.” Yet their claims have been 
 gravely discussed. 
 
 23 * 
 
538 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 While the Prince was telling his friend what brave words he had 
 used to the Prime Minister, and Lord Wellesley had discovered that 
 his own treatment had been “ unmannerly,” the Prince had made up 
 his mind to retain the minister. Lord Wellesley’s resignation took 
 place on the 17th. The various conversations with the Prince as to 
 finding a substitute were on the two or three following days, and on 
 the 22nd Perceval wrote to Lord Wellington, “that his royal highness 
 has no intention of looking to any other person for forming an ad- 
 ministration at the present time than myself, nor of looking to any 
 change of it at the approaching period of the expiration of the restric- 
 tions of the regency, but such as I may find necessary.” * Indeed, 
 all through, Perceval seems to have informed his friends that he 
 was secure, and this may account for Lord Eldon and others describ- 
 ing how he had gained on the Prince. He was sagacious enough to 
 see that the minister had a certain strength of respectability and 
 even popularity, while the Wellesleys, Moiras, and Sheridans, with 
 the “Lords G. and G.,” were but precarious supporters. It was 
 tempting to have a creature of his own as Prime ]\Iinister, but if 
 stability were wanting the experiment was hardly worth making. 
 
 It must be said his situation was a most embarrassing one. He 
 felt that he was expected, to some extent, to call on his old friends 
 for assistance; and yet there can be no doubt that assistance would 
 have only added to his embarrassments. The long public support 
 extended to the Perceval-Liverpool administration that followed 
 showed that it was not so distasteful to the country, while it seems 
 almost certain that a ministry of his “old friends,” distracted by 
 faction and intrigue, could not have stood long. This is the first 
 point in his vindication. The second is, that j^ears before he had 
 publicly dissociated himself from them. The only course he found 
 open was to offer them a minor share in the Government, in taking 
 which step he no doubt must have suspect -d that his offer would 
 have been declined. But in the game of politics there is always a 
 certain amount of insincerity, and the Regent could not claim to be 
 a purist. With this qualification it will be found that he has been 
 dealt with somewhat harshly and unreasonably, and that he made 
 many and successive attempts at conciliating his old allies by offers 
 not at all uncommon in the history of coalitions. 
 
 We shall now deal with this curious and much-debated episode, 
 
 * “Life of Perceval,” ii. 2C1. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 639 
 
 which, I may venture to say, has never hitherto been fully or so 
 minutely unfolded. 
 
 The term of the restrictions being at hand, it was natural that 
 the Regent should think of the old combination with ‘ ‘ Lords G. 
 and G.” We have thus approached that much-talked-of crisis when 
 a fresh offer was to be made to these two lords. It may be doubted 
 if Lord Grenville could have formed an administration, owing to 
 the lack of sympathy between himself and the advanced wing of 
 the Liberals; and, more recently, his advocacy of the Catholics 
 seemed an attempt to force the hand of the Prince. But there is 
 another view which has been overlooked, viz. a sort of divergence 
 between him and his friend and ally. Lord Grey. The latter, all 
 through, seemed to have faith in the Prince. He urged on his 
 friends the necessity of keeping “ perfectly quiet,” and exhibiting 
 no distrust. “ For himself he had little doubt that the Prince really 
 entertained the intention which he voluntarily professed both to him 
 and Lord Grenville last winter; “for,” he adds, “will any failure 
 in the execution of such an intention make me think that it has not 
 had a sincere existence? The same cause which has long delayed 
 its execution may finally prevent it altogether, or, what is more prob- 
 able, lead to some such proposal as you hint at — a coalition.” * This 
 was like the generous soul of Grey. 
 
 It need not be said that to such views Lord Grenville was totally 
 opposed. He spoke with contempt of the Regent and imputed to 
 him the least creditable motives. The Prince had even told Lord 
 Grey, that though he would gladly take him on and half-a-dozen of 
 his party, “he would not consent to be shackled by his associate.” 
 And of this feeling Lord Grenville seemed to have an instinct when 
 he spoke later of the attempts at sowing jealousy between him and 
 his friend. 
 
 It is characteristic that the Prince should have felt later well dis- 
 posed to Lord Grenville, and should have even hated Lord Grey, 
 who had construed his intentions so magnanimously. But this is 
 ever found in weak minds. Still one can have no doubt at this 
 time and for the moment, the Prince was sincere and in earnest; and 
 it will be seen what influences, apart from the growing difiiculty of 
 the situation, were brought to bear on his pliant mind. 
 
 Suddenly, and only a few days before the well-known letter to 
 the Duke of York appeared, the Speaker, always well informed, 
 
 Letter of Lord Grey, “Life and Opinions,” p. 279, 
 
540 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEOUGE IV. 
 
 heard that the new arrangement was considered at Carlton House 
 as only a hit of patchwork. On the 9th Mr. Perceval had an inter- 
 view with the Prince, of so private a character that he did not con- 
 sider himself at liberty to communicate to his Cabinet what had 
 passed. The step was already resolved upon; for Lord Eldon, a 
 sturdy old Tory, seems to have scented out -what was being planned, 
 and then with a certain bluntness declined to have anything to do 
 with it. 
 
 On the following day there was much excitement and specula- 
 tion. It was reported confidently by Lord Lauderdale that the dis- 
 missal was at hand. Yet on this very day a most important step 
 had been taken, and the Regent had addressed a letter to his brother, 
 the Duke of York, commissioning him to negotiate with Lords Grey 
 and Grenville. The letter was as follows: 
 
 THE PRINCE OP WALES TO THE DUKE OF TORE. 
 
 “ Carlton House, Feb. 13, 1812. 
 
 “My DEAREST Brother, 
 
 “As the restrictions on the exercise of the royal authority 
 will shortly expire, when I must make my arrangements for the 
 future administration of the powers with which I am invested, I 
 think it right to communicate to you those sentiments which I was 
 withheld from expressing at an earlier period of the session, by 
 my earnest desire that the expected motion on the affairs of Ire- 
 land might undergb the deliberate discussion of Parliament, un- 
 mixed wuth any other consideration. I think it hardly necessary 
 to call your recollection to the recent circumstances under which I 
 assumed the authority delegated to me by Parliament. At a mo- 
 ment of unexampled difficulty and danger, I w^as called upon to 
 make a selection of persons to wffiom I should entrust the func- 
 tions of the executive government. My sense of duty to our royal 
 father solely decided that choice; and every private feeling gave 
 way to considerations which admitted of no doubt or hesitation. 
 I trust I acted, in that respect, as the genuine representative of the 
 august person who§e functions I w\as appointed to discharge; and I 
 have the satisfaction of knowing that such was the opinion of per- 
 sons for whose judgment and honorable principles I entertained the 
 highest respect. In various instances, as 3 mu well know, where the 
 law of the last session left me at full liberty, I Avaived any personal 
 gratification, in order that his Majesty might resume, on his restora- 
 tion to health, every power and prerogative belonging to his crown. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 541 
 
 I certainly am the last person in the kingdom to whom it can be 
 permitted to despair of our royal father’s recovery. A new era is 
 now arrived, and I cannot but reflect with satisfaction on the events 
 which have distinguished the short period of my restricted regency. 
 Instead of suffering in the loss of any of her possessions by the 
 gigantic force which has been employed against them, Great Britain 
 has added most important acquisitions to her empire. The national 
 faith has been preserved inviolate to our allies; and if character is 
 strength, as applied to a nation, the increased and increasing repu- 
 tation of his Majesty’s arms will show to the nations of the Continent 
 how much they may still achieve when animated by a glorious spirit 
 of resistance to a foreign yoke. In the critical situation of the war 
 in the Peninsula, I shall be most anxious to avoid any measure that 
 can lead my allies to suppose that I mean to depart from the present 
 system. Perseverance alone can achieve the great object in ques- 
 tion; and I cannot withhold my approbation from those who have 
 honorably distinguished themselves in support of it. I have no 
 predilections to indulge, no resentments to gratify, no objects to 
 attain, but such as are common to the whole empire. If such is the 
 leading principle of my conduct (and I can appeal to the past, in 
 evidence of what the future will be), I flatter myself I shall meet 
 with the support of Parliament and of a candid and enlightened 
 nation. Having made this communication of my sentiments in 
 this new and extraordinary crisis of our affairs, I cannot conclude 
 without expressing the gratification I could feel, if some of those 
 persons with whom the early habits of my public life were formed 
 would strengthen my hands, and constitute a part of my govern- 
 ment. With such support, and aided by a vigorous and united ad- 
 ministration formed on the most liberal basis, I shall look with addi- 
 tional confidence to a prosperous issue of the most arduous contest 
 in which Great Britain ever was engaged. You are authorized to 
 communicate these sentiments to Lord Grey, who, I have no doubt, 
 will make them known to Lord Grenville. I am always, my dear- 
 est Frederick, your affectionate Brother, 
 
 “Geokge, P. K. 
 
 “ P. S. — I shall send a copy of this letter immediately to Mr. Per- 
 ceval.”* 
 
 * Lord Grenville states that the Prince’s letter had been in Perceval’s 
 possession before he made his speech, and prompted it. The Prince affected 
 
542 
 
 TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 It will be noted that the bitterness of the Prince’s hostility was 
 shown in the communications being directed to Lord Grey, “ who, 
 he had no doubt, would make them known to Lord Grenville,” as 
 though he were indifferent whether they ever reached that address. 
 
 2' he Morning Chronicle of February 15th was the first to let the pub- 
 lic know what had occurred. The noblemen applied to were indig- 
 nant, and agreed that it was a mere device to extort a refusal. The 
 view they took was that it was “ meant only to make a case against 
 us;” and it may seem to have some foundation. Some margin may 
 be allowed for the utopian view of the Prince, which will be ex- 
 plained presently. The interview between the two noblemen and 
 the Duke of York succeeded, which was a highly curious one. 
 They first handed him their reply, which was to the following effect: 
 
 LORDS GREY AND GRENVILLE TO THE DUKE OP YORK. 
 
 “ February 15th, 1812. 
 
 “Sir, 
 
 “We beg most humbly to express to your Royal Highness 
 our dutiful acknowledgments for the gracious and condescending 
 manner in which you have had the goodness to communicate to us 
 the letter of his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, on the subject 
 of the arrangements to be now made for the future administration 
 of the public affairs. And we take the liberty of availing ourselves 
 of your gracious permission to address to your Royal Highness in 
 this form what has occurred to us in consequence of that communi- 
 cation. 
 
 “ The Prince Regent, after expressing to your Royal Highness in 
 that letter his sentiments on various public matters, has, in the con- 
 cluding paragraph, condescended to intimate his wish ‘ that some 
 of those persons with whom the early habits of his life w^ere formed 
 would strengthen his Royal Highness’s hands, and constitute a part 
 of his Government.’ And his Royal Highness is pleased to add, 
 ‘that, with such support, aided by a vigorous and united adminis- 
 tration, formed on the most liberal basis, he wmuld look with addi- 
 tional confidence to the prosperous issue of the most arduous contest 
 in which Great Britain was ever engaged. ’ 
 
 to be indignant at the disclosure.— “ Buckingham Papers— The Regency,” 
 1. 231. 
 
 Sheridan was believed to have had a share in the composition of this 
 famous letter.- Ward, “Diary,” ii. 426. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 543 
 
 “ On the other parts of his Koyal Highness’s letter we do not pre- 
 sume to offer any observations. But on the concluding paragraph, 
 in so far as we may venture to suppose ourselves included in the 
 gracious wish which it expresses, we owe it, in obedience and duty 
 to your Royal Highness, to explain ourselves with frankness and 
 sincerity. 
 
 “We beg leave most earnestly to assure your Royal Highness 
 that no sacrifices, except those of honor and duty, could appear to 
 us too great to be made for the purpose of healing the divisions of 
 our country, and of uniting both its Government and its people. 
 All personal exclusions we entirely disclaim. We rest on public 
 measures; and it is on this ground alone that we must express, 
 without reserve, the impossibility of our uniting with the present 
 Government. Our differences of opinion are too many and too im- 
 portant to admit of such a union. His Royal Highness will, we are 
 confident, do us the justice to remember that we have twice already 
 acted on this impression — in 1809, on the proposition made to us 
 under His Majesty’s authority; and last year, when his Royal High- 
 ness was graciously pleased to require our advice respecting the 
 formation of a new Government. The reasons which we then 
 humbly submitted to him are strengthened by the increasing dan- 
 gers of the times; nor has there, down to this moment, appeared 
 even any approximation towards such an agreement of opinion on 
 the public interests as can alone form a basis for the honorable 
 union of parlies previously opposed to each other. 
 
 “Into the details of these differences we are unwilling to enter. 
 They embrace almost all the leading features of the present policy 
 of the empire. But his Royal Highness has himself been pleased to 
 advert to the late deliberations of Parliament on the affairs of Ire- 
 land. This is a subject, above all others, important in itself, and 
 connected with the most pressing dangers. Far from concurring in 
 the sentiments which his Majesty’s ministers have on that occasion 
 so recently expressed, we entertain opinions directly opposite. We 
 are firmly persuaded of the necessity of a total change in the present 
 system of government in that country, and of the immediate repeal 
 of those civil disabilities under which so large a portion of his 
 Majesty’s subjects still labor on account of their religious opinions. 
 To recommend to Parliament this repeal is the first advice which it 
 would be our duty to offer to his Royal Highness. Nor could we, 
 even for the shortest time, make oiirselv^es responsible for any 
 further delay in the proposal of a measure without which we could 
 
544 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 entertain no hope of rendering our services useful to his Koyal High- 
 ness or to our country. 
 
 “We have only, therefore, further to beg your Royal Highness 
 to lay before the Prince Regent the expressions of our humble duty, 
 and the sincere and respectful assurance of our earnest wishes for 
 whatever may best promote the ease, honor, and advantage of his 
 Royal Highness’s Government, and the success of his endeavors for 
 the public welfare. 
 
 “We have the honor, etc. 
 
 “Grey, 
 
 “Grenville.” 
 
 After much discussion, the Duke eagerly pressing them to accept, 
 they persisted in their resolve. 
 
 The town was presently infinitely amused with the “ Parody of a 
 Celebrated Letter,” full of wit and sarcasm, and soon known to be 
 the work of the Prince’s former protege, Moore. 
 
 PARODY OF A CELEBRATED LETTER. 
 
 At length, dearest Freddy, the moment is nigh, 
 
 When, with P — rc— v— I’s leave, I may throw my chains by; 
 
 And, as time now is precious, the first thing I do, 
 
 Is to sit down and write a wise letter to you. 
 
 I meant before now to have sent you this Letter, 
 
 But Y— rm— th and I thought perhaps ’twould be better 
 To wait till the Irish affairs were decided— 
 
 That is, till both Houses had prosed and divided, 
 
 With all due appearance of thought and digestion— 
 
 For, though H— rtf— rd House had long settled the question, 
 
 I thought it but decent, between me and you. 
 
 That the two other Houses should settle it too. 
 
 I need not remind you how cursedly bad 
 Our affairs were all looking when Father went mad: 
 
 A strait waistcoast on him and restrictions on me, 
 
 A more limited Monarchy could not well be. 
 
 I thought the best way, as a dutiful son. 
 
 Was to do as Old Royalty’s self would have done. 
 
 So I sent word to say I would keep the whole batch in 
 The same chest of tools, without cleansing or patching. 
 
 And think— only think— if our Father should find. 
 
 Upon graciously coming again to his mind. 
 
 That improvement had spoiled any favorite adviser- 
 That R— se had grown honest, or W— stm— rel— nd wiser; 
 
 That R— d— r was, e’en by one twinkle the brighter. 
 
 Or L— V— rp— I’s speeches but half a pound lighter. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 545 
 
 What a shock to his old royal heart it would be ! 
 
 No!— far were such dreams of improvement from me: 
 
 And it pleased me to find at the house where, you know. 
 There’s such good mutton cutlets and strong curagoa, 
 
 That the Marchioness called me a duteous old boy, 
 
 And my Y— rm— th’s red whiskers grew redder for joy I 
 
 You know, my dear Freddy, how oft, if I would. 
 
 By the law of last sessions I might have done good. 
 
 I might have told Ireland I pitied her lot, 
 
 Might have sooth’d her with hope— but you know I did not. 
 And my wish is, in truth, that the best of old fellows 
 Should not, on recovering, have cause to be jealous, 
 
 But find that, while he has been laid on the shelf. 
 
 We’ve been all of us nearly as mad as himself. 
 
 A new era’s arrived— though you’d hardly believe it — 
 And all things, of course, must be new to receive it. 
 
 New villas, new fetes (which e’en Waithman attends) — 
 New saddles, new helmets, and— why not new friends f 
 
 I repeat it, “ New Friends ’’—for I cannot describe 
 The delight I am in with this P— rc — v— 1 tribe. 
 
 Such capering !— such vaporing !— such rigor!— such vigor 1 
 North, south, east, and west, they have cut such a figure. 
 That soon they will bring the whole world round our ears. 
 And leave us no friends— but Old Nick and Algiers, 
 
 When I think of the glory they’ve beam’d on my chains, 
 ’Tis enough quite to turn my illustrious brains! 
 
 It is true we are bankrupts in commerce and riches, 
 
 But think how we furnish our allies with breeches! 
 
 We’ve lost the warm hearts of the Irish, ’tis granted. 
 
 But then we’ve got Java, an island much wanted. 
 
 I am proud to declare I have no predilections. 
 
 My heart is a sieve, where some scatter’d affections 
 Are just danced about for a moment or two. 
 
 And the finer they are the more sure to run through; 
 Neither have I resentments, nor wish there should come ill 
 To mortal— except (now I think on’t) Beau Br — mm— 1, 
 Who threaten’d, last year, in a superfine passion. 
 
 To cut me, and bring the old King into fashion. 
 
 This is all I can lay to my conscience at present. 
 
 When such is my temper, so neutral, so pleasant, 
 
 So royally free from all troublesome feelings. 
 
 So little encumber’d by faith in my dealings. 
 
 When such are my merits (you know I hate cracking), 
 
 I hope, like the vendor of Best Patent Blacking, 
 
 “ To meet with the generous and kind approbation 
 Of a candid, enlighten’d, and liberal nation.” 
 
546 the life of QEOEGE IV. 
 
 By the bye, ere I close this magnificent letter 
 (No man, except Pole, could have writ you a better), 
 
 ’Twould please me if those, whom I’ve humbugged so long 
 With the notion (good men!) that I knew right from wrong, 
 
 Would a few of them join me— mind, only a few — 
 
 To let too much light in on me never would do ; 
 
 But even Grey’s brightness sha’n't make me afraid, 
 
 While I’ve C— md— n and Eld— n to fiy to for shade; 
 
 So, in short, if they wish to have places, they may. 
 
 And I’ll thank you to tell all these matters to Grey, 
 
 Who, I doubt not, will write (as there's no time to lose). 
 
 By the twopenny post to tell Grenville the news; 
 
 And now, dearest Fred (though I’ve no predilection), 
 
 Believe me yours always with truest affection. 
 
 P.S.— A copy of this is to P— rc— v— 1 going— 
 
 Good Lord! how St. Stephens will ring with his crowing! 
 
 The unhappy Prince, for such he was, all this time was in the 
 hands of favorites, who, at Brookes’s, were given the responsibility 
 of the recent transaction. They were, says a member of that club, 
 talking at Lord Yarmouth, and before his face wondering “ who 
 the vile spy can be who has poisoned the Regent’s mind against his 
 old friends, and this as loud as a trumpet; Manchester Square has 
 in fact done the whole business, and some say a little of Windsor 
 intermixed.” * 
 
 The Hertford family were indeed held accountable for this step. 
 “ Not a day passed without his visiting Lady Hertford.” f Her son 
 and her husband had now both posts at Court. Mr. Canning was 
 violent in his language against the two lords, and declared that they 
 ought to have temporized, and would have later got rid of him. 
 People were talking of “ what portion of Castlereagh’s and ‘ Doc- 
 tor’s ’ was to go into the work.” It is unfortunate that in so many 
 transactions there should be some charge of perfidy or want of good 
 faith made against the Prince. In this instance he had actually 
 given his promise to Lord Grey, that on the expiring of the restric- 
 tions he would call them to power. Lord Grey told Mr. Grey Ben- 
 nett’s brother, that “at an interview with Lords Grey and Gren- 
 ville, he assured them that though he nominally retained his minis- 
 ters, yet he secretly was inclined to them, and that he would give 
 them all the support he could! The two noblemen made him a 
 long speech on the unconstitutional character of the proposal, and 
 declined coming to any such understanding. The Prince stared 
 
 * “ Buckingham’s Memoirs— Regency,” i. 241. 
 t Romilly, ” Memoii’s,” ii. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 547 
 
 at them for some time, made no answer, and turned on his heel.” 
 To this Lord Grey alluded in a letter to Lord Moira.* “He had 
 promised to do whenever the restrictions on his authority should 
 cease.” But, as was before urged, the Prince’s canon of truth often 
 rested on his humors and their changes. 
 
 As he departed. Lord Wellesley bequeathed to his master a new 
 favorite, Dr. Knighton, his own physician, who was to rule him, 
 even despotically, till his death. Of him we shall hear a great deal 
 later on. 
 
 Before the end of the week, the town was to he engrossed by an 
 extraordinary scene which had taken place at Carlton House, and 
 was to turn the public more strongly against the Regent, who 
 seemed to be floundering from one indiscretion to another. On 
 Saturday, the 22nd, he gave a great dinner to the Duke and Duch- 
 ess of York, at which were also present Lord Lauderdale, Sheridan, 
 Erskine, and his daughter, the young and interesting Princess 
 Charlotte. There were also present Lord Tyrconnel and Lord and 
 Lady Keith, and the faithful Adam. After dinner and much wine, 
 the Prince began to abuse the Whigs, saying they all hated him 
 except three. Lord Erskine, Sheridan, and Ponsonby, with many 
 slight expressions on Lords Grey and Grenville’s conduct. This 
 attack was made even before the servants had quitted the room. 
 
 Lord Lauderdale had, however, the spirit to rise, and in respect- 
 ful terms addressed the Prince in vindication of his friends. The 
 Prince uttered some further words of dislike, when the young 
 Princess suddenly rose, in tears, and proceeded to leave the room, 
 Sheridan leading her to the door! This singular scene was the talk 
 of the town. 
 
 According to all precedent, as Mr. Ward remarked, she disliked 
 her father’s ministers and loved the Opposition. At the opera, that 
 night, seeing Lord Grey, she kissed her hand and smiled very gra- 
 ciously on him.f She appeared delighted with the scene, and 
 bowed to everyone. This waywardness, injudicious as it was, was 
 natural, and was one of the attractions that drew the nation to her. 
 This incident, however, was in every one’s mouth, and celebrated 
 by the famous lines X of Lord Byron: 
 
 * “Life and Opinions,” p. 291. t Ward, “ Diary,” ii. 432. 
 
 X The verses are often quoted, but few recollect the strange scene which 
 occasioned them. They were copied, repeated, and sent over the kingdom; 
 and, for so short and simple a production, were sui’prisingly effectual in 
 damaging the Regent. 
 
548 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 LINES TO A LADY WEEPING. 
 
 Weep, daughter of a royal line, 
 
 A sire’s disgrace, a realm’s decay; 
 
 Ah ! happy if each tear of thine 
 Could wash a father’s fault away. 
 
 Weep, for thy tears are virtue’s tears— 
 
 Auspicious to these suffering isles; 
 
 And be each drop in future years 
 Repaid thee by thy people’s smiles. 
 
 March, 1812. 
 
 The Prince had fallen into a habit which excited the grave fore- 
 bodings of his friends — viz. of abusing any one he disliked in the 
 most open way; and the Archbishop of York bewailed “his loud 
 discourse to large companies about all sorts of persons and things.” 
 The Morning Chronicle had now turned sharply on him, and was 
 attacking him bitterly. Lord Erskine declared that he would never 
 set foot in Carlton House again, and there was also a coolness 
 between him and Lord Lauderdale. 
 
 By March 19th the whole of the recent transactions were brought 
 before the House of Lords on a question put by Lord Barrington, 
 whether the famous letter was a genuine one? The excitement 
 was intense, nearly the whole House appearing to be in the House 
 of Lords. Below the bar there was an equally great crowd. The 
 language on all sides was excited. The language on the Liberal 
 side was certainly well pointed. Lord Darnley said that the minis- 
 ters owed their places to “unavowed advisers, whose selfish and 
 bigoted whispers in the royal ear endangered the state.” He added 
 that he had told the same truths to the Prince himself. Lord Grey 
 used still plainer language. He virtually charged the Prince with 
 having given promises to the Catholics, and with having broken 
 those promises; but he spoke in the hearing of those who would 
 contradict him if what he said was unfounded, and who would, he 
 was sure, support its truth if questioned. In this he referred to 
 Mr. Ponsonby, who was no doubt listening in the crowd, and who 
 when appealed to in a later debate confirmed it.* He then asked 
 contemptuously, was it likely that he would join with the minis- 
 
 * “ I say that the noble Duke [Bedford] lately at the head of the Irish Gov- 
 ernment and myself did receive commands, not merely permission, but the 
 actual commands of the illustrious personapre alluded to, to make the com ■ 
 munication that such were the intentions of that great personage in respect 
 to the Roman Catholics of Ireland, and that he would never forsake their 
 interests.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 549 
 
 ters, using the word “condescend, ’’and passed to something yet more 
 stinging, “to his address.” The cause of all this, he said, was one 
 thing of which he should freely speak, beside which the ministry 
 itself became an insignificant question — the unseen infiuence that 
 lurked behind the throne, and which he called a disastrous and dis- 
 gusting influence; a cursed one, and which prevented either public 
 complaint or honest counsel from reaching his ears. Strong words, 
 that must have made their ears tingle, and which were never forgot- 
 ten or forgiven by the Prince. Indeed, both Houses rang with per- 
 sonal insults of this kind. Mr. Lyttleton in another debate alluded 
 to the minions and favorites who surrounded the Regent, and 
 declared that what was to reward those who spent their blood for 
 their country was lavished on “ Gavestons.” But what galled him 
 most, as Colonel Tyrwhitt told the Speaker, was Lord Donough- 
 more’s later speech on the Catholic Question on March 21st. 
 
 His unpopularity was growing. With the crowds looking on in 
 Pall Mall as he passed by on his way to the drawing-room there was 
 not a single cheer; at Drury Lane allusions in the play to promises 
 made by the Prince of Wales were taken up to thunders of applause, 
 and at the Lyceum some mention of female influence was similarly 
 greeted. Complimentary addresses to him all over the country were 
 attempted, but the attempts failed. At the Royal Society dinner 
 Lord Stafford received a message from him, to the effect that when 
 the royal health was given he would say something about a new 
 lustre he had presented to them, and hiS wish to have it altered if 
 it did not suit; which was received in perfect silence. No wonder 
 he began to lose heart, and declined the Lord Mayor’s banquet, lest 
 in his passage through the City he should be hissed. The entourage 
 seemed quite cowed, and though Lord Donoughmore boldly pub- 
 lished his speech, so offensive to the Court that it was confidently 
 expected Lord Yarmouth’s “red herrings” would have challenged 
 Mr. Lyttleton, the whole was submitted to and accepted. 
 
 Never had a false step met so speedy and effectual a punishment. 
 And that all was the work of ‘ ‘ minions behind the throne ” operating 
 on a weak nature was conclusively proved. He was presently heard to 
 declare that the only one of the party that had “ treated him like a 
 gentleman ” was the proscribed Lord Grenville; and he now pro- 
 ceeded to punish these enemies by drawing up a new list for the 
 Carlton House droit F entree, from which he struck out all old-friend 
 counsellors, with a couple of exceptions.* 
 
 * “ Buckingham’s Memoirs,” i. 289. 
 
550 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 CHAPTER y. 
 
 1812. 
 
 While he was in this state, the whole country was startled and 
 shocked to learn that on May 11th the Prime Minister had been 
 assassinated in the lobby of the House of Commons. This catastro- 
 phe was thus graphically described : 
 
 “ On Monday, lltli May,” says Mr. Grey Bennett, “ I went down 
 to the House of Commons, to attend the third reading of Mr. 
 Banke’s Sinecure Bill, which it was understood to be the intention 
 of Mr. Perceval once more to oppose. I arrived at the House at a 
 little before five, and found the House in a committee on the 
 order. I sat down on the bench upon the floor, near to the spot 
 where the witness stood, and a few minutes after I heard the report 
 of a pistol, which appeared to come from the lobby. I said to 
 Macdonald, who sat by me, ‘ Good God, some one has shot him- 
 self!’ In a few seconds there was a stir in the gallery, and at the 
 same time some one burst into the house and said, ‘ A member is 
 shot!’ and a moment afterwards Sir S. Vaughan rushed in and 
 exclaimed, ‘Mr. Perceval is shot!’ Every one then rose, there not 
 being above forty members in the House. Mr. Barrington, who was 
 in the chair, asked leave to report progress, and at the same time 
 the Speaker entered the House and took his chair. He ordered 
 every one to take his seat, which, after a minute or two of confu- 
 sion, was obeyed. It was then announced that the assassin was 
 secured, and it was proposed he should be brought through the 
 House, to be lodged in one of the upper rooms until a magistrate 
 should arrive. The prisoner was then brought to the bar, held by 
 two messengers, and appeared haggard, his eyes staring, and evi- 
 dently in the greatest agitation. It was then proposed that the 
 Speaker, to avoid a rush of members, all pressing at once, should 
 name some to precede and others to follow the prisoner. He first 
 named Mr. Whitbread, and among others he named me. I accord- 
 ingly followed, and the prisoner was lodged in what is called the 
 prison-room. 
 
TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 551 
 
 “ Different witnesses deposed what had passed — that it was on 
 entering the door of the lobby at the top of the stone-stairs that the 
 pistol was fired; Mr. Perceval advanced in a wild manner — as if 
 seeking for shelter — three or four steps, clapped his hand to his 
 heart, and fell forwards, exclaiming, ‘Murder, ’or, ‘Oh! lam mur- 
 dered.’ He was caught before he fell by a Mr. Phillips of Man- 
 chester, and carried by him and by Mr. W. Smith (member for Nor- 
 wich) into the room called the Secretary’s room; he was set on a 
 table, his feet resting on a chair. He appeared almost lifeless, 
 seemed to suffer no pain, but after a sort of convulsive sob expired 
 in about eight minutes after the wound had been given.” 
 
 Following on this casualty came a flood of lampoons and libellous 
 attacks. For a man so vain as the Regent was of his physical 
 advantages, who was praised and flattered by sycophants, it must 
 have been galling to read the stinging, bitter, perhaps truthful 
 attacks that were from time to time made upon him. These were 
 characterized by a license and personality that now seems almost 
 incredible. Thus, in this year, there appeared in The Examiner 
 one of the most savage diatribes, which in the case of a private per- 
 son would have been punished severely. It was provoked, as Mr. 
 Brougham, counsel for the Hunts, contended, by the sycophantic 
 eulogies of the Court scribes, who were thus to a certain extent 
 accountable; but the plea did not avail. This “libel,” which 
 appeared on March 22nd, was to this effect : 
 
 “What person unacquainted with the true state of the case would 
 imagine in reading these astounding eulogies that this Glory of the 
 People was the subject of millions of stings and reproaches! That 
 Protector of the Arts had named a wretched foreigner his his- 
 torical painter, in disparagement, or in ignorance, of the merits of 
 his countrymen ! That this Mcecenas of the age patronized not a 
 single deserving writer! That this Breather of Eloquence could not 
 say a few decent extempore words, if we are to judge, at least, from 
 what he said to his regiment on its embarkation for Portugal ! That 
 this Conqueror of Hearts was the disappointer of hopes! That this 
 Exciter of Desire (Bravo, messieurs of the Post!), this Adonis in 
 Loveliness, was a corpulent gentleman of fifty! In short, that this 
 delightful, blissful, wise, pleasurable, honorable, virtuous, true, and 
 immortal Prince was a violator of his word, a libertine, over head 
 and ears in debt and disgrace, a despiscr of domestic ties, a com- 
 
552 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 panion of gamblers and demireps, a man who has just closed half 
 a century without one single claim on the gratitude of his country 
 or the respect of posterity!” 
 
 Lord Ellenborough dealt wdth the accused in the severest style in 
 his partial charge, alluding strangely to the committal of adultery 
 as “ a misfortune.” He sentenced the two brothers Hunt to a fine 
 and term of imprisonment, during which they were visited by 
 Lord Byron and others of their friends and supporters. “The 
 Triumph of the Whale ” appeared in the same journal, but escaped 
 prosecution. 
 
 Here is a specimen of this light persiflage, written by Charles 
 Lamb; 
 
 THE TRIUMPH OF THE WHALE. 
 
 lo! Paean'. lo! sing, 
 
 To the finny people’s king, 
 
 Not a mightier whale than this, 
 
 In the vast Atlantic is; 
 
 Not a fatter fish than he. 
 
 Flounders round the Polar sea: 
 
 See his blubber at his gills. 
 
 What a world of drink he swills! . . . 
 
 Such a person— next declare. 
 
 Muse! who his companions are: 
 
 Every fish of generous kind. 
 
 Stands aside or slinks behind. . . . 
 
 Name or title, what has he? 
 
 Is he Regent of the sea? 
 
 By his bulk and by his size. 
 
 By his oily qualities. 
 
 This (or else my eyesight fails). 
 
 This should be the Prince of Whales. 
 
 There can be no doubt that this time the unpopularity of the 
 Regent was excessive. Much of this was, of course, owing to his 
 personal character and conduct, but more to the harsh severity of 
 the department administered by Lord Sidmouth. During the last 
 year of the Perceval ministry the number of prosecutions by the 
 Government was enormous^ and the system had been since kept up 
 wdth unrelenting severity. No one was so sensitive to ridicule, and 
 no one was so lampooned or assailed with such merciless wit and 
 power — Moore, the Hunts, Charles Lamb, Cruikshank, Hone, kept 
 up unceasing attacks. Moore’s verses, turned with great neatness 
 and full of “fun,” gave infinite pleasure — 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 i553 
 
 The table spread with tea and toast, 
 
 Death-warrants, and The Morning Post. 
 
 The political result of the minister’s death was, of course, to dis- 
 solve his ministry. It was felt that his popularity with the squires 
 and county gentry was its mainstay and support. At this crisis 
 the Chancellor gathered the voices of his colleagues as to what was 
 to be done. Some thought it “doubtful,” others “dangerous.’’ 
 The Chancellor was timely convinced that Lord Wellesley and Can- 
 ning would be glad to come in as they “were both sick of being 
 out.” Meanwhile, Lords Grey and Grenville looked on, the former 
 in town, the latter at his country-seat, one at least being certain that 
 an application must be made to them. 
 
 The result of the new deliberations was an application by Lord 
 Liverpool to Lord Wellesley and Canning, on the principle that 
 “his royal highness, being desirous of continuing his administra- 
 tion upon its present basis, was desirous of strengthening it as much 
 as possible by associating to it such persons in public life as agreed 
 most nearly and generally upon the principles upon which public 
 affairs had been conducted.”* This definition could not include 
 the two persons whose opinions on the Catholic question were well 
 known, and so the result proved. 
 
 “ The day that Lord Liverpool’s letter appeared in The Times, on 
 the 20th May, says Mr. G. Bennett, a note was added to this effect, 
 that a further continuance of this correspondence would appear on 
 the morrow. When Lord Liverpool read this, he said. ‘That is 
 impossible, as there is no other letter.’ However, on Thursday 
 night, the 21st, between eight and nine at night. Lord Liverpool 
 received an answer to his letter, and which appeared in The Times 
 and Chronicle of the next day (the 22nd) — which papers are printed 
 at six in the morning, so that the letter must have been sent to the 
 press at the same time it was forwarded to Lord Liverpool. This 
 provoked the ministers in general so much, that they determined, 
 with the exception of Lord Melville (who said he could serve with 
 Lord Wellesley, but never under him), that they never would 
 belong to a Cabinet of which he was a member. Lord Liverpool is 
 said (Lord Holland told me the story) to have remarked that it was 
 not safe to be in the same room with him. 
 
 “In consequence of this and other failures to patch up a Gov- 
 
 * “Life and Letters of Lord Wellesley,” where the whole correspondence 
 and the account of the interviews are given. 
 
 24 
 
554 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 ernment, Mr, Stuart Wortley, the great supporter of Mr. Perceval’s 
 administration, and the avowed enemy of all Whigs and Whiggism, 
 gave notice of a motion on the 19th for the 21st, the object of which 
 was to address the Prince to form an effective administration. 
 Accordingly, on Thursday, the 21st, he, after a short speech, stating 
 the necessity of a strong and efficient government, moved an address 
 to the above effect. None of the Opposition leaders spoke, and, 
 after a rather dull debate, the House divided: 174 for the address — 
 170 against it; leaving the Government in a minority of 4. 
 
 “ Thereupon Mr. Stuart Wortley and Lord Milton waited on the 
 Prince, whose reply was; ‘ I shall take into my serious and imme- 
 diate consideration the address of the House of Commons.’ Accord- 
 ingly, the next day, the Regent sent for Lord Wellesley, and gave 
 him instructions to form an administration. Lord W. waited on 
 Lords Grey and Grenville, and proposed to them as points of agree 
 ment the question of the Catholics of Ireland, and the war in the 
 Peninsula. To the first they gave their unqualified assent; to the 
 second, they declared themselves as anxious as he could be to prose- 
 cute with vigor the war in the Peninsula; but they could not decide 
 upon the extent, as they, not forming a part of an administration, 
 could have no opinion as to the means possessed by the country to 
 extend or continue the system. 
 
 " Lord Wellesley saw the Regent again, and gave him the answ^ers 
 of Lords Grey and Grenville. He is said to have affected to con- 
 sider them as refusals to take office, and some debate was necessary 
 to convince him of his error. Lord Wellesley, too, serft the same 
 tests to the existing administration, who all declined, except Lord 
 Melville, to have anything to do with it, and to forming a part of a 
 Cabinet of which he was a member. Various manoeuvres were then 
 set on foot to separate Canning from Lord Wellesley; but all failed 
 Yet, even to this hour, the whole arrangement is as much afloat as 
 ever, and yesterday even Mr. Sheridan said that no difficulty was 
 overcome — people are at a loss to conceive w’^here the hitch really is 
 — all seem agreed in the opinion that no arrangement of places has 
 even as yet been proposed; but it is suspected that the point in dis- 
 pute is Hertford House, and the necessity of his giving up that 
 favorite establishment of secret intrigue and influence, the exist 
 ence of wLich no administration, meaning well, could admit of.” 
 
 Thus the old backstair intrigues were in full work. It had been 
 understood that the ministry W'as dissolved, and only temporarily 
 held office; but people now heard of the Premier being closeted 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 555 
 
 with the Regent, of midnight Cabinet Councils, of the Chancellor 
 neglecting his legal duties and hurrying away from Court with the 
 Duke of Cumberland, whilst Lady Bathurst told Lady Bessborough, 
 with an air of affected regret at what she was imparting, “that the 
 thing was afloat again, and that Lord Liverpool had been too hasty 
 and intemperate.” While the fickle Prince, quite careless as to 
 compromising his agents, was busy with his familiars, and on a new 
 track. 
 
 His anonymous correspondent thus wrote to Lord Buckingham; 
 
 “ 4 o’clock P.M., May 26, 1812, 
 
 “About four yesterday. Lord Wellesley saw the Prince Regent, 
 by the command of the 'latter. The Prince had an air of great 
 gayety and pleasantry, and affected great kindness towards Lord 
 Wellesley. ‘ Well, Wellesley, I find j’-ou have totally failed with 
 the ministry,’ to which Lord Wellesley assented; ‘and also,’ con 
 tinned the Prince, ‘with Opposition.’ ‘There, sir,’ said Lord 
 Wellesley, ‘ I must beg to stop you. I could not fail where I had 
 no authority to treat.’ 
 
 “The Prince then continued thus in substance. That he had 
 read over and well considered Lord Wellesley’s project, communi- 
 cated to him the evening before. That on one principle of it, 
 namely, the immediately entering upon the consideration of the 
 Catholic claims, he went the utmost length that Lord Wellesley had 
 gone, or would wish to go, and that he would name no Administra- 
 tion, nor put his confidence in any which should not adopt that line 
 of conduct. To which Lord Wellesley replied, that if that were his 
 royal highness’s determination, and that if it were fairly and honor- 
 ably conducted, without trick or juggle towards the Catholics, that 
 he, for one, would support any Administration formed on such a 
 principle, so far as that point went; but he would not pledge him- 
 self either to take office with it, or give it his general support. 
 
 “The Prince then said, that as to making a proposition for a 
 junction with Opposition, nothing should ever induce him to 
 employ them. That he had no objection to one or two of them 
 individually, but as a body, he would rather abdicate the Regency 
 than ever come into contact with them. ‘But,’ added he, ‘there 
 will be no occasion for any such overture, for you will be happy to 
 hear, my dear Wellesley, that the Chancellor has entirely come 
 round to you upon the Catholic question ; and, indeed, assures me 
 that he was with you from the first.’ 
 
m 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 “I need not tell your lordship the astonishment, and (I believe) 
 dismay, with which Lord Wellesley received this extraordinary 
 piece of intelligence. 
 
 “ ‘And,’ continued the Prince, ‘Melville, who was never violent 
 against it, is also with you, and I have prevailed upon him to waive 
 his personal repugnance to acting with you. I have seen the Chan- 
 cellor and Liverpool this morning, and have rowed them handsomely 
 for their letter to you, which was a most unprovoked and unpardon- 
 able folly. And I have desired Liverpool to summon a Cabinet this 
 night, when the whole subject will be considered over again. And 
 then you know you can all meet together to-morrow, or next day, and 
 choose your offices amongst one another.’ 
 
 “As late as three this day. Lord Wellesley had heard nothing 
 more, and, in fact, thinks the thing will go off, and that this in- 
 fatuated man will risk himself and the country upon the present 
 men.” 
 
 The next incident was the introduction of Lord Moira on the 
 scene, with whom the Regent had a reconciliation, “ hanging upon 
 iiis neck and weeping.” He saw him for hours at a time, protesting 
 that the only way to meet him was that “ there should be a fixed 
 determination that everything that had separated them should be 
 forgotten.” After some days of these endearments, the Prince tried 
 to persuade him to see Lord Eldon, which the other declined. He 
 then bewailed his hard case — that he could not bring round either 
 of his two friends to his view. His nerves were beginning to fail 
 him, and with other persons he was in “ such a state of irritation 
 that he could not be spoken to,” so that Lord Liverpool in great 
 alarm sent off an express to Oatlands for the Duke of York. The 
 Prince’s next extraordinary step w’as to be found closeted with “the 
 Doctor,” Lord Sidmouth, the man he disliked and had called “ a 
 blockhead” only a few weeks before. But the weaker mind often 
 turns to what it most violently proscribed. The ministers were 
 called out of their beds to go to Carlton House; in short, it was a 
 season of the wildest and most rediculous confusion, while the con- 
 tempt and anger which pursued the irresolute Prince were un- 
 bounded. The House of Commons were growing impatient, and 
 every one clamored for a solution. 
 
 Mr. Bennett has said that no one could make out exactly what 
 the hitch was. We, however, can guess it. One of those dreadful 
 fits of animosity which would take possession of him was at the 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 mi 
 
 bottom of it all All this agitation was produced by resistance to 
 the pressure put on him to send for the two lords and give them a 
 direct commission.* He asked Lord Wellesley was he not shocked 
 at “the grossness of female connections being dragged into politics;” 
 on which the latter said bluntly that he took care that no woman 
 should ever have anything to say to him on politics. He could 
 not overcome his disgust at the nauseous draught until Ma}^ 31st, 
 when, at five o’clock, just as the puzzled AVellesley was going out 
 of town, “to remain,” Lord Moira arrived at Apsley House with 
 the news that he had prevailed on the Duke of York to go to the 
 Prince on the subject of his “ twenty-seven years’ animosity” to Lord 
 Grey; and the Duke had undertaken the task very willingly. A 
 strange heated interview followed (at which Lord Moira was present), 
 and much ill- blood between the brothers. But it ended by the Prince 
 declaring that he must have an explanation, and a satisfactory 
 one, of the words Lord Grey had used in his speech, where he 
 had virtually charged the Prince with breaking his promises. In a 
 manly way, and without retraction, Lord Grey virtually re-stated 
 what he had said, adding that if the Prince felt a strong personal 
 objection to him, he was quite ready to stand out of the way.f 
 Lord Moira affected to think this quite satisfactory, and declared 
 that a preliminary obstacle to the negotiation was removed. On 
 the next day, January 1st, it became known that at last Lord Wel- 
 lesley had been empowered to make a direct offer to the two lords. 
 So far we think we have held in our hand the clue of this most per- 
 plexing game. 
 
 * See “ Buckingham— Regency,” passim, pp. 308, 337. 
 t “ Life of Lord Grey,” p. 294, 
 
558 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IK 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 1812 
 
 Lord Wellesley, being thus once more introduced on the 
 stage, was ordered to form an administration with carte blanche, 
 being specially authorized to communicate with Lords Grey and 
 Grenville.* His most brilliant hopes might now fairly be kindled. 
 Once more he was to fail. But an accurate observer shall tell the 
 story: 
 
 “Mr. Wortley,” says Mr. G. Bennett, “then rose and said, that 
 in consequence of the various rumors and reports that were abroad, 
 and the positive assertions on one side and the other in all the 
 papers, he wished to ask Mr. Ponsonby, and he had accordingly 
 written the question down — ‘ Whether he or his friends had received 
 any offer or proposal for office, which they had refused on personal 
 or public grounds.’ Mr. Ponsonby replied that, ‘no offer had been 
 made of any sort, so there could be no refusal.’ These questions 
 were settled with Ponsonby in the morning, Wortley having called 
 upon him, and it was felt necessary to do something from the lies 
 that were in circulation, as even in the daily papers, in The Morn- 
 ing Herald, The Carlton House Gazette, it was stated that four seats 
 had been offered in the Cabinet to the Whigs, which they had re- 
 fused, wanting all; and that it was time for the public, nay, the 
 Privy Council, to interfere, to check this overweening and over- 
 bearing aristocracy. 
 
 ‘‘June^rd . — When the House of Commons met, Mr. Canning 
 rose and stated that he was desired by Lord Wellesley to make 
 known that, as it had been told to the House that he had been 
 commissioned by the Regent to form an administration, he thought 
 it fit that it should be known that he had resigned that morning all 
 
 * The minute of Wellesley’s interview with Lord Grey, “ Buckingham 
 Papers— The Regency,” p. 330. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 559 
 
 those powers into the hands of the Regent. Mr. Martin, whose 
 motion to follow up the address moved by Mr. Wortley stood for 
 that day, postponed it sine die. 
 
 “ My brother Ossulston told me” (goes on the diarist) “ that Lord 
 Grey had shown him the copy of the original proposals, which 
 were as follows: Lord Wellesley to be First Minister, Lords Grey 
 and Grenville to name two besides themselves; the Regent named 
 Lords Moira and Erskine. The Cabinet to consist of twelve; if of 
 thirteen they were to name three, so that the Wellesleys were to 
 have five in one case and six in the other. They were also to name 
 the Chancellor, and during the time Lord Wellesley was with Lord 
 Grey, Canning called upon Grant, the Master of the Rolls, to offer 
 him the seals, not consulting Lords Grey and Grenville. Besides 
 this the Regent reserved to himself the power of naming three per- 
 sons to the offices he thought fit they should hold. When Lord 
 Wellesley took the propositions to Lord Grey, he told him that as 
 Lord Grenville was out of town he declined giving an answer, but 
 that he thought it candid to inform him that they could not be 
 accepted by him, and that he felt disposed, were it not from that 
 circumstance, to give them his direct negative. All this took place 
 on Monday, the first day that any communication was made to the 
 Opposition. Lord Erskine told me this morning that the whole 
 difference was form. His idea of that word must be odd, as so 
 unwarrantable a proposition never was made. Lord Erskine sided 
 with Opposition in their refusal to accept such terms; and it is 
 said, finding that he was not to be Chancellor but Privy Seal, he 
 exclaimed, ‘By God! I suppose I am to sit in the Cabinet as Com- 
 missioner of Bankrupts! ’ Lady Jersey told Ossulston, that she 
 overheard a conversation last night at Mrs. Boham’s ball, between 
 the Duke of Cambridge and the Dowager Duchess of Rutland. 
 
 ‘ So, sir,’ says the Duchess, ‘I hear we are to be without the Tal- 
 ents. It is all over with them; thank God for it.’ ‘Thank God 
 for it,’ replies the Duke, ‘but they keep so close together.’ ‘ Yes, 
 sir,’ rejoins the Duchess, ‘they are so fond of place — it is all to get 
 office.’ ‘ There can be no doubt of that,’ says the Duke, ‘ but then 
 they stick so damnably close to each other.’ ” 
 
 The two lords after a short deliberation had declined the scheme, 
 on the ground that a “principle of disunion and jealousy ’’was 
 introduced, “a supposed balance of contending interest in a Cabi- 
 net so measured out by preceding stipulation,” the result being 
 only disunion and weakness, On the 3rd of June they sent an 
 
560 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 answer, declining.* There was much bitterness and even fury on 
 this rejection, as the Regent and his party now thought they had 
 had a very liberal allowance in the Cabinet; and it certainly seemed 
 that with Lord Moira, Erskine, with Canning added to the five 
 Grenvillites, would give them a majority. Lord Wellesley, too, 
 held this view. Mr. Canning later pronounced this “generous and 
 even rash.” He also told his secretary that the real objection was 
 that the Regent had named the first minister and not.left it to the 
 party to do.f Hence they knew that they would still have to con- 
 tend with the Prince, his camarilla, and his minister. Lord Moira 
 entreated them to reconsider the matter, pleading that all the mem- 
 bers of the Cabinet were to be subject to the two lords’ approba- 
 tion. 
 
 It must be owned that this seemed reasonable. The letter Was 
 written in almost affectionate terms. But the two lords were in- 
 flexible, and Lord Grey, while acknowledging the good-will, still 
 declined. So that, on June 3rd, Lord Wellesley had announced 
 his new failure to the Prince, and his commission w^as once more 
 announced to be at an end. Lord Grey, however, gives the true 
 reason in a private letter to Lord Moira, not given in the officially 
 published series. 
 
 “It is my deliberate conviction that till the Prince shall see, 
 that to render our services useful to himself it is necessary that he 
 should give us full powers in making the arrangements in every 
 part of the Government, in the same manner as he professed to do 
 in the spring of 1811, and as he promised to do whenever the re- 
 strictions on his authority should cease; in short, till he is pre- 
 pared to give us his full confidence both as to men and measures, 
 it certainly is not desirable for us, and perhaps not for him, that 
 we should be called to his councils.” 
 
 These prognostications proved to be right, as on the same day 
 Lord Moira -wrote to propose a conference, “as being honored with 
 his Royal Highness’s confidence, to remove misunderstanding. 
 Should the issue of the convention be favorable, his object would 
 be to solicit the Prince Regent’s permission to address them per- 
 sonally.” This proposal, carried by the Duke of Bedford, was 
 coldly met b)^ Lords Grey and Grenville. 
 
 “Motives of obvious delicacy stand in the wa}'. AVe shall always 
 
 ■■*= The correspondence is given in “ Lord Wellesley’s Life,” iii. 261, 
 t Stapleton, “Life of Canning,” p. 201. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV 
 
 561 
 
 receive with dutiful submission his Royal Highness’s commands, 
 in whatever channel he may be pleased to signify them; but we 
 cannot venture to suggest to his Royal Highness, through any other 
 person, our opinions on points in which his Royal Highness is not 
 pleased to require our advice.” 
 
 “Ample testimonies were borne to Lord Moira’s character,” 
 resumes our diarist, “and his disposition to reconcile all differ- 
 ences, but no new overture had been made. Taylor told me that 
 the difficulty w\as with the Regent to admit Lord Grey into the 
 Cabinet, and when that was got over all was thought settled. 
 Lord Forbes told me last night that his uncle, Lord Moira, was 
 by at the time Lord Wellesley had some words with the Regent, 
 and said that ‘he would not form a part of any administration.’ 
 We shall see how he kept his word. 
 
 *‘Ju7ie bth.—'No new proposal, nor, indeed, a renewal of the 
 old ones, was made this day to Lords Grey and Grenvile. In the 
 House of Commons, after some conversation, it was agreed to 
 adjourn over to Monday, and, if no administration was then 
 appointed. General Gascoigne pledged himself to propose some 
 resolution to the House. In the Lords, Lord Moira began the dis- 
 cussion by stating that the expressions used by Lord Wellesley on 
 Wednesday, that dreadful animosities existed, had been mischiev- 
 ously applied to the Regent. Now he solemnly denied that they 
 existed, and that he, though the humble instrument of the negotia- 
 tion, could state that upon his own knowledge. He repeated that 
 all the delay had proceeded from a misapprehension, and he denied 
 that the Regent had named any one to any office, but the whole was 
 left free to future arrangement. Lord Grey said it was impossible 
 to have any doubt that persons and officers were named and filled 
 up, and that to prove this assertion he read the terms as they came 
 from Lord Wellesley, in which it appeared that Lord Wellesley 
 was named First Commissioner of the Treasury, and Lord Moira, 
 Erskine, and Canning, designated a part of the Cabinet. Lord 
 Moira re-asserted tlfat the whole was a misapprehension, and that 
 yet his hopes were not wholly extinct of coming to an amicable 
 adjustment. In the midst of all these serious things, the only joke 
 I have heard of it was from Sheridan, who said to me the other 
 night, that two trades were lost in this town, viz. cabinet-makers 
 and joiners. 
 
 “On Friday night, after the debate, a letter was written to the 
 Duke of Bedford, praying him to mediate between Lords Grey, 
 
562 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE TV. 
 
 Grenville, and Moira; and Whitbread was sent for to town. On 
 Saturday Lord Moira notified to them that he had full powers to 
 form an administration. Accordingly, Lords Grey and Grenville 
 met Lord Moira and Lord Erskine, and Lord Moira stated he had 
 powers to concede the Catholic claims, the Orders of Council, 
 economical reforms, and all other reforms; even, if thought neces- 
 sary, reform in Parliament. Lord Grey then said that before they 
 went farther as to the discussion of offices to be held by different 
 persons, he thought it necessary to ask what was intended to be 
 done in respect to the officers of the household. Lord Moira said 
 that he had full powers to remove them, as well as any other 
 officers of state, but that he personally should consider such an act 
 as highly injurious to the public service. 
 
 “To this Lord Grey and Lord Grenville replied, they also acted 
 on public grounds alone, and with no other feeling whatever than 
 that which arose from the necessity of giving to a new Govern- 
 ment that character of efficiency and stability, and those marks of 
 the constitutional support of the Crown which were required to 
 enable it to act usefully for the public service; and that on these 
 grounds it appeared to them indispensable that the connection of 
 the great offices of the Court with the political administration 
 should be clearly estab’ished in its first arrangements.” 
 
 “A decided difference of opinion as to this point having been 
 thus expressed on both sides, the conversation ended here with 
 mutual declarations of regret. 
 
 “Nothing was said on the subject of official arrangements, nor 
 any persons proposed on either side, to fill any particular situa- 
 tion.” 
 
 Such was the conclusion of the comedy. The behavior of the 
 two lords has often been discussed, and on the record, as it 
 were, they would seem to have been grasping. But it must not be 
 forgotten that they were only to form a portion of the ministry, 
 and that the Prince’s agent was to be the head. And they knew 
 enough of what tracassenes were certain to follow.* 
 
 “Yet there are some people still who doubt the discretion and 
 
 * Mr. Grenville wrote : “ As long ago as Sunday se'nnight. Lord Hertford 
 told old Sloane that he would insure to him the continuance of the old Gov- 
 ernment; and early on Sunday, a great prelate, a friend of mine, remarking 
 to the Duke of Cumberland that Moira was said to have completed his Gov- 
 ernment, was answered: ‘ Do not be such a fool as to believe him— it is to be 
 the old Government again.’ “ Regency,” p. 369. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 563 
 
 judgment with which the negotiation was carried on between 
 Lords Grey, Grenville, and Moira. Whitbread, for instance, is 
 decidedly of opinion that the whole matter was sadly mismanaged, 
 and that supposing Lord Moira’s intentions to have been sincere 
 they might have carried their point, and the honor of all parties 
 been saved. He says, for example, when Lord Moira told them 
 that he had power to remove all the officers of the household, he 
 should have said: Pass over to your other powers and we will talk 
 of that afterwards. Then, having settled the great questions of 
 reform. Orders of Council, Catholics, etc., he would have said: 
 Now change ‘I have power’ into ‘we have power,’ and then let 
 us look at the question. 1st. The Duke of Montrose, Lord Jocelyn, 
 and Lord Cholmondeley ; the Regent can have no wish to keep 
 them, and we require their sacrifice to show that we have the power. 
 Then Lords Hertford and Yarmouth. Now, as all men have weak- 
 nesses, and are to be led and managed through them, though we 
 have the power to remove those officers we will not exercise it, but 
 this must be known to be an act of our choice and not of necessity 
 or compulsion; for if by removing Lord Hertford, etc., you could 
 destroy his influence and annihilate his power, there could be no 
 doubt it would be a wise step ; but so far from it, you would only 
 make that power be used more vehemently against yourself, you 
 would sharpen all the existing animosities; whereas if they held 
 office they would be disarmed, or, at least, have not such immediate 
 interest in overthrowing you.. I very much concur in all this, 
 which Whitbread stated to me the other evening, and I am dis- 
 posed to think that however honorable and praiseworthy and pure 
 the motives of Lords Grey and Grenville were, they were not wise 
 in the management of the transaction ; for what are these offices in 
 comparison with the good an entire change of measures would have 
 effected? The whole question is, was the Regent sincere, and did 
 he send Lord Moira with a disposition to form an administration; 
 if he was we have acted unwisely, if not, the sooner we were out 
 of the scrape the better.” 
 
 '‘June lltJi . — We had a long debate in the Commons upon the 
 motion of Mr. Wortley to pray the Regent to continue his exertions 
 to form a strong administration. The debate was dull and heavy, 
 and the defence of Lords Grey and Grenville in no way made 
 clearly out. The truth of the whole appears to be that the Regent 
 hated them and they distrusted him, and that there was no likeli- 
 hood of their agreeing together. Among the singularities of the 
 
564 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 night, Lord Yarmouth declared that he and the other members of 
 the household thought they ought not to retain their olRces; alt 
 they requested was to know ten minutes before certain gentlemen 
 received the seals that they might resign. lie said he had requested 
 Mr. Sheridan to make known to his friends their determination, and 
 that he has advised them not to resign, for that would degrade the 
 Prince. To that statement Mr. Ponsonby and Mr. Tierney replied, 
 and denied that they or their friends had received from Mr. Sheridan 
 the smallest information on the subject, and Mr. Tierney states that 
 he, on Friday, had mentioned to Mr. Sheridan some reports that he 
 had heard of the fact, and that Lord Robert Seymour had stated 
 that Lord Hertford would resign the moment it was settled the 
 Opposition were to be in office, and asked him if he knew anything 
 about it. Sheridan replied; ‘I will bet you 500 guineas to 1 no 
 such thing was ever in^ contemplation.’ Mr. Canning stated that 
 the interval of ten days which had elapsed between the unauthorized 
 offer of Lord Wellesley to Lords Grey and Grenville, and when the 
 Regent gave him full powers, was employed m endeavoring to induce 
 the present administration to connect themselves with Lord Wellesley ; 
 he said besides, that Lord Moira told him, five minutes after he came 
 out of the closet, that immediately upon the breaking off of the negotia- 
 tion, he (Lord Moira) had gone to the Regent, and that the Prince had 
 said: ‘Well, jVIoira, do you bring me an administration? ’ To which 
 Lord Moira replied : ‘ Before I answer that, I wish to knoAv, Is your 
 royal highness prepared upon my advice to part with all your house- 
 hold?’ The answer was: ‘I am.’ ‘Then, sir,’ said Lord Moira, 
 ‘not one of them shall be moved.’ He further added that Lord 
 Moira did not advise the return of the present administration, nor 
 did Mr. Canning say one word upon the attempt and failure of Lord 
 Moira to form an administration on Monday, prior to Lord Moira 
 giving back into the Regent’s hands his commission: what that 
 broke off upon is not yet known. Sheridan was always at Carlton 
 House, where Lord Yarmouth said it was no secret, but universal!}^ 
 known — his conduct deserves another name — as it must have been 
 something worse than baseness to have suffered his friends to have 
 risked a question on which he knew the whole negotiation must 
 break off, when he had a knowledge of a fact, which, if told, would 
 have prevented the proposition being made. 
 
 JunelWi . — Last night at Brookes’s, Sheridan entered into his 
 defence before an audience certainly not favorable to him. He 
 denies that Lord Yarmouth ever conunissioned him to tell his 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 565 
 
 friends, and added that if he had he should have told him that he 
 was not upon such terms of intimacy with Lords Grey and Grenville 
 and Mr. Ponsonhy, as to warrant that liberty. Lord Kinnaird put 
 him in mind of his speech to him on the W ednesday before, ‘ that 
 he thought the Regent ought not to give up his household, and that 
 he was sure and knew he would not.’ It may be asked then, under 
 these circumstances, as he knew also that his friends made that a 
 sine qua non, and knew well that the household would resign, why 
 he did not step forward as a common friend to tell them there was 
 no occasion to agitate the question, for the cause would not arise 
 that would require it. Yet Whitbread told me that Lord Moira 
 told him that Sheridan had been working night and day for weeks 
 to remove the impressions that existed in the Regent’s mind against 
 Grey, pressing that he should be Prime Minister. 
 
 “As to the strange events of Monday, and Lord Moira’s attempt 
 to form an administration alone, Whitbread said that he believed 
 that Moira took Canning with him to Carlton House on Monday to 
 kiss hands as Secretary of State; and on going into the closet, the 
 Regent said: ‘Have you made an administration?’ ‘I am making 
 one,’ was the answer. ‘Then,’ said the Regent, ‘the country re- 
 quires an immediate Government, and I shall retain the present 
 people in their places.’ Lord Moira bowed and retired. Canning 
 was not admitted. Lord Moira telling him that all was over, and 
 that there was no use in his seeing the Regent. 
 
 “ Sheridan tried to vindicate himself in this debate, but the ques- 
 tion still remained unanswered: ‘ You knew of the intention of the 
 household to resign, why did you conceal it? ’ This whole speech 
 was most doting, and showed hardly any remains of what he was 
 — he forgot all facts, and made such an exhibition that it would 
 have been cruel to have pressed him hard, which neither Tierney 
 nor Ponsonby did. Tierney told me that he thinks him quite gone ; 
 that once during his speech his jaw became locked, so that he could 
 not utter. I never witnessed a sight more distressing. I have no 
 doubt he will never speak again. Brougham, however, told me 
 last night, the 21st, that he dined with Sheridan at Whitbread’s, 
 and that, upon a review of the case, it really was evident that he 
 had not been as bad and as treacherous as before suspected. He 
 saw a correspondence between Lord Yarmouth and Sheridan, in 
 which Lord Yarmouth states that he bears a willing testimony* lo 
 the truth of all the facts that Sheridan stated, and that satisfied 
 Brougham as to the truth of the case, who said that after all there 
 
560 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 was nothing against Sheridan but the guilt of one of those lies 
 he was so subject to tell. Whitbread was satisfied as to his con- 
 duct.” 
 
 It is a contribution to the hisl ory of favorites to see what was the 
 fate of the tools and instruments who had labored so earnestly in 
 this intricate business. Sheridan, who had atoned for his feeble 
 effort to perform what was right by sacrificing his reputation on 
 the household question, was afterwards left to shift for himself. 
 Lord Moira, over whom the Regent had wept, was dismissed in dis- 
 grace. “After he had accepted the Garter,” says Mr. Moore, “and 
 the present Ministers secured their places, there was a drawing- 
 room at which the whole house of Moira was; the Prince went 
 about inviting company to Carlton House that evening, but never 
 asked any one of that family; which, considering all the tears he 
 shed at the reconciliation, might have been expected as a thing of 
 course. On the Friday, Lord M. went to the levee, and was 
 installed. The next day the Prince had a great dinner of what he 
 called friends, to which Lord M. was not invited.” 
 
 Now for the finale of one of the most singular political intrigues 
 in modern politics; 
 
 “Adam,” wrote Mr. Grenville, “has just announced to my 
 brother the Prince’s desire to see him and Lord Grey on Sunday 
 morning; and has privately communicated to them, by the Prince’s 
 desire, his intention of continuing the present Ministers. It is 
 received by Lord Grenville as final, but must not be indiscreetly 
 mentioned till after the formal audience on Sunday. Rejoice wdth 
 me, my dearest brother, at this providential escape. ” 
 
 Poor Lord Wellesley had to drink the last drop of his humilia- 
 tion. Lords Grey and Grenville’s final answer had been put into 
 his hand just as he was setting out for Carlton House. There was 
 a difficulty started in it — or rather a question — which he could have 
 disposed of by a few words of explanation. Such was his delusion ; 
 but it was to be seen that they understood the situation better than 
 he did. When he reached Carlton House, it seemed to him that 
 the Prince already knew the purport of the answer; and when he 
 read it, he said; “By G — d, Wellesley, I see they will not act, and, 
 as the other fellows have refused, on personal grounds, it is impos- 
 sible for you to arrange this matter, and I have resolved to put it 
 into Moira’s hands, who is not committed with either party.” He 
 added, he was sure that he would support Lord Moira. 
 
 This poor dupe, inexpressibly mortified at the part he had been 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 567 
 
 made to play, could only say that he was sure that Lord Moira 
 would never ask him to serve under him. To make his situation 
 more mortifying, it was he that, after two days’ labor, had brought 
 about the maudlin reconciliation between the Prince and his old 
 friend, when they had fallen “on each other’s neck.” Lord Moira, 
 who was at Carlton House at the time, seemed himself much dis- 
 tressed at his sudden elevation and the mission imposed on him, 
 and followed Lord Wellesley downstairs, protesting that he was 
 quite unfit for the office, and that he would positively resign it to 
 the other at the end of the year. Lord Wellesley, however, left 
 town next day. 
 
 Mr. Tierney assured Lord Wellesley afterwards that the Grenville 
 part}’- held back because they doubted the Prince’s sincerity to Lord 
 Wellesley. Macmahon and others of the Prince’s party declared 
 that the Prince “meant fairly.” But he was the dupe of the cam- 
 arilla at Beaufort House, who persuaded him — what would seem 
 to have been the truth — that Lord Wellesley had no following, and 
 could not help him. 
 
 When Lord Moira had also failed. Lords Yarmouth and Tyr- 
 whitt came by night to Lord Wellesley to ask him would he go to 
 Ireland “at the Regent’s request.” But he was no longer to be 
 played with, and declined bluntly to entertain any private mes- 
 sages of the kind. If the offer was made in an open proper manner 
 he would consider and answer it in the same spirit. 
 
 It becomes more and more evident, as we consider these trans- 
 actions, that the Regent, while all through beguiling his “old 
 friends” by illusive offers, was sagacious enough to see that the 
 Government that would be most secure and least troublesome to 
 him was the one to which his own sympathies tended; one formed 
 of steady united men, that would command confidence in the 
 country, and not of the heterogeneous distracted band who then 
 made the Liberal party. In this he forecasted truly. For here 
 was the inauguration of the long-lived Liverpool Ministry. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 m 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 1812 — 1813 . 
 
 Turning aside from politics we shall now glance at a most inter- 
 esting household — also looked on by the Regent as a hostile camp — 
 that of the amiable, engaging, and spirited young Princess Char- 
 lotte, now blooming into a handsome young girl. 
 
 It was wonderful indeed how her spirit had not been crushed or 
 depressed by the cold and despotic supervision she had to endure 
 from the grim Queen, her harsh father, her uncertain mother, and 
 severe preceptors. But that warmth of temper which in her child- 
 hood had given her aunt cause for anxiety, had developed into an 
 impetuosity — perhaps wilful ness — which redeemed her character 
 from insipidity. There was a danger that this, worked upon by 
 foolish designing persons, might lead her into difficulties. Her 
 father ventured to be prophetic on the danger of these imperfec- 
 tions developing, and declared to Princess Lieven, who repeated it 
 to Lord Houghton, that “it was fortunate for the country that she 
 died, as she would have made a very bad queen a forecast refuted 
 by her behavior during her short married life. Political ardor in 
 one so young had been early fostered in her by the Prince having 
 her carefully instructed in true Whig principles by Mr. Adam ; and 
 when her health was drunk at the Pavilion, thus acknowledged the 
 toast . 
 
 ‘ ‘ I have made it my care to instil into the mind and heart of my 
 daughter the knowledge and love of the true principles of the Brit- 
 ish Constitution ; and I have pointed out to her young understand- 
 ing, as a model for study, the political conduct of my most revered 
 and lamented friend, Mr. Fox, who has asserted and maintained 
 with such transcendent force the just principles upon which the 
 government under this excellent constitution ought to be adminis- 
 tered, for the true and solid dignity of the crown, and the real 
 security, freedom, and happiness of the people.” He ended his 
 speech by expressing his confidence “that the Princess would fulfil 
 all the duties which she might be called upon to discharge when his 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 569 
 
 bones were laid in the grave!” This declaration he of course con- 
 trived to reconcile with his own Tory principles, after his favorite 
 convenient fashion. 
 
 The young Princess, who had much of what is called ‘‘the tom- 
 boy” in her nature, took a friendly interest in a young Westmin- 
 ster lad, young Keppel, later Lord Albemarle, who still survives, 
 full of years. He relates some charming natural traits of his 
 playmate. She would intercede with the head of the school for 
 him, write him grave admonitory letters, and, once prevailing on 
 him to mount a horse, gave the animal a lash from a cutting whip 
 which set him otf at full speed, to the great scandal of the assem- 
 bled Court. 
 
 An agreeable letter of hers, hitherto unpublished, shows her 
 thoughtfulness and good spirits. It appears to be addressed to 
 somQ protege, possibly Willy Austin. 
 
 PRINCESS CHARLOTTE TO . 
 
 “ My dear William, 
 
 “You will be sorry to hear that poor Miss Sandon has been 
 very unwell, but you will at the same time be glad to hear also 
 that she is better, but not quite well enough to answer your letter 
 herself. 
 
 “I hope you will find the biscuits good. 
 
 “Little John acted Tom Thumb, and acted the part of Tom 
 Thumb himself at his aunt’s house. He performed so well that 
 Lady Charlotte thinks he will amuse you all to act some plays at 
 Christmas, either at her house or at Blackheath. 
 
 “I thank you for your kind letter, and am happy to hear that 
 you are so well and comfortable; and believe me, 
 
 “ Your most sincere Friend, 
 
 “ C. P. 
 
 “The ladies all send their love, and myself the same.” 
 
 The young Princess now took up her mother’s cause with vehe- 
 mence. Her father, it was said, was. jealous of her to a degree of 
 insanity. And another curious motive seems to have been used to 
 inflame her against him : that he was being persuaded by the Duke 
 of Cumberland and Lord Yarmouth that he might obtain a divorce, 
 and, by marrying again, secure the chance of a male heir to his 
 throne, The young Princess therefore felt how much “she was ip 
 
570 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 the same boat with her mother.” This natural deduction was no 
 doubt artfully pressed upon her. It clearly shows into what a net- 
 work of intrigues we are entering; father arrayed against mother 
 and daughter ; the father eager to be rid of the daughter, yet using 
 her as an instrument to “ spite” her mother — intriguers and counsel- 
 lors on both sides whetting and inflaming these animosities. 
 
 These family altercations soon led to action, and in the last week 
 of September the Princess of Wales drove down to Windsor and 
 asked to see her child. It may be conceived the flutter and con- 
 sternation that this visit produced. But she was denied, and it is 
 added that an interview took place between the Queen and her 
 daughter-in-law, in which the latter announced that she would 
 bring the question before the public. The Queen behaved temper- 
 ately, and pointed out to her that the authority and discretion in 
 the matter was with the Regent. But the angry mother was not to 
 be thus pacified. The pariah-like view taken of her as a tainted 
 and corrupting personage inflamed her to madness. Her doubtful 
 friend. Lady C. Campbell, tells us “that in consequence of the 
 Princess having gone to Windsor to see her daughter, a message 
 was sent to her from the Regent by Lord Liverpool, to desire her 
 not to go there again. Her reply was that, if she saw the Princess 
 Charlotte as usual, once a week, she would obey; but if not, she 
 thought her duty in respect to her child was paramount to all 
 others. The Princess Charlotte has not come to her, and the 
 Princess of Wales is determined to go again to W^indsor. Her 
 royal highness knows she will be refused seeing her daughter, but 
 wishes to have the refusal in black and white ; and also to be able 
 to say that she did all in her power to prove her love for Princess 
 Charlotte.” 
 
 This scene may be considered the starting-point for hostilities, 
 and led to all the scandals of the succeeding years. Yet it was 
 difficult to say what could be done or how the crisis could be 
 avoided. It was impossible to allow such a mother and such a 
 daughter to be in unrestricted communication without fatal results 
 to the latter, even on the ground mentioned in one of the accounts 
 by the Princess Charlotte of her mother’s behavior in her presence. 
 
 In this state of things, and after many consultations with Mr. 
 Brougham, it was determined to send to the Queen a very sensible 
 letter which the Princess of Wales had written in her own charac- 
 teristic style — though a portion was the work of Brougham, who, 
 as he says, made the whole “safe and sure” — claiming to be 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 571 
 
 allowed full and proper access to her daughter, and complaining of 
 her education being interrupted, and of her being kept in close 
 confinement. This, the first attack, produced dismay and fury at 
 Carlton House. The Duke of Kent bluntly “ thanked his stars 
 that he hadn’t to answer it.” The Queen had to do so, and, 
 according to Mr. Brougham, wrote an answer “full of lies and 
 evasions.” * 
 
 Meanwhile it was determined to take prompt measures to subdue 
 the young Princess, whose flippant speeches to her father were 
 being repeated. She had given the Queen the nickname of “ The 
 Merry Wife of Windsor,” for which she had been reprimanded. 
 “Don’t you know,” he said, “my mother is the Queen of Eng- 
 land?” “And you seem to forget that mother is Princess of 
 Wales;” a retort which must have rankled in his mind. It was 
 determined that she should be under his immediate control, and as 
 a first step it was secretly determined to get rid of tlie governess 
 to whom she Avas attached, and who was supposed to favor her 
 young charge and her mother too much. Yet this idea was un- 
 founded. 
 
 * Brougham, “ Autobiography,” p. 170. 
 
572 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV, 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 1813. 
 
 At the opening of Parliament the Regent found occasion for a 
 grand display of all his love of pomp and magnificence. The 
 pageant was unusually striking — the state procession and the show 
 of uniforms. But the chief attraction was the interesting young 
 Princess, who, seated near her father, could not restrain her delight 
 and gayety. ‘ ‘ It was remarked, ” says an observer, ‘ ‘ that she talked 
 and laughed much, turned her back often upon papa, and had a 
 certain expressive smile during the speech, which did not displease 
 all the lords, nor all the ladies there. The Prince, it is said, was 
 much displeased at her manner; in addition to which, the Princess 
 Charlotte spoke to Lord Erskine, and nodded to Lord Jersey. His 
 royal highness was flurried, but read his speech well — a pretty 
 speech it was. He was received with dead silence, and not a hat 
 raised or mark of disapprobation even; only a few plaudits as he 
 went through the Horse Guards.” 
 
 His daughter’s levity was perhaps exaggerated, but the talking to 
 Lord Erskine, whom the Prince had “cut,” was characteristic. 
 The opportunity for revolt was soon found, when a rumor reached 
 ’ ?r that the old Duchess of Leeds * was to succeed Lady de Clifford 
 in authority over her. 
 
 Almost on the eve of her birthday, when she would be seventeen, 
 the Regent must have been confounded to learn from Lord Liver- 
 pool that the young Princess had written to him to announce that, 
 as her late governess had resigned, she was now old enough to do 
 without another, requiring an establishment with her own ladies-in- 
 waiting. Like some young heroine she wrote off delighted letters 
 to her mother, detailing what battles she had had with the Queen 
 and aunts. She was said to have been encouraged in this step by 
 Miss Mercer Elphinstone, who, according to Miss Knight, was set 
 on by Lord Erskine. 
 
 * This lady later became Countess Flahault and Baroness Keith. She was 
 granddaughter of Mrs. Thrale, and survived until lately. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 573 
 
 One morning there arrived at Windsor the Eegent himself, 
 accompanied by the Lord Chancellor. The young Princess was 
 sent for, in presence of the Queen, her aunt, and governess. Her 
 father addressed her in angry tones, asking “ What she meant by 
 refusing to have a governess? As long as I live, you shall have no 
 establishment unless you marry.” She gayly referred him to her 
 letter, on which “the Queen and he abused her as an obstinate, 
 perverse, and wilful girl.” 
 
 The Chancellor in a very rough way explained to her the law of 
 the country as to his rights, and the Princess putting it to him as a 
 father what he would do, he answered that if the Princess had been 
 his child he would have locked her up. The high-spirited young 
 creature thus baited, conducted herself with much dignity, and did 
 not answer, but withdrew to the room of one of her aunts, when, 
 bursting into tears, she exclaimed, “What would the King say if 
 he could know that his granddaughter had been compared to the 
 granddaughter of a collier?” 
 
 After this scene it was felt it would not do to push her into open 
 rebellion. A concession was made; she was to have a governess 
 only in name — the Duchess of Leeds — and two ladies, one of whom 
 M^as the well-known Miss Knight, the chief mover in this business. 
 
 There was great dismay on the evening of the 14th of January at 
 Montague House, the residence of the Princess of Wales, when a 
 messenger arrived with the news that her daughter had submitted. 
 This was a defeat for her. On the instant the well-known letter to 
 the Prince was despatched to Lord Liverpool. This document, and 
 the step of addressing such a document, had been carefully con- 
 sidered by their adviser, who had written it. At a special interview 
 he solemnly asked her to consider the consequences. He warned 
 her that the old scrutiny of her conduct wmuld be revived, and 
 bade her “prove herself” as to how she could encounter it. 
 
 On the 14th two copies were sent to Fife House; one sealed, for 
 the Eegent; the other open, for the benefit of Lords Liverpool and 
 Eldon. The sealed letter was returned and sent back many times, 
 but was finally received. 
 
 Meanwhile the young Princess had been sent to Windsor, and 
 had been allowed to come into Warwick House, for a ball at Carlton 
 House, and for her birthday. But she had caught a cold at the ball, 
 which she did not shake off, and she was allowed to remain in town. 
 It was while she was at Warwick House that her mother sent to 
 beg that she might be allowed to visit her. The minister gave his 
 
574 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 consent, and informed her that her daughter was to come and see 
 her on the 11th, Now this seems a certain act of grace, and an 
 advance at least, and it probably occurred to the Princess’s party 
 that the advantage they hoped from the letter might be lost. It 
 was determined to give it to the public. “ They are frightened to 
 death,” said Mr. Brougham, “I know; for Lord Moira has been 
 sent to Whitbread to tell him that the Kegent being afraid he may 
 have been led into error respecting the Princess, wished to submit 
 some papers to him. This message, by-the-bye, came from Sheri- 
 dan, who came from Lord Moira Mr. Whitbread said he could 
 not then stay in town to read papers, but that he should return in a 
 few weeks.” “ It is a singular fact,” says Mr. Grey Bennett, “ that 
 in all this Princess of Wales business, its notoriety and publicity 
 depended upon one vote out of three. Brougham and Whitbread 
 differed last year as to the publication of the first letter — Brougham 
 for, Whitbread against — Creevy was sent for, and reading the note 
 while dining at Taylor’s, wrote with a pencil, ‘ Publish and the 
 first letter appeared in the next day’s paper.” 
 
 In this well-known and skilfully drawn-up paper she argued 
 how patiently she had waited, and how day by day the restric- 
 tions on seeing her daughter were increased. “Our intercourse 
 has been gradually diminished — a single interview weekly seemed 
 sufficiently hard allowance for a mother’s affections; that, however, 
 was reduced to our meeting once a fortnight, and I now learn, that 
 even this most rigorous interdiction is to be still more rigidly 
 enforced. Then let me implore you to refiect on the situation in 
 which I am placed, without the shadow of a charge against me — 
 without even an accuser — after an inquiry that led to my ample 
 vindication, yet treated as if I were still more culpable than the 
 perjuries of my suborned traducers represented me, holding me up 
 to the world as a mother who may not enjoy the society of her only 
 child.” 
 
 She reminded him that their daughter had never been confirmed — 
 an odd suggestion for her — and wound up with a humble and touch- 
 ing appeal. The result was extraordinary, “I recollect,” says Mr. 
 Brougham, “no instance of such effects being produced by any 
 statement of a case of appeal to the public against a grievance. 
 The suddenness of the proceeding, the plain and simple nature of 
 her complaint on a subject by which the domestic feelings of all 
 were affected, no doubt contributed to the effect produced.” 
 
 The whole country became at once parties to the quarrel, and the 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 575 
 
 spectacle of a mother harshly separated from her daughter came 
 home to every household. The step, hovrever, was a fatal mistake. 
 She was, moreover, within a few days to learn that the opposite 
 party could also appeal, under far more favorable conditions. 
 
 THE PRINCE REGENT TO LORD ELDON. 
 
 “ C. H., Yq pt. 7 P.M. 
 
 “ Feb. 10th, 1813. 
 
 “My dear Friend, 
 
 “ Pray give me a call in your way home, when your Cabinet 
 breaks up, as an idea has struck me which I wish to talk over with 
 you for five minutes, in order that you may turn it over in your 
 mind before to-morrow morning. Just send me a line, to mention 
 about what hour I may be likely to see you, in order that I may be 
 in the way and not keep you waiting. 
 
 ‘ ‘ Ever sincerely yours, 
 
 “ George P. R.” 
 
 This boded her no good. Presently rumors came to her ear that 
 the matter had been placed in the hands of the Privy Council, who 
 were to decide the unpleasant issue wliether she was fit to have the 
 charge of the heiress to the Crown. Nor was this surprising. She 
 had given public challenge, and here it was taken up and referred 
 to an impartial body — his Council — for examination. But the 
 prejudiced Speaker tells us what the papers were that were sub- 
 mitted to this conclave, viz. the materials used in “ The Book,” the 
 Minutes of the Cabinet, and a new one, made in 1809. There were 
 also the opinions of Messrs. Adam, Jekyll, and Garrow, the Prince’s 
 law officers, “that the evidence was such as could go to a jury.” 
 But the most extraordinary part of the transaction was this. It was 
 necessary to have something to cover the interval from 1807, and 
 prove that the King had taken the Prince’s view. The Speaker says 
 that this was among the facts which “alone would warrant him in 
 forming an opinion — the King’s important declaration in 1806, that 
 the Princess of Wales could never again be received as a member 
 of his family, and could only be treated with the common forms of 
 civility.” 
 
 It seems scarcely conceivable that the whole evidence as to the 
 intentions, etc., of the insane King was obtained, not from his own 
 writings or words, but from a letter of the Queen’s to the Council ! 
 
 After discussion by the Privy Council they.arrivcd at a unanimous 
 
576 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 conclusion that there should be restraint and restriction. But when 
 the report came to be drawn up, the Chancellor, after declaring that 
 the draft report was “admirable,” declined peremptorily to sign it, 
 adding that it would be an implication that he had changed his 
 opinion as to the serious charges of adultery, pregnancy, etc., made 
 in 1807. Through his influence they were inclined to make a 
 declaration in her favor on this point. But now Lord Ellenborough 
 interposed, insisting that he could not concur in anything that 
 would affirm her innocence, as his private conviction was that she 
 was guilty on these points. In this state of things it was determined 
 to confine themselves to the strict questions at issue. 
 
 It is characteristic of the way that the affair was managed, that 
 when all was settled. Lord Castlereagh came to the Speaker in the 
 House of Commons with a paragraph, suggested b}", or “much 
 desired,” by the Prince, in refutation of the words “suborned 
 testimony,” which the Princess had used. This was subsequently 
 adopted. 
 
 The object of this proceeding had meanwhile heard of what was 
 going on, and addressed a letter of remonstrance to Lord Harrowby, 
 urging that it was all ex parte, and offering to submit her case to 
 any fair tribunal, provided she was heard.* The reply was a copj" 
 of the report, in which it was set out: “That the intercourse 
 between her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales and her Royal 
 Higliness the Princess Charlotte should continue to be subject to 
 regulation and restraint. That as to the postponement of the con- 
 firmation, it appears, by a statement under the hand of her Majesty 
 the Queen, that your royal highness has conformed in this respect 
 to the declared will of his Majesty.” “We also humbly trust that 
 we may be further permitted to notice some expressions in the letter 
 of her royal highness. We refer to the words ‘suborned traducers.' 
 As this expression, from the manner it is introduced, may perhaps 
 be liable to misconstruction (however impossible it may be to sup- 
 pose that it can have been so intended), to have reference to some 
 part of the conduct of your royal highness, we feel it our bounden 
 duty not to omit this opportunity of declaring that the documents 
 laid before us afford the most anq le proof that there is not the 
 slightest foundation for such an aspersion.” 
 
 In these domestic broils, the Regent was presented in the undig- 
 
 Huish, “Queen Caroline,” i. 453. 
 
TH^ LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 577 
 
 nified attitude of contending, aided by his ministers and depend- 
 ants, with two women— his wife and his daughter! Some one des- 
 canting, in his presence, on the victories of Lord Wellington “in 
 
 the north,” he burst out, after his favorite style: “ D n the north, 
 
 and d n the south, and d n Wellington; the question is, how 
 
 am I to be rid of this d d Princess of Wales?” 
 
 25 
 
578 
 
 THE LIFE OF OEOMGE IV. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 18 p. 
 
 At the bottom of Warwick Street, close to Charing Cross, there 
 stood at this time an old mansion, known as Warwick House, occu 
 pying the ground nearly behind where the Military Club is now 
 erected. All the space now covered by Carlton House Terrace was 
 then laid out as garden and grounds of this mansion, as well as 
 those of Carlton House. The residences of the father and daughter 
 were only separated by the road. Warwick House was at this time 
 in a state of dilapidation, and seemed like a convent. Here a small 
 establishment had been formed of old servants, with Miss Knight 
 as “lady companion,” and hither the lively young Princess was 
 delighted to come, indifferent as to the accommodation, for she was 
 escaping from the Lower Lodge at Windsor and the supervision of 
 the Queen. All that was allowed for the establishment was £14,000 
 a year; £15 a month was served out to her for pocket-money, and 
 £800 a year for her wardrobe. It was capriciously determined that 
 she should be kept back, and “an elegant little girl of fifteen” was 
 to be her playmate. However, we find her occasionally at Carlton 
 House. At one of these visits the Prince took Miss Knight aside, 
 and inveighed a long time against his wife, making a particular 
 charge against her allowing a smallpox mark to come on their 
 daughter’s nose, having, in fact, neglected to secure her little hands. 
 He had always watched her. Then came the drawing-room held on 
 February the 4th, and to which the young Princess was not allowed 
 to go, though a story went round that she refused to go unless pre- 
 sented by her mother. At this drawing-room the Prince and his 
 wife actually met each other and exchanged “a slight acknowledg- 
 ment.” 
 
 The young Princess was now to find that she had only come to 
 town to be worried. She was ‘ ‘ worn out with anxiety ” as to her 
 mother. Her health was not good, and her great relatives seemed 
 to delight in harassing her. The Duchess of York filled her with 
 alarm by volunteering to come and dine with her. 
 
PRINCESS CHARLOTTE. 
 

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THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 579 
 
 But presently she was further alarmed by one of the usual visits 
 of intimidation from her father attended by his Prime Minister. 
 They came to announce to her that a solemn tribunal was investi- 
 gating her mother’s behavior; that “ it w^as a very serious matter ” 
 and would end in a very painful way, that on the result depended 
 whether she should ever be allowed to visit her again, that in the 
 meantime all intercourse must cease. She was “ dreadfully over- 
 come,” and her delicate nature seemed to be hurt also at this lec- 
 ture being given in presence of strangers. For some weeks she 
 was in anxious suspense, refusing to go out to parties or show 
 herself in public, though pressed by Sir H. Halford and others, 
 always declaring that it was unbecoming while her mother lay 
 under such accusations. The finding was sent to the Duchess of 
 Leeds, who handed it to her with true delicacy without opening it; 
 this quite changed her bearing to that lady, showing how easily she 
 could have been “ led ” if dealt with generously. 
 
 Soon the Duchess of Brunswick, her grandmother, died. She 
 had been living in London, and gradually drawn into the family 
 contest, and had not dared to take part with her owm daughter. All 
 were struck by her feeling and anxiety ; she wrote letters to all that 
 were concerned, she took it much to heart and reproached herself 
 with not having visited her so much of late. She desired to see her 
 remains, but this was forbidden. She was allowed to see her mother, 
 who bore her loss philosophically enough. The latter was now 
 beginning to complain of her daughter, desiring her to refuse to go 
 to any ball unless she were asked. 
 
 But as the months rolled on, there were symptoms that the young 
 Princess was growing weary and felt her strength failing. The 
 lady in the interest of the Regent, Miss Mercer Elphinstone, was 
 now sent to her. The Regent had taken a dislike to Miss Knight, 
 finding that she would not be his tool. On one occasion 
 
 he had declared with an oath, he would not have those d d 
 
 ladies — referring to the Duchess of Leeds also. Her situation was 
 precarious and uncomfortable. The old Duchess would come from 
 the Queen and Regent in tears, having been soundly reprimanded. 
 
 It was not unnatural that the young impulsive girl’s thoughts 
 should turn to those who took her part, and look for release to some 
 romantic attachment or marriage. She had already had “ a fiirta- 
 tion,” connected with which was a curious little history. Attached 
 to the suite of the Duke and Duchess of York was a certain Captain 
 Hesse, who had become a follower of the Princess of Wales — a 
 
580 
 
 TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 person not to be encouraged, but the foolish mother seemed to have 
 a fancy for bringing him and her daughter together; a fresh proof 
 of her indiscretion, as well as of the wisdom of “ restriction.” The 
 portrait of a hussar hung in the young Princess’s room, which was 
 no doubt that of this person, who was in the 18th Hussars, and not 
 of the Duke of Devonshire, as it was supposed. The young Princess 
 had been flattered by his compliments, and as Miss Mercer, in 1832, 
 told the story to Mr. Greville, even corresponded with him. He 
 was employed to secretly convey the mother’s letters to her daugh- 
 ter. He was sent to Spain with his regiment, and was there 
 wounded, on which the Princess of Wales, according to Captain 
 Gronow, wrote to Lord Wellington, forwarding his watch and pic- 
 ture, and begging that he might be carefully looked after. When 
 the Duke of York’s scandal came out the young Princess became 
 alarmed as to her letters, and got Miss Mercer to require that they 
 should be returned. This he refused to do, but was forced to give 
 them up. His later life was that of an adventurer. He was ex- 
 pelled from Naples, and shot in a duel by one Leon, supposed to 
 be a son of Napoleon’s. 
 
 Another jidmirer came upon the scene in the shape of her cousin, 
 the Duke of Gloucester, more than double her age. This prince 
 seemed to have conceived the idea that he might recommend him- 
 self, and tried to show her that he was her friend and would be her 
 protector. At one of the magnificent balls given at Carlton House, 
 the foolish Duke, known so well as “ Silly Billy,” whose pretensions 
 annoyed and disgusted the Regent, devoted himself to her so par- 
 ticularly, that a request was sent to her by Lady Liverpool to 
 change her place. After the Queen and her family had gone, the 
 young Princess apologized to them both, when the Duke seized the 
 occasion to declare himself devoted to her, and ready to come for- 
 ward whenever she would cast her eyes on him. And he used 
 his opportunity with such effect, that before August she had con- 
 fided to Sir H. Halford that the man she preferred was the Duke 
 of Gloucester.* The Regent at once put it aside, with many lectures 
 to his daughter. The strangest part of the affair seems to be that 
 she was encouraged in it by Sir Henry Halford. 
 
 This lively girl had another pencMni — the young Duke of Devon- 
 shire — at that time sought and followed by all the matrons in Lon- 
 don. At balls, he danced nearly the whole night with her and the 
 
 Miss Knight, “ Autobiography,” i. 2.55. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 581 
 
 Princess Mary alternately. Being of a romantic turn, he also was 
 believed to nourish a tender passion for his future queen, and the 
 Regent looked on complacently, seeing that this would attach him 
 to his party. It is evident that various matrimonial schemes were 
 kept before her mind by the adroit Halford, with a view to some 
 serious alliance; for at this moment a fresh intrigue or plan was on 
 foot by which the Regent was to find relief. There now were fair 
 hopes of crushing his wife, or of driving her from the country, 
 while a suitable marriage might also remove his daughter — his rival 
 wuth the public. 
 
 Meanwhile discussions on the quarrel with his wife were embar- 
 rassing. The ministry were pressed on the point why the Douglases 
 were not prosecuted for perjury, and could only reply that there 
 were reasons which made it unadvisable; while Mr. Canning de- 
 clared that the report of 1807 conveyed a “ complete, satisfactory, 
 and unlimited acquittal.” It vras no wonder that Lord Castlereagh 
 came to the Speaker to tell him of the “irritation” of the Regent — 
 his own ministers seemed to have “ thrown him over.” They com- 
 plained that he was “quite intractable.” He talked of writing a 
 letter to the Speaker, to be read to the House. They contrived a 
 soothing answer — reminding him that the Speaker had given his 
 opinion. 
 
 The Chancellor, too, seems to have come in for his share of ill- 
 humor. “ Places,” he said, “ he must dispose of without reference 
 to anybody but myself, if I am to continue Chancellor. I doubt 
 whether I am: the Prince having applied for all, and I having 
 refused him all. I am too low, and too ill, to mix with the world, 
 and I therefore absented myself yesterday, and shall do so to-day. 
 The P. has been treating me with so much unkindness, because I 
 won’t do as to his wife and daughter as he wishes — in a way— that 
 one more such interview as I have had, if it occurs, will save me 
 the trouble of appointing to the secretaryship, or anything else 
 where the officer goes out of office with the Chancellor.” 
 
 During the next few days, to the a.stonishment of the public, the 
 Carlton House papers. The Herald and Post, became filled with 
 revolting matter of the old evidence of “the delicate investigation,” 
 the former paper being directed by a low bruising parson. Bate 
 Dudley,* one of the Prince’s favorites. 
 
 * The history of this clergyman is truly edifying. His whole course is 
 marked by “duels, boxing-matches, libels; at last purchasing a ‘fat’ living 
 
582 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE lY. 
 
 This scandal was the retort of the Prince’s friends, and the 
 materials could only have been supplied by them. 
 
 No wonder Mr. Whitbread renewed the attack, dwelling on the 
 scandalous remarks and statements with which the papers were 
 filled, and asking when the Prince, “as protector of his wife,” was 
 ready to take proceedings to restrain them. Excited debates fol- 
 lowed, in which the Prince’s character was badly mauled. Lord 
 Milton “advising persons in high station to beware how they trifled 
 with the feelings of the public.” He almost in plain terms accused 
 the Prince of causing the publication of the evidence. Mr. Whit- 
 bread presented a petition from Sir John Douglas, and made some 
 extraordinary statements, as it were, in defence of that person. He 
 had been informed by him that Lady Douglas had been examined 
 by a Treasury official before a magistrate in February last. 
 
 Among those who vindicated the Government was Mr. Rorailly, 
 who proved by precedents that such inquiries were legal and had 
 often been permitted. Two or three days later he was waited on 
 by Nash, the architect, who was employed in carrying out the 
 Prince’s “hobbies,” and who, since his project of the new Regent’s 
 Park, enjoyed the highest favor. Nash said that “the manly part ” 
 he had taken in the debate had been very thankfully received at 
 Carlton House, and that his royal employer was very anxious to see 
 and consult with him on the subject of the Princess of Wales. 
 Romilly declined; but was told, on a later visit, by Lord Yarmouth, 
 “that his advice had been followed with all the respect and atten- 
 tion that it deserved.” This astonished him a little, as he had 
 given no advice. With the curious love of intrigue which charac- 
 terized Carlton House, persistent efforts were made to attract him, 
 and he was asked, “as entirely from Lord Yarmouth, and without 
 direct authority from the Prince, if he would take the Chancellor- 
 ship without his party.” He positively declined. It is amusing 
 to follow the pertinacity with which this scheme was insisted on. 
 The architect came again. “He said that he did not come to me 
 by any authority whatever from the Prince; but that, since he had 
 seen me, he had had a ver}^ long conversation with the Prince, at 
 which no person was present, the Prince having made some excuse 
 
 for a large sum, to which his bishop refused to induct him, but ending respect- 
 ably as a baronet— Sir Henry Bate Dudley— and a country gentleman.”— See 
 Taylor, “Records,” and “ The Yavixhall Affray; an encounter with ‘Fighting 
 Fitzgerald.’ " 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 583 
 
 for sending away Lord Yarmouth; and that in that conversation 
 the Prince had talked much about me, and of the confidence he 
 was disposed to place in me; and had said that, in a matter respect- 
 ing his own family, he had a right to consult me as his private 
 counsel. The Prince, in the course of what he said, remarked that 
 I now never left my name at Carlton House, which is true: since 
 the restrictions on the Regency ceased, I have omitted to do so. To 
 all this I answered, that the more I considered the subject, the more 
 I felt the great impropriety of the Prince taking advice relative to 
 the Princess from any person but his responsible ministers; and that 
 I could not reconcile it to any notions I entertained of my duty to 
 offer him any advice.” He was then asked to dine at Mr. Nash’s, 
 when, to his surprise, he found Lord Yarmouth, who seemed almost 
 a stranger to the house. But, before this nobleman’s arrival, he 
 was taken aside and assured by his host that “ everything was in 
 confusion at Carlton House; that was the moment for bringing 
 about a change of administration; that he was himself — i.e. the 
 Prince — most anxious that it should be accomplished; and that I 
 was the link by which the Prince might be reunited with his old 
 friends.” He was again rebuffed, and told it was impossible. 
 
 Such were the clumsy and profitless arts by which the game at 
 Carlton House was carried on, resembling more the intrigues of the 
 Sultan’s palace than of an English ruler. 
 
 The most curious feature in the transaction was this, that the 
 publication of all the noisome matter relating to this delicate inves- 
 tigation would seem to have been actually prompted by the good 
 and admirable Romilly; for, in his discussions with Nash, he had 
 made the remark — rather incautiously — that since so much had been 
 published as to the Princess the whole had better be known. As it 
 was, these advances had the effect of making the lawyer take a 
 rather more tolerant view of the Prince and his part}'-, though he 
 continued inflexible as to the point of actual adhesion. 
 
 Addresses of congratulation were voted by the City of London 
 and other bodies to the Princess of Wales, which were brought up 
 with some confusion and mobbing. Alarming cries of “To Carlton 
 House!” were heard, whither they were prepared to draw her car- 
 riage, and had assembled at Westminster Bridge for the purpose. 
 Tlie Regent judiciously went out of town in the morning. 
 
 She was encouraged by this growing popularit}' to appear at the 
 Opera, which she did on May 29th; though it must have been a 
 mortification to her to receive a well-meant warning from Mr. 
 
584 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 Whitbread, imploring her to be very careful about her dress, and, 
 in short, to “cover her neck.” The poor lady, who was to receive 
 all sorts of contradictory instructions and advice from the friends 
 who had “ taken up her case,” wept bitterly at the affront. But she 
 was indemnified when at the theatre, and there was a burst of 
 applause, mingled with which were two or three hisses. “ I heard 
 
 afterwards that the Dowager Lady C y was one of those who 
 
 hissed— more shame to her! It is said a very great lady, who is 
 now far advanced in years, the mother of a particularly pious noble- 
 man, was the leader of this disapprobation.”* 
 
 Another incident which delighted the public was the strange 
 meeting of the separated mother and daughter. As she was return- 
 ing, in the forenoon of March the 9th, in her carriage down Consti- 
 tution Hill, she observed the Princess Charlotte, in her carriage, pro- 
 ceeding along Piccadilly towards Hyde Park. Immediately order- 
 ing her coachman to turn round, and the horses running nearly at a 
 gallop, she overtook the Princess Charlotte’s carriage in Hyde Park, 
 near the bridge. The royal mother and daughter, from the windows 
 of their carriages, affectionately embraced each other, and continued 
 in earnest conversation for about ten minutes. 
 
 At this point recurs the memory of the poor old insane King, now 
 almost forgotten, to whom his son paid a visit, which the valet- 
 scribes of the Court declared “ proved him susceptible of the finest 
 feelings, and that he could and did regard the duties of a son. The 
 filial affection by which the Prince Regent has been distinguished 
 will ever be remembered to his honor, and will be more than suffi- 
 cient to counteract the base calumnies of all the foul-mouthed revilers 
 of dignities. His royal highness entered the room at Windsor where 
 his venerable parent was, and heard him lamenting his blindness in 
 the passage from Milton : ‘ Oh dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of 
 noon.’” 
 
 This was indeed a sad spectacle enough, and had such an effect 
 upon the Regent that “he burst into a flood of tears, and was 
 obliged to retire to another apartment.” 
 
 This sensibility — something after the manner of Sterne — attended 
 him through his life, being displayed on occasions of romantic 
 interest. Witness the congratulation which he had, a few months 
 before, addressed to Lord Wellington, 
 
 Lady C. Campbell, “ Diary, 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 585 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 1813 — 1814 . 
 
 THE BEGENT TO LORD WELLINGTON. 
 
 “ Carlton House, July 3, 1813. 
 
 “My DEAR Lord, 
 
 “Your glorious conduct is beyond all human praise, and far 
 above my reward. I know no language the world affords worthy 
 to express it. I feel I have nothing left to say, but devoutly to 
 offer up my prayers of gratitude to Providence that it has in its 
 omnipotent bounty blessed my country and myself with such a 
 general. You have sent me, among many other trophies of your 
 unrivalled fame, the staff of a French marshal, and I send you in 
 return that of England. The British army will hail it with enthusi- 
 asm, while the whole universe will acknowledge these valorous 
 efforts which have so imperiously called for it. That uninterrupted 
 health and still increasing laurels may still continue to crown you 
 through a glorious and long career of life are the never-ceasing and 
 most ardent wishes of, my dear sir, 
 
 “Your very sincere and faithful Friend, 
 
 “G. P. R.” 
 
 It would take long to unfold the pitiful incidents of this most 
 pitiful warfare, and what further unworthy devices were used to 
 harass the Princess of Wales. She was refused permission to 
 remain in the palace at Kensington, on the ground that the Prince 
 required it.* 
 
 The withdrawal of the use of Kensington Palace, with its privi- 
 lege of firing, light, etc., made a serious difference; and she had 
 now to look out for a house in town. When she selected Lady 
 Reid’s, in Curzon Street, and nearly concluded for it, it was refused 
 to her. It almost seemed as though difficulties had been put in the 
 way. She then fixed on Connaught House. Even the reputable 
 
 * Lord Berkeley, in Lord Auckland’s “Memoirs. 
 25 * 
 
586 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 banking house of Drummond’s refused to let her overdraw for the 
 small sum of £500. 
 
 What the Prince was most eager for now was the marriage of his 
 daughter, and he had already fixed on a husband. This was the 
 Prince of Orange, a young man who had been educated at English 
 schools, and was serving on Lord Wellington’s staff. Sir Henry 
 Halford, whom we have seen favoring a 'penchant for the Duke of 
 Gloucester, had suggested the Dutch prince to her. He was coming 
 over with despatches for Lord Wellington, and the business was at 
 once entered on. She avoided meeting him. But Lady Anne 
 Smith and Sir Henry -worked hard, and at the end of November she 
 was heard to say that “ the prince was certainly adored in the army, 
 and that Lord Wellington, his brothers, and particularly John Fre- 
 mantle, spoke highly of him.” At a dinner given at Carlton House 
 in December, a print of the candidate -w^as placed on a chair to be 
 looked at, and the young girl thought it “not ugly.” His father 
 had just got back his dominions, which was naturally in favor of the 
 young prince. 
 
 The Regent, then at a party, was in high good-humor. He pre- 
 sented her with some jewels, and joked about a ring. The “little 
 Lord Arran” was heard to say to one of the Princesses: “It will do, 
 it -will do,” holding up his hands with delight. In short, the saga- 
 cious Brougham, who was watching the situation, was quite 
 convinced that she would accept him. 
 
 It was amusing to find that the portrait of the hussar was at this 
 time taken down and made a present of to Lady Anne Smith, and 
 that of the Prince of Orange hung up in its place. Another party 
 was given at Carlton House, at which she wns to meet him for the 
 first time. The young Princess was much agitated, and dressed 
 herself in violet satin and blonde lace. The Prince of Orange 
 turned out to be rather plain and sickly looking, but had a manly 
 soldierlike manner. The Princess paid him this compliment — he 
 was by no means “ so disagreeable as she had expected;” and the 
 happy Regent took them into another room, where they wndked up 
 and down together. He impressed her favorably at dinner by 
 “talking very handsomely of the old liberties of Holland.” Later, 
 the Regent came to her. “Well, it will not do?” he asked anx- 
 iously. And she answered to his delight, “ I don’t say that; I like 
 his manner very well so far.” Without further delay, the eager 
 father joined their hands. 
 
 Two days later both paid the young Princess a visit of ceremony. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 587 
 
 The lovers retired to talk, while the Regent sat down with Miss 
 Knight. It was to be kept a secret, he said, but she was to keep 
 her charge dearly, and see there was “no flirtation.” Then the 
 pious Prince spoke of her going to Windsor to be confirmed and 
 “take the sacrament with the family.” But while thus engaged 
 they were strangely interrupted by hearing the young Princess 
 burst into a violent fit of hysterical tears. The Princes started up, 
 and both hurried into the other room. They found the Prince of 
 Orange much scared and the Princess in deep distress, “What,” 
 exclaimed her father adroitly, “ is he saying good-bye?” She only 
 replied: “Not yet,” and hurried to her room. The Prince had to 
 take the lover away with him. 
 
 It seems that it had been told to her, for the first time, that she 
 would have to leave England and live two or three months of the 
 year in Holland. But she herself relates what took place in her own 
 natural style: “ He told me yesterday what has cut me to the heart 
 nearly, that he expected and wished me to go abroad with him 
 afterwards to Holland, but that I should have a home here and 
 there, and be constantly coming backwards and forwards; that he 
 wished me to go to Berlin, and travel in different parts of Germany. 
 He was all kindness, I must say ; at the same time, as he told me, it 
 should never prevent my seeing and having my friends with me as 
 much as ever I liked ; that he should be happy if they would all go 
 with me, or else come and see me. His anxious wish, I must say, 
 is to do what I like as much as possible to make me happy, and 
 study everything that can make me so. I have only to add that this 
 latter plan must, as you will see, remain in perfect uncertainty, as 
 it must depend upon a peace, or else I could not certainly go; be- 
 sides w^hich, this is a step which cannot be taken without consent of 
 Parliament.” 
 
 But this was only a temporary difficulty, and she was soon per- 
 suaded into compliance. The matter, for the next three or four 
 months, was considered to be settled, though the marriage was not 
 formally announced. The Regent at this time seems to have been, 
 unhappily, more than usually addicted to the favorite vice of the 
 day; his daughter saying in her expressive phrase that there w^as 
 generally “too much oil in the lamp.” Thus at a fSte at the New 
 Military College of Sandhurst, where the wiiole royal family were 
 assembled, and the Queen on her departure asked for the Regent, 
 he was not then to be found; and the ladies learned that he, with the 
 Duke of York, the Prince of Orange, and other noble guests, were 
 
688 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 under the table.* The Duke of York hurt his head very seriously 
 against a wine cellaret. 
 
 On January 6th, 1814, we find the Regent at Belvoir Castle, cele- 
 brating the baptism of an heir with great and prolonged festivities. 
 It is no surprise, then, that in Februar}^ he was seriou.sly ill, *‘kept 
 low,” and in a nervous state; indeed, at one period it was thought 
 his life was in danger. He was much disturbed at the Princess 
 Charlotte having a carriage built for herself, but more particularly 
 at its not being ordered from his own coachmaker. In this de- 
 pressed condition he spoke of going to Hanover, and would burst 
 into tears on an allusion to his sister Princess Amelia. No wonder 
 that Mr. Brougham thus lugubriously dwelt on the situation, and 
 foreboded evil. We must, however, make due allowances for par- 
 tisanship : ‘ ‘ Truly things may be said to be desperate when the 
 most unpopular King since James II., at the most alarming crisis, 
 is able to do exactly what he pleases, and by whom. We owe it to 
 his forbearance that Macmahon and T 3 'rwhitt are not appointed 
 Lord High Treasurer and Lord High Admiral.” 
 
 In January, 1814, the Princess w'ent through the ordeal of a visit 
 to Windsor, where, as she says: “What with congratulations, ill- 
 concealed jo}’ as ill-concealed sorrow, good humor and bad, peeping 
 out, my Confirmation and the Sacrament, and little jokes and witty 
 sayings that were circulated, I was both excessively put out and 
 overcome, and when I returned to town I was quite ill for some 
 days afterwards.” When she got back to London she was left to 
 spend her birthday alone. A few days later she was dining with 
 her mother, when the foolish lady began pouring dissatisfaction 
 into her daughter’s ear — if it were not there already — saying, “all 
 the world had hoped for promotions, and for emancipation from 
 prisons, etc., etc., the day of her coming of age, but that no public 
 testimony of joy had been shown on the occasion, and it had passed 
 awa\' in a mournful silence.” Princess Charlotte was considerably 
 struck, and replied: “Oh, but the war and the great expenses of 
 the nation occasion my coming of age to be passed over at present.” 
 “ A very good excuse, truly,” said the Princess of Wales, “ and you 
 are child enough to believe it!” 
 
 In the April of this year a proceeding of somewhat romantic in- 
 terest took place in the chapel at Windsor. Some repairs or altera- 
 tions were being made, and it was determined to open the coffin 
 
 * Miss Knight, “ Autobiography,” i. 252. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 589 
 
 which held th^ remains of Charles I. The propriety of this step 
 was questionable, but the curiosity among antiquarians to ascertain 
 whether the account handed down was accurate in all particulars 
 could not be resisted. The historic associations kindled the im- 
 agination of the Prince Regent, who determined, with the Duke of 
 Cumberland, to be present. Accordingly, on the 13th of April, he 
 attended with his brother the Duke of Cumberland and others. 
 Within a leaden coffin a wooden one appeared, which was opened. 
 Sir Henry Halford describes what was seen. “ The body carefully 
 wrapped up in cerecloth, into the folds of which a quantity of unc- 
 tuous matter mixed with resin, as it seemed, had been melted. . . . 
 At length the whole face was disengaged from its covering. The 
 complexion of the skin of it was dark and discolored. The fore- 
 head and temples had lost little or nothing of their muscular sub- 
 stance; the cartilage of the nose was gone, but the left eye, in the 
 first moment of exposure, was open and full, though it vanished 
 immediately; and the pointed beard was perfect.” The liead was 
 held up for the spectators to examine. Contemporaneous accounts 
 describe it as having been sewn on; but the threads, of course, had 
 long since decayed away. The hair was found to be thick and a 
 brown color, but the pointed beard was of a reddish tinge. 
 
 A sort of proces verbal was drawn up and attested by the Prince, 
 who hurried to his daughter’s room (as Miss Knight used to relate) 
 to vent his emotions after he had been much affected. He gave 
 her a lock of the hair which he had cut off.* 
 
 Subjoined are Lord Byron’s scurrilous lines “ On the Prince 
 Regent being seen standing between the coffins of Charles I. and 
 Henry VIII.”- 
 
 THE VAULT REFLECTION. 
 
 I Famed for contemptuous breach of sacred ties, 
 
 ij By headless Charles see heartless Harry lies; 
 
 Between them stands another sceptred thing, 
 
 It moves, it reigns, in all but name a king. 
 
 I Charles to his people, Harry to his wife, 
 
 In him the double tyrant wakes to life. 
 
 Justice and death have mixed their dust in vain; 
 
 Each royal vampire wakes to life again. 
 
 Ah, what can tombs avail, since these disgorge 
 The blood and dust of both to mould a George I 
 
 ♦ “ Notes and Queries,” Third Series, viii. 444— Halford’s Essays, 1833. 
 
590 
 
 TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV, 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 1813—1814. 
 
 In discussing the alliance between the Prince of Orange and 
 Princess Charlotte, it is singular that the embarrassment as to the 
 choice of residence did not at once strike the statesmen concerned 
 — for both the parties were heirs to thrones — and it would seem 
 impossible that a mode of living could be devised that would be 
 acceptable to both countries. The course pursued was to leave the 
 question open, both retaining the right of succession, the only one 
 stipulation being as regards the children, that the two crowns were 
 not to devolve on one person, but if there were two sons, the eldest 
 should succeed in England, the second in Holland.* But this 
 seemed remote, the pressing question being where the young pair 
 were to reside in the meantime. Was the “ Hope of England” to 
 be removed from the people that loved her, and that she loved, to 
 the Hague? Early in March, the Dutch envoy, “Baron Van der 
 Duyn van Maasdam,” arrived with the solemn formal proposals of 
 marriage from the Dutch Court — this being always a matter of strict 
 etiquette. He brought also a portrait of the Prince, with the modest 
 offering of £14,000 for jewels. But the affianced husband did not 
 seem to gain upon his betrothed. She was treated ungraciously 
 enough, in a childish way; no information was vouchsafed to her 
 as to her establishment, or as to the ladies who were to be in her 
 suite. Xo wonder she began to listen to whispers. At her mother’s 
 she was told that the proposed marriage was unpopular with the 
 nation, and by March it was evident that the high-spirited girl, to 
 whom it now came home that she was “being got out of the way,” 
 began to meditate rebellion. Even in this affair her mother was to 
 be affronted, for the Dutch envoys were cautioned not to go near 
 her.f 
 
 But wdiat helped to shipwreck the whole affair was the opportune 
 arrival of a very important personage, namely, the Czar’s sister, 
 the Grand Duchess Catherine, widow of the Duke of Oldenburg. 
 
 Castlereagh, “Letters,” ix. 151-181. 
 
 + Stockmar, “Memoirs,” i. 15. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 591 
 
 The object of this visit has not been very clearly ascertained, though 
 it could hardly have been with a view to the design which the pub- 
 lic had only the year before assumed was on foot, namely, that of 
 marrying her to the Regent himself, so soon as he obtained a 
 divorce. She was a slightly-made, graceful, and interesting per- 
 sonage. The idea that she had come with any set purpose to break 
 otf the Princess’s marriage is doubtful. Still, the Prince of Orange 
 eventually married her sister. It would take a long time to unfold 
 the successive stages of this struggle; how the young girl, prompted 
 by Brougham, met every objection and worsted her father and his 
 counsellor. The whole affair, from whatever influence, presently 
 came to a dead stop. 
 
 In this desperate state of things the only resource was to send for 
 the fiance, who was, in truth, taking the matter rather calmly. 
 He arrived in town on April 30th. It was strange that, following 
 the regular modern habit of hospitality to foreign sovereigns, he 
 was allowed to shift for himself in the matter of quarters, and 
 found a lodging^ at his tailor’s. This may have been to keep his 
 incognito.* 
 
 Miss Mercer (Lady Keith) told Mr. Greville in 1832, that there 
 was another reason for this change — that the Princess had fallen in 
 love with “Prince Augustus of Prussia.” with whom, she says. 
 Miss Knight had contrived clandestine meetings. 
 
 During this struggle the nation was in a great tumult of joy at 
 the defeat of “the Corsican ogre.” One of the results of this catas- 
 trophe was the return of the long-exiled King of France. He was 
 now to take his departure, and the Regent, who, as we have seen, 
 had shown the exiled family the most marked honors, made this 
 the occasion for a fresh and last display. Nothing could exceed 
 the enthusiasm and cordiality of the crowd, and the exertions of 
 the Regent. The French royal family were to come to town in 
 solemn procession, from Stanmore Priory. 
 
 During this interesting proceeding, at which the whole of London 
 assisted, there were two persons almost purposely excluded, the 
 Princess of Wales and her daughter. The young girl, who would 
 have enjoyed such a show, was going herself in her carriage to the 
 park to get as good a view as she could, when the Grand Duchess, 
 calling by chance, brought her to her hotel. There, we are told, 
 neither the Prince nor the royal family took any notice of her, “and 
 
 Mem. Regency,” i. 75. 
 
592 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 this neglect seemed to press hard upon her,” adds Miss Knight. 
 However, the honest mob, who by a sort of instinct seemed to know 
 her case, welcomed her with delighted acclamations, scarcely allow- 
 ing her to pass; indeed, wherever she appeared now, this was the 
 case, though she did not seek it. The Regent certainly showed the 
 King and his family the most unbounded devotion, made them 
 flowery speeches in French, while his brother Clarence attended the 
 party to France. 
 
 Blit there were even greater festivities at hand: the foreign sove- 
 reigns w’ere coming to London, and the Regent would have good 
 opportunity for displaying his taste for pageants and entertainments. 
 But every step he took in these agreeable plaisaiices was to bring him 
 mortification and a reminder of his hete noir. That irrepressible 
 being, his wife, would take advantage of the presence of strangers 
 to claim their attentions. Two drawing-rooms had been announced 
 with much flourish in honor of the illustrious guests, and it was 
 understood that the young Princess was to appear at them. The 
 gossips found an explanation for the twQ ceremonials in its being a 
 device b}" which the hostile couple might avoid meeting. But at 
 the end of May the public were favored with another episode of this 
 unhappy scandal, which took the shape of the following communi- 
 cation, dated Windsor Castle, May 23rd, 1814: 
 
 “ The Queen considers it to be her duty to lose no time in ac- 
 quainting the Princess of Wales that she has received a communi- 
 cation from her son, the Prince Regent, in which he states that her 
 Majesty’s intention of holding two drawing-rooms in the ensuing 
 month having been notified to the public, he must declare that he 
 considers that his own presence at her Court cannot be dispensed 
 wdth; and that he desires it to be understood, for reasons of wdiich 
 he alone can be the judge, to be his fixed and unalterable determi- 
 nation not to meet the Princess of Wales upon any occasion, either 
 in public or private. The Queen is thus placed under the painful 
 necessity of intimating to the Princess of Wales the impossibility of 
 her Majesty’s receiving her royal highness at the drawing-rooms. 
 
 “Ch.\iilotte R.” 
 
 The Princess was determined to accept the challenge and go. 
 Mr. Whitbread, how’ever, in the most peremptory manner, required 
 a letter of submission, written by himself, to be adopted. 
 
 The answer was of the humblest kind, alluding to her unpro- 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 593 ' 
 
 tected state, and asking that the reason of such a slight should be 
 explained to the illustrious guests. She declared, however, that 
 she would appeal to the public. The Queen answered, that she 
 would have complied with the request, only that the proposed pub- 
 lication made it unnecessary. What follows, and related by Mr. 
 Grey Bennett, shows what a political instrument the poor lady had 
 been made by adverse and contending advisers. 
 
 “On the night of the 25th Creevey called upon Whitbread, who 
 showed him the letter and his answer. Creevey’s remark was, 
 ‘You have cut her throat;’ and although he does not go all the 
 lengths of Brougham, who persists she ought to go to Court, 
 yet he maintains that she ought to have made as great a noise as 
 possible, demanding reasons why she should be so excluded, etc. 
 etc. Whitbread was much hurt at this; and yesterday, the 22nd, 
 he told Creevey he had deprived him of his night’s rest. Last night 
 at Brookes’s, Creevey and I being there, Whitbread came in from 
 the play very much out of spirits. The waiter gave him a letter 
 from Brougham, who had missed seeing him in the morning. 
 Creevey told me it was very impertinent, Whitbread sent his reply, 
 and Creevey still maintaining that the Princess was lost without a 
 hope of redemption, if some way was not found to get her out of 
 the scrape, proposed that she should write a letter to the Prince, 
 calling upon him to state why she should be excluded from Court, 
 and that her assent to the Queen’s proposal was out of respect to 
 her mother, and that she did not wish to be any impediment to her 
 holding a drawing-room. This letter w^as written when I left 
 Brookes’s this morning at twm. It has long been understood that 
 the Princess returning to Court was the cause there was no draw- 
 ing-room, and that the Prince was endeavoring to persuade the 
 Queen to take this step, she resisting unless writing by his order. 
 At last she has consented, and she will live to repent it. On the 
 night of the 26th an answer came back from the Queen, thanking 
 the Princess for her determination. MacMahon had no notion of 
 the letter to the Regent, and told Creevey in the morning that it 
 was a sad scrape the Regent had got into. Creevey said, ‘Yes, it 
 is, as the Regent has now declared his determination that she 
 should not be crowned.’ ‘No, but he has not,’ replied MacMahon. 
 ‘Yes, but he has,’ says Creevey — quoting the words ‘public and 
 private ’ — ‘ we think it so, and have acted accordingly.’ MacMahon 
 then said that ‘he was sick to death of the whole concern, and that 
 he never went to bed without wishing he might never rise again.’ 
 
594 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEOROE IV. 
 
 So much for little Mac. Lord Sidmouth, upon M. Angelo Taylor 
 speaking to him on the subject, said it was a fatal business. 
 
 “ The letter to the Prince was a spirited one. She told him that 
 she had ‘ been declared innocent. I will not submit to be treated as 
 guilty. Sir, your royal highness may positively refuse to read this 
 letter; but the world must know' that I have written it, and they 
 will see my real motives for foregoing, in this instance, the rights 
 of my rank. Occasions, however, may arise (one, I trust, is far 
 distant) when I must appear in public, and your royal highness 
 must be present also. I waive my rights in a case where I am not 
 absolutely bound to assert them, in order to relieve the Queen, as 
 far as I can, from the painful situation in w'hich she is placed by 
 your royal highness, not from any consciousness of blame, nor from 
 any doubt of the existence of those rights, or of my own worthiness 
 to enjoy them. Sir, the time you have selected for this proceed- 
 ing is calculated to make it peculiarly galling. Many illustrious 
 strangers are already arrived in England. This season your royal 
 highness has chosen for treating me with fresh and unprovoked in- 
 dignity; and, of all his Majesty’s subjects, I alone am prevented by 
 your royal highness from appearing in my place, to partake of the 
 general joy; and am deprived of the indulgence in those feelings of 
 pride and affection permitted to every mother but me.’ ” 
 
 After this protest she went down to Worthing, where she dis- 
 played herself on the beach. Here she already conceived the idea 
 of leaving the country, demanding £50,000 a year, which the Em- 
 peror of Russia, her friend as she considered him, was to ask the 
 Regent for. 
 
 On June 8th the sovereigns arrived. Then began a series of 
 fetes, and a banquet of the most magnificent description. 
 
 After the first interview of the General with the Prince, an inter- 
 esting scene took place; “The Prince Regent returned with the gal- 
 lant Bliicher from his private apartments, and in the centre of the 
 grand hall, surrounded by the people, placed a blue ribbon on his 
 shoulder, fastening it with his own hand, to which w'as hung a 
 beautiful medallion, Avith a likeness of the Prince, richly set with 
 diamonds. The Marshal knelt while the Prince was conferring this 
 honor, and on his rising, kissed the Prince’s hand. The Prince and 
 the General bowed to the public, whose acclamations in return ex- 
 ceeded description.” 
 
 London, as Miss Knight says, “wms out of its senses,” rushing 
 after these foreign visitors, acclaiming them wfitli delight. But it 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 595 
 
 must have been infinitely mortifying to the host to find himself 
 greeted, in the presence of the guests he wished to honor, with 
 hiss^ and groans! A fellow put his head into the carriage, saying- 
 “Where’s your wife?” On which the Regent, with readiness and 
 good-humor, said quietly, “Emperor, that’s for you!” The latter 
 had insisted that his sister should sit in the same carriage with him 
 and the Regent, which the latter declared was impossible, “as no 
 woman ever went in the same carriage with the sovereign. ” On 
 such a point of etiquette he could be firm and vehement enough, 
 and the discussion was maintained for hours. 
 
 There was now a geand state night at the opera, which all the 
 potentates were to visit. But again to the Regent it was to be a 
 night of mortification, for his wife intended to be there— a com- 
 peting attraction. Hitherto, his efforts to have her excluded from 
 the various pageants had been successful. To the Guildhall ban- 
 quet, “the City,” who were friendly, dared not ask her. From the 
 theatre he would also have excluded her if he could. Here was the 
 scene : 
 
 “ When we arrived at the opera,” says her lady-in-waiting, “to 
 the Princess’s and all her attendants’ infinite surprise, we saw the 
 Regent placed between the Emperor and the King of Prussia, and 
 all the minor princes, in a box to the right. ‘ God save the King’ 
 was performing when the Princess entered, and consequently she 
 did not sit down. I saw the Regent was at that time standing and 
 applauding the Grassinis. As soon as the air was over, the whole 
 pit turned round to the Princess’s box and applauded her. We in- 
 treated her to rise and make, a curtsy, but she sat immovable, and 
 
 at last, turning round, she said to Lady : ‘My dear. Punch’s 
 
 wife is nobody when Punch is present.’ ‘ We shall be hissed,’ said 
 Sir W. Gell. ‘No, no,’ again replied the Princess with infinite 
 good-humor, ‘ I know my business better than to take the morsel 
 out of my husband’s mouth; lam not to seem to know that the 
 applause is meant for me till they call my name.’ The Prince 
 seemed to verify her words, for he got up and bowed to the audi- 
 ence. This was construed into a bow to the Princess, most unfor- 
 tunately; I say most unfortunately, because she has been blamed 
 for not returning it ; but I, who was an eye-witness of the circum- 
 stance, know the Princess acted just as she ought to have done. 
 The fact was, the Prince took the applause to himself ; and his 
 friends, or rather his toadies (for they do not deserve the name of 
 friends), to save him from the imputation of this ridiculous vanity, 
 
596 
 
 TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 chose to say that he did the most beautiful and elegant thing in the 
 world, and bowed to his wife! 
 
 “ When the opera was finished, the Prince and his supporters i^ere 
 applauded, but not enthusiastically; and scarcely had his royal high- 
 ness left the box, when the people called for the Princess, and gave 
 her a very warm applause. She then went forward and made three 
 curtsies, and hastily withdrew. When the coachman attempted to 
 drive home through Charles Street, the crowd of carriages was so 
 immense it was impossible to pass down that street, and with diffi- 
 culty the Princess’s carriage backed, and we returned past Carlton 
 House, where the mob surrounded her carriage, and, having once 
 found out that it was her royal highness, they applauded and huz- 
 zaed her. The mob opened the carriage doors, and some of them 
 insisted upon shaking hands with her, and asked if they should 
 burn Carlton House. ‘No, my good people,’ she said; ‘be quite 
 quiet — let me pass, and go home to your beds.’ ” 
 
 The poor lady was buo3^ed up by this success, in the belief that 
 the sovereign would come to see her, and a rumor reached her that 
 the Czar was to call on that or the following da}", but he never 
 came. She was delighted. She gradually gave way to the hope 
 which charmed her, and said — poor soul! — “ My ears are very ugly, 
 but I would give them both to persuade the Emperor to come to 
 me to a ball, supper, any entertainment that he would choose.” She 
 dressed, and waited till seven, but no Emperor came. 
 
 The reception the Regent met with on some occasions was pain- 
 ful. “ The Prince Regent, with his superb retinue, passed along 
 Pall Mall without interruption; but his carriage no sooner entered 
 the park than the multitudes assembled there recognized his royal 
 highness, and he was anno^^ed by the most dismal j’ells, groans, and 
 hisses, which continued the whole w a}" from the stable\"ard to the 
 Queen’s house. The horses were put to their full speed to cany his 
 ro3"al highness through this ungracious scene.” 
 
 The sovereigns were in a difficult position, and it is said that the 
 Emperor of Russia had settled to call upon her, when, on setting 
 out, one of the ministers came in hot haste from the Regent, im- 
 ploring him in his master’s name not to do so. The King of Prussia 
 took the half-hearted course of sending his chamberlain. 
 
 “ The Regent was much hissed and groaned at,” wrote a lady to 
 Lord Fitzharris, “ on his way to and from the drawing-room. The 
 Princess of Wales was in one of the private boxes upstairs at the 
 play last night, and had a little boy placed before her. Towards 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 597 
 
 the end of the play g, man in a higher box stood up, told the house 
 they were honored with the presence of H.RH. the Princess of 
 Wales, and desired she might be cheered, which she was, three 
 times. ‘God save the King’ called for, and excessive applause at 
 the lines, ‘Confound their politics, frustrate their knavish tricks;’ 
 and, after all, this champion called for ‘ three cheers more for an 
 oppressed Princess, who should go to Court ’ — more cheering. All 
 this is lamentable.” Nor was this the only victory obtained by the 
 luckless Princess. It will be recollected that on the recovery of the 
 King, twenty years before. White’s club gave a grand political gala, 
 and it was determined to give an entertainment on a scale of simi- 
 lar magnificence to the sovereigns. The Duke of Devonshire was 
 induced to otfer his spacious house and gardens in Piccadilly for 
 the festival, and many of the fine old trees which ornamented his 
 grounds had actually been cut down. “ But suddenly, when the 
 committee was in council, a message came from a great person to 
 the committee to desire to know what style of company they meant 
 to ask to their ball, or some clumsy hint of this sort; which the 
 committee however understood, for tlie}^ sent back word that they 
 meant to request the Regent himself to invite all the royalties whom 
 he wished should be there, and that they should send a number of 
 tickets to him for that purpose. But this was not deemed secure 
 enough to exclude the obnoxious individual; for some member, a 
 friend to the Regent (it was said to be Lord Yarmouth), made a 
 motion that no member should give away his tickets except to his 
 relations, or that some line of rank should be drawn, such as that 
 no one but peers’ daughters should be invited, so as to exclude 
 canaille and higher rank likewise. Upon this Lord Sefton got up 
 and said it was easy to see these confused proposals were meant to 
 exclude the Princess of Wales; and he observed that, as one of the 
 members, every ticket he subscribed for was his own, and every 
 one of them he intended to send to the Princess, to be disposed of 
 as she pleased. Fourteen other members said the same; but as they 
 were not the majority, and as those who were to pay for the diver- 
 sion were not to have leave to do what they pleased at it, they de- 
 termined they would give no ball at all.” This, no doubt, was the 
 origin of the animosity which so long raged between the Prince (as 
 Regent and King) and the objecting nobleman; the latter, like Brum- 
 mel, exercising his ready wit and persiflage on the weakness of his 
 sovereign. 
 
 A few days after the scene at Drury Lane, there was to be a com- 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV 
 
 098 
 
 mand-night at Drury Lane Theatre, and when the Regent’s wife 
 sent for a box she was informed they were all engaged. It is not 
 uncharitable to presume that this was prompted by the Court, It 
 was contrived that a box should be secured, when a letter arrived 
 from Mr. Whitbread advising her on no account to go. Her case, 
 he said, was coming on in the House of Commons. “You see, my 
 dear, ’’she said to one of her ladies, “how I am plagued. My 
 friends torment me as much as my enemies,” Go, however, she 
 would, but Mr. Whitbread arrived and succeeded in dissuading her. 
 
 Nor was her daughter treated more kindly. During all these 
 f^tes she was allowed to appear at only one dinner, but was rigor- 
 ously excluded from even the parties given by noblemen in honor 
 of the sovereigns. Even for the drawing-room she was allotted a 
 garret at the top of the Queen’s house to dress in, and it was only 
 on the remonstrances of the surgeons that it was changed for a 
 more suitable one. She was deeply wounded at the exclusion of 
 her mother, and hesitated about going. However, with her usual 
 spirit, she showed herself in the parks and public drives, her smil- 
 ing face winning all hearts, and the people calling to her: “God 
 bless you! Don’t desert your mother!” Finally all these festivities 
 were brought to a close, and the sovereigns departed. 
 
 One result of these meetings of the continental sovereigns in 
 London and Paris was the famous fantastic league known as “ The 
 Holy Alliance,” engendered in the somewhat exalte disposition of 
 the Emperor Alexander. When it was arranged, the Regent was 
 invited to join. The spirit of the engagement was wholly foreign 
 to the English Constitution, as Lord Liverpool pointed out to his 
 royal master, who accordingly put it aside in the following conven- 
 tional reply to each of the three members : 
 
 THE REGENT TO THE SOVEREIGNS. 
 
 “ Carlton House, Oct. 6, 1816. 
 
 “ My DEAR Brother and Cousin, 
 
 “ I have had the honor to receive your Majesty’s letter, to- 
 gether with the copy of the treaty between your Majesty and your 
 high allies, signed at Paris on the 26th of September. As the forms 
 of the British Constitution which I am called upon to maintain in 
 the name and in the place of the King my father, prevent me from 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 699 
 
 acceding to the treaty in the form in which it is laid before me, I 
 choose this way to convey to the august sovereigns who have signed 
 it, my entire concurrence in the principles which they have ex- 
 pressed, and in the declaration which they have made, that they 
 will take the Divine precepts of the Christian religion as the un- 
 alterable rule of their conduct in all their social and political con^ 
 duct.” 
 
600 
 
 TEE LIFE OF GEORGE it. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 1814. 
 
 We may now return to the question of the young Princess’s 
 marriage, the progress of which had been suspended during these 
 galas. 
 
 A great concession, as it was conceived, was now to be made, 
 and two Articles were forwarded to her by Lord Liverpool, to the 
 effect that she was not to leave the country without permission of 
 the Regent, who was to have power to recall her, and that she 
 was not to be absent more than a certain number of months in the 
 year. She answered that “this gave her no security in case the 
 Regent and the Prince of Orange should agree. She debated the 
 question formally with the ministers, and at last Lord Liverpool 
 told her bluntly that her wishes could not be complied with. On 
 this she wrote to her suitor with unconcealed delight to tell him 
 that it was all at an end! 
 
 However, the matter was once more renewed. The Prince of 
 Orange appealed to his father, and finally an Article was accepted 
 by both parties, to the effect that she was not to be taken out of the 
 kingdom against her consent, or detained longer than she choose. 
 
 The Regent was the bearer of this concession, and, accompanied 
 by the Bishop of Salisbury, came to pay one of his dreaded visits, 
 threatening and cajoling her. He was greatly out of humor, and 
 tried to persuade her that now the concession was made, she must 
 give no more trouble and of herself yield on the point. This was 
 on June 6th. Miss Knight also he tried to bring round, protesting 
 that he had only agreed to the marriage to please his daughter, and 
 dwelling on his own “parental affection.” The old Queen then 
 proceeded to buy her trousseau; and the young Princess was told 
 that, as soon as her sovereign was gone, the wedding should take 
 place. These proceedings threw her into intense alarm and anxiety. 
 She seems also to have been seriously ill with an affection in her 
 knee, the pain of wdiich prevented her sleeping, so that the surgeons 
 ordered her at once to the sea ; but no attention was paid to them. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 601 
 
 The Czar even had been employed, bringing with him the Prince of 
 Orange, begging of her to see him, and using all arguments, asking 
 her, was she going to give up so good a match — “ all to be praised 
 by a Mr. Whitbread?” he added, pointing to The Times newspaper, 
 which was on the table. 
 
 It seemed it was impossible to daunt the Prince of Orange. For 
 all this worry and torture he was indirectly responsible: and, for 
 a candidate, there was something undignified in his behavior. She 
 had now consented to see him, but their meetings did not add to his 
 favor in her eyes. His behavior, too, did not recommend him. It 
 was reported that he came to her having taken too much wine, and 
 was described as having come from some races on the top of a 
 stage-coach, drunk and riotous. His future bride was heard to 
 declare, that “he was so ugly she could not speak to him without 
 turning away her face.” 
 
 It having now fastened on her mind that if she once left the 
 country her mother would be helpless, she tried to raise a new issue, 
 announcing to him that she would not leave England; that when 
 she had a house of her own it must be opened to both her parents. 
 This he could not agree to. Disputes arose on petty subjects. She 
 wished him to ride with her in the riding-house, to which he made 
 some objection. She made a point of it; then, annoyed at her par- 
 tinacity, he broke away, and left her to recover her temper. 
 Delighted at the pretext, she wrote to him that evening, June 16th : 
 
 “After what has passed upon this subject this morning between 
 us (which was much too conclusive to require further explanation), 
 I must consider our engagement from this moment to be totally and 
 forever at an end. I leave the explanation of this affair to be made 
 by you to the Prince in whatever manner is most agreeable to you, 
 trusting it entirely to your honor, of which I have never for a 
 moment doubted. I cannot conclude without expressing the sin- 
 cere concern I feel in being the cause of giving you pain.” 
 
 At a ball that night at Hertford House, he laughed with a friend 
 at what he called her “tantrums,” but was gravely warned that it 
 was serious. On the next morning her letter reached him. She 
 sent a copy of it to her mother, who was enchanted and flattered at 
 being made the cause of the rupture. He did not answer it at once, 
 but two days later wrote that at last he accepted the plain dec- 
 laration so often made to him. 
 
 26 
 
602 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV, 
 
 “ 8 Clifford Street, June 18, 1814. 
 
 “My dear Charlotte, 
 
 ‘ ‘ I found the night before last your letter, and have lost no 
 time to acquaint my family with its contents. But I cannot com- 
 ply with your wish by doing the same with regard to the Regent, 
 finding it much more natural that you should do it yourself ; and it 
 is, besides, much too delicate a matter for me to say anything to him 
 on the subject. Hoping that you shall never feel any cause to 
 repent of the step you have taken, I remain, 
 
 “ Yours truly, 
 
 “William.” 
 
 The Princess laughed scornfully at this epistle. “Good English 
 he writes,” she said, pointing to the last sentence. 
 
 But there was, in truth, another important influence which had 
 its share in this change. The volatile young Princess seems to have 
 once more transferred her affections. In the crowd of kings and 
 princes had arrived the Prince Leopold, a young man of two-and- 
 twenty, who had struck her the very flrst time she saw him, when 
 she expressed her astonishment that a young lady of her acquain- 
 tance, to whom he was devoting himself, could be indifferent to the 
 attention of so handsome a man.* He had brought a letter to her 
 from the Duke of Brunswick, and she was so pleased with him that, 
 as she told Stockmar long after, she spoke of him to her aunt, the 
 Duchess of York, saying that she would like to know him better, 
 but had no opportunity, as she was excluded from all the balls; on 
 which the Duchess declared she would give a ball for her specially. 
 He was invited to tea at Warwick House, when he commended 
 himself still further. In the park he would ride near the carriage 
 and try to be noticed. He boldly allowed his aims to be known, and 
 was adroit in his behavior to the Regent. He succeeded in offend- 
 ing no one, and secured good-natured toleration and even good 
 wishes for his success from all. After he went away, the Regent 
 declared him to be a most honorable young man, and that he was 
 perfectly satisfied with a letter of explanation which he had written 
 to him.f 
 
 The bishop had now been throwing out some alarming hints to 
 the effect that, unless the Princess yielded, some awful measures 
 would be taken. Then came a lull. It was now the morning of the 
 
 * Lady Rose Weigall, “Princess Charlotte,” p. 133. 
 t Miss Knight, “ Autobiography,” i. 301. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 603 
 
 11th of July, and it was known that the bishop had been closeted for 
 hours with the Regent. The poor girl, conscious that some mischief 
 was impending, was ill and nervous, when, about five o’clock, a 
 message arrived that she and her duenna were to go over at once to 
 Carlton House. She declared she was unequal to a fresh scene, and 
 Miss Knight went alone. The Regent insisted his daughter should 
 come the next day. Already it had leaked out that she was to be 
 removed to her father’s house, to a sort of honorable captivity. No 
 visits or letters were to be received, and all her servants and 
 friends were to be dismissed and some creatures of the Regent 
 put about her. The following day she was again summoned, 
 and again declined to go. Towards six o’clock the Regent made 
 his appearance, and sent down for her. Now w^ae the supreme 
 moment. She came out from that interview “in the greatest 
 agony,” saying to Miss Knight that she had but an instant to speak 
 to her, telling her that the new ladies were in the house, that the 
 servants were dismissed, that she was to be shut up and was to see 
 no one but his friends, and that if she did not go at once the Prince 
 would come himself. Falling on her knees she exclaimed passion- 
 ately, “ God Almighty grant me patience!” 
 
 Miss Knight, then sent for, was told that she was dismissed — that 
 her room was wanted for that very evening. The Regent added he 
 was sorry to put a lady to inconvenience. She answered that her 
 father had suffered for fifty years, serving his country, so she was 
 not likely to mind a few hours’ inconvenience. On this he said 
 there was a room at Carlton House which she might have for a 
 night or tw'o. This she declined. 
 
 The young Princess was shut up in her bedroom when the 
 bishop came and knocked violently at the door. This she fancied 
 was her father come to seize her, and in fresh terror she fled away 
 by another door. 
 
 As Miss Knight came out she met Miss Mercer crying, who de- 
 clared that she could not find the Princess, and that she believed 
 she had fled from the house. So it proved to be. 
 
 The next day all London was talking of the elopement, and the 
 daring act of the young girl. Miss Mercer was at a window that 
 looked into the lane that led from Warwick House when she heard 
 people declare that it was the Princess that had passed them down 
 the lane. The two ladies rushed to the Regent, and told him that 
 the Princess had declared she would go to her mother, and before 
 they could interfere was gone. The Prince answered he was glad. 
 
604 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV, 
 
 as now people would see what she was, and on the Continent, when 
 it became known, no one would many her. The bishop and Miss 
 Mercer offered to go for her. 
 
 The young Princess had rushed into the street, and, stopping 
 a hackney-coach, offered the astonished driver a guinea to take 
 her to Connaught Place. Lord Brougham relates what followed. 
 He was dining out when a message was brought to him beg- 
 ging him to go to the Princess of Wales. Assuming this to be one 
 of the Princess of Wales’s humors, and being tired with having 
 sat up the night before, he sent word that he was unable to go. 
 “The messenger brought back word that I was wanted on most 
 particular business, and that a coach was waiting at the door by 
 express commands. I was obliged to comply, and fell asleep as 
 soon as I stepped into it, not awaking till it reached Connaught 
 Place. I stumbled upstairs, still half asleep, to the drawing-room. 
 To my astonishment, I found both my hands seized by the Princess 
 Charlotte. She said, ‘ Oh, it is too long to tell now, for I have 
 ordered dinner, and I hope it will soon come up.’ We sat down to 
 dinner, and she was in high spirits, seeming to enjoy herself like a 
 bird set loose from its cage. 
 
 “ There came while we were at table various persons sent by the 
 Regent: the Chancellor Eldon, Bishop of Salisbury (the tutor); 
 Lord Ellenborough ; Adam, Chancellor of the Duchy of Cornwall; 
 and Leach. All arrived one after another, and as they were 
 announced the Princess or her daughter said what was to be done 
 with each. Eldon being named, they said, “Oh no; let him wait 
 in his carriage,” which was, like that of the Princess Charlotte 
 and all the others, a hackney-coach. The Duke of Sussex, not 
 having been sent by the Regent, was brought upstairs; and none of 
 the others had any communication with our party except the Duke 
 of York, whom the Princess of Wales saw for a few minutes in the 
 room below. 
 
 “ ‘ They may wear me out,’ the Princess Charlotte said, ‘ by ill- 
 treatment, and may represent that I have changed my mind and 
 consented.’ We then conversed upon the subject with the others, 
 and after a long discussion on that and her lesser grievances, she 
 took me aside and asked me what, upon the whole, I advised her to 
 do. I said at once, ‘ Return to Warwick House or Carlton House, 
 and on no account to pass a night out of her own house.’ She was 
 extremely affected, and cried, asking if I too refused to stand by 
 her. I said quite the contrary, and that as to the marriage I gave 
 
THE LIFE OF GEOBGE IV. 
 
 605 
 
 no opinion, except that she must follow her own inclination entirely, 
 but that her returning home was absolutely necessary; and in this 
 all the rest fully agreed. 
 
 “The day now began to dawn, and I took her to the window. 
 The election of Cochrane (after his expulsion owing to the sentence 
 of the court, which both ensured his re-election and abolished the 
 pillory) was to take place that day. I said : ‘ Look there, madam, 
 in a few hours all the streets and the park, now empty, will be 
 crowded with tens of thousands. I have only to take you to that 
 window, and show you to the multitude, and tell them your griev- 
 ances, and they will all rise in your behalf.’ ‘And why should 
 they not?’ I think she said, or some such words. ‘The commo- 
 tion,’ I answered, ‘ will be excessive; Carlton House will be attacked 
 — perhaps pulled down; the soldiers will be ordered out; blood will 
 be shed; and if your royal highness were to live a hundred years 
 it never would be forgotten that your running away from your 
 father’s house was the cause of the mischief; and you may depend 
 upon it, such is the English people’s horror of bloodshed, you never 
 would get over it.’ She at once felt the truth of my assertion, and 
 consented to see her uncle Frederic.” 
 
 The night was an exciting one. Not till two in the morning was 
 she persuaded to yield. The heroic girl made a solemn protest, that 
 she was resolved not to marry the Prince of Orange. She desired a 
 note to be made of this protest, which was duly signed, and six 
 copies were taken and given to those present. Her positive injunc- 
 tions were laid on them, that if ever the attempt to renew the mar- 
 riage should be made, it was to be given to the public. It is amazing 
 to read the self-possession and decision of this young creature in stay- 
 ing an emergency. Her old enemy the Chancellor had a share in 
 compelling her to surrender. ‘(When we arrived,” he says, “I 
 informed her that a carriage was at the door, and we would attend 
 her home. But home she would not go. She kicked and bounced ; 
 but would not go. Well, to do my office as gently as I could, I told 
 her I was sorry for it, for until she did go, she would be obliged to 
 entertain us, as we could not leave her. At last she accompanied 
 us.”* 
 
 * There were many accounts of this strange dramatic scene. Lord Brougham 
 has been ridiculed for the share he gives himself in this affair. His various 
 statements as to his sitting down to dinner with the Princess; the idea of such 
 important personages as the Chancellor and others being kept waiting in 
 hackney-coaches outside, and above all the melodramatic speech at the win- 
 
606 
 
 THE LIFE OF OEOROE IK 
 
 The sensation caused by these proceedings may be imagined. 
 From that moment the young Princess became endeared to the peo- 
 ple, for the fact of a young girl having to fly from the house of 
 her father was a presumption of ill-treatment. Indeed, what can be 
 said of the Regent, who at every atep seemed to blunder afresh! It 
 was remarked that the behavior of the Princess of Wales showed an 
 unexpected good sense, and no one, it was noticed, was so eager that 
 the Princess should leave the house and go back to her father’s.* * It 
 was natural that the young girl should consider this a desertion at 
 such a crisis, and, after casting her lot with her mother, should resent 
 such cold welcome. It seems that from this time a change took 
 place in her feelings. An affectionate parent would have laid aside 
 the cautious warnings of “advisers,” and have chivalrously cast her 
 lot with her. Such an element of strength would have been invalu, 
 able, and the idea of the Chief Justice issuing his Habeas Corpus, or 
 the oflicers of the law arriving to drag the young Princess away, was 
 too ludicrous to be entertained a moment. A tumult would have 
 followed of a most serious kind, and the Regent have excited such a 
 storm of execration as he could never have surmounted. But the 
 Princess of Wales at that moment was busy with a plan that con- 
 cerned her own interest, and she might have been afraid of imperil- 
 ling it. 
 
 As the young Princess was now to be under a sort of restraint, it 
 was determined to carry on the war, and Mr. Brougham put forward 
 the Duke of Sussex as his niece’s protector. Accordingly, in the 
 
 dow, have been doubted. That his statements are substantially correct can 
 be shown. Lord Dundonald, however, states— at the last page of his memoir 
 —that the speech at the window was made by the Duke of Sussex. But this 
 is improbable, as it is exactly the topic that the popular orator would have 
 urged. Further, his account w'as read to the Duke, and accepted. A point is 
 made that Lord Cochrane’s election did not take place until some days later. 
 Lord Cochrane himself says that it took place on that day, and this is urged 
 as proof that the scene was only engendered in Lord Brougham’s imagina- 
 tion. In any case it is evident that, as an election w^as going on, the nomina- 
 tion having taken place on the day before, and the polling to come on later, 
 he wished to impress on the Princess that the neighborhood was in a state of 
 excitement which w^ould be inflamed by the incident. 
 
 * See also the Duke of Sussex’s account, “ Memoir of Adolphus,” p. 175. 
 We cannot accept the fanciful theory of “ The Edinburgh Review ” that all 
 felt that a night passed under her mother’s roof, whither “the Sapios” 
 resorted, etc., would have been contamination. It w^as obviously felt that, if 
 she returned, the matter was merely a visit; but if she slept there, it became 
 a refuge, and the Rubicon had been, as it were, passed. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 607 
 
 House o/ Lords, on July the 19th, after talking of his “agitated 
 feeliifgs, ” that Prince put questions to Lord Liverpool as to the 
 position of the Princess : whether she was allowed to communicate 
 with her friends in writing or otherwise ; was she prevented going 
 to the sea; was she to have an establishment suitable to her rank? 
 The minister, with visible reluctance, rose to declare that he declined 
 giving any answer — that it was unbecoming to put such questions. 
 The Prince was “the father of his family,” and was “affected with 
 great tenderness and love towards his child,” had adopted measures 
 for her good, “agreeably to the duties which God, nature, and the 
 laws of the country imposed upon him. ’ After this pretty picture, 
 the Duke vindicated himself from any disrespect, but the Chancellor 
 treated him in rather a severe style, and gave him a*good lecture on 
 his behavior. It was said that a sudden “fit of asthma” furnished 
 him with a convenient excuse for withdrawing from the business. 
 
 He had previously sent a letter to Lord Liverpool, asking to be 
 allowed to see his niece, and received for an answer : ‘ ‘ The Regent 
 has* read the letter, and has no commands.” Mr. Brougham, excited 
 by the contest, was prompting other friends, trying to stir up Lord 
 Grey, the Princess’s friend, declaring that he was sure she was 
 “game,” and would go to the Tower if necessary. One of his 
 schemes was “to set Peter Plymley on them,” and if he failed, to get 
 the Princess herself to ask him to write in her cause. But Lord 
 Grey felt that such a struggle between her relations carried on in 
 public was unbecoming, and likely to cause mischief. He and Lord 
 Grenville strongly opposed the matter being renewed. 
 
 Meanwhile the young Princess’s allowances had been formally cut 
 off. She was obliged to sell some of her jewels to pay tradesmen 
 distressed for their money, with certain little pensions to the poor. 
 She was also forced to admit one of her ladies to sleep in the same 
 room or in the next, the door being left open. All her letters and 
 parcels were searched. Her friends had taken care to publish the 
 opinion of her three physicians, that she ought to be sent to the sea- 
 side, a step that caused “great anger ” at Carlton House. Dr. Baillie 
 interrogated Miss Knight in a manner “most unjustifiable,” by order 
 of the Prince. She was not allowed to go until the end of August. 
 She also was put to the question as to whether she had set on her 
 uncle to bring her case forward. Nor did the Regent want defenders ; 
 his hired writers in The Post, and others, presenting him as an 
 injured father. “Aware of this unnatural rebellion,” wrote the 
 Rev. Bate Dudley, ‘ ‘ the royal parent, as might be expected, became 
 
608 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 anxious to ascertain the description of persons by whom his daughter 
 was immediately surrounded, and by means of one of the most pious 
 and virtuous characters of the land it was discovered that many of 
 her associates were persons possessing pernicious sentiments, alike 
 hostile to the peace of the daughter, the father, and the country, 
 Under these circumstances the whole of the obnoxious associates 
 w^ere dismissed by order of the Regent.” This gross attack upon 
 ladies who, at the worst, could have been only a little indiscreet, 
 was characteristic of the press of the day. 
 
 After all this dissatisfaction and excitement it is not surprising 
 to find that the Regent was now in a bad condition of health. He 
 had organized a series of shows — his favorite pastime — to commem- 
 orate the peace, and vast suras of money had been laid out on 
 these pageants. But his nerves were shaken by these agitations, 
 and by the rough and hostile greetings which saluted him in public; 
 and, indeed, it is not often that a prince is found who is engaged 
 in a double contest with a wife and daughter, both of whom are 
 popular. The old Queen was credited with the late proceedings, 
 and was held in such detestation by the crowd that on coming from 
 a party at Carlton House she was nearly mobbed. “ The hooting, 
 hissing, and abuse,” says Lord Grey — “there was no form of re- 
 proach that did not assail her ears — was more violent and alarming 
 than ever.” Her son had to send his aide-de-camp to protect her; 
 but the high-spirited old Queen disdainfully rejected all assistance, 
 declaring that she had been nearly fifty years in the country, and 
 had neve«- been so insulted. “And now,” she added grotesquely, 
 “ I be spirit upon!” Her situation was indeed pitiable — grown old, 
 in ill-health, neglected; her husband, her family discordant; she 
 must have looked back with despair to the old days — the walking 
 on the terrace at Windsor with her husband in his blue uniform, 
 surrounded by a dutiful family, and saluted by the respectful and 
 affectionate homage of the crowd. 
 
 The shows consisted of galas in the parks, where the Regent was 
 delighted to have an opportunity of erecting pagodas, temples, and 
 bridges of an elaborate kind made of wood, to say nothing of ridicu- 
 lous “ sea fights” between tiny craft on the ornamental water. 
 
 But now the Regent was to receive an intimation of an unex- 
 pected kind, which must have rejoiced him. The object of his 
 dislike was about to leave him in peace, disgusted and wearied out 
 by the recent mortifications. The Princess of Wales sickened with 
 the long struggle; finding, moreover, that her life was passing away 
 
THE LIFE OF GEOROE IV. 
 
 609 
 
 in wretchedness and dulness, with no prospect of relief, determined 
 to quit the country. Knowing that this step would be distasteful 
 to her regular Radical advisers, she did not consult them, but 
 invited the assistance of Mr. Canning and Mr. G. Leveson;* and 
 employed the former to draw up a formal application to Lord 
 Liverpool for permission to reside abroad. The ministry proposed 
 to give her £50,000 a year. Curious to say, the discussions which 
 gave her the welcome annuity had brought out the unexpected fact 
 that regular articles of separation had been signed in 1809, which 
 settled on her an allowance of £17,000 a year. 
 
 It was odd to find her friend Mr. Whitbread vehemently opposing 
 the application, declaring that the Princess had never asked for 
 any money, that the sum seemed too much. As the Princess quit- 
 ted England within the month it was not unreasonable to suppose 
 that this sudden liberality was in view of her departure from this 
 country, which she had announced as early as the first week in 
 June.f On the following day, worked on by Mr. Whitbread, who 
 almost compelled her to follow his advice, she had written to 
 the Speaker, declaring that she was unwilling to “ burden the 
 people ” with so large a sum, and that £35,000 would be sufficient 
 for her wants. The Government took no notice of this proposal 
 till the 8th of the next month, when Lord Castlereagli hinted at its 
 not being her own act, and said she herself had gladly accepted the 
 money. He added, rather contemptuously, that he hoped capital 
 would not be made out of this attempt at self-abnegation. But the 
 reduced sum was finally voted. 
 
 An appeal to Mr. Brougham and Mr. Whitbread produced a 
 solemn warning from the former, in which he declared that abroad 
 she would be followed by spies, and* exposed to all dangers from 
 misrepresentations; whereas in England she was safe. He told her 
 there were designs for divorcing her. He enjoined her to stay only 
 a short time. In fact, he made a most remarkable prophecy of 
 what actually was to occur; and it does appear as though he knew 
 enough of her character and previous behavior to be certain that 
 what he prophesied would follow. That she accepted it in this 
 offensive sense is evident from the extraordinary letter of complaint 
 
 * Brougham’s “ Autobiography,” ii; 258. Mr. Grey Bennett also states this 
 interference of Canning, 
 t “ Diary of Lady C. Campbell,” i. 329. 
 
 26* 
 
610 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 she wrote to Canning, begging that it should be shown to Lord 
 Liverpool. 
 
 In the ministry, indeed, she had found this one friend, whose 
 devotion to her, even through the later more critical events, was 
 ready to stand the test of real sacrifices. Mr. Jerdan, who, from 
 his connection with the newspapers, seems to have gained Mr. Can- 
 ning’s confidence, recounts the following odd scene, at which he 
 assisted, and which shows the romantic character of the minister’s 
 feelings: 
 
 “ On going to Gloucester Lodge on a Sunday afternoon, as cus- 
 tomary, I observed the Princess’s carriage at the door; and was 
 hesitating whether I should go in or not, when Mr. Canning led her 
 out and handed her to her seat, beckoning me to enter by another 
 passage. A glance informed me that something of unusual interest 
 had taken place, for the Princess appeared flushed to crimson, and 
 Mr. Canning exceedingly moved. I proceeded into the room, and 
 walking up to the fireplace, stood leaning my arm on the chimney- 
 piece, when the latter returned in a state of extreme excitement and 
 agitation, exclaiming (in a manner more resembling a stage effect 
 than a transaction in real life): ‘Take care, sir, what you do! 
 Your arm is bathing in the tears of a Princess!’ I immediately 
 perceived that this was the truth.” 
 
 The Princess was determined, she said, to return at once should 
 she hear of ‘ ‘ any alarming reports.” But go she would. ‘ ‘ Nothing 
 can stop her,” wrote one of her ladies. This was in truth the fixity 
 of purpose of a weak mind. The moment of departure was singu- 
 larly ill-chosen. She was deserting her daughter, whose battle had 
 been fought in her interest, and was sorely distressed at the idea, 
 and who at the time was writing eagerly to be allowed to see her. 
 And it will be found that this desertion effectually chilled the devo- 
 tion of the child. It is not unlikely that this expedition was really 
 promoted by a passionate longing for freedom, and for enjoyment 
 after nearly twenty years of life under a ban. The mother and 
 her child were to have one last interview, and never to see each 
 other again. 
 
 On August 2nd, the Princess of Wales arrived at Worthing, ex- 
 pecting to go on board the Jason frigate, which, however, had not 
 arrived. Crowds assembled on the beach and followed her as she 
 walked; and when she went to Lancing, a couple of miles away, 
 the whole town followed. There they saw her embark, attended 
 hy Lady Charlotte Lindsay, and the boy, “young Mr. Austin.” It 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 611 
 
 is recorded that she wore a dark pelisse and a “ hussar cap ” of 
 velvet and green satin, after the Prussian fashion, with a green 
 feather. A more melodramatic element was noted, viz. a myste- 
 rious “large, long case, with these words painted in white letters: 
 
 ‘Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, to be always with 
 her.’” 
 
 She wept as the Jason frigate sailed away. She passed by the 
 Texel on her husband’s birthday; always good in impulse, the poor 
 exile-drank his health and happiness in a bumper. She travelled 
 under the name of Countess of Wolfenbilttel. A curious story was 
 printed, which was likely enough to have been true, that during 
 the course of her travels she contrived to see Prince Leopold, and 
 handed him a letter from her daughter.* ^ 
 
 In this fashion she set out on this most fatal — as it was to prove — — 
 pilgrimage. She had really handed herself over to her enemies. ' 
 
 Few clmracters have been more perplexing than that of the 
 Princess of Wales. That she was good-natured, good-hearted, 
 clever, lively, there can be no doubt, but all was mixed with a 
 reckless gamin element. Had she been controlled by a sensible 
 man of the world, she might probably have lived a reputable ordi- 
 nary life. If we only think of what would be the effect of what 
 is called “taboo” upon any lively high-spirited person of our 
 acquaintance, with a powerful faction on the watch to destroy her, 
 it will be felt at once how this hunted pariah state of life will 
 operate for the worse. It seems analogous to the case of the en- 
 larged prisoner wishing to reform and live honestly, but harassed 
 and hindered in every effort by police espionage. The result is a 
 life of desperate defiance, and of final indifference. Nor was her 
 life free from pecuniary cares. 
 
 She was often reduced to strange shifts for money, at one time 
 trying to raise some thousands on the lease of her house at Black- 
 heath, now sending one of her ladies to sell “ two enormous unset 
 diamonds;” borrowing from friends and from her bankers — who at 
 last refused to allow her to overdraw to a very small amount, it 
 was believed, owing to instigation. Great allowance, therefore, 
 should be made for the effect on her character of innumerable 
 petty persecutions of this kind. 
 
 Her best vindication is the respectable circle of friends and 
 families she surrounded herself with for the fifteen or twenty years / 
 
 * “Life of Princess Charlotte,” i. 234. 
 
61 ^ 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 of her life in England. This circle was more respectable than what 
 her consort affected. When Lady Charlotte Lindsay was taking 
 service with her, a friend, who knew the Princess, gave her the 
 highest testimony. Indeed the choice of two of her ladies showed 
 a sagacity on the one side and a faith and appreciation on the other 
 highly significant. These were Lady Anne Hamilton and Lady 
 Charlotte Lindsay, whose faithful service was her best testimony. 
 As'is well known, the latter was one of the brilliant and admired 
 sisters who left such an impression on all who knew them, and 
 which included Lady Glenbervie and Lady Sheffield, The wit of 
 Lady C. Lindsay had a flavor that delighted her friends, of which 
 Sir H. Holland gives a pleasant specimen. “ It was of the copious 
 library of Lord Guildford,” he says, “ that his sister. Lady C. Lind- 
 say, used to say, and not without some justification, ‘ Frederick’s 
 library contains but two sorts of books — books that cannot be read, 
 and books that ought not to be read.’ Her playful letters were 
 wrongfully obtained, and wrongfully used in the Queen’s trial in 
 1821 .” 
 
 Of her, Lord Houghton, in his pleasing “Monographs,” gives 
 an interesting graphic sketch, describing how, when she said a 
 good thing, “her features crumpled into an expression of irresis- 
 tible good-humor.” * 
 
 Her steady support of her mistress, and her gallant bearing as a- 
 witness during her trial, are well known! 
 
 Yet the Princess found herself bored with the grave manners of 
 Lady Anne Hamilton, whom she had dubbed “ Joan of Arc;” and 
 over whom indeed she used to make merry with her correspondents. 
 “ My dragonne de vertu,'' Q'hQ would write, “has been sick for some 
 days, so I am in the utmost danger of being run away with by some 
 of the enchanters who come to relieve locked-up princesses. Xo 
 hopes of getting the dragonne married; no one will venture to 
 espouse ‘Joan of Arc.’ Deyare all afraid of de Amazon, and I am 
 not much surprised.” 
 
 * “ She used to give an amusing account of her marriage, "which took place 
 in the drawing-room of her father’s house. The clergyman brought no 
 Pra5'er Book, thinking there would be no difficulty in supplying him with one. 
 but no such article was forthcoming in the house ; and the only way of get- 
 ting over the difficulty was to perform the ceremony by memory. The cler- 
 gyman, confused by the novelty of the situation, came frequently to a dead 
 stop, and could only continue by the fragmentary reminiscences of the com- 
 pany. ‘ Somehow or other,’ said Lady Charlotte, ‘ I do not think I was ever 
 rightly marned at all.’ ’’—“Monographs.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 618 
 
 Lord Byron is well presented in another of these light sketches : 
 “ My better half, or my worse, which you choose, has been ill, I 
 hear; but nothing to make me hope or fear. Pray burn this piece 
 
 of high treason, my dear . Lord Byron did enquire for you 
 
 also, I must not forget to mention. He was all couleur de rose last 
 evening, and was very pleasant; he sat beside me at supper, and 
 we were very merry. He is quite anoder man when he is wid 
 people he like, and who like him, than he is when he is wid oders 
 who do not please him so well. I always tell him there are two 
 Lord Byrons, and when I invite him, I say, ‘ I ask the agreeable 
 Lord, not the disagreeable one.’ He take my plaisanterie all in 
 good part, and I flatter myself I am rather a favorite with this 
 great bard.” 
 
 “To tell you God’s truth,” she would exclaim in her grotesque 
 phrase ; “ to tell you God’s truth, I have had as many vexations as 
 most people, but we must make up vons mind to enjoy de good, 
 spite of de bad; and I mind now de last no more dan dat,” snap- 
 ping her fingers. 
 
 Nor must we omit noticing here a person of mark, who, though 
 connected with her retinue but for a year, achieved a high and 
 unique reputation. This was Dr. Holland, later better known as 
 Sir Henry Holland, and son-in-law of Sydney Smith, one of the 
 cultivated courtly physicians, whose gifts lay as much on advising 
 adroitly on critical matters, in entertaining causerie, as in physic. 
 Among these eminent persons may be included Sir Henry Halford, 
 confidential adviser of the Queen and Princesses; Sir Walter 
 Farquhar, equally acceptable to the Regent as to the Princess of 
 Wales; and Sir Henry Holland. Sir William Knighton, though 
 more confidentially employed, was of' lower type, while the Wil- 
 lises, Baillies, Tierneys, etc., were merely of the average class. In 
 our day this type of Court physician is not found existing. When 
 the Princess was preparing to leave England, Sir W. Gell brought 
 her this young physician, who was found to have “ a good coun- 
 tenance and pleasing manners,” and also “appeared clever.” He 
 was, in truth, more than this, a young man of singular discretion 
 and capacity, and, fifty years later, was enjoying the highest 
 esteem in London society for his singular tact and charm of man- 
 ner, as well as for his ability as a physician. He became not only 
 the beau-ideal of the “fashionable physician,” but the agreeable 
 friend and talker, who had met at some time of his life almost 
 every remarkable personage of his day. Indeed, Sir Henry Hoi 
 
614 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 land and his life are well-nigh unique; and his amiable power of 
 attaching old friends, and his facile charm of attracting new ones, 
 seem to have been only rivalled by another man of society, the late 
 Mr. Ticknor. He was born in 1788, and lived to write, in his 
 eighty-fourth year, a most interesting volume of “Recollections.” 
 A little before he had made his eighth voyage across the 
 Atlantic — full of the undiminished ardor for travelling which had 
 led him to explore Iceland, the East, and every country where men 
 of science offered attractions; among his patients he could count no 
 less than six prime ministers, and almost every statesman of note. 
 He had attended Ibrahim Pasha, and had stood by the bed of Prin- 
 cess Charlotte. He was consulted in 1819 by Dr. Antommarchi, 
 then on his way to St. Helena to attend the first Napoleon; and, in 
 1831, had been hurriedly summoned to Holies Street, where he 
 found Queen Hortense “hanging over the bed of her son,” Louis 
 Napoleon, then in a gastric fever. With the same remarkable man 
 he was dining a few. days before the Boulogne attempt; and on him 
 he waited in his days of dethronement and exile at Chislehurst. He 
 had known Madame D’Arblay, Mrs. Piozzi, and Lord Stowell, 
 Wedgewood, and Mrs. Barbauld; had seen Murat and King Joa- 
 chim at the head of his troops; had witnessed the bombardment of 
 Cadiz by Soult; was with President Lincoln when the American 
 Civil War was raging; had talked with Kellerman, and Maria 
 Louisa, and Pope Pius VII. ; was intimate with all the wits and lit- 
 erary men of his own and other countries; with Humboldt, Sis- 
 mondi, Schlegel, Pozzo di Borgo, and Talleyrand; during his long 
 life, in short, had known all and every one that was worth knowing. 
 Yet with these opportunities he enjoined on himself a rare discre- 
 tion, and on principle registered nothing of what he learned, destroy- 
 inge very letter that he received. He set out in life with a determina- 
 tion to economize his pleasures, to make every hour of his life avail- 
 able by system. There is something melancholy indeed in the tone 
 of intellectual epicureanism which seems to have been the highest 
 standard he set before himself. This self-restraint was, perhaps, the 
 secret of his success ; and it is singularly displayed in his reserve as 
 to the proceedings of the Princess of Wales, of which he had full 
 opportunities of judging. He notes as a curious coincidence that, 
 on his return to England after leaving the Princess’s service, he was 
 called upon to attend Mrs. Fitzherbert. Such was this amiable and 
 interesting man. 
 
TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 615 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 1815 — 1816 . 
 
 Thus delivered from the presence of one he detested, the Regent 
 could scarcely restrain his impatience to take advantage of her 
 absence, and commence operations for ridding himself of her alto- 
 gether. Almost at once he pressed his Ministers to help him to a 
 divorce. That this was seriously discussed at Carlton House and 
 forced on their consideration, we are assured by Mr. Brougham.* 
 With his usual capriciousness, he proposed turning them out and 
 substituting more compliant agents. 
 
 The young Princess had now at last been sent to the sea — to Wey- 
 mouth — where she soon recovered her health and spirits and began 
 to enjoy herself a little. Here she pursued her studies and made 
 sailing excursions; and many pleasant stories were told which 
 delighted the public of her lively speeches and her spirit. The 
 exciting crisis that led to the Battle of Waterloo was now drawing 
 on. About a forte ight before that great event, we obtain a single 
 glimpse of the poor outraged Mrs. Fitzherbert ; the scene f was at a 
 ball given by Lady Aylesbury. The Regent was present, arriving 
 at one and remaining until two. She was there, and dreadfully over- 
 come, for he took no notice of her. But now, the excitement con- 
 nected with the great decisive victory was to be the one absorbing 
 thought. 
 
 It is curious that with this event were to be associated two highly 
 dramatic scenes, both taking place at a ball, both of which would be 
 well worthy of the painter. That at the Duchess of Richmond’s 
 ball, at Brussels, when the Duke gave orders for the advance, 
 makes the pulses stir. 
 
 No less exciting was the night of Mrs. Boehm’s ball in St. James’s 
 Square, where the Prince was when the news of the glorious victory 
 reached London. On this entertainment no expense was spared. 
 
 * “ Autobiography,” ii. 268, 279. 
 t Miss Knight, “ Autobiography, ’’’‘ii. 67. 
 
616 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 The Regent and his royal brothers had been entertained to dinner. 
 
 ‘ ‘ The first quadrille was being formed, and the Regent was walking 
 up to the dais, when,” says an eye-witness, “I saw every one, 
 without the slightest sense of decorum, rushing to the windows, 
 which had been left wide open because of the excessive sultriness of 
 fhe weather. The music ceased, and the dance was stopped, for 
 we heard nothing but the vociferous shouts of an enormous mob 
 who had just entered the square, and were running by the side of a 
 postchaise-and-four, out of whose windows were hanging three 
 French eagles. In a second the door of the carriage was flung 
 open, and without waiting for the steps to be let down, out sprang 
 Henry Percy — such a dusty figure — with a flag in each hand, push- 
 ing aside every one who happened to be in his way, dashing upstairs 
 into the ball-room, stepping hastily up to the Regent, dropping on 
 one knee, la3'ing the flags at his feet, and pronouncing the words: 
 ‘Victory, sir! victoiyl’ The Prince Regent, greatly overcome, 
 went into an adjoining room to read the despatches; after which he 
 returned, said a few words to his hostess, sent for his carriage, and 
 left the house. The royal brothers soon followed, and in less than 
 twenty minutes there was not a soul left in the ball-room but poor 
 dear Mrs. Boehm and myself. Even the band had gone. The 
 splendid supper which had been provided for our guests stood in 
 the dining-room untouched. Ladies of the highest rank who had 
 not ordered their carriages rushed away like maniacs in their mus- 
 lins and satin shoes across the square, man\'^ jumping into the first 
 hackney carriage the}^ met. ” * 
 
 To these may be added some recollections of Lady Brownlow, 
 who had joined Lad}^ Castlereagh at the ball. 
 
 “The despatches were being then read in the next room to the 
 Prince Regent, and we ladies remained silent, too anxious to talk, 
 and longing to hear more. Lord Alvanley was the first gentleman 
 who appeared, and he horrified us with the list of names of killed 
 and wounded — great and distinguished in the campaigns of the 
 Peninsula, and become almost household words. The Guards, he 
 said, had suffered severely — my brother Ernest was in them, but 
 the fate of a subaltern could not be known! Presently the Prince 
 
 * Oae of the last survivors who witnessed the scene of this night was the 
 Prince de Ligne, who died in the year 1880, and was fond of recounting the 
 event. Another survivor is Lord W. Lennox, whose account substantially 
 agrees with the others. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 617 
 
 came in, looking very sad, and he said, with much feeling, words 
 to this effect: ‘It is a glorious victory, and we must rejoice at it, 
 but the loss of life has been fearful, and I have lost many friends;’ 
 and while he spoke the tears ran down his cheeks. He remained 
 but a short time.” * 
 
 There was now much discontent abroad, inflamed by the severe 
 measures of the Government, chiefly prompted by Lord Sidmouth, 
 who found in severity a supplement for his incapacity. A study 
 of the “Doctor’s ” career is invaluable for such as would learn the 
 secret bj’- which mediocracy can rise.f The Regent, however, 
 incurred the chief odium, and was daily scared by the frequent and 
 alarming inscriptions on the walls of Carlton House: 
 
 (^ ^READ , OR THE REGENT’S HEAD!” 
 
 One morning a loaf, steeped in blood, was left on the parapet 
 of Carlton House; yet it was stated that he was opposed to the 
 Corn Bill which had excited this fury. 
 
 It was unfortunate that at a season of distress and hardship the 
 question of the Regent’s debts should have once more been brought 
 forward. All the galas and entertainments given to the royal vis- 
 itors had now to be paid for; and the vigilant and hostile Tierney 
 had discovered that a sum of £100,000, granted by Mr. Perceval as 
 an “outfit” on entering on the Regency, had been diverted to pay- 
 ing debts, while some new revelations as to fresh extravagance 
 caused surprise and indignation, j: 
 
 Lord Castlereagh vindicated the Regent on the ground of the 
 extraordinary expenses incurred for the entertainment of the sover- 
 eigns, and which, as was reasonable, should be charged to the 
 
 * “A member of Major Percy’s family,” according to Miss Wynne, ” says 
 that Lord Liverpool brought Major Percy to Mrs. Boehm’s ball. But in his 
 own account Major Percy says he went first to the Prince Regent, as he would 
 naturally, the despatches being addressed to him. But Miss Wynne states 
 that the despatches were first opened by Lord Liverpool at Lord Hertford’s, 
 as she heard from General Alava.” 
 
 t It is characteristic of that statesman that he should have assured his med- 
 ical adviser, Sir H. Holland, that the all then critical and even perilous situa- 
 tions of his Government had never interfered with his night’s rest! 
 
 t During three years it seems that a sura of £160.000 had been laid out on 
 furniture for the insatiable Carlton House. The year before glass and china 
 had cost £12,000; “ormolu” nearly £3,000; and to the silversmith in three 
 years was owing a sum of no less than £130,000! 
 
618 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE lY. 
 
 nation. This amounted to the large sum of $32,000; but he owned 
 that, on the three years, after every allowance, there had been an 
 expense of nearly £100,000! The rest of his defence was of a 
 fallacious kind; he admitted that the £100,000 had been diverted 
 from the payment of the debts, but then the £60,000 a year set 
 apart for clearing off the debts would be the sooner at the disposal 
 of the public. This would be reasonable in the case of a sober person 
 who was devoting his energies to the task of extricating himself, 
 but was valueless when urged for a spendthrift not curtailing his 
 extravagance. Then as to the furniture, which had cost £39,000, 
 Lord Castlereagh gravely urged that £17,000 of it had gone for 
 furnishing The Cottage at Windsor. Though called a cottage, he 
 urged, because it happened to be thatched, it was still a very com- 
 fortable residence for a family, and the only one the Prince could 
 make use of when he went to Windsor. He concluded with the 
 extraordinary argument that the Prince, on entering on his Regency, 
 might have sold all his own effects, and have called on the public 
 to fit him out completely with plate, etc. I This provoked bitter and 
 unanswerable retorts. 
 
 In this debate, too, it was remarkable that Mr. Ponsonby and 
 other leading Liberals did not spare the Prince. The Government, 
 however, defeated the attack. In a later debate Lord Castlereagh 
 had to admit that the amount of his debts still left undischarged 
 amounted to £339,000 ! * 
 
 We now return to the amiable young Princess, who had been 
 brought back to Warwick House, the gate of which had been 
 barred up, the only entrance being through Carlton House. She 
 was in a very depressed state from this imprisonment, and her 
 nerves quite shaken. Indeed she was in such terror of her father, 
 that she could hardly speak in his presence: a sort of stuttering, 
 which rarely affected her on other occasions, then coming on. It 
 was stated that there was a project of providing her with yet 
 another Prince of Orange, who -was to be placed before her, “ at a 
 breakfast given specially by Lord Liverpool, and at which the Queen 
 was to have been present.” She declined to go. She could not 
 write freely to her friends, and complained of “tricks being played 
 with her letters.” But it was evident that the advisers of her 
 mother had soothed tliis impulsive young creature, as indeed kind- 
 ness was always likely to do.f 
 
 * Huish, ii. 
 
 t “Her own inclination,” Miss Knight tells us, “was for an alliance with 
 
619 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 As the year went by, a hope of^ release offered. The Regent’s ' 
 indifference would appear to have increased, and he began to look 
 with favor on the idea of a new “candidature,” that of Prince 
 Leopold. That sagacious young Prince, though he had received 
 various hints from the young lady to return, had determined to 
 wait for a fitting opportunity, and being resolved not to move 
 unless the Regent invited him. So that the young Princess began 
 impatiently to doubt whether he really cared for her. In the 
 January of 1816, after she had completed her twentieth year, she 
 was suddenly sent for from Brighton, to go with the Queen from 
 Windsor; and was told that there was an agreeable surprise in 
 store for her. Here she found her father, and the whole family 
 seems to have been united for this occasion only, and the young 
 girl, though still unwell, was at last allowed a little happiness and 
 treated kindly. 
 
 Prince Leopold himself, when King of the Belgians, furnished 
 Her Majesty with some recollections of this period, as his contribu- 
 tion to the “ Early Years of the Prince Consort.” 
 
 “It was in January, 1816, at Berlin, that Prince Leopold received 
 the invitation of the Prince Regent to come to England. He w'as 
 forced to wait for his brother’s arrival from Vienna, and then left 
 in fearfully cold weather for Coburg. He caught an inflammatory 
 cold which retained him, to his great dismay, at Coburg, receiving 
 the most pressing letters from England to hasten his arrival. It 
 was painful to be quite unable to set out, and only in February 
 could he leave Coburg. At Calais he was detained by stormy 
 weather. In London he found Lord Castlereagh, with whom he 
 went to Brighton, to be presented to the Prince Regent, who re- 
 ceived him graciously. 
 
 “ The arrangements were soon made, and on this occasion the 
 young Princess met with no further difficulties.” 
 
 The Regent is said to have proposed that £50,000 a year should 
 be settled on them, and he was to have the disposal of £40,000, to 
 dole out as he pleased. The minister assured him that it was im- 
 possible to bring such a proposition before the House of Commons. 
 The handsome sum of £60,000 a year was voted, with an outfit of 
 £60,000, of which £10,000 was to be laid out in jewels, and £10,000 
 
 one of the Prussian Princes,” and some months elapsed before she gave up 
 this plan, which was opposed on both sides of the water.— •“ Autobiography,” 
 ii. 85. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE It 
 
 r>20 
 
 on clothes. Of the £60,000, a sum of £10,000 a year was settled to 
 the Princess’s sole and separate use. This liberality showed the 
 feeling of the country. 
 
 The marriage took place on May the 2ud. The happy pair at 
 first lived at Camelford House, Lord Grenville’s mansion, close to 
 Park Lane; but soon Claremont House was purchased, the Parlia- 
 ment again coming forward with a sum of £53,000 for the purpose. 
 This they proposed to make their home. 
 
 All this must have offered disagreeable reflections to the Regent, 
 wlio had received evidences of his own unpopularity. When the 
 happy pair attended Covent Garden Theatre, to see a farewell per- 
 formance of Mrs. Siddons, the audience seized the opportunity to 
 apply the various passages in Henry VHI, to the treatment of the 
 Princess of Wales and her daughter — passages, too, which had a 
 very awkward appropriateness. Nor could he have been gratified 
 by contrasting the effusive address in which the City of London 
 greeted the newly-married pair, with the one in which he himself 
 was bluntly reminded of the extravagance of his rule, the “enor- 
 mous sums paid for unmerited pensions and sinecures,” “an un- 
 constitutional and unnecessary military force in time of peace,” 
 “overwhelming taxation,” “ lavish expenditure,” “ all arising from 
 the inadequate and corrupt state of the representation.” The ex- 
 pressions of stern rebuke, and “ the rude sulkiness of manner with 
 which he replied to it, were ungracious and unwarrantable. In 
 reading the answer, he pointed his resentment by emphasis, pauses, 
 and frowns; and having concluded it he turned upon his heel, 
 without allowing those whom he addressed the usual courtesy of 
 kissing his hand.” The Court of Common Council retaliated by 
 recording the answ^er with a censure on the ministers. Nor was 
 this all in the House of Commons Mr. Brougham made an almost 
 ferocious personal attack upon him, actually likening him to a Sar- 
 danapalus, and causing consternation in the Government. The 
 Prime Minister wrote in agitation to the head of the State, who was 
 at Brighton— -unwell it seemed. 
 
 LORD LIVERPOOL TO SIR B. BLOOMFIELD. 
 
 [Secret.] 
 
 “March 21st, 1816. 
 
 “Under these circumstances, both Lord Castlereagh and 
 my.self are of opinion that it is of the utmost importance that the 
 Prince Regent should come to town the very first moment he can 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 621 
 
 do it without risk. The country is indeed in a state in which his 
 ministers ought to have the opportunity of daily, and even hourly, 
 access to him. Decisions which ought not to be taken without his 
 Royal Highness’s concurrence must, at times like these, often be 
 taken without the possibility of the delay which would arise in 
 consequence of a cohimunication between London and Brighton. 
 
 “In addition to these considerations, the Lord Chancellor has 
 directed a search to be made, whether a recorder’s report has ever 
 been held out of London. We can find no instance of it, even in 
 any period of the King’s illness; and the Chancellor adds that he 
 should be afraid to have execution done upon the authority of an 
 unusual proceeding. 
 
 “I must beg of you to submit all these observations to his Royal 
 Highness’s most anxious consideration, and I am sure he will see 
 the necessity of coming to town as soon as he can bear the motion 
 of a carriage.” 
 
 THE PRINCE REGENT TO LORD LIVERPOOL. 
 
 “ Pavilion, Brighton, March 24th, 1816. 
 
 “My dear Liverpool, 
 
 “ I will not suffer Arbuthnot to return to you without being 
 the bearer of a line in my own handwriting, briefly to thank you 
 and your colleagues for all your principles, and firm and steady 
 feelings towards me during the present storm which rages, and 
 which I both hope and believe, ere it be very long, must and will 
 subside, and you may depend upon my most resolute, firm, and 
 persevering support to the very utmost. You have seen me before 
 pretty highly tried, and you shall find me now, as at all other 
 times, true to the backbone. Arbuthnot will enter into all other 
 matters. 
 
 “Always most sincerely and affectionately yours, 
 
 “George P. R.” 
 
622 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 1816. 
 
 To this uneasy life the menage at Claremont — domestic and happy 
 to an extraordinary degree — offered a remarkable contrast. It was 
 almost pastoral in its happiness. In this establishment was a very 
 remarkable man, the late Baron Stockmar, whom the Prince was 
 fortunate enough to attach to him until his death ; a type, however, 
 that seems quite out of keeping with English character and habits. 
 The influence of a series of Stockmars at Court, however whole- 
 some in a moral point of view, would too much Germanize it. The 
 reports of this observer show that though viewing the mistress of 
 the household with regard and indulgence, she hardly came up to 
 the prim and precise German standard.* 
 
 This simple retired life affords one of the most interesting pic- 
 tures of a happy wedded life that could be conceived. All the 
 stories that come down to us are of the one texture, exhibiting her 
 unbounded goodness of heart and a tender charity, and colored by 
 an engaging bonhomie that must have been irresistible. Now she is 
 ordering 12,000 yards of silk for the furnishing of her house, for 
 the benefit of the distressed Spitalfields weavers; now aiding the 
 “suffering Irish;” now visiting the cottages and figuring in little 
 domestic incidents with the rustics of the neighborhood. She 
 delighted in the place, busied herself with the gardens and the 
 forming of the library, listened to her old preceptor’s sermons, 
 which she preferred to those of the local incumbent. She did not 
 seem to care for the London gayeties, and but seldom came to town. 
 Some festivities, however, drew them there, such as the marriage of 
 the Duke of Gloucester, her old admirer and preiendant, who was 
 accepted by his cousin, the Princess Mary. She was applied to to 
 bring about a reconciliation between the Queen and the Duchess of 
 Cumberland, who was still in disgrace; but, no doubt acting under 
 
 See his “Memoirs,” i. 41, 46- 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 623 
 
 the advice of her prudent husband, she declined to interfere. 
 Happy as was this life, it was to last but a short time. 
 
 In the September of this year the Regent was taken dangerously 
 ill at Hampton Court. His case was so serious that his death was 
 hourly expected. But his wonderful constitution stood him in good 
 stead, and. before Christmas he was perfectly restored. It w^as 
 wonderful how often he rallied from these attacks. 
 
 Meanwhile he did not regain the public favor, and made but few 
 attempts to do so. Indeed, he was associated with a series of op- 
 pressive measures. When he proceeds to open Parliament in his 
 state coach drawn by eight cream-colored horses, it is significantly 
 recorded that he was followed by an enormous detachment of Horse 
 Guards. Parties of the same corps lined Parliament Street, for the 
 purpose of preserving order; and it was remarked that they seemed 
 entirely under the direction of the police of Westminster. Every- 
 where he is received in solemn silence, or with cries of disapproba- 
 tion. When he went to church to receive the Sacrament he was 
 hissed and groaned at, both going and coming. He was afraid of 
 going in state through the streets as he should have done, but went 
 in his private carriage through the park. But the mob found him 
 out, and clung to the carriage-wheels, hissing, and the church (the 
 Chapel Royal) was surrounded by soldiers. 
 
 About this time (on July, 1816), one of his oldest friends, and 
 one too who had served him at the expense of reputation and inter- 
 est — Sheridan — was allowed to die in poverty and neglect. This 
 event took place on July 5, 1816. The Regent w^as under heavy 
 obligations to him for his reckless sacrifice of character and desertion 
 of friends to forward his interest, and serious charges of utter 
 abandonment and forgetfulness have been made by Mr. Moore and 
 others. After the failure at Stafford, the Prince Regent, says his 
 biographer, “offered to bring him into Parliament; but the thought 
 of returning to that scene of his triumphs and his freedom, with 
 his royal owner’s mark, as it were, upon him, was more than he 
 could bear, and he declined the offer. Indeed, when we consider 
 the public humiliations to which he would have been exposed 
 between his ancient pledge to Whiggism and his attachment and 
 gratitude to royalty, it is not wonderful that he should have pre- 
 ferred even the alternative of arrests and imprisonments to the risk 
 of bringing upon his political name any further tarnish in such a 
 struggle. ” 
 
 This bearing the“ owner’s mark ” never at any time gave Sheridan 
 
624 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 compunction. It is hard to reconcile with this well-meant specula- 
 tion of a poet the fact that he actually accepted fK)m tlie Prince a 
 large sum of money to be used in finding a seat, and instead of so 
 using it, as it was to be expected, devoted it to another purpose, 
 and Mr. Croker, who was intimate with the King, declares that 
 Sheridan’s plea, that “he had permission from the lender to do so,’* 
 is, he is sorry to say, entirely without foundation. It was noticed, 
 indeed, he said, that he avoided every opportunity o€ approaching 
 the Kegent.* In his last stage of decay and illness, Mr. Vaughan, 
 known as “Hat Vaughan,” sent to say that he was entrusted by a 
 mutual friend with a small sum of money, about £200 and more, 
 for immediate comforts. It was returned by the family. Mr. 
 Vaughan always gave out that this came from a royal hand. ‘ ‘ But, ” 
 says Mr. Moore, “this is hardly credible;” nor can he “suppose it 
 possible that so scanty and reluctant a benefaction was the sole 
 mark of attention accorded by a ‘gracious Prince and master,’ to 
 the last death-bed wants of one of the most accomplished and faith- 
 ful servants that royalty ever yet raised or ruined by its smiles.” 
 
 “ The whole truth of this story ” (says Mr. Croker) “has never as 
 yet been told. The fact is, that Mr. Taylor Vaughan was requested, 
 in the first instance, to be the bearer of £500 from Carlton House 
 to Savile Row. He refused, saying that any such sum was alto- 
 gether needless for the only purpose which any rational friend of 
 Sheridan’s could have in view at the moment, and he ultimately 
 was persuaded with difficulty to take even £200. How much of 
 that sum he actually carried to Savile Row is uncertain — the busi- 
 ness was left entirely to his discretion ; but that he did carry a con- 
 siderable part of it thither, and that that part, whatever it might be, 
 w’as accepted there, on the instant, is certain. Some time elapsed 
 before Mr. Vaughan returned to Colonel MacMahon with his £200, 
 and told how the money had at first been received — how he had wit- 
 nessed with his own eyes the beneficial effects of the application of 
 that money — and how suspicions and pride having been afterwards 
 aw^akened, money had by some means or other been raised by the 
 family, and the debt that actually had been incurred extinguished 
 by a repayment into his hands.” 
 
 This has been made a party question to help the indictment of 
 behaving treacherously to the Whigs. But the Regent seems to 
 
 * The details are given in an evidently inspired article in “ The Westminster 
 Review.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 625 
 
 have met with ungenerous treatment in this instance, also, from his 
 old friends. 
 
 The untimely fate, too, of another political character may be noted 
 here — one of the champions of the Princess of Wales — thus deprived 
 by violent means of two useful friends. The death of Mr. Wliit^ 
 bread by his own hand caused the deepest sorrow and contrition. 
 By friends and opponents he was held in the highest esteem. His 
 pleasant turning aside of the ill-mannered question of a county 
 member, “were they to listen to such things from a brewer of bad 
 beer?” and which, in the case of another less good-humored, might 
 have led to serious confusion, is admirable: “ I rise, sir, as a trades- 
 man, to protest against the imputation on the article which I sell!” 
 For three weeks he had not slept. 
 
 In January, 1817, the Regent opened Parliament in person, and 
 delivered a speech announcing fresh measures of severity, “with 
 quiet spirit,” as it appeared to the Speaker of the House.* It has 
 been declared that on going to the House he had noticed the gath- 
 ering mob, who, though silent, regarded him with sinister looks; 
 and that this so unnerved him that he gave his speech in weak and 
 faltering tones. But on his return he was greeted with abuse and 
 violence. Stones were thrown at the carriage. The plate-glass 
 window was found to be perforated in two places, and Lord James 
 Murray, who was seated beside the Regent, deelared his opinion 
 that the holes must have been “made by an air-gun.” This theory 
 was received incredulously, as the two holes entailed the necessity 
 of two such weapons. However, a message was sent to both 
 Houses, declaring the existence of certain mysterious conspiracies. 
 Lords Castlereagh and Sidmouth once more appeared in their re- 
 spective Houses, each with “a sealed green bag,” announced to be 
 filled with papers of the most alarming kind. Then followed sus- 
 pension of the Habeas Corpus Act, and the reign of spies and in- 
 formers set in, with the Castles, the Olivers, and Edmundes, and 
 such beings. 
 
 The Regent’s life, therefore, could not have been one of peace; 
 and, indeed, a more judicious and popular ruler would have found 
 his position one of painful difficulty. However, he consoled him- 
 self with festivities down at Brighton, and by the characteristic 
 trait of changing his birthday, which was in future to be celebrated 
 on St. George’s Da}^ instead of on the 12th of August. It also 
 
 
 Lloyd, “ Life and Times of George IV.,” iii. 144. 
 
626 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 occurred to him that the Queen’s birthday might be celebrated with 
 some state, and by way of earning a little public favor and gratify- 
 ing his own sumptuous tastes, he required that all should attend the 
 Court in dresses of English manufacture. “His Royal Highness 
 ordered all his state and household officers to wear costly dresses of 
 home fabrication, and those dresses were directed to be made into 
 three classes of uniform, according to the respective ranks of those 
 officers. The first class consisted of suits for the Lord Chamber- 
 lain, the Lord Steward, and the Groom of the Stole. The coats 
 were of dark purple, with crimson velvet collars, richly ornamented 
 all over with gold. Not only those persons who were immediately 
 under the command of the Prince Regent complied with this laud- 
 able direction of wearing British dresses, but great part of the no- 
 bility and gentry. 
 
 This matter of dress suggests another era in our Regent’s career, 
 namely, his adoption of the pleasant recreation of yachting. His 
 vessel. The Royal George, was at Brighton, and on Monday, Sep- 
 tember 8th, 1817, he commenced a series of excursions, accompa- 
 nied by his friends Nagle and Campbell, Lord W. Gordon, Sir W. 
 Keppel, and Captain Paget. Accompanied by a squadron of war- 
 ships he sailed out, when, we are told, “the ships went through all 
 the manoeuvres of an engagement. At night the vessels stood out 
 to sea, and the next morning were off Dieppe ; where, communica- 
 tion being had, the yacht and squadron crossed the Channel again, 
 and reached Brighton on Saturday, when the Prince landed. On 
 disembarking the Prince presented Captain Paget with a most ele- 
 gant snuffbox, in testimony of his high gratification and esteem. 
 So great, indeed, was the pleasure that his Royal Highness felt, 
 that among other gracious intimations of attachment to the naval 
 service, he said that if he should land at any other place than Brighton 
 he would wear the full-dress uniform of an admiral, and which he 
 should continue to wear at his levees, alternately with the military 
 dress. It was on this occasion that the present Marquis of Hert- 
 ford, then Earl of Yarmoutli, laid a wager with Sir Edward Nagle, 
 that the Prince would not sleep one night at sea. By way of punish- 
 ing him, the Prince remained out three or four nights. The terms 
 were £100 for every night. Lord Yarmouth complained that he 
 had not been fairly dealt with, and that the Prince ought not to 
 have been made acquainted with the bet.” 
 
 The Regent’s connection with the exiled House of Stuart, slight . 
 as it is, is interesting and becomingly gracious. It is well known that 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 627 
 
 on its becoming known to the good King George III. that Cardinal 
 York had been despoiled of everything by the French, he conferred 
 on him a pension of £4000 a year, which was paid until his death. 
 AVhen the cardinal died, it was found that by his will he had be- 
 queathed to the Prince Regent various jewels, including the star 
 and jewels of the garter of James II., which had belonged to Charles 
 I., and which many years later the King presented to the Duke of 
 Wellington; also a handsome ring said to be used by the kings of 
 Scotland on being crowned. The cardinal, who died in 1807, al- 
 lowed the Countess of Albany a pension of £800 a year, which 
 George III. doubled and continued until her death. He left behind 
 him also a great store of family papers of much interest. A por- 
 tion of these were seen by Sir J. Hippesley about 1794-5, and, as 
 we learn from an interesting article in “ The Quarterly Re- 
 view,” he “wrote to Mr. Burke, and by him the matter was brought 
 under the notice of the Prince of Wales (George lY.). His Royal 
 Highness took great interest in the papers, and authorized Sir John 
 to treat for their purchase. This was effected in 1798, in consider- 
 ation of an annuity of £50 to one Waters. 
 
 “Another mass of papers, of which the larger portion consisted 
 of correspondence and documents regarding the rebellions of 1715 
 and 1745, belonged to Cardinal York, and remained after his death 
 in the hands of his executor. Monsignor Angelo Cesarini. There 
 happened in 1812 to be at Rome one Robert Watson, who had been 
 compromised in London, first as private secretary to Lord George 
 Gordon. He purchased these papers for about 20 guineas, and fitted 
 up a room to receive them, there being several cart-loads. ” 
 
 Rome at that time, says another account, was full of English, and 
 the imprudent collector could not help boasting to them of his pur- 
 chase, and inviting them secretly to come and admire his treasure. 
 The late Duchess of Devonshire having expressed a strong desire to 
 see the collection, an evening was fixed for the gratification of her 
 curiosity. A few select friends only were invited to examine the 
 papers. In this number unfortunately happened to be thre cardinal- 
 secretary, wbo had been named one of the executors to the will of 
 the late Cardinal York, and whose secretary, the Abbe Lupi, had, 
 unknown to him, privately disposed of these papers to Dr. Wafker, 
 without being aware of their value, for the trifling sum of 300 
 crowns. The evening was spent in discussing the manuscripts ; the 
 cardinal contented himself with a ctirsory examination, and made 
 
628 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 no comments on the subject which could lead the company to sup- 
 pose that he felt any particular interest about them. 
 
 On the following morning, Dr. Walker’s apartment was invested 
 by a detachment of the Papal Carabiniers, and an agent of the po- 
 lice placed a seal on all his papers, while two sentinels were left to 
 keep guard at his door during the rest of the day. The result was, 
 that the doctor was deprived of his manuscripts ; he received back 
 his purchase money, and when he exclaimed against the injustice of 
 this proceeding, he was told he might apply to the King of Eng- 
 land, who was the rightful heir, and to whom they had been for- 
 warded by the cardinal’s orders. 
 
 This occurred in 1818. In 1816 Lord Castlereagh, explaining to 
 the House that the cardinal had bequeathed the ornaments to the 
 Regent in token of gratitude for the kindness shown him, added that 
 a request had been made by the executors that the Prince would 
 join them in erecting a monument. The Regent accordingly agreed, 
 and the result is the poetical memorial — Canova’s masterpiece in 
 St, Peter’s.* 
 
 * In this interesting episode may be added a curious story recorded by Miss 
 Wynne. “ August, 1844.— From Angharad Lloyd I have heard a story which 
 is worth recording. Her sister, Helen Lloyd, was (through the interest of 
 Lady Crewe, I believe) governess to the younger daughters of the Duke of 
 Clarence. He, as was his custom, lived with her on terms of familiar intimacy 
 and friendship from the time of her first presentation to the day of his death. 
 He had expressed a strong preference for his second name of Henry, which 
 he liked much better than that of William. The day after the death of 
 George IV., Miss Helen Lloyd met the King at the house of Lady Sophia Syd- 
 ney; she asked him familiarly whether he was to be proclaimed as King Wil- 
 liam or as King Henry. ‘ Helen Lloyd,’ he replied, ‘ that question has been 
 discussed in the Privy CouncU, and it has been decided in favor of King Wil- 
 liam.’ He added, that the decision had been mainly influenced by the idea of 
 an old prophecy of which he had never heard before, nor had he any evidence 
 that it had ever been made. The drift of the prophecy was, that as Henry 
 VHI. had ‘ pulled down monks and cells, Henry IX. w'ould pull down bishops 
 and bells.’” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 629 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 1817. 
 
 Through all these distractions the Regent had one settled object 
 in view — that of releasing himself from his wife. Almost from the 
 date of her departure rumors concerning that indiscreet lady period- 
 ically reached England — strange stories of levity and questionable 
 adventures, which must have gladdened her enemies. Already let- 
 ters from private persons were reporting eccentricities, and even her 
 own attendants were beginning to look grave. 
 
 She had gone to Brunswick, takmg with her a suite composed of 
 Lady Charlotte Lindsay and Lady Elizabeth Forbes, as maids of 
 honor; Sir William Cell, Messrs. Keppel Craven, and St. Leger, as 
 chamberlains; Captain Hesse, as equerry; Dr. Holland, as physi- 
 cian; with Siccard, as. major domo. These were all persons of 
 position and respectability. The boy “Wilkin” was also with the 
 party. 
 
 Sir W. Cell, a man of extraordinary gifts, was of a type that now 
 seems nearly extinct, in whom, as the author of “Monographs” 
 says, are combined “the pleasant play of intellect on trivial subjects 
 with sound scholastic knowledge.” This feeling arises as we peruse 
 his letters, “glowing with fun and rampant with nonsense,” full of 
 wit and a delightful persiflage. Even in his old age his letters to 
 Lady Blessington reveal a charming buoyancy. When in the ser- 
 vice of the Queen, however, he could not resist sarcastic sketchings 
 of h<"^ foibles, to which she left him too many ridiculous openings; 
 but on the main point, when her interest was at stake, he was 
 stanch. Mr. Keppel Craven — also an antiquary — had the same 
 lively vein, and took the same sarcastic view of his mistress. 
 
 She first repaired to Brunswick to see her brother, to whom she 
 imprudently lent a sum of £15,000 on a bond, which she afterwards 
 attempted to enforce in an English court, but where it was received 
 with suspicion, and treated as a forgery. 
 
 Dr. Holland was always reticent on the subject of the journey, 
 merely giving an outline of the route and a sketch of the persons 
 
630 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 and places they visited. Even their setting out had a grotesque air: 
 “ An old London and Dover mail coach had been purchased for the 
 conveyance of some of the servants and baggage of the Princess. 
 It was a whimsical sight this coach offered when scaling the Sim- 
 plon, with all the old English designations still upon its panels. 
 Arrived at Naples, King Joachim admired and purchased it; but 
 his dethronement soon afterwards ended also the career of the 
 Dover mail in Italy.” 
 
 There was much that was dramatic in the scenes they witnessed. 
 Writes one observer: “What was my horror when I beheld the 
 poor Princess enter, dressed en Venus, or rather not dressed further 
 than the waist. I was, as she used to say herself, “all over shock.” 
 A more injudicious choice of costume could not be adopted; and 
 when she began to waltz, the terrce motus was dreadful. Waltz she 
 did, however, the wdiole night with pertinacious obstinacy; and 
 amongst others whom she honored with her hand upon this occa- 
 sion was Sismondi. These two large figures turning round together 
 were quite miraculous. As I really entertained a friendship for the 
 Princess, I "was unfeignedly grieved to see her make herself so ut- 
 terly ridiculous.” 
 
 Already one of her suite began to have forebodings. “As to her 
 mode of proceeding (as I am really her friend), it distressed me 
 greatly. She was dressed most injudiciously. The natives were, 
 as she would have expressed it, ‘all over shock.’ The suite who 
 travel with her declare openly they fear they shall not be able to go 
 on with her; not so much from wrong doings as from ridiculous 
 ones. When the party were at Berne, the ci-demnt Empress Marie 
 Louise was there, and invited the whole party to dinner. Accord- 
 ingly they went, and were received in great state. To sum up the 
 whole of that extraordinary meeting, the Princess and Marie Louise 
 sang a duet together! The Princess seems satisfied with nothing, 
 and has a spirit of restlessness in her which belongs to the unhappy 
 and unprincipled. Whilst she sojourned at Geneva, letters came to 
 her Koyal Highness, recommending her, in the strongest terms, not 
 to go to Naples. On that occasion Maria Louisa’s manner,” says 
 Dr. Holland, “was quiet and pleasing, without any other marked 
 character. Of the great captive then at Elba not a syllable, as far 
 as I know, was uttered — a silence which told far more than any 
 speech could have done.” 
 
 These scenes show her to be, as she will be found all through her 
 travels, foolish and reckless, and, like Yorick, “wuthout one ounce 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 631 
 
 of ballast.” She then passed on to Rome, where she was presented 
 to the Pope, and by October was at Milan. Of Naples at this time 
 her physician gives the following dramatic picture ; 
 
 “We reached Naples early in November, King Joachim meeting 
 the Princess at Aversa, and bringing her to his capital with much 
 military show. Policy blended itself here with the love of pomp 
 and display innate in his temperament. It was a time of continu- 
 ous f ^te and revelry — of balls, masquerades, and operas ; of levees, 
 processions, and military reviews; of boar-hunts and fishing par- 
 ties, and numerous other festivities by land and sea. In all these 
 Murat himself was the conspicuous figure, and well pleased to be 
 so. Tall and masculine in person; his features well formed, but 
 expressing little beyond good nature and a rude energy and con- 
 sciousness of physical power; his black hair fiowing in curls over 
 his shoulders; his hat gorgeous with plumes; his whole dress car- 
 rying an air of masquerade. This was the general aspect of the 
 man. 
 
 “His queen, the sister of Napoleon, required and deserved more 
 study. Under her fine and feminine features lay a depth of thought, 
 at this time, as it seemed to me, verging upon melancholy. 
 
 “At a ball there was a sudden and staitling wind-up. Every- 
 thing went on according to the wonted fashion of such festivities 
 until about eleven o’clock, the King and Queen, with the principal 
 persons of their Court, being at that moment engaged in the figures 
 of an English country dance. Count Mosburg, our host, was sud- 
 denly summoned out of the room. He speedily returned, went up 
 to the King, and whispered intelligence to him, which he instantly 
 communicated in similar way to the Queen. They both disap- 
 peared from the dance, and the assembly itself was at once dis- 
 solved, each guest carrying away some dim surmise of what had 
 happened. The intelligence, in fact, was the escape of Napoleon 
 from Elba.” 
 
 At this place the Princess was beginning to feel the effects of her 
 lavish outlay, having already spent £4,000 on the journey. Within 
 fourteen months she was deserted by her English suite on various 
 excuses, some, no doubt, genuine; but the fact had a damaging ef- 
 fect in England. She complained of this treatment of her, saying 
 they were “perfect tyrants, and not suited to do the honors of an 
 English Court.” Lady E. Forbes “desired to see her sister in 
 England;” Mr. Craven had to go and “see his mother,” the Mar- 
 gravine; Sir W. Cell urged his gout; and Captain Hesse -wished to 
 
632 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 join his regiment. The Princess then pressed Mr. St. Leger to bd 
 her chamberlain, but he pleaded ill-health; and she offered places 
 to Sir Humphrey Davy and his wife, who refused. Indeed, all be- 
 gan to see that it was a service of danger to stay with her, and that 
 her indiscretion would be likely to compromise them. Already it 
 was known that spies were watching her, and this system operated 
 on her mind, and was magnified by her, which almost seemed a be- 
 ginning of lunacy. Yet it will be seen that a woman in such a sit- 
 uation, deserted and spied on, might grow reckless ; and, despairing 
 of protection, defiantly furnish her enemies with real ground for 
 their attack.* 
 
 After the escape of Napoleon, she had been hurrying through 
 Italy, and went on board an English man-of-war, commanded by 
 Captain Pechell. Of the espionage there could be no doubt. At 
 one time a Mr. Quentin arrived at Naples, and gave as an excuse 
 that “he had come to buy horses for the Regent.” A more scanda- 
 lous discovery, however, was made in reference to Baron Ompteda, 
 the Hanoverian minister, who had been tampering with her ser- 
 vants. He succeeded with a German named Crede, who afterwards 
 confessed to the fact. The baron, however, was ordered away from 
 the town by the police. 
 
 Thus abandoned by the English, she naturally fell into the hands 
 of foreigners and adventurers. And, within a short time, we find 
 the notorious and “ bewhiskered ” Bartolomeo Bergami installed. 
 It is something in her favor that this unlucky influence was not that 
 of an individual but of a whole family, consisting of Bergami him- 
 self; his sister, the “ Coun'tess Oldi;” one Louis Bergami, major 
 domo; and Vallotti Bergami, comptroller. The head of the house 
 was soon promoted to be chamberlain, being solemnly invested with 
 a gold badge, and allowed to dine with his royal mistress. These 
 creatures flattered her weaknesses, imparted the sympathy which 
 she wanted, and, being adroit Italians, kept her in their hands. 
 
 Now followed the singular travels to Jerusalem, where she 
 founded an “Order of St. Caroline,”! of which she made the 
 
 * Most of the details are from Lady C. Campbell’s well-known diary. They 
 may be relied on, though assailed by Mr. Croker and others, and have been 
 confirmed in their accuracy by the “ Memoirs of Lord Brougham,” and other 
 writers. 
 
 + The diploma of this Order, conferred upon Lieut. Hownham, surely be- 
 tokens something like lunacy: 
 
 “ By this present (given at Jerusalem, 12th July, 1816) subscribed by her own 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 633 
 
 Chamberlain Grand Master, the adoption of a child of his, and her 
 attempt to get him received on a proper footing on board the Clo- 
 rinda, during her second voyage. These seem the follies of a wo- 
 man a little disturbed in her brain. 
 
 j The cavalcade, which a traveller encountered on his road, was of 
 ^ grotesque kind, and did not promise well: “At a small place 
 iballed Borgo St. Domino, three days’ journey from hence, what was 
 my surprise to come up to a whole rabble rout belonging to the 
 Princess of Wales. This consisted of twenty-four persons in all. 
 There were seven piebald horses, and two little cream-colored po- 
 nies; and two very tine horses that drew a chariot, which was en- 
 tirely covered up. They were evidently a low set of people. Many 
 of the women were dressed up like itinerant show players, and al- 
 together looked quite unfit to be her attendants. I did not see any 
 person that I mistook for a gentleman; but my maids told me that 
 they saw several men dressed in uniforms and swords, who looked 
 like pages.” 
 
 She now took up her residence in a villa, called Villa d’Este, and 
 began to sign herself Caroline d’Este. 
 
 “ There was a fete cliampUre at the Villa d’Este a short time ago,” 
 writes the lively Gell, “of which I dare say you have heard all the 
 particulars. Mrs. Thompson,” so he styled the Princess, “must 
 have looked divine as a Druidical priestess, which was the charac- 
 ter ‘ we ’ assumed! and Le Comte Alexander Hector von der Otto 
 figured charmingly as a god, to whom all the priests and priestesses 
 did homage. Willikin was the victim offered to his Druidical maj- 
 esty. The Count Alexander generally wears the insignia of the 
 Most Holy Order of Saint Caroline, which consists of a cross and a 
 heart tied together with a true lover’s knot, and the English royal 
 motto encircling the badge: ‘ Honi soit qui rnal y pense.' How far 
 these words are applicable to the case I cannot say; far be it from 
 me not to take them in the sense they are intended to convey. 
 
 “ ‘We’ go constantly on the lake in ‘our’ barge, and are seren- 
 
 hand, her Royal Highness institutes and creates a new Order, to recompense 
 her faithful knights who have had the honor of accompanying her pilgrim- 
 ages to the Holy Land. 
 
 “2nd. That Colonel B. Bergami, Baron of Fracina, Knight of Malta, and of 
 the Holy Sepulchre, shall be Grand Master of this Order; and his children, 
 males as well as females, shall succeed him, and shall have the honor to wear 
 the same Order from generation, forever.” 
 
 “Billy Austin ” received the same privilege. 
 
 27 * 
 
634 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 acled, and are, as we say, very happy; but of that I have my doubts. 
 To be serious, I am truly sorry for Mrs. Thompson.” 
 
 Her proceedings, however, on board the two men-of-war in which 
 she had taken passage at various times were really what brought 
 matters to a crisis. Captain Briggs, of the Leviathan, and Captain 
 Pechell, of the Glorinda, reported what they saw.* 
 
 On the whole, therefore, it is not surprising to find the Regent 
 calling his counsellors to his aid to consider the situation. 
 
 THE PRINCE REGENT TO LORD ELDON. 
 
 “ Brighton, Pavilion, April 2nd, 1817. 
 
 “My dear Friend, 
 
 “When last I had the pleasure of seeing you, you left me 
 not without the hope that I might possibly see you here for a day 
 or two, your old friend Smith having given up his house in the 
 country; but now something has occurred and has reached me, 
 which presses much upon my mind, which I am extremely desirous 
 of imparting to you, and of having a most confidential conversation 
 with you upon; wherefore I must and do most earnestly desire of 
 you to come here the earliest day that you can possibly do so ; and 
 when you may find it least inconvenient either to your business or 
 yourself. Always, my dear Lord, 
 
 “Your very affectionate Friend, 
 
 “ George P. R. 
 
 “P.S. — I will be much obliged to you, if you will send me a line 
 by return of post, to say when I may expect you.” 
 
 THE SAME. 
 
 “ Pavilion, Brighton, April 18th, 1817. 
 
 “My dear Lord, 
 
 “I have just received your note conveying the melancholy 
 tidings of the death of that most excellent and worthy man. Sir A^ 
 Thompson, and whose loss is certainly a very severe blow to the 
 Bench, however great may be the abilities of that person who will 
 have to succeed him in the high office which he filled with so much 
 respectability and eminence. Any recommendation from you, you 
 may be certain, my dear friend, ever will and must meet with my 
 
 * Captain Pechell entreated her Majesty, that if she condescended to come 
 on board his ship, she would spare him the disgrace of sitting at table with a 
 menial servant. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 635 
 
 entire concurrence and approbation, and therefore I authorize you 
 to acquaint Mr. Baron Richards, as soon as you may choose to do 
 so, of your having received my sanction to his nomination upon the 
 present vacancy. Believe me always, 
 
 “Very affectionately yours, 
 
 “George P. R." 
 
 THE SAME. 
 
 “ Carlton House, May 2nd, 1817. 
 
 “My dear Friend, 
 
 “ I have only just now received your note, and which I lose 
 not a moment in replying to. In a former answer of mine to you, 
 upon a similar application, I already assured you that any recom- 
 mendation proceeding from you could hardly ever fail of meeting 
 with my fullest approbation and sanction, and I am therefore par- 
 ticularly happy, upon this occasion also, to afford you a further 
 proof of my highest esteem and most affectionate regard, in signi- 
 fying to you my thorough acquiescence in the arrangement you 
 have proposed, of placing Mr. Attorney-General, Sir William Gar- 
 row, in the Court of Exchequer, in succession to the present Lord 
 Chief Baron, Sir Richard Richards. After having said thus much, 
 I cannot resist adding one short word more, and which is this — ex- 
 pressing my earnest desire and hope to you that you will suffer as 
 little time as possible further to elapse before you nominate the At- 
 torney-General’s successor (which, I trust, will be our present most 
 admirable Solicitor-General), and if so, his successor also ; for I am 
 sure that if there is much, or indeed even any, delay in these nomina- 
 tions, after the appointment of Sir William Garrow is known to 
 the public, there will be no end or measurement to the plague you 
 and I shall both of us experience from the various applications we 
 shall receive, arising out of the numberless (and, in most instances) 
 most extravagant and absurd pretensions of different individuals. 
 Forgive me also, my dear friend, if I add and bring to your recol- 
 lection (and I can hardly do so without its forcing at the same time 
 a smile on my countenance), that a snail’s gallop is but a bad thing, 
 and a very poor pace at best, in most of the occurrences of life, and 
 I am sure that you would particularly find it such in the present. 
 
 “ I remain, my dear Lord, always 
 
 “ Your very affectionate Friend, 
 
 “George P. R. 
 
 “P.S. — I shall expect to see you as usual on Sunday morning.” 
 
636 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 Enough had now been done to attract attention at home, whither 
 we shall now turn our eyes to notice a gathering at Brighton, to 
 which all the members of the royal family were bidden. The town 
 was pleased and rather puzzled at this descent, which was believed 
 to be connected with the nefarious steps that were being planned 
 against the Princess,* and to lay before the family, in council, what 
 description of person she was. Connected, no doubt, with the 
 same matter were certain letters, written in the favorite style of the 
 Regent, and addressed to the Chancellor. These consultations 
 boded ill for the Princess, and, it is stated, were prompted chiefly 
 by the reports sent home by Captain Pechell to the Admiralty. 
 
 * Some servants of one of her attendants met the Duke of Cumberland’s 
 servants at Brussels, and reported strange tales of her behavior. These the 
 Duke carried to London, and it is said that Lord Charles Stuart was despatched 
 to Milan to inquire. 
 
637 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 1817. 
 
 Amid all these ominous portents and gatherings of enemies one 
 remained faithful — her true-hearted daughter. She was much dis- 
 tressed at her mother’s behavior, but they could not turn her 
 against her. She was now on the eve of her confinement, and, as 
 It proved, on the eve of her death, and almost her last act was to 
 write the following to Lady Charlotte Lindsay : 
 
 “The only person now remaining with my mother, and who, I 
 trust, will take courage and continue with her, is Dr. Holland, 
 who, I believe, from everything I have heard of him, is a most 
 respectable and respected character. I have it not in my power 
 at present to repay any services shown the Princess of Wales, but 
 if I ever have, those who remain steadfast to her shall not be for- 
 gotten by me, though I fear sensible people like him never depend 
 much on any promises from any one, still less from a royal person . 
 so I refrain from making professions of gratitude, but 1 do not feel 
 them the less towards all those who show her kindness. 
 
 “ I have not heard from my mother for a long time. If you can 
 give me any intelligence of her, I should be much obliged to you 
 to do so. I am daily expecting to be confined, so you may im- 
 agine I am not very comfortable. If ever you think of me, dear 
 
 , do not imagine that I am only a princess, but remember 
 
 me, with Leopold’s kind compliments, as your sincere friend, 
 
 “Charlotte Pss. of S. Coburg.” 
 
 But, as we have seen, the excellent and agreeable Holland had 
 been already compelled to leave her. 
 
 The sad event which may be said to have affected the English 
 nation more genuinely than any modern event was now impending. 
 Knowing that the people of London wished to see more of her, 
 the young Princess now determined to come to towm, and Marl 
 
638 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 borougli House was to have been her residence. She was full of 
 happiness and enjoyment, looking forward to more. 
 
 Some were anxious that she should come to town for “the 
 event,” but she preferred to stay at Claremont. Physicians were 
 engaged — Sir Richard Croft and Dr. Baillie; both men of emi- 
 nence. The former was a well-known fashionable accoucheur, and 
 his brother. Sir Herbert Croft, had assisted Johnson in his “Lives 
 of the Poets,” and written a strange book on Miss Ray’s murder — 
 “ Love and Madness.” These advisers came to stay at Claremont; 
 but the accouchement was delayed beyond the time anticipated, so 
 that they were detained in the house over three weeks, during 
 which the amiable young Princess was as agreeable and pleasant as 
 possible. It was noted that at times a strain of serious presenti- 
 ment came over her.* Mr. Wilberforce heard that she said a few days 
 before the event: “Certainly I am the happiest woman in the 
 world. I have not a wish ungratified. Surely this is too much 
 life to last.” 
 
 On November 4th expresses were hastily despatched for the vari- 
 ous great officers of state, and before night a crowd of bishops and 
 ministers had arrived. The crisis seems to have been unexpectedly 
 prolonged, and Croft, a nervous man, grew flurried. It was pro- 
 longed nearly the whole of the night and during the next day, the 
 physician not interfering or aiding; until, at nine o’clock on the 
 5th, it was announced that the Princess “ had been delivered of a 
 still-born infant and was going on favorably.” f When she was told 
 of this result she took it calmly enough, but a crisis lasting fifty 
 hours was considered a serious and exhausting one. Stockmar 
 shall tell the rest. 
 
 “Baillie sent to say that he wished I would see the Princess. 
 I hesitated, but at last I went with him. She was in a state of 
 great suffering and disquiet from spasms in the chest and difliculty 
 in breathing, tossed about incessantly from one side to the other, 
 speaking now to Baillie, now to Croft. Baillie said to her, ‘ Here 
 comes an old friend of yours.’ She stretched out her left hand 
 
 * Prince Leopold had shown a praiseworthy eagerness on the subject of 
 the baptism of his child, which he wished should be performed at once. Lord 
 Liverpool, however, in an official strain, pointed out to him that it was against 
 precedents. 
 
 t Lord Eldon says that Baillie thought so seriously of the situation that he 
 declined signing the bulletin “ favorably.” But his name is attached to all the 
 bulletins. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEOROE IV. 
 
 639 
 
 eagerly to me, and pressed mine twice vehemently. I felt her 
 pulse, which was very quick; the beats now full, now weak, now 
 intermittent. Baillie kept giving her wine constantly. She said to 
 me, ‘ They have made me tipsy.’ For about a quarter of an hour 
 I went in and out of the room, then the rattle in the throat began. 
 I had just left the room when she called out loudly, ‘ Stocky ! 
 Stocky!’ I went back; she was quieter, but the rattle continued. 
 She turned more than once over on her face, drew her legs up, and 
 her hands grew cold. At two o’clock in the morning of November 
 6th, 1817 — therefore about five hours after the birth of the child — 
 she was no more.” * 
 
 The shock of this intelligence may be conceived. The first duty 
 was to communicate it to her father. The Regent was at this time 
 down at his favorite. Lord Hertford’s, in Suffolk, for a week’s 
 shooting, where he had received a letter from the physician saying 
 “that his daughter’s recovery would be slow.” He left suddenly 
 and travelled all night. 
 
 “The Prince Regent arrived at Carlton House,” Lord Bathurst 
 wrote to Lord Liverpool, “ at a little before four o’clock this morn- 
 ing, setting off as soon as he received the account that Dr. Sims 
 had been sent for. He had missed the two last messengers. On 
 finding that the Regent had arrived, I went with the Duke of York 
 to Carlton House a little before seven, and having waked Sir Ben- 
 jamin Bloomfield, we desired his royal highness should be immedi- 
 ately waked, and informed that we were waiting. On going up he 
 asked most anxiously how things were going on. I told him at 
 once that her royal highness had been seized in an alarming man- 
 ner at half-past twelve at night; and, after a short pause, added 
 that it was over at half-past two. He struck his two hands on his 
 forehead, and bowed down, without saying a word, for a minute. 
 He then held out his hand to me, and calling his brother, threw 
 himself into his arms. He has really behaved in a most becoming 
 manner.” 
 
 He was so terribly affected, indeed, that he had to be cupped. 
 But his feelings, for he had much sensibility, must have been 
 mingled with some self-reproach for the many weary hours of tor- 
 
 * It will be noted that ^tockmair is guarded in his account, and “ hesitated,” 
 he says, “ to come to the Princess.” The truth was, as I have heard from a 
 person to whom he related it, that he earnestly warned the physicians that 
 the Princess was sinking, and had at last been repelled by Croft^‘ Are you or 
 I. sir, in authority here?” 
 
640 the life of georoe IV. 
 
 ture and misery lie had inflicted on the amiable young creature 
 now lying dead. His first step to relieve these feelings was to offer 
 the afflicted husband “an immediate asylum” at Carlton House, 
 but his son-in-law naturally preferred his solitude. The Regent 
 found comfort in a long audience with Lord Sidmouth discussing 
 the pomp and preparations necessary for the funeral. He, later, 
 set off to join his mother and family and share their grief.* 
 
 All over the kingdom the effect was prodigious; many now can 
 recall the profound grief, the universal wearing of the deepest 
 black, the sermons in the churches, and the fresh tide of unpopu- 
 larity that overwhelmed the luckless Regent. Strange ridiculous 
 rumors of foul play got abroad, founded on the neglect with which 
 a young creature had been treated, not one of the numerous royal 
 matrons being with her. But this, it is probable, was owing to 
 her own desire, and the result of her rather self-willed independ- 
 ence. “ The Regent being away, and all the females of the family,” 
 Mr. Brougham said, “gives great dissatisfaction.” It was consid- 
 ered that her case had been mismanaged, and the hapless Croft was 
 overwhelmed with attacks. It seems that some of his distinguished 
 patients wrote to the physician declining his further services. The 
 mind of the wretched manf at last gave way under the persecution, 
 and he destroyed himself. 
 
 There was another person to whom it was proper that some 
 pains should be taken to break the news — viz. the absent mother. 
 The Regent and his ministers on such an occasion resolved to 
 ignore her, and an undignified mode of shirking the difficulty was 
 resolved upon. And Lord Liverpool wrote to Prince Leopold’s 
 equerry that he should undertake the task, as “ some inconvenience 
 might arise to the Regent after all that has passed, in renewing any 
 
 * He narrowly escaped a “screed of doctrine” from Mr. Wilberforce; but 
 the poor widower was not so fortunate. “ I thought in the night of writing a 
 letter to the Prince Regent, hoping to find his heart accessible, and put down 
 some notes for it, but this day scarcely spent so profitably as Sundays should 
 be. Sent off a suitable letter with my Practical View to Prince of Cobm’gh. 
 May God prosper it.” 
 
 t “ He was in a state of great agitation,” says Lord Sidmouth, “such as I 
 
 never before witnessed.” “ He was observed to be in a state of fever and 
 
 excitement, so that he often lost all command of himself. Early in February 
 he spent the night in the house of a lady, in order to attend her sister, the 
 wife of a clergyman, in her confinement. As this was protracted, he became 
 quite beside himself, and exclaimed, ‘ If you are anxious, what must I be?’ 
 During the night he shot himself with a pistol, which he found in the room he 
 occupied. The clergyman’s wife was safely confined.”— Stockmar, i. 70. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 641 
 
 channel of communication of this nature.” On the other hand, it 
 might give umbrage if no notice whatever was taken of her royal 
 highness after such a calamity. Such a communication from the 
 husband to the mother, on the death of the child, would appear 
 liable to no objection, and subject to no inconvenience. She was 
 stated to have fainted on receiving it. In her odd English she 
 wrote to Lady C. Campbell, on December the 3rd: “I have not 
 onlj’- to lament an ever-beloved child, but one most warmly attached 
 friend, and the only one I have had in England! But she is only 
 gone before. I have her not losset, and I now trust we shall soon 
 meet in a much better world than the present one. ” Her style 
 of mourning was characteristic. “To my infinite surprise,” as a 
 visitor describes her, “ her royal highness wrote, and desired me to 
 wait upon her yesterday, which I did accordingly, and found her 
 looking very well, but dressed in the oddest mourning I ever saw; 
 a white gown, with bright lilac ribbons in a black crape cap!” But 
 the poor soul might well become reckless now, for this was a fatal 
 blow to her fortunes. She had lost not merely her only friend, but 
 the only stake she had left. She had nothing now to offer to parti- 
 sans, who might favor the mother for the sake of the daughter. 
 Even those who were well disposed felt that she was now a ready 
 prey to her enemies. 
 
 “Grey and I,” says Lord Brougham with great sagacity, “in 
 discussing the event, took somewhat different views. He held that 
 death had mercifully saved Princess Charlotte from what would 
 have been, to her, the fearful consequences of the disgraceful pro- 
 ceedings against her mother. I, on the other hand, felt persuaded 
 that, had she lived, the proceedings of 1820 never would have seen 
 the light. Even against her, standing alone, George IV. would 
 scarcely have ventured to have instituted them; but against her, 
 supported by Leopold, he would have found such a course im- 
 possible. For Leopold, of all men I have ever known, possessed 
 every quality to ensure success against such a man as George IV., 
 and even against such ministers as had weakly, if not dishonestly, 
 done his bidding in 1820.” This view commends itself. 
 
 A more serious view of the situation was that there were now 
 only heirs-presumptive to the throne. The Duke of York was 
 without children; the Duke of Cumberland had a son; the other 
 royal brothers next in the succession were unmarried. With the 
 new year the matter was seriously taken in hand in a thoroughly 
 comprehensive fashion, and three of the royal brethren had selected 
 
642 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IK 
 
 CHAPTER XVn 
 
 1819 
 
 It may now be found interesting to consider tbe Regent’s family. 
 All through his career the figures of these personages stand out con- 
 spicuously; and at certain great solemnities he would appear 
 attended by his six brothers and often by his sisters. Some, at least, 
 were men of marked character, but for the most part with a certain 
 eccentricity, which they shared with the Regent. In the case of the 
 Dukes of Clarence and Cumberland this weakness seemed at times 
 to be borrowed from that of their hapless father. The Duke of 
 Kent was an amiable, if not feeble, being, who suffered all his 
 life from grievances for which he had not weight of character to 
 obtain redress. The Duke of Sussex was chiefl}’’ remarkable for his 
 attachment to his Scotch fancy dress, and for taking the chair at 
 charity dinners, and for his library, in which he gathered a vast 
 number of rare Bibles. The Duke of Cambridge was scarcely con- 
 sidered. The majority of the brothers were perpetually before the 
 public — their debts, escapades, aud quarrels periodically engaging 
 attention. It has been shown what a romance marked the youthful 
 days of the Duke of Sussex, then Prince Edward. The heroine of 
 that romance lived till 1830; when he contracted another private 
 marriage with a subject.* This lady’s position has been recognized, 
 and she was created Duchess of Inverness in the present reign. His 
 son by the first lady. Sir Augustus D’Este, gave King William much 
 trouble owing to claims for recognition, while his sister. Mademoi- 
 selle D’Este, espoused the late Lord Truro. It is to the credit .of 
 the Duke of Sussex that he always maintained a manly indepen- 
 dence, and did not scruple taking part with Queen Caroline and 
 
 * Cecilia-Laetitia Underwood, married May 14, 1815, Sir George Buggin, 
 Knight, of Great Cumberland Place, who died April 2, 1825. She was daugh- 
 ter of Arthur Saunders, second Earl of Arran, K.P., by Elizabeth, his third 
 wife, daughter of Richard Underwood, Esq., of Dublin, assumed the surname 
 and arms of Underwood, March 2, 18S4, and was elevated to the peerage April 
 10, 1840. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 643 
 
 the Princess Charlotte against his royal brothers. Mr. Adolphus, 
 who was in his company a good deal, gives a pleasing sketch of 
 him in his velvet cap, with his meerschaum pipe, and indulging in 
 gossip. 
 
 In the D uke of Yo rk, after all his defects, excesses, and scandals, 
 is left a measure of worth and excellence which redeems much. 
 When almost a youth he had commanded armies in the field. He 
 had administered the affairs of the English army at home with a 
 certain credit, setting aside, of course, the Clarke scandal. He 
 had shown courage and spirit, according to the world’s canons, in 
 fighting a duel. He was a good speaker, and in the later days was 
 to do good service to the anti-Catholic party. Since his restoration 
 to the command of the army, he had for some years ceased to attract 
 attention by anything that could give public offence. Now indeed of 
 an age when excesses and frivolities excite pity and contempt, he 
 began to show his better qualities and even virtues — among which 
 was the all-redeeming one of never forsaking a friend — Avith an unfail- 
 ing good nature and good feeling rare in princes. He had also 
 begun to devote himself to the duties of his office Avith a praiseAvorthy 
 energy and ability which before his death left substantial results. 
 Unfortunately, however, these merits were counterbalanced by a 
 love of jovial society and a fatal passion for play, wdiile the excite- 
 ment of sitting up late was carried to a reckless regard for his health. 
 This and other old extravagances had plunged him in debts beyond 
 all hope of extrication, leading on occasions to painful pressure of 
 embarrassment and processes to which vulgar beings are exposed. 
 Mr. Greville, his friend and the manager of his racing establish- 
 ment, describes some of these scenes wdth much particularity, 
 sketching his hospitalities at Oatlands, and its eccentric hostess. 
 Of a Saturday it was ditficult to procure chaises ^ the White Horse 
 Cellar, so many guests were going doAvn from the clubs — the host 
 himself only staying from Saturday till Monday. After dinner, the 
 Duke would sit down to his favorite w^hist, Avhence he would never 
 rise “so long as he found any one ready to play with him. ’’During 
 the latter two or three years of his life, from some dropsical affection, 
 he got into the habit of sleeping in a chair, which really gave him 
 no repose and added to his ailments. Mr. Greville gives the folloAv- 
 ing character of him, Avorthy of one of Sir Fretful Plagiary’s 
 
 “d d good-natured friends:” “He is not clever, but he has a 
 
 justness of understanding to avoid the errors into which most of his 
 brothers have fallen. He is the only one of the Princes who has 
 
644 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IK 
 
 the feelings of an English gentleman ; his amiable disposition and 
 excellent temper have conciliated for him the esteem and regard of 
 men of all parties, and he has endeared himself to his friends by the 
 warmth and steadiness of his attachments, and from the implicit 
 confidence they all have in his truth, straightforwardness, and sin- 
 cerity. He delights in the society of men of the world, and in a 
 life of gayety and pleasure. He is very easily amused, and par- 
 ticularly with jokes full of coarseness and indelicacy; the men with 
 whom he lives most are tres-poUssons, and la poUssonnerie is the ton 
 of his society.” Such is the view of a man of the world and of a 
 man of pleasure. The meaning of the whole is, in the eyes of more 
 exact judges, that the Duke might be considered a good-natured 
 voluptuary. If, however, we add another element, that he set up 
 as champion of religion and the Church with a devotional onction, 
 an unpleasing element is introduced, or at least a strange instance of 
 self-delusion. Much, however, is redeemed by one touch; that he 
 never would abuse an absent or a fallen friend, nor bear to hear him 
 abused. With those who had offended him, he was always glad to 
 be reconciled — a strange contrast to his eldest brother, who seemed 
 to cherish rancor. It was also a peculiar quality in the Duke, as we 
 have seen, that he never was known to desert an old friend. 
 
 Some significant stories, illustrating this regard of his friends for 
 the Duke, as well as the relations of the royal family to each other, 
 are recorded by Mr. Raikes. “Many years ago, Berkeley Craven 
 and myself were sitting late after dinner at Brookes’s, when the 
 waiter came in and said that St. James’s Palace was on fire. The 
 Dukes of Cumberland, Cambridge, and Gloucester were running 
 about in every direction encouraging the firemen, and were very 
 conspicuous. I then remarked to Berkeley what a pity it was that 
 the Duke of York, who lived in the Stable Yard, should not have 
 l)een apprised of it, and thus be the only one of the royal family 
 absent. We got into a hackney-coach, and drove to immedi- 
 
 ately. It was some time before we could get admittance; but on 
 giving in our names the message was carried up, and in five minutes 
 the Duke, evidently much alarmed, received us, asking what the 
 devil could have brought us there? On stating the case, he entered 
 immediately into our feelings; said he should never forget the obli- 
 gation, and no other conveyance being at hand, got into the coach, 
 and ill half an hour afterwards was seen more prominent than any- 
 one else in extinguishing the flames.” A little trait creditable to all 
 concerned. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 645 
 
 The Duchess seems to have been truly eccentric. Her curious 
 taste was for keeping pets, whose graves were duly marked by 
 tablets in enormous numbers. In an amusing passage, Mr, Raikes 
 speaks of the ‘ ‘ adroitness and tact with which she so successfully 
 avoided any collision with the cabals and iracasseriefi which for so 
 many years unfortunately ruled in various branches of the royal 
 family;” and her tact was attested by the fact that all the men of 
 her “set ” had the highest regard for her, and sent her little presents 
 on anniversaries. This singular Princess died in 1820. Her letter to 
 one of these friends. Lord Lauderdale, written a few days before 
 her death, has all the intrepidness of the “woman of the world,” or, 
 as the dandy would say, tres-grande daine. 
 
 “Mon CHER Lord L., 
 
 “ Je fais mes paquets, je m’em vais incessamment, Soyez 
 toujours persuade de I’amitie que je vous porte. 
 
 “Votre affectionnee Amie, 
 
 “F.” 
 
 “Among her own household,” says a contemporary account, 
 “not a servant was married without having a house furnished by 
 her.” Every charity in the neighborhood was provided for. 
 
 Besides this, she had a long list of infirm pensioners, of both 
 sexes, in London, who received regular allowances, some five, 
 others ten, and some even twenty pounds a year. Nor let it be for- 
 gotten, that in all these exercises of humanity, the Duchess met 
 with the full and cheerful concurrence of her royal consort, who 
 was pleased, at her demise, to direct that all her charities should be 
 regulaily continued. 
 
 To dogs the Duchess was remarkably attached; and it was no 
 uncommon thing to see her in the park surrounded by thirty or forty 
 of these animals of various sorts, as English lapdogs, Dutch pugs, 
 and French barbettes. “ Their respective litters were taken great 
 care of, and the young ones not unfrequently boarded out, under 
 the superintendence of the cottagers.” 
 
 The Duke of Cumberland has been described by Mr. Greville 
 with a pitiless minuteness. His own brother gave him the character 
 of delighting in setting husband and wdfe, lovers, brothers and sis- 
 ters, parents and children, by the ears. His singular quarrel with 
 Lord and Lady Lyndhurst is well known, and an excellent specimen 
 of his temper. Strange mysterious stories were circulated, and the 
 
646 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 well-known midnight onslaught of the valet, Sellis, was always 
 associated by the public with some tale of mystery beyond. 
 
 The eccentricities of the Duke of Clarence are more familiar. 
 His extraordinary attachments, his sea manners and rough phrases, 
 made him a most singular person. For a period of nearly forty 
 years his course was steadily marked by strange and eccentric 
 behavior, like that recorded by Miss Burney at the time of the 
 King’s first seizure. Such, too, are his attachments; his freaks 
 as Lord High Admiral, described by the Duke of Wellington as 
 “ more expensive and foolish than in any way serviceable,” and his 
 early doings as King, described by Mr. Greville. The wonder was 
 that such oddity did not break down the feeble barrier that divided 
 it from madness. He was fond of offering his hand to young 
 ladies, as he did in 1818 to Miss Wykeham, who accepted him. 
 “The Prince,” we are told, “accompanied by the Duchess of Glou- 
 cester, went to Windsor to inform the Queen of this happy event, 
 who was of course outrageous. The Council have sat twice upon 
 the business; and it is determined, as I understand, to oppose 
 it. You may imagine the bustle it creates in the royal concerns. 
 The Drawing Room, on Sunday, was put off; on Monday it was 
 resumed. My own private belief is, that the Prince has been 
 encouraging the Duke of Clarence to it, at Brighton, and now turns 
 short round upon him, as is usual, finding it so highly objectionable. 
 They talked, scolded, and threatened him out of his love-match.” 
 This large family of Princes and Princesses, their debts and 
 increased allowances, were destined to be a serious drain on the 
 resources of the country.* 
 
 The Princesses were all excellent, “well-brought-up” ladies. 
 One of Gainsborough’s most pleasing pictures represents three of 
 them walking in the “Mall,” with the crowd promenading, and, as 
 may be conceived of such a painter, they are portrayed as elegant. 
 
 * From a retuni made in the reign of George the Fourth, we find xmder the 
 head of “ Pensions to the Royal Family ” the following sums: To the Duke of 
 Clarence, £32,500; to the Duke of Cumberland, £27,000; to the Duke of Sus- 
 sex, £21,000; to the Duke of Cambridge, £27,000; to the Duke of Gloucester, 
 £14,000; to the Princess Sophia of Gloucester, £7,000; to the Duchess of 
 Gloucester, £14,000; to the Princess Elizabeth of Hesse-Homburg, £14,000; to 
 the Princess Augusta, £13,000; to the Princess Sophia, £13,000; to the Duchess 
 of Kent, £12,000; to the Duchess of Clarence, £6,000; and to the Prince of Co- 
 burg, £50,000. Besides which, a sum of £171,000 had been distributed as pres* 
 ents among the royal family out of the “ droits.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV, 
 
 647 
 
 graceful young women. They were brought up strictly under 
 Madame La Fite, and there are still preserved man}^ of their child- 
 ish letters, written in the French tongue, and addressed to their 
 gouvernante. One of these, of a penitential character, and written 
 by the Princess Augusta when about ten years old, will be found 
 interesting : 
 
 “Une pauvre mechante, nommee Auguste Sophie, qui est 
 extremement fachee de la sotte mani^re dont elle s’est conduite 
 envers sa bonne amie Madame de La Fite, la prie d’excuser son 
 espi^glerie, et ayant examine avec attention sa conduite si sotte et si 
 imprudente, elle est frappee de cette mechante, et prie tres humble- 
 ment sa bonne Madame de La Fite d’oublier ses sottises et de la 
 croire sa tou jours fidelle amie, 
 
 “Auguste Sophie.”* 
 
 But the Princess Elizabeth, afterwards Landgravine of Hesse- 
 Homburg, seems to have been a person of character, and was gener- 
 ally employed by her mother to write for her to the Chancellor and 
 other officials. It will be recollected that the Prince of Wales, on 
 entering on the regency, announced as part of his programme a 
 generous increase — from the nation — to his sister’s allowances. The 
 following familiar letter shows with what fluttering eagerness the 
 family turned towards him who was to be now virtually the new 
 King: 
 
 PKINCESS ELIZABETH TO THE DUKE OF CLABENCE. 
 
 “ March 25th, 1812. 
 
 “A thousand thanks for your most kind and entertaining letter, 
 which amused us all not a little. My mother desires me to say on 
 Saturday the man who is to take care of the Jerusalem ponies will 
 be with you, and will stay till you order him back with the curls. 
 Your very affectionate manner of expressing yourself on our busi- 
 ness is most kind and like yourself. We only feel hurt that we 
 should have been the innocent cause of anything being brought for- 
 ward that must have been unpleasant to the P. R. It only makes 
 us feel more strongly how much we owe him; and his whole con- 
 duct has been so delicate, so angelic, and so like himself, that I can- 
 not say how penetrated I am with it. Was I to go on, I should 
 
 * Brit. Mus, Add. MSS. 
 
648 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 never end, and having an abominable pen, I will not take up more 
 of your precious time.”* 
 
 The Princess Sophia survived until the year 1848. Her brother, 
 the King of Hanover, outlived her by three j^ears, and was the last 
 survivor of the generation. The Prince’s favorite sister was Char- 
 lotte, Princess Royal, married to the Duke (later King) of Wurtem- 
 burg. Her well-known resolute behavior to Napoleon, under try- 
 ing circumstances, helped to save her husband’s kingdom, and won 
 the praise of the despot himself. She exhibited as much tact as 
 resolution.! 
 
 The Duke of Kent, an amiable suffering prince, was treated with 
 much harshness b}' his father. Sunk in debt, he was at one time 
 so indiscreet as to print a pamphlet, in which were set out his com- 
 plaints. Yet he seems to have been fairly provided for, being 
 colonel of a regiment at an early age. Governor of Gibraltar — 
 whence he was recalled, owing to unpopularity from repressing 
 abuses — Commander-in-Chief of the English forces in America, and 
 finally Field-]\Iarshal. His debts amounted in 1807 to the large sum 
 of £108,000, owing, as he maintained, to his having received no 
 allowance for his various “ outfits.” From that time he was always 
 clamoring, or piteously appealing, for assistance to the Government; 
 and a pamphlet was printed, if not published, declaring his griev- 
 ances to the public, about the same time that the Duke of Sussex, 
 who had his own hardships, was also consulting with Romilly on 
 printing his grievances. The poor Duke of Kent, who had given 
 bonds to his creditors which for many years he honorably acquitted, 
 became at last so pressed for money that, when the time of the birth 
 of an expected heir to the throne drew near, he had to appeal to a 
 friend for cash to enable him to carr}- out his cherished and becom- 
 ing wish that the future occupant of the throne should be born on 
 English soil.! 
 
 No one, however, seemed to be much interested in his case. The 
 fact was, the Duke had not been badly treated by the country. 
 Besides his various appointments, he had received £12,000 a year, 
 afterwards increased to £16,000; £26,000 was given him by Mr. Pitt 
 
 * Brit. Mus. Add. MSS. 
 
 t Miss Wynne gives a graphic picture of this Princess in her old age. in 
 which is included a detailed account of her mode of dealing with the con- 
 queror. 
 
 t The letter is in Lord Houghton’s collection. 
 
THE LIFE OF OEORGE IV, 
 
 649 
 
 for payment of his debts, out of “Admiralty droits,” and on his 
 marriage £6000 a year was settled on him and his wife. But noth- 
 ing seemed to help him, and we find him at last petitioning Parlia- 
 lent to allow him to dispose of his estate and effects by lottery, 
 [ilways in opposition he could not expect assistance. Imitating the 
 [ample of his eldest brother, he broke up his establishment, and 
 hired to a modest house at Sidmouth, where her present Majesty, 
 m an infant, had a narrow escape from a rustic shooting spar- 
 es. The shot actually broke the window of the nursery. 
 
 I'he marriages of the royal brothers had now been arranged, and 
 to inaugurate some very disagreeable discussions on the allow- 
 b the nation was to make to them. There w’as something 
 ;ing in this sudden ardor to secure the chance of presenting 
 tfs To“ the crown. The Duke of Cambridge was contracted to the 
 jncess Augusta of Hesse, the Duke of Clarence to Princess Ade- 
 |e of Saxe Meningen, and the Duke of Kent to Princess Victoria 
 ^einingen. Two years before Princess Mary had been married 
 ?r cousin, the Duke of Gloucester, while Princess Elizabeth 
 )se the ungainly Prince of Homburg, or “ Humbug,” as he 
 id. This, with Princess Charlotte’s marriage, and that of 
 of Cumberland to Princess Salnios, made up no less than 
 ’^al marriages within a short period ; and no wonder the 
 >ublic was in surly humor when these personages came 
 ^r handsome provision. When £10,000 a year was proposed 
 Duke and Duchess of Clarence, the House of Commons 
 reduced the sum to £6000, on which the sailor Duke 
 
 Enl 
 askini 
 for tlf 
 promi 
 formal 
 
 ofi: the ’announced, through Lord Castlereagh, that he had broken 
 his wisiatch. By pressure the House was induced to give way to 
 the otlj^s. Six thousands pounds a year each was then granted to 
 save in the instance of the Duke of Cumberland, who, 
 pointed, mortifying way, was actually refused any pro- 
 fver; a jointure, however, being given to his wife. 
 
 ^July 11th, the two marriages took place in the draw 
 [^ew, as the Queen was too feeble to go out. There 
 acAi^ething pathetic in this her last appearance, for she was now 
 to ^ dying, and she showed her undaunted spirit, determined 
 andlfrough every ceremony to the end. In November her long 
 her libled life came to a close. It is gratifying to record that 
 alleAfSt son was remarked for his assiduous care and anxiety to 
 Xni her sufferings. 
 
 interval, however, he attracted public attention by an ab 
 
650 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 surd exhibition at table, where he entertained the foreign ministers 
 by singing some jovial songs, to which they listened with due 
 gravity. 
 
 Indeed, many stories of this grotesque kind were beginning to 
 abroad. As he was now nearly sixty years, a little sobriety an 
 seriousness might have been expected. However, the healthy 
 time of yachting, which he had lately begun to follow, ^ 
 evidence of a better taste. The following year he had intend 
 visiting the Isle of Wight for the regatta given by “The Sail’ 
 Club Society;” but the death of the Queen was expected, and 
 could not in decency leave town. “All the Princes,” Mr. Gre^ 
 writes, “were delaying their departure, expecting and looking 
 for the plunder to arise from the Queen’s death.” The dying 
 must have felt strange memories coming back on her of that 
 life, the last twenty years of which, at least, were charged 
 more troubles and sorrows than seemed likely to fall to the h 
 one of her ordinary subjects. It was, indeed, a sad life to rev’ 
 a husband afflicted with incurable madness; a son waging \ 
 his parents, and the cause of his father’s malady; other 
 bringing discredit on their name and family; a loved 
 grand-daughter cut off in a sad and sudden way; a daught 
 associated with scandals not yet ripe, indeed but part 
 marriages made in defiance of her wishes ; debts and boi 
 such had been the afflictions of her middle and old age. 
 in her chair, as her son, the Duke of York, was later 
 November 17th, 1818. 
 
 The loss of this parent, however, furnished the Eegent 
 opportunity for exercising his darling taste. Buckinghan 
 long known as the “Queen’s House,” had become now h 
 an ancient, old-fashioned, and dilapidated pile of red 1 
 much in the condition of Carlton House when it can 
 hands. But these were actual advantages — “great 
 as Mr. Brown used to say — opportunities for alteration 
 and adornment. Carlton House was scarcely to his 
 recently he had assembled a cabinet of virtuosi and archit( 
 debate new improvements, and “add a new wing.” How 
 better to begin afresh on the old pile ; and accordingly he pr 
 to set to work on the paljice ; the public furnishing money 
 necessary alterations.* It had been seen what a fascinat 
 
 * Mr. Berries, in his memoir of his father, mentions a formal resol 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 651 
 
 costly pastime of building had for the Prince all through his life. 
 This folly involved him in distress and discredit, but it must be 
 owned that London owes to him the patronage of the magnificent 
 wholesale projects which laid out the long line of handsome streets 
 that stretch from Carlton House Terrace up Waterloo Place, Regent 
 Street, to Langham Place, terminated by the handsome Regent’s 
 Park, It has been told how bold and imperial was the scheme. 
 The inspirer of the whole was Nash, the architect, who introduced 
 the “stucco palaces” and the ambitious style of terrace found in 
 the RegenFs^TaH^ which, indeed, offer a great variety of treat- 
 ment. After all objections, the new quarter remains a creditable 
 and even imposing work of an architectural pretension; and it will 
 be noted what variety was obtained by breaking the line of houses 
 into distinct groups or blocks. Within living memory a fine piazza 
 ran on both sides of the Quadrant, which was removed in deference 
 to the commercial interests of the shopkeepers. Her Majesty’s 
 Theatre was newly fronted, in the same taste, by the architect, and 
 with fine effect. The architect was accused of having bought 
 ground at a low price, and at his own official valuation, from the 
 commissioners, which he disposed of for building purposes at about 
 three times the price.* * The patronage of the King, wdio was all 
 through his friend, brought him valuable assistance and fortune. f 
 I Yet within a few years, with a curious capriciousness, the King 
 I was willing to sacrifice the palace, for which this costly scheme had 
 been originally designed, and cheerfully consented that Carlton 
 House should be pulled down. On the Queen’s death he proposed, 
 as we have seen, “removing to Buckingham House,” which led to 
 an extraordinary suggestion on the part of the Premier, Lord Liver- 
 pool, though accompanied by a lecture. He felt it to be his duty to 
 submit his opinion that, “ however desirable some addition to the 
 Queen’s palace may be (with a view to his Royal Highness holding 
 Drawing Rooms), it would not be felt by the public to be indis- 
 pensably necessary; and could but think, therefore, that in the 
 
 King “never to build a palace.” But he preferred “ restoration,” and those 
 at Windsor, Carlton, and Buckingham cost far more. 
 
 * The architect, however, was acquitted of having thus turned his opportu- 
 nities to undue profit, though the transaction was brought before the House 
 of Commons. 
 
 t Augustus at Rome was for building renowned. 
 
 And of marble he left what of brick he had found', 
 
 But is not our Nash, too, a very great master? 
 
 He finds us all bricks and he leaves us all plaster.— G. R. 1825. 
 
652 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 present circumstances of the country such addition would better 
 be deferred. The only measure which could be resorted to would 
 be to sell or to lease the site on which St. James’s Palace now 
 stands. Lord Liverpool would not be acting fairly by his Royal 
 Highness if he did not endeavor to impress upon him that any 
 measure of this sort would be viewed with particular jealousy, and 
 if it could be carried through the House of Commons, it would be 
 only on the ground that the Treasury were to be strictly responsible 
 for the extent of the undertaking (uot exceeding the amount of the 
 sum raised by the means above mentioned), and for the execution 
 in detail of the intended improvement.” 
 
 On the death of the Queen the family met to settle about her 
 property, and the four young Princesses were to receive the 
 “ golden heaps,” to the great disappointment of the Princes, “par- 
 ticularly Clarence,” says Mr. Fremantle, “who fully expected 
 something.”* 
 
 It had been well had there been merely question of a division of 
 her personalty, but she had left behind her a vacant office, namely, 
 the guardianship of the King. It was the fate of the royal family 
 always to exhibit a certain eagerness for such offices that excited 
 public notice. It was perhaps natural that the Duke of York, her 
 second son, should succeed as “Custos;” but, considering that the 
 late King’s expenses were defrayed out of his own allowance, it 
 was urged that £10,000 a year was an immense sum to allow for 
 the expenses of an occasional visit to Windsor, “to look at his 
 Majesty.” Indeed the outcry was so strong that the Duke at last 
 proposed to his brother to undertake the office gratis, or for the 
 mere expenses out of pocket. The latter, with that caustic shrewd- 
 ness which marked him in such matters, said, “ So, sir, you would 
 be popular at our expense!” f 
 
 During these discussions, a piece of national extravagance was 
 revealed which seems surprising to our more economical times, 
 namely, that presents in the shape of s nuffbo xes, etc., had been 
 made to the foreign ministers to the amount of £22,000!_ 
 
 Not so well known, or perhaps recollected, is the circumstance 
 that previous to the birth of the Princess Victoria there had been 
 
 * “ Regency,” ii. 291. 
 
 t ” The royal Duke’s only duty to his afflicted father,” said Mr. Tierne}^ 
 “ would be to go from London or Oatlands to Windsor once or twice a week, 
 and it was modestly proposed that he should be allowed £10,000 a year for 
 the hire of post horsesi The real expense,” he added, ‘‘would not be more 
 than £200.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 653 
 
 another Princess in the line of succession, who, had she lived, 
 would have excluded her present Majesty. This was the daughter 
 of the Duke of Clarence, the Princess Charlotte, born on March 1, 
 1819, but who lived only a few hours. The Princess Victoria, born 
 on May 24, 1819, then came into the direct succession, but was dis- 
 placed by another daughter of the Duke of Clarence, Princess 
 Elizabeth, born in December, 1820, who lived only three months. 
 Her death restored the Princess Victoria to the chance of succeed- 
 ing to the throne. 
 
 This event — the birth of the future Queen of England — seems to 
 have been considered but of slight importance, probably on account 
 of the poor estimation in which the Duke was held: or being per- 
 haps considered certain that the Duke of York would inherit, and 
 that the recently married Dukes would have children, the Duke of 
 Kent being only the King’s fourth son. The christening of the 
 Princess Victoria took place on June 24th, in the grand saloon of 
 Kensington Palace, in presence of the Regent, the Duke of York, 
 and the Princes and Princesses. She received the names of Alex- 
 andra Victoria; the first in compliment to the Emperor of Russia, 
 who had been selected as godfather. 
 
 The ferment in the public mind continuing, taking the shape of 
 vast disorderly assemblages, and which culminated in the well- 
 known Pcterloo riots, helped to rally to the Regent the support of 
 men of position and politicians opposed to his Government. We 
 find the Grenvilles and Buckinghams renewing their old adhesion, 
 just as the Duke of Portland and other Whigs had done a genera- 
 tion before, through apprehensions of the excesses of the French 
 Revolution. The result was crowded and brilliant levees, which 
 the Regent now held at Buckingham House for the first time, and 
 it is not surprising to find that this general adhesion was inter- 
 preted as a sign of popularity. 
 
 At last the time approached when the good old King was to lay 
 down his weary life. After reaching the age of eighty-two, and 
 reigning sixty years, the last ten of which had been a living death — 
 blind, as well as insane — on January the 29th he closed his unhappy 
 course. Only a week before, his son, the Duke of Kent, was car- 
 ried off by a feverish cold, which terminated a life that seems to 
 have been one long course of anxieties and struggles. The aged 
 King breathed his last attended by his favorite son, the Duke of 
 York; but his eldest was not able, from ill-health, to be with him. 
 Thus, at the age of fifty-nine. King George IV. ascended the 
 ^^lrone. 
 
654 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE TV, 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 1811—1820. 
 
 At this point, when the Regency has come to a close, it may be 
 interesting to take a review of the glories for which the old 
 “Regency Days” were celebrated — its dandies and other person- 
 ages, its triumphs of dress, and, above all, the peculiar fashion of 
 manners and entertainments which it introduced, with a person at 
 the head of atfairs of special taste in this direction, eager to inspire 
 changes in modes and costumes. As we recall these glories, one 
 name rises to our lips as the very incarnation of dandyism, not 
 merely in the superficial externals of dandyism, but in its character 
 — that of George Brummell, of whose course I shall give a sketch. 
 
 The career of this personage is not uninstructive, or without a 
 wholesome moral, for those who are called votaries of fashion ; for 
 a more terrible finale to incurable selfishness and heartlessness is not 
 to be found “in the books.” When he was only sixteen, he was 
 given a commission in the well-known “Tenth” (the Prince of 
 Wales’s); but when it was first ordered to Manchester, the shock 
 proved too much for Mr. Brummell, who retired. He became the 
 friend of the Prince of Wales, owing to his amusing and caustic 
 style of conversation. He took the lead in questions of dress. The 
 , Prince would drive to his house in Chesterfield Street of a morning, 
 sit there long, and then propose that his host should give him a lit- 
 ’ tie dinner, when the night was prolonged into an orgie. 
 
 His father was wealthy, a man of business to Lord Liverpool, 
 and it is stated he gave each of his children nearly £30,000. The 
 details associated with his dandyism become sickening from their 
 triviality and childishness. We are told that this eminent arbiter 
 required two different artists to make his gloves, one being appoint- 
 ed to provide “thumbs,” the “Other the fingers and hand, on the 
 ground that a particular “cut” was necessarN'- for each. The valet 
 carrying down the load of crushed neckerchiefs, which the beau 
 had not succeeded in squeezing with his chin down into the proper 
 folds, and carelessly described as “our failures,” is an old well-worn 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 655 
 
 /egend, but trustworthy. believed that with strict economy 
 
 dressing might be done on eight hundred a yeai\^ He always went 
 home after the opera to change his cravat for succeeding parties, 
 /Like Count d’Orsay, a later dandy, he carried about with him an 
 /enormous chest, containing every appliance for the toilet; the 
 dishes, bottles, etc., being of silver. The use of these costly articles 
 he justified on the ground “ that it was impossible to spit in earthen- 
 ware.” Another of his pleasant, insolent speeches was to a friend 
 inviting his criticism or admiration of his new coat: “My dear 
 , do you call that thing a coat?” 
 
 There was a flavor in his wit, too, whether he wrote or spoke, 
 that was quite distinct and piquant; something of a Voltairean 
 heartlessness and finish. A good specimen is his answer to a ques- 
 tion: Had he heard anything as to how a newly-married pair, at 
 whose wedding he had assisted a week before, were getting on? 
 “No, no; but I believe they are still living together.” Another 
 speech of his is excellent, referring to a beginner who had been 
 recommended to his patronage, “Really, I did my best for the 
 young man. I once gave him my arm all the way from White’s 
 to Watier’s” — ie. from St. James’s Street to Bruton Street. 
 
 It is well known that a serious quarrel broke up the intimacy 
 between the Prince and the dandy ; and a sort of dramatic point is 
 given to the incident, owing to a happy repartee of the Prince’s. 
 This, like so many mock pearls of history, has been seized on by 
 the public, who will not part with it, and prefer it to the real stone. 
 
 The real cause of this quarrel was no doubt disgust and jealousy, 
 the Prinjce^proMWxi’esenting his independent airs. There was a 
 corpulent gentleman who used to ride a roan cob in the Park as 
 /the Prince himself did, and Mr. Brummell, in a free and easy strain, 
 I got into the habit of speaking to his friends of the Prince as “Our 
 This indiscreet jest was, of course, repeated, and the 
 “ Adonis of_£jfy ” did not relish such familiarity. There are a 
 good many versions of the story. In one the beau was represented 
 as being so familiar as to say, “ Oeorge^ring the bell!” the Prince 
 complying with the request and ordering “ Mr^Brummell’s car- 
 riage ;” on which the intimacy of years ended, and was succeeded 
 by an internecine war. It may be said on the best evidence that 
 this anecdote is exaggerated. Mr. Raikes, who knew him very inti- 
 mately, declares that Brummell always denied the story. Captain 
 Jesse, the writer of a curious account of the beau, now so exceed- 
 ingly scarce as to be worth guineas, also says that Brummell denied 
 
656 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEOBGE IV. 
 
 it, but that the incident occurred; the hero being a young nephew of 
 the well-known Captain Payne, who had taken too much wine and 
 grew familiar. The Prince rang the bell for the servants, and said, 
 “Put that drunken boy to bed.” Lord William Lennox, also well 
 acquainted with Brummell, says that he also denied the truth of the 
 story to him. This alone might show how doubtful the authority 
 of the tale is; but Captain Gronow, an ex-dandy, actually learned 
 what took place from a guest who was present at the Prince’s din- 
 ner-table: “ Brummell was asked one night at White’s to take a hand 
 at whist, when he won from George Harley Drummond £20,000. 
 This circumstance having been related by the Duke of York to the 
 Prince of Wales, the beau was again invited to Carlton House. At 
 the commencement of the dinner, matters went off smoothly; but 
 Brummell, in his joy at finding himself with his old friend, became 
 excited, and drank too much wine. His Koyal Highness — who 
 wanted to pay off Brummell for an insult he had received at Lady 
 Cholmondeley’s ball, when the beau, turning towards the Prince, 
 said to Lady Worcester, ‘Who is your fat friend?’ — had invited 
 him to dinner merely out of a desire for revenge. The Prince, 
 therefore, pretended to be affronted with Brummell’s hilarity, and 
 said to his brother, the Duke of York, who was present, ‘ I think 
 we had better order Mr. Brummell’s carriage before he gets drunk.’ 
 Whereupon he rang the bell, and Brummell left the royal presence. 
 
 The speech, “Who is your fat friend?” Mr. Raikes says was 
 uttered to Jack Lee in the street; while yet another account de- 
 scribes the dandies — Alvanley, Brummell, Pierrepont, and Sir H, 
 Mildmay — giving a ball at the Hanover Square Rooms, to which 
 the Prince at the last minute had invited himself. The four re- 
 ceived him at the door with wax lights, the Prince greeting each, 
 until he came to Brummell, whom he looked at as if he did not know 
 him, and “cut.” Then it was that the discarded beau made the 
 remark to Lord Alvanley. But there is a better and more accurate 
 version of the story supplied to me by Lord Houghton, in which 
 the scene and characters are a little changed. 
 
 “ The tradition of his impertinence rests on certain stories which 
 are often told without the circumstances that explain or excuse 
 them. An example of this may be given in one, which, as it is 
 usually related, is simply insolence without humor, but which, as 
 it really occurred, is not without its vindication, Mr. Brummell 
 was one of the committee of the fete given by the three most fash- 
 ionable clubs to the allied sovereigns in 1815. The scene was Bur- 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 657 
 
 lington House, or rather the garden behind it, where a monster 
 marquee was erected. Tlie committee lined the passage through 
 the house, and each royal personage as he passed shook hands with 
 the members alternately from side to side. Mr. Brummell was 
 standing opposite Sir Henry Mildmay, with whom the Regent shook 
 hands, and instead of taking him in his natural turn, passed him 
 over and saluted the next opposite member, thus presenting the re- 
 verse of his portly figure to Mr. Brummell, who, leaning over it, 
 said to Sir Henry in a loud aside, ‘ Henry, who is our fat friend? ’ 
 
 “ Considering the old intimacy, indeed, as far as the difference of ' 
 state permitted, the friendship between Prince and playfellow, this 
 was felt at the time to be rather a witty retort to a provocation than i 
 an unmannerly insult. In the same sense, the anecdote of Brum- 
 mell telling the Prince to ring the bell is very much altered by the 
 circumstance that the Prince was sitting on a sofa close to it, so 
 that the speech of the familiar guest was rather uncourtly than un- 
 gentlemanlike.” 
 
 Later he took the matter up with a sort of jocular tone, as when 
 the Prince was getting out of his carriage in Pall Mall, to visit a 
 picture-gallery, and the sentries presented arms, Brummell, who 
 happened to be passing, affected to accept the salute as to himself, 
 took off his hat graciously, keeping his back to the carriage. Those 
 who stood by noted the Prince’s angry look as he passed. 
 
 “I was standing,” runs another story, “near the stove of the 
 lower waiting-room, talking to several persons, of whom one is now 
 alive. The Prince of Wales, who always came out rather before 
 the performance concluded, was also standing there, and waiting 
 for his carriage, which used to drive up what was then Market 
 Lane, now the Opera Arcade. Presently, Brummell came out, 
 talking eagerly to some friends, and, not seeing the Prince or his 
 party, he took up a position neai- the check-taker’s bar. As the 
 crowd flowed out, Brummell was gradually pressed backwards, 
 until he was all but driven against the Regent, wdio distinctly saw 
 him, but who of course would not move. In order to stop him, 
 therefore, and prevent actual collision, one of the Prince’s suite 
 tapped him on the back, when Brummell immediately turned sharply 
 round, and saw that there was not much more than a foot between 
 his nose and the Prince of Wales’s. I watched him with intense 
 curiosity, and observed that his countenance did not change in the 
 slightest degree, nor did his head move; the}'’ looked straight inio 
 each other’s eyes; the Prince evidently amazed and annoyed- 
 
 28 * 
 
658 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV, 
 
 Bmmmell, however, did not quail, or show the least embarrassment. 
 He receded quite quietly, and backed slowly step by step till the 
 crowd closed between them, never once taking his eyes off those of 
 the Prince.” 
 
 I At Watier’s club, where gaming prevailed to an extravagant 
 degree, he reigned supreme. He was particularly noted for his 
 snuffboxes — a mania of the time — costly jewelled and enamelled 
 and be-miniatured boxes being displayed and given as presents. 
 
 “At this place he” (Mr. Raikes says) “was the supreme dictator, 
 ‘the perpetual president,’ laying down the law in dress, in man- 
 ners, and in those magnificent snuffboxes for which there was a 
 rage; he fomented the excesses, ridiculed the scruples, patronized 
 the novices, and exercised paramount dominion over all. He had 
 great success at Macao, winning in two or three years a large sum, 
 which went no one knew how. I remember him coming in one 
 night after the opera to Watier’s and finding the Macao table full, 
 one place at which was occupied by Tom Sheridan, who was not 
 in the habit of playing, but having dined freely had dropped into 
 the club, and was trying to catch the smiles of fortune by risking a 
 few pounds which he could ill afford to lose. Brummell proposed 
 to him to give up his place and go shares in his deal; and adding to 
 the £10 in counters which Tom had before him £200 for himself, 
 took the cards. He dealt with his usual success, and in less than 
 ten minutes won £1500. He then stopped, made a fair division, 
 and giving £750 to Sheridan, said to him; ‘ There, Tom, go home, 
 and give your wife and brats a supper, and never play again.’ ” 
 
 At a dinner given on the reopening of Watier’s club in Picca- 
 dilly, Brummell and the late Duke of Beaufort, then Marquis of 
 Worcester, were present. Leaning back in his chair, Brummell 
 thus addressed the waiter: “Is Lord Worcester here?” (lie was 
 seated within two of him). “ Yes, sir,” was the answer. “ Tell his 
 lordship,” continued Brummell, “ I shall be happy to drink a glass 
 of wine with him.” “Yes, sir,” replied the servant. “Tell him 
 I drink his health.” This was to avoid turning his head. After 
 the proper interval, Brummell inquired: “Is his lordship ready?” 
 “ Yes, sir.” “ Then tell him I drral^ his health!” * 
 
 The scene now changes to Calais. ' Even to this hour the little 
 
 * Lord Houghton, who has furnished us with this version and with many 
 other details, to the advantage of the work, was well acquainted with Brum- 
 mell, and often visited him on passing through Calais. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 659 
 
 town is scarcely altered, and suggests ideas of a hideous monotony 
 should fate compel one to be imprisoned there. But how almost 
 dramatic is the terrible character of the change for the elegant man 
 of fashion — in a night become a runaway exile, destined to be 
 hunted by French baililf s instead of English ones ; to be immured 
 in a squalid noisome French gaol with felons ; and die in a mad- 
 Jioiiae,^painful, odious, and unregretted object! The house where 
 he lived is still, or was till lately, shown in the Rue Royale, or 
 Leveux, close to the old Dessein’s Hotel, which Sterne made famous. 
 In 1816 he astounded Mr. Raikes, who was meeting him at every 
 party, by confiding to him that his situation was utterly desperate, 
 and that he was fiymg that night to France. He appeared at the 
 opera, then flung himself into a carriage-and-four, and, travelling 
 all night to Dover, was landed in Calais on the following day. 
 True to his selfish instincts, and without money beyond what he 
 could borrow, he set up in this miserable place as the man of fashion 
 and luxury. 
 
 In a curious little book on Calais, written in 1852, it is stated that 
 there were then several exiles in the place who recalled Mr. Brum- 
 mell as he used to appear, unfailing as the town-hall clock, for his 
 regular promenade on the Place. A triste spot enough, on which 
 every little street determines — the little harbor, the forts, the walls, 
 all make it like a sort of yard. Yet in those days it was more like 
 what Boulogne is now, for it was crowded with emigrants. Brum- 
 mell soon left Dessein’s and quartered himself on a Mr. Leleux, 
 whose rooms he made quite elegant with his charming and costly 
 china, snuffboxes, bijouterie, mostly purchased out of borrowings 
 from faithful friends who passed through, and who never failed to 
 see him and give him a dinner. His debts in the town soon mounted 
 to nearly a thousand pounds. When his old patron became King, 
 he fancied, not unnaturally, that the past might be forgotten. 
 “ Will his resentments,” he wrote to the same friend, “ still attach 
 themselves to his crown? An indulgent amnesty of former pecca- 
 dilloes should be the primary grace influencing newly-throned sov- 
 ereignty — at least, towards those who were once distinguished by 
 his more intimate protection. From my experience, however, of 
 the personage in question, I must doubt any favorable relaxation 
 of those stubborn prejudices. I cannot decamp a second time,” 
 etc. 
 
 We may pursue this dismal story to the end, anticipating events 
 liy many years. The King, just returned from Ireland, lost no 
 
660 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEOFOE IV. 
 
 time in planning another expedition, and had hardly rested from 
 the fatigues of his journey when he started for Hanover. On the 
 22nd of September, 1821, he sailed from Ramsgate, and after a 
 rough passage, reached Calais. That little town was en fete, the 
 inhabitants, native and foreign, in prodigious agitation. To none 
 did this arrival, however, bring more excitement than to the broken- 
 down bankrupt man of fashion, the King’s former favorite and com • 
 panion, whose hopes were raised. He had gone out to take his 
 accustomed walk in an opposite direction, and was returning to his 
 lodgings at the very moment that his former patron, accompanied 
 by the French ambassador, was proceeding in a close carriage to the 
 hotel. “I was standing at my shop-door,” said his landlord, “and 
 saw Mr. Brummell trying to make his way across the street to my 
 house, but the crowd was so great that he could not succeed, and 
 he was therefore obliged to remain on the opposite side. All hats 
 were taken off as the carriage approached, and when it was close to 
 the door I heard the King say in a loud voice, ‘ Good God! Brum- 
 mell I ’ The latter, who was uncovered at the time, now crossed 
 over as pale as death, entered the house by the private door, and 
 retired to his room without addressing me. A sumptuous dinner 
 was given in the evening at Dessein’s, and Selegue, Brummell’s 
 valet, who was a chef in his way, attended to make the punch ; he 
 took with him also, by his master’s orders, some excellent mara- 
 schino, a liqueur to which he remembered the King was extremely 
 partial, though cannelle was, I believe, his favorite dram. In the 
 afternoon it was observed his Majesty was not in his usual spirits . 
 was this occasioned by his recognition of the morning, and to the 
 uncertainty whether Brummell would make his appearance or not? 
 Chi lo saf he never came; the maraschino at dinner diminished 
 any unpleasant feeling— if it ever did exist— that the dread of 
 such a contretemps might have created, and the evening passed off 
 admirably. ” 
 
 The next morning all the King’s suite, excepting Bloomfield, 
 called upon him. It is stated that they pressed him to request an 
 audience, but that he refused. He, however, wrote his name in the 
 visitors’ book at the hotel. At all events the King quitted Calais 
 without seeing him, as his Majesty was heard to remark in the 
 courtyard at Dessein’s. The poor beau had by this time abated all 
 that haughtiness and independence, and would have been as eager 
 to secure a pecuniary souvenir from his Majesty as from his own 
 friends. His sending his maraschino and some of his favorite snuff 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV 
 
 661 
 
 were so many reminders. It seems likely that the King shrank 
 from the inconvenience of reconciliation with a man in such decay, 
 and sent him — so it was rumored — a banknote for £100, with a con- 
 temptuous remark that that was, he supposed, what was desired. 
 The King, however, and he never met again. 
 
 Friends at home were now exerting themselves. Something, it 
 was felt, “must be done for Brummell.” No less a personage than 
 the Duke of York, always good-natured and ready to do a kind 
 thing, procured for the beau the consulship at Caen. He was a 
 favorite with the Duchess, who no doubt aided his cause. After 
 many difficulties he was enabled to get away, and establishing him- 
 self at his new scene of action, was treated with great consideration, 
 and flourished away as the leader of ton and manners in a provin- 
 cial town. Before this, the Duke of Wellington told Mr. Greville, 
 in 1829, “that Lord Aberdeen hesitated; that he had offered to take 
 all the responsibility on himself ; that he had in Dudley’s time pro- 
 posed it to him (Dudley), who had objected, and at last owned he 
 was afraid the King might not like it, oh which he had spoken to 
 the King, who had made objections, abusing Brummell, said he was 
 a damned fellow, and had behaved very ill to him — (the old story, 
 always himself — moi, moi, moi ) — but after having let him run out 
 his tether of abuse, he had at last extracted his consent ; neverthe- 
 less, Dudley did not give him the appointment. The Duke said he 
 had no acquaintance with Brummell.” 
 
 And now we come to what seems to have always been held a 
 mystery, and which is yet held intelligible — his abrupt resignation 
 of his consulship at Caen. It seemed, indeed, like madness that this 
 professional mendicant should throw up his only chance of support. 
 He wrote to Lord Palmerston to say that the place was a sinecure; 
 there was nothing to do, and that it ought to be abolished. Lord 
 Palmerston reluctantly accepted the suggestion. There was a cry. 
 he said, for retrenchment, and what could he do? Abolished ac- 
 cordingly it was, and the infatuated man left penniless. Four hun- 
 dred a year was no indifferent provision; his Calais debts ought to 
 have been discharged out of it in three or four years. What then 
 was the motive of this mysterious act? It can only be set down to 
 the curious temper of this most selflsh of beings. He was deeply in 
 debt at Caen, and had been drawing on his old creditor at Calais, 
 anticipating his income, even after its mortgage, until no more 
 could be obtained. He was already using as lever to extract money 
 from this person that “it was his interest” to advance money, as, 
 
662 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 if he were forced to forfeit his position owing to not being able to 
 pay butcher, baker, etc., the security would be lost. We may sup- 
 pose that he saw no reason for performing the duties of an office the 
 whole emoluments of which were to go to a greedy creditor, whom 
 in a moment of pique he determined thus to punish His own story 
 is that he sent in his resignation with a view to obtain something 
 better at Havre or elsewhere. After taking this step, the royal arms 
 being removed from over his door, it was all over with this unfor- 
 tunate. The Calais creditor was not slow to punish such treatment. 
 One morning, in 1835, he was arrested at his suit and dragged off 
 to the dreadful gaol of the place. The part of the transaction that 
 most affected him was his having to dress before the gens d'armes. 
 His sufferings in this terrible place may be conceived; but he con- 
 trived to have his essences, dressing-case, and two quarts of milk 
 daily to mix in his bath ! However, he had a useful agent named 
 Armstrong, one of those Englishmen who sell, and do everything — 
 and this person, seeing that the prisoner had valuable friends in 
 England, determined to work this vein thoroughly, and set off to 
 wait on the Alvanleys, Worcesters, and other dandies. Large sums 
 were given by those who had given largely before. King William 
 contributed £100, and Lord Palmerston added £200 from the public 
 purse. So successful was the expedition that all his debts were 
 compounded for, and a promise of a sort of annuity obtained from 
 Mr, C. Greville, Lord Sefton, and others. It was remarkable, as a 
 good test of character, that to those who exerted themselves to relieve 
 his sufferings in prison he showed himself careless and indifferent, 
 as resenting an obligation associated with so humiliating a passage 
 in his career. He was now enjoying about £120 a year. He was 
 soon in difficulties again, oddly enough on the score of his boot- 
 varnish, at five francs a bottle, brought from Paris specially. But 
 soon significant changes began to be noted in the beau. He gave up 
 not merely white cravats, but washing, and became notorious for 
 the neglect of his appearance. 
 
 Nothing is more pitiable than the story of his steady settled de- 
 cadence into idiotcy. The scene of his sitting in his lonely room 
 and having ghostly visitors announced, though somewhat elabo- 
 rated for dramatic purposes, has, no doubt, foundation. In 1838 
 Ids condition had become truly deplorable from dotage and help- 
 lessness: no one was inclined to take charge of the outcast English- 
 man. At last he found a refuge in the asylum Bon Sauveur, where 
 kindly nuns soothed the last hours of the miserable old creature. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 663 
 
 The clergyman who attended him tried in vain to draw his mind to 
 consider his soul, and, rather unreasonably, inveighs bitterly 
 against this indifference in an imbecile. “I never,” he says, “ in 
 the course of my attendance upon the sick, aged, and dying, came 
 in contact with so painful an exhibition of human vanity and ap- 
 parent ignorance, until a few years before he died, when, in reply 
 to my repeated entreaties that he would try and pray, he said, “ I 
 do try;’ but he added something which made me doubt whether he 
 understood me.” A good nun who came later takes a kindly 
 woman’s view. “ On the evening of his death,” she says, “ I ob- 
 served him assume an appearance of intense anxiety and fear, and 
 he fixed his eyes upon me with an expression of entreaty, raising 
 his hands towards me as he lay in the bed, and as though asking 
 for assistance {ayant Vair d'implorer que je menne d son secours), but 
 saying nothing. Upon this, I requested him to repeat after me the 
 acte de contrition. He immediately consented, and repeated after 
 me in an earnest manner that form of prayer. He then became 
 more composed, and laid his head down on one side; but this tran- 
 quillity was interrupted about an hour after by his turning himself 
 over and uttering a cry, at the same time appearing to be in pain; 
 he soon, however, turned himself back, with his face laid on the 
 pillow towards the wall, so as to be hidden from us who were on 
 the other side; after this he never moved, dying imperceptibly.” 
 It was a quarter past nine in the evening of the 30th of March, 1840. 
 Such was the fate of Brummell ! 
 
 Another dandy of influence who survived the Regency, its 
 pleasures, his royal master and companion, and lived to be nearly 
 eighty years old, was Lord Yarmouth, afterwards Marquess of 
 Hertford, who was fortunate enough to carry off the young heiress, 
 Miss Fagniani, and well known among his friends as “Red Her- 
 rings.”* 
 
 * This system of nicknames was continued to a later generation. Thus we 
 find “Kangaroo ” Cook, a. colonel of that name, who had some adventure, or 
 story of an adventure, with a kangaroo. Mr. Frederick Byng, universally 
 known as “ Poodle ” Byng, whom Lord Melbourne, when seats were being 
 allotted in a carriage, declared that “ Byng was to go under the carriage, of 
 course.” “Ball” Townshend; “ Bacchus ” Lascelles; “Teapot” Crawfurd, 
 and “ Skirmish ” Bligh; “ Punch ” Greviile, or “ the Cruncher,” was the sobri- 
 quet of the writer of the well-known “Memoirs;” Sir Francis Burdett was 
 “Old Glory;” Lord Allen was “King” Allen; and Matthew Lewis, “Monk 
 Lewis.” There was also “ Tippoo ” Smith. 
 
664 
 
 TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 About the dandy of the Regency there was a certain politeness, 
 accompanied by unbounded selfishness, extravagance, and general 
 recklessness. They were “bloods” as well as dandies; of a dif- 
 ferent stamp to the effeminate macaronis. The “ saloon ” being an 
 essential ingredient in theatrical amusements, described so minutely 
 in the adventures of “ Tom and Jerry,” it will be understood that 
 refinement of bearing or manners was scarcely in vogue. Mr. 
 Boaden notes that even the behavior of gentlemen in the boxes had 
 grown boorish; loud talking, hectoring, quarrels, and putting the 
 feet up on the seats, being among the customs and habits of men of 
 fashion.* 
 
 There was a great improvement of tone, however, in the later 
 generation of Alvanleys, Brummells, Worcesters, Grevilles, and 
 others; as, indeed, the Duchess of York assured the latter gentle- 
 man: “ There was more heart, restraint, and good-nature.” 
 
 One of the chief leading dandies was Lord Allen — known as 
 “King” Allen— to whom the remark was attributed that “the 
 English could make nothing well but a kitchen poker,” and who 
 could not live a day out of Pall Mall or the Bond Street lounge. 
 Being obliged to go to a watering-place, he lost his sleep and pined 
 to return, until his friend. Lord Alvanley, good-naturedly engaged 
 a hackney-coachman to drive up and down of nights past his 
 lodgings, with a man to call the hours like a London watchman. 
 Lord Fife was another of these veteran “bucks,” who distinguished 
 himself in his old age by expending £80,000 on a dancer. He was, 
 however, to be one of the few whom George IV. was to regard with 
 affection. “Ball” Hughes is remembered by many now alive — 
 being known as “Golden Ball” — a good dresser, with £40,000 
 a year, a spendthrift, a gambler, so eager for the excitement de- 
 pendent on chance that he would stake immense sums on “pitch 
 and toss,” and play battledore and shuttlecock the whole night 
 long for a match. He distinguished himself by a ridiculous mar- 
 riage with a figurante. As a pendant we find Mr. Haynes — better 
 known as “Peagreen” Ha5mes— against whom the well-known 
 Miss Foote brought an action for breach of promise. 
 
 Lord Alvanley was another of the dandies whose wit and humor 
 were excellent and racy. He was always ready with a pleasant or 
 
 * In the prints of the day we see such representations as an English fireside, 
 where the men stand up with their backs to the fire, their hands in their 
 breeches-pockets, or snoring on the sofa, the ladies looking on. 
 
THE LIFE OP GEOROE IV. 
 
 665 
 
 biting retort. To him was attributed the reply to the original Gun- 
 ter, who was complaining of his horse being “ too hct to hold ” — 
 “ Ice him then, Gunter” — the credit of which, however, has been 
 given to one of the royal dukes. His pleasant saying to the hack- 
 ney-coach after the duel (“ for bringing me back ”) is well known. 
 He was much distinguished as an epicure, wishing to have the best 
 of everything. His dinners “were considered perfect,” and his 
 standing direction to his cook was to have “ an apricot tart ” every 
 day. Indeed, he would say that a neck of venison (with some 
 other and an apricot tart was “ a dinner fit for an emperor.” 
 Strange credentials these for the grateful memory of posterity. 
 At country houses, where his jocund face was always foremost at 
 the hunt, he was but an inconvenient if not dangerous guest, from 
 his practice of putting out his candle by flinging the bolster at it, 
 or thrusting it under his pillow. 
 
 This generation also included such strange men as Dr. Parr and 
 Porson; and, of another degree. Dr. Kitchener, the “gastronome.” 
 The first, “a very dungeon” of learning, is a remarkable figure, 
 with his eternal pipe, his blunt sarcastic speeches, vigorous politics, 
 and unshaken independence. Porson equally united Greek and 
 eccentricity. We find Dr. Parr at the Prince’s table; and it is cer- 
 tainly to the latter’s credit, that he should have thus invariably 
 drawn to himself, from curiosity or taste, for a longer or shorter 
 period, whatever was intellectual or intelligent in the kingdom. 
 In no instance had evil company and low tastes done more mis- 
 chief; but these intiuences had never succeeded in stifling his in- 
 stincts, and the love of wine was cultivated and intellectual. 
 
 Many of these persons made reputations and earned their names 
 by some ridiculous freak or wager. “ Walking ” Stewart seems to 
 have walked to Edinburgh to hear the lectures of his namesake, 
 Dugald Stewart; while “ Jerusalem ” Whaley had agreed that “ lie 
 would play ball ” against the walls of that city. At this time also 
 flourished Beckford, with his “Arabian Nights’” projects of vast 
 towers and halls, and which he was suffered to attempt to realize to 
 the public wonder and admiration, instead of contempt or laugh- 
 ter. The mysterious privacy and inalienability that he affected, the 
 rumors of strange rites and practices within his high walls, the fall- 
 ing in of the Babel-like tower he was rearing; his strange clever 
 romance, “Vathek,” his freaks — all these tales were repeated, and 
 caused the deepest interest and curiosity. Even that eccentric and 
 manoeuvring lady of quality, the Duchess of Gordon, it was re- 
 
666 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 ported, eager to secure the millionnaire for one of her daughters, 
 had succeeded in getting within the gates, but could not see the 
 lord of the castle. 
 
 Even the toleration extended to such public jokers as Theodore 
 Hook was remarkable; and the relish with which his well-known 
 “ Berners St. Hoax ” was enjoyed was significant of the time. 
 
 The Princess of Wales encouraged games of romps at Blackheath 
 and other places. Much of this taste was indeed owing to the jovial 
 Prince, wfiio led society, and who dearly loved a joke and practi- 
 cal joking, as well as a good story. Any one with social gifts, 
 and endowed with a love of frolic, and a power of saying good 
 things, was certain to find his way to the table at Carlton House. 
 There, too, he could retain his place, so long as his powers re- . 
 mained unfiagging. 
 
 Accompanying all this buffoonery and jesting, a spirit of wit and 
 even sagacity was cultivated. Many of the sayings and repartees 
 circulated have really high merit for their readiness and brilliancy, 
 and it has been already noted what lively spirited letters they were 
 capable of writing. “Verses of society,” full of happily-turned 
 compliments and pleasant allusions, or lively epigrams, were a part 
 of their accomplishments. Indeed, a long list could be made of 
 agreeable occasional poems, written by these men of fashion, in- 
 cluding “ The Waltz,” by Lord Byron; “ The Pursuits of Fashion,” 
 “The Art of Poking the Fire,” “ Conversation,” and many other 
 productions. Good songs, plays, essays, and stories came abun- 
 dantly from this agreeable coterie. 
 
 A turn for epigram was one of the features of the day, and led, 
 of course, to much ill-nature. A fair specimen is Lord Byron’s 
 attack on Rogers. They began : 
 
 Nose and chin to shame a knocker, 
 
 Wrinkles that would puzzle Cocker. 
 
 The poet of Memory was himself as unsparing of others, and wrote 
 of an acquaintance : 
 
 They say that Ward’s no heart, but I deny it. 
 
 He has a heart and gets his speeches by it. 
 
 Physical infirmities or blemishes were ‘ ‘ fair game. ” A wit said 
 
 to a courtier with long legs and a long sword: “My dear , I 
 
 cannot see whether you have three swords or three legs.” Sir 
 
TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 667 
 
 Lumley Skefflngton, a decayed old fop overtaken by debts and 
 difficulties, and restored to society on being extricated from prison, 
 old and broken down and discredited, was greeted by the lively 
 Alvanley as a new edition “illustrated by cuts.” Lord Byron also 
 condescended to ridicule him : 
 
 Still Skefflngton and Goose divide the prize, 
 
 And sure great Skefflngton must claim our praise 
 For skirtless coats and skeletons of plays. 
 
 Lord Carhampton, the old opponent of Wilkes, survived till the 
 year 1825, one of the “hardest livers” of his time. When he was 
 lying hopelessly ill in Berkeley Square, some parasite brought news 
 of his condition, or that he was dead, to the King, then sitting at 
 the head of a convivial party at Carlton House. The story went that 
 the Regent at once bestowed his regiment of Carabineers on a guest 
 who was at table. It is characteristic of the spirit and good-humor 
 of these men of pleasure, that the other should have sent a pleasant 
 message to beg that the Prince would dispose of any other regiment 
 but that one, and that he might rest assured that he would receive 
 the earliest information of a probable vacancy from himself. 
 
 When Captain Gronow visited Lord Petersham, whom he found 
 employed in making a particular sort of blacking which ‘ ‘ he said 
 would eventually supersede every other,” the room was like a shop: 
 all round the walls were shelves with canisters of rare teas, of which 
 this nobleman had made a choice collection ; on other shelves were 
 canisters of rare snuffs, with apparatus for mixing and moistening. 
 The mixtures which he devised used to be well known to tobacconists. 
 He had also made a collection of costly canes. He devised a par- 
 ticular kind of great-coat, with a cape, which used to bear his name, 
 and adopted a particular pattern for his liveries. His snuffboxes 
 were remarkable, and he would say affec'edly, when one of his 
 Sevres articles was praised: “Yes, a nice summer box, but wouldn’t 
 do for winter wear.” All his servants wore a particular brown- 
 colored livery, and his carriages were painted of the same color, 
 which his friends reported was owing to his having been “jilted” 
 by a widow of the name of Brown. 
 
 It was in these times that Hoby the bootmaker made a reputation, 
 maintained almost to our own time. The ridiculous stories of boots 
 made for riding only, and splitting ‘ ‘ when used for walking to the 
 stable,” illustrate further the absurd gravity with -which the ques- 
 tion of dress was treated. How flourished Rouland, the exquisites’ 
 
668 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 hairdresser, later more celebrated as Rowland, and inventor of the 
 famed “Macassar.”* These two eminent artists had their shops in 
 St. James’s Street. 
 
 The death-beds, too, of these unhappy beings were attended by 
 circumstances in keeping with their frivolous lives. One committed 
 suicide, leaving in writting the characteristic reason for the act, 
 “that he was tired of buttoning and unbuttoning.” Brummell, 
 their leader, expired, as we have seen, “a driveller and a show.” 
 Montrond, the French dandy, in wit second only to his friend 
 Talleyrand, declared to a friend on his death-bed that “ there was 
 nothing left — for he could not eat or drink.” The slovenly Mr. 
 Ward, afterwards Lord Dudley, whose absence of mind and oddi- 
 ties were as entertaining as wit in other men, was in 1832 consigned 
 by Sir H. Halford to the charge of a keeper. Lord Sefton, a gay 
 friend of the Regent, sank into torpor and a sort of idiotcy. Of 
 Mr. George Payne — not the agreeable “man about town” of recent 
 times — says Mr. Raikes dramatically: 
 
 “One evening I went into Watier’s club, where I found Mr. 
 George Payne waiting to make a rubber at whist; others soon 
 arrived, and the play began. Nothing remarkable passed except 
 that Mr. Payne was anxious to continue the game; and though we 
 played till four or five o’clock, seemed disappointed at the party 
 breaking up. I went home to bed, and soon after ten o’clock my 
 servant Chapman came into my room to tell me that Mr. Payne 
 had been that morning shot in a duel on Putney Heath. Thus he 
 had been purposely playing all the night in order to pass the time 
 till he was summoned into eternity. ” 
 
 “Jack” Talbot, another mveur of mark, begged to be allowed to 
 die in peace, “undisturbed by doctor or parson;” on which a lively 
 brother viveur said that ‘ ‘ he ought to have been cupped, as there 
 was more claret than blood in his veins.” His brother, a man about 
 town, was found dead in his armchair — an unfinished bottle of 
 sherry beside him. Mr. Berkeley Craven destroyed himself on learn- 
 ing the news that Bay Middleton had won the Derby. There is a 
 strange French book entitled “ Soupeurs de mon Temps,” by Roger 
 de Beauvoir, which chronicles the career and fate of some jovial 
 roysterers — as witty too as they were jovial — of Louis Philippe’s 
 era, in which the same disastrous ending of madness or destitution 
 seemed to attend nearly all. 
 
 * Five shillings was his charge for treating a gentleman’s hair. At a dinner- 
 party at a great house a guinea was expected by the butler. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 669 
 
 Under all this frivolity there was a certain sagacity and force of 
 character and observation exhibited in some of their notes on men 
 and manners which many have left behind. Mr. Greville, who, 
 however, flourished under the reign of George IV., exhibits this 
 shrewdness in his Memoirs, well known for their sarcastic tone and 
 ill-nature. Yet under the mask of this cynic and follower of 
 pleasure there was something good, and betokening heart.* 
 
 Nor were the ladies of the period inferior. The trh-grande dame 
 then reigned supreme ; and with beauty there was to be found the 
 gifts of a sprightly gayety and wit, with a stately and refined tone. 
 The type of the grande dame is now scarcely appreciated. What 
 these dames resembled may be gathered from the pictures of Law- 
 rence, in which we see faces of delicate fairness and refinement, with 
 an air of placid dignity. 
 
 The ridiculous and grotesque extravagance of the costumes of 
 this time seems scarcely conceivable out of a pantomime. In the 
 caricatures and the plates of fashion — which seem more caricature 
 than the caricatures themselves — are set forth these extraordinary 
 habiliments, which were of the most fantastic and ludicrous kind. 
 Brims so curled as to reach to the top of the hat ; the crown of the 
 hat so broad at the top, and so narrow at the bottom, as to resemble 
 
 * “ One day, at Broadlands,” writes Mrs. Augustus Craven, “when Mr. 
 Charles Greville was with us, he brought me what he called a very interesting 
 book, and begged of me to read it. I took it to my room, but, glancing over 
 a few pages, I saw that, interesting as it was, it was written in a sceptical and 
 unbelieving tone, that seemed to me as odious as it was unjust. That same 
 evening I returned him the book, asking him why he had suggested it to me, 
 since he must have known that it could only have pained me to read it. He 
 replied that he had done so because what was good in it would be certain to 
 please me, while the bad portion would do me no harm. ‘ Rely on this,’ he 
 added, with a feeling that was unusual with him, ‘ not for the world would I 
 disturb your faith. Oh, God forbid ! I should only be taking from you some- 
 thing great, and I have nothing to give you in return.’ How often have I 
 realized in reading particular passages in his journal the tone in which he said 
 these words. Next day I heard a knock at my door, and, to my great surprise 
 (for the practice is unusual in England), I saw Mr. Greville enter. ‘ I wish to 
 speak to you,’ he said. ‘ and take up Avhat we were talking of yesterday, if you 
 will let me.’ Then followed a long and sad conversation. He spoke in a 
 strain, too common, alas!— doubts of religion, a wish to believe, impossibility 
 of understanding— a life too much engrossed with other things — time taken 
 up: in short, void, regret, sadness! Such was the whole. I see him still: his 
 head resting on the high chimney-piece, as he stood repeating: ‘Oh! happy 
 those who have a true faith. If it could be bought with gold, what would not 
 one give for itl’ ” 
 
670 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IK 
 
 an inverted extinguisher ; bonnets like sails ; coat-collars which rose 
 above the ears; waists of men, as of women, almost between the 
 shoulders ; sleeves like enormous gigots; trousers like vast balloons ; 
 plumes streaming in the air; eye-glasses in the tops of whips; stripes, 
 flaming colors, topboots, and breeches; such were some of the fan- 
 tastic freaks of dress. The Oldenburg hat, a hideous enveloping 
 headdress introduced by the princess of that name; the Alcantara 
 mantle, a “unique and elegant article,” copied from the dress of 
 the knights of the military order; “the Vigonian helmet,” or 
 patriotic bonnet, “which was set off by a waistcoat or wrap-front of 
 marble or leopard-skin, with a Spartan robe for evening wear;” 
 with the Braganza or Andalusian robe, and the ‘ ‘ three-quarter or 
 barouche coat;” the Flushing hat, the hat in the “jockey” style: all 
 these designs were carried out with an amazing variety of parti- 
 colors. A sort of travelling-cap, of the pattern that Russian officers 
 now carry, with the addition of a tassel, was much affected by the 
 Princess of Wales. Most of these extravagances came from France, 
 but departed from the classic taste of the Empire. It was curious to 
 find a remarkable foreign lady taking a leading part in directing the 
 fashionable games and ceremonies. This was Princess Lieven, 
 whose full undisputed reign indeed belongs to later date ; but whose 
 influence in politics, as well as in fashion, was felt to a late period : 
 for we are now considering an era of manners which was continuous 
 to the latter years of the King’s reign. This clever woman was to 
 exercise an extraordinary powder over ministers and statesmen, and 
 took her place as a recognized leader of society.* 
 
 The institution over which she presided became the inner sanc- 
 tuary, as it were, of all that was select and fashionable. This was 
 Almack’s, the well-known series of balls held during the season, at the 
 still existing “Willis’s Rooms,” in King Street, St. James’s. f The 
 difficulty of obtaining admittance to these entertainments — always 
 a judicious mode of making admission desirable — has been often 
 described, as well as the passionate importunity with which cards 
 were sought, and the mortification of refusal which brought despair 
 and sometimes serious illness. The lady patronesses exercised their 
 power with a despotism that was almost insolent. Persons of high 
 
 * See Lord Houghton’s “ Monographs” for a sketch of her, as well as the 
 memoirs of Mr. Greville and Mr. Raikes, passim. 
 
 t Almack was originally McCall, and thus oddly transformed his name. He 
 brought his countryman Gow's band from Edinburgh to the balls, which 
 played reels and other Scotch dances. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 671 
 
 rank were refused. This rigid system of exclusion led even to 
 duels, and Lord Jersey was challenged by an officer because his 
 wdfe had been refused a ticket. Lord Jersey declined to “go out,” 
 on the ground that it would be impossible for him to meet the vast 
 numbers who could make that a cause of quarrel. 
 
 Of the nearly three hundred officers of the Brigade of Guards, 
 mostly of the first families in the kingdom, scarcely half a dozen 
 could obtain admission. It was in the year 1815 that Lady Jersey, 
 “a tragedy queen,” and the second lady of fashion of that name and 
 line, introduced the now familiar quadrille, and Mr. Gronow re- 
 called the solemn occasion when the first measure of the kind was 
 performed. The names of the executants deserve to be recorded, 
 including Lady Jersey, Lady H. Butler, Lady Susan Ryder, and 
 Miss Montgomery, Count St. Aldegonde (one of the fashionable 
 foreigners), Mr. Montgomery, Mr. Montague, and Mr. Charles 
 Standish. The same observer recalled the spectacle of the late Lord 
 Palmerston and Countess Lieven solemnly going through a waltz — 
 a much more dignified measure than it is now.* 
 
 “ No event,” says Mr. Raikes, “ ever produced so great a sensa- 
 tion in English society as the introduction of the German waltz in 
 1813. Up to that time the English country-dance, Scotch steps, 
 and an occasional Highland reel, formed the school of the dancing- 
 master. The young Duke of Devonshire, as the magnus Apollo of 
 the drawing-rooms in London, was at the head of these innovations. 
 In London fashion is, or was then, everything. Old and young 
 returned to school, and the mornings which had been dedicated to 
 lounging in the park were now absorbed at home in practising the 
 figures of a French quadrille, or whirling a chair round the room to 
 learn the step and measure of the German waltz. Two Dutchmen 
 — Baron Tripp (appropriately named) and Baron Tuyll — were chief 
 professors: the former some time after committed suicide at 
 Florence. The emperors and their attendants took part in these 
 gay measures, and the example of Courts led to the fashion. 
 
 General Thornton was also a popular professor of the new dance, 
 and used to instruct parties of young ladies in the morning; while 
 
 * A fashionable journal of the day, “ La Belle AssembI6e,” thus gravely de- 
 scribes the new dance: “ The Waltzer is a native dance of Suabia, and strict 
 translation of the term to denote a roller. A lady and gentleman take hold 
 of each other in a certain graceful manner, turn about together with a simple 
 sort of step, and then pass up and down the room. The movement is mode- 
 rate.” 
 
672 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 Lady Harriet Butler, who had been taught by the dieu de la lance 
 himself, proved herself so apt and graceful a pupil that every one 
 stopped to look as she performed. Even many years later Pierce 
 Egan describes the ardent devotee of the new dance, who 
 
 Holds, lest the figure should be hard, 
 
 . Close to his nose a printed card. 
 
 Another remarkable woman of the time, whose life was adven- 
 turous, came to London in 1814, and, introduced into London 
 society, caused a sort oifureur. This was Madame de Stael. The 
 earliest of those attracted by the new star was the Regent, to whom 
 her affectations and her exaggerated enthusiasm promised entertain- 
 ment. The lady, however, in right of her intellectual sovereignty, 
 stood out for the homage of a first call at her house in Argyle Street, 
 which he was good-humored enough to concede; and he further, as 
 his grand gala at Carlton House was impending, “with more ap- 
 pearance of taste than he usually displays,” says Mrs. Trench, went 
 specially to a party at Lady Heathcote’s, to allow of an opportunity 
 for being presented to her, so that she might attend the f6te on the 
 following evening. When they met, however, she violated etiquette 
 by putting him through a process of questioning, which did not 
 please him. She was also said to have treated him cavalierly, and 
 spoke in a strain of personal praise which was too strong for his 
 taste, “ particularly dwelling on the beauty of the form of his legs, 
 but saying very little to him of the glories of his country, or the 
 powers of his mind.” The interview was not supposed to be pleas- 
 ant to either party; nevertheless, Madame de Sta6l continued her 
 adulatory conduct to the Prince. Her undignified and unsuitable 
 marriage sank her to a lamentable degree, and her days closed in 
 troubles, disappointment, and obscurity. 
 
 The story of Lady Caroline Lamb, a high-strung, clever, ill-regu- 
 lated, wilful creature, moves sympathy. Hers was a strange, and, 
 in its ending, tragic career. Her extravagant admiration of the 
 hero of the hour; her mad behavior at a ball in consequence; the 
 strange novels she wrote in which she and her idol figured; the 
 patient forbearance of her husband, who bore with her freaks as 
 long as they could be borne; and her unhapp}^ death-bed, when she 
 was reconciled to him, form elements in a wild course, and excite 
 the deepest pity.* 
 
 * Many of her letters, with other details, will be found in the “ Memoirs of 
 Lady Morgan.” There is also a sketch of her in Mr. McCullagh Torrens’s 
 
 Life of Lord Melbourne.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 673 
 
 Few events in the history of society caused so deep a sensation as 
 the appearance of Lord I^ron^ When it is considered he was 
 young, a noble, a poet of the first ‘order, interesting, if not good- 
 looking, and one who was believed to have known strange adven- 
 tures, this success is not surprising. Further, as is shown by his 
 letters, he possessed gaiete de co&ur, if not wit, and was lively and 
 entertaining in conversation. It may be said, therefore, that an era 
 at which two such geniuses as Madame de Stat5l and Lord Byron 
 met in London drawing-rooms was one of special note. The poet 
 used to be merry with his friends on the lady’s peculiarities and 
 affectations, and was himself “a lion ” quite as great. One scene 
 has been alluded to, which took place at a rout. Another lady of 
 high fashion was found in tears on a sofa at another entertainment, 
 because he had spoken unkindly to her. To a third admirer he ad- 
 dressed a farewell letter, sealed with the seal of the person who had 
 supplanted her — a Mephistopheles touch, significant of his some- 
 what venomous temper. Kor should we pass by that extraordinary 
 lady, the Margravine of Anspach, Lady Craven, who survived till 
 the year 1828. Her oddities, her theatricals, and her singular and 
 not uninteresting Memoirs, undoubtedly give her a place in the line 
 of remarkable women. She was connected with the Princess of 
 Wales, by furnishing her with Mr. Keppel Craven, her son, as an 
 equerry; while Brandenburg House, her well-known residence at 
 Hammersmith, was occupied by the Princess on the eve of her trial. 
 
 Among the oddities of London society must be counted at this 
 time two strange ladies, known for their taste for party -giving, and 
 their eagerness to collect at such entertainments everything remark- 
 able. One of these was the antique Lady Cork, whose husband had 
 been born so long ago as 1742, and who herself had been married in 
 1786, and who survived lull of animation and party-giving till 1840. 
 As is well known, she was a favorite of Dr. Johnson’s, with whom 
 she had often a pleasant encounter of wits. Mr. Croker quotes one 
 of her last letters to him, written in 1836, gayly jesting upon the 
 year of her birth. A full account of this old lady would form an 
 entertaining monograph. 
 
 The other lady, as eager for party-giving, was the w^ell-known 
 Lydia White, and if old age might seem an obstacle to such gayeties 
 in the one instance, helplessness and infirmity might be in the other. 
 But these seem to have only whetted their spirit. “Going to Lydia 
 White’s” was a thing which many laughed at and yet few omitted. 
 Sydney Smith’s jest of “sacrificing a Tory virgin” is well known. 
 • 39 
 
674 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 What was presented to the guests was most dispiriting, “ Immov- 
 able from dropsy, with a swollen person and an emaciated face,” 
 says a sarcastic observer, ‘ ‘ she is placed on an inclined plane raised 
 high upon a sofa. Yet her spirit was unflagging.” 
 
 With one of these ruling queens of fashion — Lady Jersey — the 
 Regent’s name became associated in a curious way. She was 
 daughter-in-law of the better-known Lady Jersey, and also a con- 
 spicuous figure in society. After enjoying the favor of the Regent, 
 she incurred his enmity, which he marked by removing her minia- 
 ture from a collection of “ beauties” he had formed, and sending it 
 back to Mrs. Mee, the painter. Lord Byron, an admirer of the lady, 
 wrote some lines, published in the papers; 
 
 If he, that vain old man, whom truth admits 
 Heir of his father’s crown and of his wits; 
 
 If his corrupted eye and withered heart 
 Could with thy gentle image bear to part. 
 
 * * * * 
 
 These are not lessen’d, these are still as bright; 
 
 Albeit too dazzling for a dotard’s sight; 
 
 And these must wait till every gleam is gone. 
 
 To please the paltry heart that pleases none. 
 
 Here was the sequel : At a ball, Mr. Rogers was seated beside her 
 in a long gallery, at the end of which the Regent appeared. He saw 
 the person he so disliked, but it was too late to turn back. He 
 passed her with a defiant stare, which she returned as defiantly, and 
 then whispered, “ Didn’t I do it well?” 
 
 The irrepressible gayety of the English was displayed even abroad, 
 under the most extraordinary conditions. The detenus at Verdun 
 included men of rank and fashion, like Lord Yarmouth, who in- 
 dulged in a riotous life that scandalized their keepers. Horse- 
 racing, gambling, balls, and wasteful extravagance were kept up as 
 in town. 
 
 “We have had a grand f6te,” says a private letter from Verdun, 
 dated the 22nd August, 1805, “given here on the 12th instant, in 
 honor of the Prince of Wales, by Mrs. Concannon. Her cards were 
 sent out to one hundred and twenty persons, in the same style as in 
 London. The company met at tea, and were conducted into a large 
 room, fitted up as a theatre, where a little piece adapted to the 
 occasion was performed by Englishmen. It was intermixed with 
 French parts, which were performed by the regular actors of the 
 theatre, and a very humorous epilogue, written by Mr. Concannon, 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 675 
 
 was spoken after it. The play lasted till twelve, when three snp- 
 per-rooms, with two tables in each, were thrown open. The tables 
 were covered with everything which the season could produce, and 
 the most renowned wines in France. About two o’clock the ball- 
 room was ready; and the ladies and those gentlemen who wished to 
 dance kept up country-dances, reels, and cotillons till six in the 
 morning. The gentlemen who wished to remain at table kept 
 drinking and singing till the same hour, excepting some few who 
 got round the hazard-table. Captain Prescot sang a very humorous 
 song, which terminated with this chorus : 
 
 May we soon arrive on the banks of the Shannon — 
 
 So here’s to the health of Mrs. Concannon! 
 
 At six we were summoned to the breakfast-room, where tea and 
 coffee kept us till seven, when we all retired to our beds, to be up 
 by two to go to the races. 
 
 “ Dresses. — The ladies were dressed in a style much beyond what 
 was even seen at Mrs. Concannon’s great routs in London: the 
 preparations occupied them a month before, and every town in 
 France, and even in Germany, were laid under contribution. 
 Among the most conspicuous was the honorable Mrs. Clive, who 
 wore a Vandyke diadem profusely set round with jewels, and the 
 Honorable Mrs. Annesley, who wore a dress which cost at Paris 
 one hundred and fifty guineas. Mrs. Concannon had a beautiful 
 bird-of-paradise feather, which cost twenty-five guineas.” 
 
 There were other settlements of a less penal kind, such as Calais, 
 which was always filled with refugee English. At midnight, when 
 mails and passengers are hurrying through, few can conceive of 
 da3^s when it was the special refuge of Englishmen of condition in 
 temporary' or permanent straits. There too, by an odd perverse- 
 ness, they soon found means to raise up a crop of foreign creditors, 
 from whom they found it as difficult to escape as they had done 
 from their English ones. Legends were told of escapes planned 
 with considerable ingenuit}’’. One man of fashion, strictly watched, 
 contrived a dail}^ ride along the sands, immersing his horse’s legs 
 in the water, far out, until he ceased to excite suspicion. A well- 
 manned boat from the English coast came in close, into which he 
 leaped, and was rowed away with complete success.* Here went 
 on gaming, and walking on the Place, while the stream of English 
 
 * See the entertaining “ Annals of Calais.' 
 
676 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 passing through, and staying at Dessein’s, then one of the finest 
 hotels in Europe, furnished pleasant excuse for meeting friends, 
 little dinners, and borrowing money.* 
 
 There was also a little corner of Europe which at this time rose 
 into sudden attraction, and offered a more brilliant scene than it 
 has ever done since. This w^as the little w^atering-place of Spa. It 
 has now sunk into a quiet torpor, without having lost any of its 
 natural charms, but the spectacle it presented at the close of the 
 great war must have been a dazzling one. 
 
 “ In 1818,” says Sir H. Holland, “at the time of the Congress of 
 Aix-la-Chapelle, the proximity of the two places brought many 
 diplomatists across the frontier, to the quieter amusements and bet- 
 ter atmosphere of Spa; among others the Duke of Wellington and 
 
 * I may be pardoned for quoting from The St. James's Gazette this sketch 
 of my own on the fate of this interesting old hotel: “ Until very lately Sterne's 
 Room, No. 31, and Reynolds’s portrait of SirW. Scott over the chimney-piece, 
 were still shown and still used. The whole had an antique air. Dessein, how- 
 ever, passed away with his son, and his son’s daughter married Quillacq, who 
 kept the Silver Lion, an old hotel, also with a court, to be found now in the 
 Rue Neuve. Here it was that Hogarth stayed. So lately, however, as 1864, 
 L. Dessein, who was keeping the old Dessein’s Hotel, issued an important an- 
 nouncement: ‘That after the 1st of January his establishment will be trans- 
 ferred to the Hotel Quillacq, which has been entirely newly done up and will 
 take the name of Hotel Dessein. The premises of the old hotel having been 
 purchased by the town of Calais, it ceases to be an hotel.’ So accordingly it 
 ceased to be; and in 1874 it was transformed into a museum, with Indian 
 boats, skeletons of birds and fishes, arrows, pictures, etc. It was the occasion 
 of one of those agreeable little French fetes which are in such harmony with 
 an old town; in 1878 I came by that road once more, and found the old hotel 
 still yellow, and its old trees and gardens still blooming. No one, I fancy, 
 ever asked to see the things of the museum. In 1880 I was once more in old 
 Calais, coming over by moonlight, and with that not unromantic landing at 
 the station, and by one in the morning was standing ringing at Quillacq’s. 
 Dessein’s was sadly changed from those old busy days. There was hardly 
 another person in the house. They were civil, obliging people, and Madame 
 Dessein, a pleasing old French dame, sat in her parlor and administered. The 
 fare was good and the house comfortable. Overhead, at the roof could be 
 seen the silver lion rampant. I went out betimes to see the old Dessein's in 
 the Rue Leveux, erst Royale. It was pouring rain, and somehow I could not 
 find it. This was set down to forgetfulness. The trial was made again later, 
 but with the same result. The streets did not wear the same look. At last 
 the news was rudely broken to me. In place of Dessein’s was to be seen the 
 shell of an enormous brick building, ready but for roofing— a vast communal 
 school, one of M. Fen-y’s offspring. Dessein’s fair gardens, the quaint old 
 hotel, the remise, Sterne's room— all had been levelled, and this precious 
 structm-e reared in its place ! And thus there was an end of Dessein's Hotel.’' 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 677 
 
 Lord Londonderry, the Due de Richelieu, Prince Hardenburgh, 
 Prince Dolgorouski, etc. The Emperor Alexander, the Prince and 
 Princess of Orange, the Duke and Duchess of Cumberland, and 
 two or three Prussian princes, were among the numerous other 
 visitors of this year. The Spadois were flattered and enriched b’''" 
 this concourse of princes around the Poulion Fountain, and by see- 
 ing three or four gartered English noblemen every evening at their 
 assembly-rooms and roulette tables. The acting of Mdlle. Mars at 
 the little theatre of Spa graced the season in another way; some- 
 what past her perfection, but still supreme in the parts she filled. I 
 saw a good deal of the Due de Richelieu in society; quite enough 
 to tell me that Talleyrand cared more for his bon mot than for the 
 truth of his sarcasm, when he eulogized the appointment of the 
 Duke as Prime Minister — LI est lliomme de la France qui connoU 
 mieux la Crimee’ The Due de Richelieu was a fine specimen of 
 what we are taught, rightly or wrongly, to picture as a French 
 noble of the old school. He, the Duke of Wellington, and Lord 
 Londonderry, walking arm-in-arm as I saw them at Spa, would 
 have made an interesting subject for photography had the art then 
 existed. I had a good deal of intercourse with Lord Londonderry 
 at Spa. I saw much too at Spa of Montrond, the friend of Talley- 
 rand; if friendship be the word to denote the link between two 
 men who lived in a common contempt of the feelings and fashions 
 of the world.” 
 
ttd /V 
 
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 paa V-'WfaW mt ^bii t«jii/,yfUrtO lo 
 
 ^ feiii t»ii^* 
 
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 thuotf^ a«£f4riteH;r*«fitorCi[ ^ •io^ {jS)s a wag^ 
 drft- tftl^ . ;'«j<<:^4{fni 4<idi:i\riirfl'i^^^i 
 
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BOOK III. 
 
 THE JT/ifff.— 1820-1830. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 681 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 1820. 
 
 At midnight, January 29, 1820, the great bell of St. Paul’s an- 
 nounced the death of George III and the accession of George IV. 
 The good old King was, at last, to close his weary, suffering life, 
 and, for so many years dead to reason and sight, to shuffle off with 
 that life the mere semblance of royalty. 
 
 The Regent had been too ill to attend his father’s death-bed, over 
 which the Duke of York, his favorite son, we are told, “ hung with 
 the most affectionate solicitude.” But Sir William Knighton was 
 with him on the night when the news arrived from Windsor, and 
 testifies that it was received “ with a burst of grief that was very 
 affecting.” His situation presently became most critical. At his 
 favorite residence, Brighton, he had caught a cold, for which he 
 lost eighty ounces of blood. But on the night of Tuesday, Feb- 
 ruary 1, a fresh attack coming on, he was almost in danger of 
 suffocation. Sir Henry Halford was absent, and had left directions 
 that there was to be no further bleeding till his return. The 
 cautious Knighton was afraid to disobey, and Mr. Grenville states 
 that he might have died but for Bloomfield’s sending for Tierney, 
 who promptly took fifty ounces of blood from him, almost bleeding 
 him to death. It was believed that, but for this step, he would 
 have followed his father on the second or third day of his reign. 
 In all these attacks, his fine constitution, not yet shattered, helped 
 him to rally. It was characteristic of his effusive nature, which for 
 the time was even affectionate, that, in the moments of his greatest 
 danger, he despatched expresses to his dear friend, Lord Wellesley, 
 with messages as to his state. By the 17th he was restored, and 
 receiving addresses from the City of London. ‘ ‘ Sheriff Perkins ” 
 declared that his Majesty was one of the most robust-looking men 
 in the kingdom. “His limbs,” he added, “retain their fine pro- 
 portions, and his eye its wonted vivacity.” But at the Council less 
 partial judges declared that he was “very weak and tottering.” 
 
 29* 
 
682 tee life of georoe IV. 
 
 THE KING TO LOUIS XVin. AND OTHER SOVEREIGNS. 
 
 “ Sir, my Brother, 
 
 “Amidst my own and the public grief for the loss of his 
 late Majesty, my most honored father, of blessed memory, whom it 
 pleased God to release from the suiferings of a long illness on the 
 evening of the twenty-ninth instant, at thirty-five minutes past eight 
 o’clock, I cannot omit giving your Majesty the earliest intelligence 
 of the event, being convinced that you will participate in the 
 concern which I feel upon this melancholy occasion. Upon my 
 ascending the throne of this imperial kingdom, I renew to your 
 Majesty the assurance of my constant desire to cultivate and main- 
 tain that amity and good correspondence which so happily subsists 
 between our two crowns; and that I will not be wanting on my 
 part in anything that may tend to the advancement of the pros- 
 perity and M'elfare of your dominions. And so, wishing your 
 Majesty health, peace, and true felicity, I am, with the highest 
 esteem, 
 
 “ Sir, my Brother, your Majesty’s affectionate Brother, 
 
 “George R. 
 
 “Given at my Palace of Carlton House, the 31st day of January, 
 1820. To my good brother the most Christian King.”* 
 
 At the Privy Council, on the customary oath being taken, his 
 Majesty made the following declaration : 
 
 “I have directed that you should be assembled here, in order 
 that I may discharge the painful duty of announcing to you the 
 death of the King, my beloved father. 
 
 “It is impossible for me adequately to express the state of my 
 feelings upon this melancholy occasion ; but I have the consolation 
 of knowing that the severe calamity with which his Majesty has 
 been afflicted for so many years, has never effaced from the minds 
 of his subjects the impressions created by his many virtues; and 
 his example will, I am persuaded, live forever in the grateful 
 remembrance of his country. 
 
 * This document, written on a quarto sheet of paper with gilt edges, has 
 somehow found its way into the British Museum. It is in the nature of a 
 circular letter, and is merely signed by the King. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 683 
 
 “ Called upon, inconsequence of his Majesty’s indisposition, to 
 exercise the prerogatives of the crown on his behalf, it was the first 
 wish of my heart to be allowed to restore into his hands the powers 
 with which I was entrusted. It has pleased Almighty God to 
 determine otherwise; and I have not been insensible to the advan- 
 tages which I have derived from administering, in my dear father’s 
 name, the government of this realm. 
 
 “ The support which I have received from Parliament and the 
 country, in times the most eventful, and under the most arduous 
 circumstances, could alone inspire me with that confidence which 
 my present station demands. 
 
 “The experience of the past will, I trust, satisfy all classes of my 
 people, that it will ever be my most anxious endeavor to promote 
 their prosperity and happiness, and to maintain unimpaired the 
 religion, laws, and liberties of the kingdom.” 
 
 It was naturally desirable that the first step taken should be to 
 close the unseemly chapter of nearly forty years’ pecuniary embar- 
 rassments and scandals. This delicate task was undertaken by his 
 confidential friend Knighton, who devoted himself to it for the 
 next ten years with infinite pains, carrying it out with an inflexible 
 severity, which made him incur the displeasure, if not dislike, of 
 his royal master; not the least disagreeable part being the under- 
 taking distant journeys on “delicate missions”' in the depth of 
 winter. It is stated that the old debt to the Duke of Orleans was 
 now cleared off with interest, together with other long-standing 
 encumbrances, while the King himself eagerly pressed his minis- 
 ters for a substantial addition to the Civil List, which, he main- 
 tained, was inadequate for his state. They refused — declaring that 
 the settlement must be considered a settlement for the reign, though 
 they held out a hope that some special grant might be made in the 
 future. It was curious to find the King thus renewing the old 
 attempts of the Prince, and clamoring for “increased allowance.” 
 When the new Parliament met, he was able in his speech to “con- 
 gratulate the nation on there being no addition to the burdens on 
 the people.” On this occasion he sat on the “ new throne,” arrayed 
 “in purple and gold.” The next step was to dispose of his Queen. 
 
 He had discovered a convenient ally and instrument — a pliant 
 lawyer, who seems to have been the only man of position and 
 ability who adopted and favored his plans. This was Leach, 
 already his Chancellor of Cornwall, and who looked to a higher 
 
684 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 reward. All the reports of the spies abroad with the more respect- 
 able communications of Lord Exmouth and Sir C. Stuart, had been 
 gradually accumulating, and this adroit partisan suggested that it 
 was time that some action should be taken upon these materials.* 
 From him and Lord Liverpool we learn how the first step was 
 arranged, and that in 1818 commissioners had been sent out to 
 Milan to collect evidence. In Mr. Grey-Ben nett’s diary some 
 account is given of the persons to whom this delicate task was 
 entrusted. 
 
 “ I have read a letter from Sir John Leach, the Regent’s Chan- 
 cellor for the Duchy of Cornwall, to Lord Essex, which gives the 
 following particulars: Late in the autumn of 1817 (after the 
 Princess Charlotte’s death), a large parcel of papers was laid before 
 him (Sir J. L.) by order of the King, a considerable part of which 
 came from the Foreign Office. After having perused them, he 
 recommended an inquiry to be instituted; and, accordingly, with 
 the full consent and approbation of some of the ministers, such as 
 the Lord Chancellor, Lord Liverpool, and Lord Castlereagh, one 
 was nominated, consisting of Mr. Cooke (a Chancery lawyer), Mr. 
 Powell (an attorney), and Captain Brown (a creature of Lord 
 Stewart’s), Lord Castlereagh’s brother, then our ambassador at 
 Vienna. This commission assembled at Milan, in September, 1818, 
 and transmitted, from time to time, copies of the evidence, as they 
 collected it, to Sir John Leach, who sent them to Lord Liverpool. 
 They returned to England, and made their report* in July, 1819. 
 Leach’s defence consists in his denial that he ever communicated 
 with them, or with any one else tipon the subject, wdiile he was 
 on the Continent (of which he was accused), the commission not 
 assembling at Milan till he left it. Of the character of these com- 
 missioners it may be necessary here to say a few words. Mr. 
 Cooke bears a very good reputation as a Chancery lawyer.” 
 
 Sir J. Leach, this instrument, was a suitable character, with a 
 strange reserve and ambition. “How often have I seen him,” says 
 an old solicitor, “ when walking through the Green Park, knock at 
 the private door at the back of Carlton Palace. I have seen him 
 go in four or five days following.” And there was something 
 significant in his mode of dispensing law. Two large fan-shades 
 were placed in such a position as not only to screen the light from 
 
 * To present all these proceedings in a continuous form I have reserved for 
 this place the preliminary discussions and arrangements. 
 
TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 685 
 
 the Master’s eyes but to render him invisible to the court. After 
 the counsel who was addressing the court had finished and resumed 
 his seat, there would be an awful pause for a minute or two; when 
 at length, out of the darkness which surrounded the chair of justice 
 would come a voice, distinct, awful, solemn, but with the solemnity 
 of suppressed anger: '‘The bill is dismissed with costs.” No 
 explanations, no long series of arguments were advanced to sup- 
 port this conclusion. 
 
 One Vimercati, an Italian lawyer, was local manager and employed 
 to hunt up evidence, and when it was known that the English Court 
 was eager to obtain evidence, the “raffish” miscellany of Italian 
 scamps, menials, valets de place — never a high type — virtually re- 
 ceived an invitation to fit what they had to tell to the standard that 
 was required. 
 
 The instigator of the scheme at once received his reward. At 
 Christmas, 1817, he was made Vice-Chancellor, “on the distinct 
 nomination of the Prince Regent himself,” Mr. Twiss tells us. 
 Lord Eldon having nothing to do with the matter. That eminent 
 Tory’s scruples did not stand in the way. The Regent, for ends 
 of his own, was then calling him his dearest friend, and imploring 
 him not to desert him; and as the public was clamoring for his 
 resignation this appeal became of value. Why the Regent was 
 so anxious not to be “deserted” will be now seen. It is also a 
 little significant that Sir W. Scott, the Chancellor’s brother, was 
 heard to remark that the late death of the Princess Charlotte had 
 removed the only objection to the divorce. His “dear young 
 master ” had addressed him : 
 
 THE REGENT TO LORD ELDON. 
 
 “My dear friend [he wrote on January 1st, 1818], it must 
 always be a mortifying as well as painful circumstance to me, 
 w’henever I am deprived the pleasure of your society; but when 
 I learn the reason of such privation, that it is to be attributed to 
 bodily indisposition, arising entirely from distress of mind, it is 
 then truly that I do tenfold regret the absence of my friend, and 
 that I do feel more deeply for him than I can find w^ords to 
 express. Perhaps (and in addition to what I have just written) 
 there never was a moment when (and in which also from private 
 and personal reasons towards myself) I not only could have 
 regretted and lamented your absence more or so much as that 
 
686 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 late one (but when I at the same time am sensible that you could 
 not possibly come to me); for you cannot fail to know how much 
 I depend upon you at all times, and how firmly I rely upon your 
 support and affection in whatever can concern my tranquillity, my 
 happiness, and my honor. You cannot, therefore, be surprised 
 (much difficulty in point of delicacy being now set aside in my 
 mind by the late melancholy event which has taken place in my 
 family) if I therefore turn my whole thoughts to the endeavoring 
 to extricate myself from the cruellest, as well as the most unjust 
 predicament, that ever even the lowest individual, much more a 
 prince, ever was placed in by unshackling myself from a woman 
 
 who .... Is it then, my dear friend, to be tolerated that 
 
 .... is to be suffered to continue to bear my name, to belong to 
 me and to the country, and that that country, the first in all the 
 world, and myself its sovereign, are to be expected to submit silently 
 to a degradation, under which no upright and honorable mind can 
 exist? This, then, was my main object for collecting certain of my 
 confidential servants here. ... I shall now take my leave of you, 
 wishing you from my heart many happy returns of the season, and 
 assuring you that if it depends upon me alone, your happiness should 
 never know interruption. 
 
 ‘ ‘ I remain, my dear Friend, 
 
 “Always most affectionately yours, 
 
 “George, P. R 
 
 “P.S. — I hope that you will be able to make out this scrawl.” 
 
 But it is now that Mr. Brougham begins to occupy so conspicuous 
 a figure in these transactions — though his behavior at this stage 
 was always deemed perplexing. There can be no doubt that the 
 Princess was thoroughly alarmed by the fact of the inquisition that 
 was held at Milan, and was unequal to maintain the struggle at such 
 odds. Her friends, too, felt that on every account it was desirable 
 she should remain abroad. This was the view of the ministers — in 
 short, there was but one person in the kingdom who was eager to 
 disturb or annoy her. 
 
 In this view Mr. Brougham addressed a letter to Lord Hutchinson, 
 a friend of both contending parties, suggesting an arrangement, 
 which he was not authorized to make, but which he seemed to say 
 he had influence enough to persuade her to accept, on the terms of a 
 formal separation, no coronation or title of Queen, and an annuity 
 for life. He added that he thought this would be most comfortable 
 
THE LIFE OF GEOBGE IV. 
 
 687 
 
 for her, as since lier daughter’s death she would not desire to return. 
 This sensible proposal was not accepted, for the reason that at that 
 moment a most singular discussion was going on between the 
 Regent and his ministers. The report of the Milan commission had 
 come to hand, and the Prince was filled with a sort of passionate ill- 
 regulated longing to take action on it. They pressed on him as 
 reasonable the proposals contained in the letter, assuring him that 
 any noti on of divor ce, such as he suggested “ by arrangement,” was 
 out of the question. On this he replied, saying that they had mis- 
 understood nim, that he intended there should be due proofs of 
 guilt, and put it to them whether, for the purpose of “arrange- 
 ment, ” there could be any essential difference between divorce and 
 the sort of separation they referred to, and whether the party who 
 would propose the one would not accept the other?* 
 
 - In about a fortnight, on July 10th, ministers at once took into 
 consideration the report of the commission. A couple of weeks 
 later, with this unexpected information before them, they addressed 
 the Regent in a remarkable minute :f 
 
 “ According to these opinions your Royal Highness’s servants are 
 led to believe that the facts stated in the papers which have been 
 referred to them would furnish sufficient proof of the crime, pro- 
 vided they were established by credible witnesses; but it is at the 
 same time the opinion of your Royal Highness’s confidential ser- 
 vants that, considering the manner in which a great part of this 
 testimony has unavoidably been obtained, and the circumstance 
 that the persons who have afforded it are foreigners, many of 
 whom appear to be in a low station of life, it would not be possi- 
 ble to advise your Royal Highness to institute any legal proceeding 
 upon such evidence, without further inquiry as to the characters 
 and circumstances of the witnesses by whom it is to be supported.” 
 
 Then they considered the various courses of proceeding — high 
 treason, suit in the ecclesiastical courts — and found the most serious 
 objections to all. 
 
 * As these papers are evidently not the Regent’s ov n composition, but writ- 
 ten by Sir J. Leach, the substance is merely given. 
 
 t Mr. Roebuck states (“ History,” i. 9), “on the highest authority,” that the 
 Whig party conveyed to Lord Liverpool an intimation that, if the King dis- 
 mis.sed him and his friends for refusing to prosecute the Queen, they would 
 decline to take office, even though this condition were waived. This does not 
 seem very credible. 
 
688 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 “They are satisfied that evidence which in a common case, and 
 before the ordinary tribunals, would be deemed fully sufiicient, 
 would, in a proceeding of this kind, be received with the greatest 
 suspicion, particularly where the witnesses happened to be foreign- 
 ers; and they doubt the success of any application to Parliament 
 upon such a transaction, except in a case in which the testimony 
 was so unexceptionable, clear, and distinct, as to be subject to no 
 reasonable doubt. Most of the objections above stated would not 
 apply to the third proposition — a proceeding for high treason. Such 
 a proceeding would be considered as conformable to the due course 
 of law. But on the other hand, it must be observed that the diffi- 
 culties of obtaining sufficient evidence of the crime of high treason 
 are greater than in any other criminal proceeding, and it would cer- 
 tainly not be advisable to institute it, if there did not exist the 
 highest probability of success. Upon the whole of this question 
 your Royal Highness’s confidential servants beg leave most humbly 
 to state their opinion as decidedly adverse to any proceeding being 
 attempted in the ecclesiastical courts.” 
 
 We venture to say that this document, to which attention has 
 scarcely been sufficiently directed, is as damaging a piece of evi- 
 dence against the Regent’s ministers as could be conceived. For 
 here was their deliberate opinion as to the value of the evidence 
 on which they later brought the Queen to trial. It shows, indeed, 
 how flexible were their principles. In fact, the effect of this remon- 
 strance was complete, and the Regent, for the moment baffled, ac- 
 cepted their opinion. 
 
 Lord Hutchinson, however, pressed the Government to close with 
 Mr. Brougham’s offer, assuring them that he would not have made 
 it unless certain to carry it out, but the matter was dropped ; and 
 we may imagine the Regent was in no humor to accept. This, too, 
 may have been caused by a sudden threat of the Princess to Lord 
 Liverpool that she would come to England. From this she was 
 dissuaded. But if ever a woman was driven to action by harsh 
 and wantonly stupid treatment, it was this unfortunate lady. For 
 now there began a series of petty slights and insults at foreign 
 courts, all prompted by the English ministers of the Prince. At 
 Vienna, Paris, Rome, she encountered this form of insult, as though 
 she was some pretender or impostor, all being obsequiously eager 
 to gratify the Regent. She had completed all her restless peregrina- 
 tions, having made a very important and interesting tour, and seen a 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 689 
 
 great deal of the -world, A slight matter will show the spirit of the 
 proceedings adopted towards her — a charge that she was seen to 
 enter places of Catholic worship and kneel down. 
 
 But the arrival of both parties at the throne made a most impor- 
 tant change. As was natural with one of the King’s character, the 
 possession of power suggested immediate deliverance from the^ 
 yoke w'hich he chafed against; and almost at once, before he es- 
 caped his critical illness, the old frenzy seized on him. He was for 
 divorcing his Queen at once, and ten days had scarcely passed from 
 his father’s death, before he was again embroiled with his ministers 
 on tills thorny subject. Apart from his own dislike, there was the 
 feeling that she had been elevated with him, and the instinct that 
 her power for annoyance and battle had increased. As Princess 
 she might be ignored; but her new situation as Queen of England 
 promised difficulties and embarrassments of the most painful kind. 
 Whether recognized or not, she was sure to be found intolerable. 
 
 The strange frantic mode in which the King, after a fortnight, 
 pressed this matter, introduces us to a most characteristic episode. 
 Hisdme daninee in this matter, Leach, was despatched to the Chan- 
 cellor to operate on the Cabinet with threats of the King’s retirement 
 to Hanover — not likely to have any effect upon them — and hints of 
 dismissal, perhaps more potent; and it was urged that the King’s 
 state of health, agitation of mind, and the like, all required that 
 his wishes should be carried out. Their views, however, could not 
 have given him satisfaction,* and were embodied in a minute of 
 Cabinet dated February 10. This most important document again 
 sets out the deliberate judgment of ministers, based on the Milan 
 evidence and the “ supplementary evidence,” which had been got 
 together to strengthen the first, and it was to the effect that a divorce 
 was impracticable, chiefly on the ground of recrimination which it 
 would open, and which could not be shut on account of the legal 
 difficulties; and above all, for this very remarkable reason: 
 
 “This evidence [they say] would indeed establish the fact, if not 
 rebutted or discredited; but notwithstanding the supplementary 
 evidence which has since been obtained, your servants must beg to 
 refer to the opinion which they gave in their minute of the 24th of 
 July last, “that this body of testimony consists almost exclusively 
 
 * Letter of Lord Eldon, “ Life of Lord Liverpool,” p. 24, where will be found 
 much of the information quoted in this episode. 
 
690 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 of the evidence of foreigners, most of them not above the rank of 
 menial servants, or that of masters and attendants in hotels, wholly 
 unacquainted with the English language, and some of the former 
 class standing in the questionable situation of having been dismissed 
 or removed from her Royal Highness’s service. 
 
 “Your servants are not insensible to the obstacles which may 
 have arisen to any attempt, made according to their advice, to ascer- 
 tain what was likely to be the evidence of the several English per- 
 sons of both sexes who had been living in the family of the Princess 
 of Wales. But to proceed in ignorance as to the probable effect of 
 such testimony would, they submit, be hazardous; particularly as 
 your servants have reason to believe that some of those persons of 
 rank and station at present in friendly correspondence with the 
 Princess profess an interest in all that concerns her.” 
 
 Thus they again put on record their opinion of the worthlessness 
 of the evidence on which they later founded their proceedings, and 
 w^hich then, tliey maintained, was convincing; and they also fur- 
 nish, by anticipation, another damaging fact against themselves; 
 for these “ several English persons of both sexes,” to whom they 
 allude, actually testified in the most favorable w'ay for her. So 
 that, if favorable, their evidence was to be excluded; if the reverse, 
 sought for. 
 
 Further, they held out to the King that the only feasible course 
 was to arrange matters so that the Queen — or “Princess,” as they 
 ludicrously styled her through the document — should be prevented 
 returning, and thus shadowed out a sort of measure which, through 
 Ithe leverage of the annuity, which had now lapsed, as well as of 
 the scandals, etc., might be effectual. They would advise that she 
 should not be admitted to “the honors of coronation,” and that 
 her name should be omitted from the Liturgy. Owning that it was 
 indeed “ a chain of difficulties,” they, in conclusion, almost abjectly 
 “ implored his Majesty’s indulgent construction of everything which 
 they may appear to have said amiss.” 
 
 Mr. Canning gave his adhesion, but, taking a curious distinction, 
 declared he could not have agreed to the omission of her name from 
 the Liturgy had any penal process been contemplated. This was no 
 doubt intended as forewarning, and it was felt necessary to menayer 
 the King in his present excited state. 
 
 He replied in a long argument not of his own composition. The 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 691 
 
 ministers rejoined, reiterating in the strongest terms the objections 
 to the divorce and to the characters of the witnesses. 
 
 Thus crossed in his plans, the King gave way to the most intem- 
 perate behavior. We find Lord Sidmouth saying, when apologizing 
 for not answering a letter: ‘ ‘ If you knew how the day (the 12th) was 
 passed, you would not be surprised at the omission. The Govern- 
 ment is in a very strange and precarious state.” Mr. Greville even 
 heard that they had all resigned, and reports some extraordinary 
 behavior on the part of the King — such as ordering Lord Liverpool 
 out of the room, asking him “ if he knew to whom he was speak- 
 ing?” On which that nobleman replied with dignity: “Sir, Iknow 
 that I am speaking to my sovereign, and I believe I am addressing 
 him as it becomes a loyal subject to do.” The King sneered at the 
 Chancellor, saying “that his conscience always interfered except 
 where his interest was concerned ” — a speech probably true in the 
 main. As was to be expected, this vehemence soon gave place to 
 timidity. He apologized to the Prime Minister, and we are not 
 surprised to find that he yielded the whole matter in dispute. The 
 difficulty was thus composed, both parties fancying that there was 
 little more to be done than settle the terms of the arrangement. 
 
 The “ Cato Street Conspir acy” — the most incredible attempt 
 known in modern London life, and which exceeded in daring and 
 villany the schemes of foreign assassins like Orsini — now occupied 
 public thought. 
 
 One single feature of the political life of this time deserves notice. 
 It might be said that at no other period were the risks of violence 
 and actual bloodshed so curiously associated with the careers of 
 political men and men in high position. We have even the spec- 
 tacle of three statesmen of high mark perishing by their own hands, 
 viz., Lord Castlereagh, Sir Samuel Romilly, and Mr. Whitbread. 
 The catalogue might be further added to by the fates of Mr. Hus- 
 kisspn and of Sir Robert Peel. 
 
 Ministers, like the King himself, found themselves exposed to the 
 revengeful attack of persons suffering from a morbid sense of griev- 
 ance; and the assassination of Mr. Perceval, and the later marvel- 
 lous escape of Lord Palmerston, struck by a bullet, but unwounded, 
 showed what perils were incident to high office. But the most ex- 
 traordinary attempt of this kind was the desperate “Thistlewood 
 Conspiracy.” It became known in London one morning that 
 a band of some fifteen or twenty desperate men had planned the 
 assassination of the whole ministry, seizing the happy occasion 
 
692 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEOROE IV. 
 
 when they were gathered at dinner at the Foreign Secretary’s, se- 
 curing admittance through the pretext of delivering a letter to the 
 servant. The details were worked out in thorough fashion. Lord 
 Harrowby had invited nearly the whole ministry to dine at his 
 house in Grosvenor Square, due notice of which had found its 
 way into the papers. Thistlewood and his band— which included 
 butchers, shoemakers, and others — who had been arranging a gen- 
 eral plan of assassination, seized on this favorable opportunity. 
 They had been holding meetings in a stable loft, in Cato Street, 
 Paddington, and had there gathered a store of guns, swords, hand 
 grenades, with a stock of ammunition; and the plan agreed upon 
 was that one of the band, about nine o’clock, should knock at Lord 
 Harrowby’s door with a letter, and when presenting it, should rush 
 into the dining-room and massacre the ministers. The town was 
 then to be fired. Some courageous police arrested these desperate 
 men when armed and about to execute their scheme, and an affray 
 followed in which one of the officers was killed. The scene at the 
 execution had a sort of dramatic interest as much from the sym- 
 pathy exhibited by the crowd, who raised a shout when the doomed 
 men appeared on the scaffold, as from the strange remark of This- 
 tlewood to his neighbor: “ We shall soon know the grand secret !” 
 A reporter, with an enterprise worthy of later times, forced himself 
 close to the leading criminal, and addressed him : “Mr. Thistlewood, 
 if you have any remarks to make I shall be happy to take them 
 down and convey them to the public.” The reply was a look of 
 extraordinarily mixed contempt.* 
 
 This sympathy of the people — also displayed with more signifi- 
 cant indecency at the funeral of the unhappy Lord Castlereagh, 
 when dead cats were flung at the remains and other indignities 
 attended them — was another universal feature of the time. We 
 have seen how the Regent was periodically attended in his prog- 
 resses by bootings and yells, and even the venerable Queen was 
 mobbed and spat upon. This was owing to the system of repres- 
 
 * Many years after these events, when Mr. W. Curran was with Lord 
 Anglesey at Beaudesert, the latter showed his guest a strange walking-stick, 
 which, on pressing various springs, shot forth a sword at the extremity, with 
 two cutting weapons also at right angles ; while a third piece of mechanism 
 in the handle produced a dagger and pistol. This formidable, but embarrass- 
 ing, weapon had been designed by the Duke of York after the Thistlewood 
 conspiracy, and he had some fifty or sixty made of the pattern, for presenta' 
 tion to the ministers and other leading personages. 
 
TUE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 693 
 
 sion instituted by Lord Sidmouth— with the six Acts and other 
 engines of oppression, and above all to a hateful system of spies 
 and informers. One Edwards, an image maker, whose introduc- 
 tion to the Government Mr. Charles Knight gives an account of in 
 his pleasing “Autobiography,” with Oliver and others, had done 
 useful service in these transactions. 
 
 This had the effect not merely of alarming the King, but rousing 
 his effusive sensibilities for one of his ministers. Lord Sidmouth,* 
 whose severities of administration had his sympathies. He was by 
 this time at Brighton, whence a series of encouraging despatches 
 almost daily reached the ministers, with high praise of the “zeal 
 and vigilance you have displayed, and which were now unfolding 
 themselves in the detection of crimes which have brought our land 
 to the condition heretofore reserved only for revolutionary France.” 
 
 THE KING TO SIR W. KNIGHTON. 
 
 “ Carlton House, Friday night, or rather Saturday morning, , 
 “ May 12-13, 1820. 
 
 “My DEAR Knighton, 
 
 “Let me entreat of you, if you possibly can, to call upon me 
 to-morrow morning, if your health will in any way admit of it, at 
 latest by eleven o’clock. I am so overburthened that I must abso- 
 lutely see you. 
 
 “Always most affectionately yours, 
 
 “G. R. 
 
 “P.S. — B tells me that he has obeyed my orders in writing 
 
 to you to the same effect; but I cannot, notwithstanding, resist 
 writing this short line myself.” 
 
 We must turn to the new Queen of England, whom the late 
 King’s death found at Leghorn, Mr. Brougham having despatched 
 Sicard, her steward, with the news. She had been staying at Mar- 
 seilles. She had thought of going on to Paris; but a significant 
 hint having been conveyed to her from the ambassador, that the 
 capital would be made disagreeable to her, she proceeded instead 
 
 t “The King’s remark,” writes Sir Benjamin Bloomfield, “ on your letter of 
 this morning, was, ‘ He is the Duke of Wellington upon home service ’ ” — a 
 compliment which strikes the very amusing Dean Pellew as “pecuharly feli- 
 citous.” 
 
694 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 to Rome, where, in answer to her request, a guard of honor was 
 posted at her door, but withdrawn suddenly. She made a protest 
 against this treatment, on which Cardinal Consalvi replied that the 
 Pope would not accede to it, on the ground that “at Rome it was 
 not the custom thus to honor royal personages travelling incognito, 
 and that he had had no official announcement from the English 
 Court of her having become Queen.” This was, of course, but a 
 thinly veiled pretext, the truth being that the Hanoverian minister. 
 Reding, had made the strongest remonstrances, and used pressure 
 which it was impossible to resist. This proceeding could scarcely 
 have affected her subsequent behavior; and it was no doubt the 
 news that her name had been struck out of the Liturgy — a first step, 
 as she fancied, towards deposing her — that drove her into asserting 
 her rights. But first she wrote to Lord Liverpool from Rome, on 
 March 16th, a characteristic appeal which began: “The Queen of 
 this Relams wishes to be informed through the medium of Lord 
 Liverpool, First Minister to the King of this Relams, for which 
 reason or motife the Queen’s name has been left out of the Liturgy. ” 
 
 Here, then, was the speedy fruit of their first blunder; for this 
 “leaving her name out of the Liturgy” was a trivial, unmeaning 
 act, dealing with a matter of form and routine which committed 
 none of the parties.* 
 
 The poor lady had hard work to get away from Rome. The 
 French ambassador declined to viser her passport, and the English 
 consul, “with trembling hand, much afraid of lossing his place, at 
 last was obliged to give me a pas-port;” while she considered the 
 Cardinal’s behavior “violent and impertinent ” in directing the post- 
 masters to find horses for P/iiicess Caroline of England.” 
 
 She accordingly set out on her journey home, reaching Geneva 
 about May 15th. She sent home a demand for Buckingham House, 
 or in case of refusal, some mansion near Dover. Sicard, the faith- 
 ful courier, had been despatched home with letters to Mr. Brough- 
 am, inviting him to come to Geneva; but was sent back to her by 
 the ambassador at Paris with letters to her, he himself forwarding 
 hers by his own messenger. She was roused up in the middle of 
 the night by his arrival, and then sent off a new courier wdth com- 
 plaints of this extraordinary proceeding, and a fresh summons to 
 
 * It might be urged, the more need she had of the nation’s prayers if she 
 were as vile as it was imputed she was. It might be said, too, that she was 
 still included in the prayers for “ all the Royal Family,” or, as it was touched 
 so finely by one of her counsel, in the prayer for the fatherless and persecuted. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 695 
 
 Mr. Brougham to come and meet her at some French port, as more 
 convenient. She was in a fever of excitement, and at once set out 
 on her journey. She was agreeably surprised at Montbard by the 
 arrival of Alderman Wood and Lady Anne Hamilton— the last 
 one of her most faithful and disinterested adherents. The prog- 
 ress of the party along the French posting was not without the 
 grotesqueness which seemed to attend the poor lady’s proceedings. 
 The train consisted of five carriages. A calash, in which sat Aider- 
 man Wood and Count Vasaii, led the way. The yellow English 
 posting-chariot, with the royal arms and “ C. P. W.” on the panels 
 followed, containing the Queen, Lady Anne Hamilton, and “a fine 
 little female child, about three years old, whom her Majesty, in con- 
 formity with her benevolent practices on former occasion, has 
 adopted.” Then came three others, containing Mr. AVilliam Austin, 
 “Mr. Wood, junior,” and servants. There were various accidents 
 and annoyances ; her leaders falling, the post-masters showing a dis- 
 inclination to supply horses, one hiding himself. On another occa- 
 sion plough-horses had to be impressed and ridden for the stage by 
 the carters. 
 
 At last she reached St. Omer, where she halted till the courier 
 should return with news of Mr. Brougham, also sending on couriers 
 to London with demands for a royal yacht to take her over. 
 
 This Alderman Wood, who now appears on the scene, has been 
 described as a linen-draper with whom the Queen had dealt; but this 
 seems an invidious mode of describing a person who had been Lord 
 Mayor of London, and was now a member of Parliament. He was 
 no doubt a “City man,” with a certain forwardness, and perhaps 
 vulgarity; but he certainly devoted himself to her cause with zeal 
 and loyalty, while the credit of the son, Sir W. Page Wood, might 
 be brought in aid of the respectability of the father. 
 
 While she was thus hurrying home, her adviser and agent, Mr. 
 Brougham, had been engaged — unknown to her — in a singular and 
 equivocal negotiation. He was sent for by Lord Liverpool imme- 
 diately after his heated struggle with the King; and it was suggested 
 that terms might now be made. They were willing to treat. Mr. 
 Brougham, who certainly had no instructions, gave up the Liturgy 
 point ; an^ on th e question of her having law officers, he declared 
 that by appointing him a King’s counsel he might thus be prevented 
 assuming those functions ! Lord Hutchinson, formerly a friend of 
 the King’s, was now joined in the negotiations, and to him Mr. 
 Brougham revealed the anger and jealousy which the departure .of 
 
696 
 
 TEE LIFE OP GEORGE IV. 
 
 Alderman Wood had roused in him. He styled him “ass and 
 alderman, whom they call Thistle Wood,” and suggested that the 
 Carlton House newspapers should open on him a shower of squibs 
 and ridicule, on the score of his having a job to do.”* 
 
 As the Queen was now drawing nearer to England, the King in- 
 tervened, and desired that both should go over and meet her, while 
 Lord Liverpool furnished Mr. Brougliam with a memorandum of 
 the Government terms — which were an allowance of £50,000 a year, 
 provided neither the title nor prerogatives of a Queen were assumed, 
 save that of appointing law officers. The King also showed his 
 eagerness that the two envoys should set out at once; and all was 
 in train when, on the day before his departure. Brougham suddenly 
 informed Lord Liverpool that he reserved the right of giving he.r 
 advice — apparently the opposite of that which he was undertaking 
 to give — should he find that her situation required it. And on the 
 day they left London, Lord Liverpool must have been confounded 
 at receiving a notice to the effect that his (Brougham’s) situation 
 was a most delicate one, and that w^hatever might be his feelings, 
 it might be that he would have actually to advise her to come to 
 England! It was plain that he wished to have two courses open 
 to him, and Lord Liverpool ought to have at once withdrawn the 
 commission from so doubtful an agent. What confusion arose out 
 of his proceeding will be seen. 
 
 On June 2nd the party landed at Calais. The little town was in 
 a fever of excitement, the English holding meetings at the Silver 
 Lion (Hooparth’s inn). They reached St. Omer the following day, 
 where Mr. Brougham was at once received by her. He spent two 
 hours with her, and a courier at once set out to bear Mr. Brough- 
 am's views to Lord Liverpool. That nobleman then saw how he 
 had been duped. Mr. Brougham informed him that the Queen was 
 determined to proceed to England, and plainly said he thought her 
 justified in doing so from the treatment she had received on her 
 travels. He declared the only way of stopping her was to give 
 her that title of Queen which he had come out specially to ask her 
 to forego I 
 
 “From this your lordship will perceive that I have not ventured 
 even to hint at the renunciation proposed by your lordship ; indeed, 
 I never deemed that at all within the possibility of the case, and I 
 
 * There is a letter of Mr. Brougham, in which he speaks opprobriously of 
 this “ d d woman ” coming back to plague them all! 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 697 
 
 am now certain that the bare mention of the thing would have been 
 followed within five minutes by an order of post-horses to go to 
 Calais. Lord Hutchinson, however, though he has been prevailed 
 on to defer this proposition, means soon to make it. Your lordship 
 may further perceive from this letter that my own opinion is now 
 decided, both as to what can be accomplished and what I ought to 
 advise. In the peculiarly delicate situation in which I stand, I 
 must be as explicit as possible with your lordship, and therefore, 
 relying on your secrecy, I shall state it. If it be only her Majesty’s 
 intention to go once to England for a few weeks, I am decidedly 
 against any such plan, because I see nothing but mischief in such a 
 proceeding. But in order to enable me to turn her aside from it, I 
 must add that I see most plainly the necessity of your lordship giv- 
 ing either Lord Hutchinson or myself the assurance above alluded 
 to; and, as a day’s delay can only bring Lord Hutchinson’s appli- 
 cation to the same effect, I think the risk of her Majesty’s setting 
 out before the answer to it arrives may be lessened by my writing 
 this letter,” 
 
 It will be seen he made no mention of the handsome bribe of 
 £50,000 a year which he was empowered to offer, and which might 
 have had its effect. After, indeed, suppressing the character in 
 which he had come, he with consummate art shifted the whole to 
 the shoulders of Lord Hutchinson, informing her that “he had rea- 
 son to believe that nobleman had brought over a proposition from 
 the King,” and requiring him to produce it. The other declared — 
 for he was not allowed to see her — that he bore none ; but that he 
 would try and gather it from what Lord Liverpool had said to him; 
 he was able to repeat the terms of Brougham’s commission, with 
 the addition, which he apologized humbly for mentioning, that the 
 instant she landed. Government would proceed against her. Mr. 
 Brougham — now become the Queen's agent in the matter — was 
 commanded to decline these terms. This was at five o’clock. She 
 instantly quitted the room, and Mr. Brougham saw her, to his sur- 
 prise, driving out of the courtyard. (He forgot, however, that in 
 his own letter he declared for her that she would only wait till five.) 
 She set off at full speed for Calais. He sent couriers after her with 
 letters imploring her to be cautious, but adding that he did not ad- 
 vise her to accept the proposition made, unless she was allowed to 
 retain her title as Queen, with due acknowledgment from all agents 
 abroad, etc. ; in short, everything opposed to what he had under- 
 30 
 
698 
 
 TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 taken to urge. To the minister he sent off despatches “most se- 
 cret, ” repeating the same thing, declaring that ‘ ‘ the spirit which 
 had guided him all through was merely to save annoyance,” and 
 talking of “ the duty he owed to his client,” and concluding with a 
 declaration of sorrow for the failure of his negotiation, and of his 
 readiness to lend his aid again, if it were renewed. 
 
 No wonder Lord Liverpool considered he had been tricked. In 
 the recriminations that followed, he maintained that Brougham 
 “ substantially approved ” the memorandum intrusted to him, and 
 that he, and he alone, was the hearer and negotiator.* 
 
 “It is a curious circumstance, and contributed not a little to 
 excite the Queen’s suspicions of Brougham at the time, that Lord 
 Hutchinson’s letter was in the handwriting of Brougham’s brother, 
 who had accompanied them, acting as secretary to his brother. On 
 giving it to the Queen, Brougham told her it was an inadmissible 
 proposition, and that she could not accept it. The moment the 
 Queen read it she expressed the greatest indignation, and requested 
 Brougham’s opinion, who said that he certainly did not advise her 
 Majesty to accept those conditions, at the same time her Majesty 
 best knew her own situation, and he entreated her to consider what 
 propositions she might accept. The Queen then said she would go 
 immediately to England.” Thus Mr. G. Bennett. 
 
 * See the “queries and answers,” dated the 10th of June, “Life of Lord 
 Liverpool,” vol. iii. p. 59. Lord Hutchinson’s naive bewilderment at the part 
 he had been made to play is well shown in his communication Lord Liver 
 pool: “I learnt, to my great surprise, from Mr. Brougham, but not until 
 late last night, that he had made a communication to your lordship through 
 Mr. Fonblanque, dated the 3rd inst. When Mr. Brougham left me yesterday 
 morning at eleven o’clock to go to the Queen, he did not appear to be at all 
 aware thair her Majesty meant to act in the precipitate manner she had done. 
 His first letter (marked No. 1) therefore came upon me quite unexpectedly. 
 I did not exactly comprehend the meaning of it. I thought his object was 
 that I should write something that might pacify the mind of the Queen for the 
 momem, and enable us both to gain time. I was induced to make my last 
 proposition by a private hint from Mr. Brougham ; she did not receive it until 
 she had left St. Omer, but it was forwarded to her to Calais, and I understand 
 that she received it when she was on board the packet ready to sail for Eng- 
 land. I am now to observe to j^ou that in the whole of this negotiation, Mr. 
 Brougham, as far as my judgment enables me to go, does not appear to have 
 possessed the smallest degree of power, weight, or authority over the mind of 
 the Queen. To speak to you in confidence, I think that her violence and de- 
 termination Gubdued him, and that he failed in making the slightest impres- 
 sion upon her. He may be, and I dare say has been, most sincere ; but as for 
 influence, if it did ever exist, there certainly was no appearance of it on the 
 present occasioa.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 699 
 
 We hurry after the excited Queen posting along the high road to . 
 Calais, which she reached that night, and then went on board the 
 packet. This precipitation was owing to the fear that the means 
 might be found to detain her. She had dismissed her strange suite 
 of Italians, including the whiskered Bergami, and was now to trust 
 herself to English service. The alderman was busy sending off de- 
 spatches by special boat, to prepare his wife for the august visitor 
 who had agreed to accept their hospitality at South Audley Street. 
 The English consul sent off a courier with the alarming news. 
 
 She did not start till the following morning, reaching Dover about 
 noon, where she was exhilarated by the honor of a royal salute — 
 quite unexpected — thundering out from the castle. The comman- 
 dant, having no instructions to the contrary, felt himself bound to 
 follow the usual course. The whole town lined the shores, and 
 though the tide did not allow the vessel to enter the harbor, the in- 
 trepid lady insisted on entering a small boat and getting ashore. 
 Now began those extraordinary ovations and progresses which were 
 to mark her course and delight her soul. Amid roars and acclama- 
 tions she walked through Snargate Street, arrayed in the broad hat 
 and pelisse which were to be so familiar to the public. Wright’s 
 Hotel had the honor of receiving her, and from this house she de- 
 parted in the evening, the crowd drawing her carriage. At Canter- 
 bury there were torches lit, fresh shouting, and addresses. She 
 stayed the night, and next day proceeded by Gravesend to London; 
 the singular feature being, that as she drew near the metropolis, her 
 progress became a vast cavalcade, from the number of mounted 
 persons who joined her. She did not reach town till seven o’clock, 
 when the tremendous acclamations as she passed over Westminster 
 Bridge conveyed to the House of Commons and his Majesty’s min- 
 isters the news of her arrival. She passed by Charing Cross to 
 South Audley Street — the streets almost impassable, every window i 
 
 filled with eager faces and waving handkerchiefs. In short, scenes 
 that were to be repeated ad nauseam for the next few months. 
 
 To the genuine heroine this sort of exhibition is odious. Mr. 
 Grenville, who rode out to Greenwich to meet her, describes the 
 scene. Carriages, carts, and horsemen followed, preceded, and sur- 
 rounded her coach all the way. The alderman was seated in the 
 place of honor, while the Duke of Hamilton’s sister “sat back- 
 wards.” This undignified proceeding caused the King to express 
 himself with oaths and other unbecoming language. As she passed 
 White’s Club, she turned and smiled to the members in the window 
 
700 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 Arrived at Audley Street, she appeared on the balcony, to the de- 
 light of the surging mob, who celebrated her arrival by breaking 
 the windows of obnoxious persons, such as Lords Sidrnouth and 
 Castlereagh, as well as Lady Hertford’s in Manchester Square, fill- 
 ing the air even with yells of “To Carlton House !” where soldiers 
 had to be posted. Citizens in her neighborhood were required to 
 illuminate. This was but the inauguration of a period of confusion 
 and disorder, which lasted till the trial was over. But on news of 
 her coming the ministers had made up their minds. Not an instant 
 was lost in taking action. 
 
 The following day the much-talked of “green bag, portentous 
 receptacle supposed to be filled with horrifying evidence of culpable 
 behavior, was solemnly carried down to Parliament, and the ques- 
 tion whether it was to be opened, and its unsavory contents emptied, 
 was to exercise the Houses for some time. A message from the 
 King invited the House of Lords to consider those papers with all 
 “serious attenlion.” A Secret Committee was named. To the 
 House of Commons the Queen addressed her message, skilfully 
 drawn up, in which she declared that she had been induced to 
 return, in consequence of the measures pursued against her honor 
 and peace by secret agents abroad, to defend her character. She 
 added solemnly that she was ready to meet her accusers openly, and 
 protested against any “secret tribunal,” and their examination of 
 documents “privately prepared by adversaries, a proceeding un- 
 known to the laws of the land.” The insulting measures taken 
 against her should only have been attempted after trial and con- 
 viction. 
 
 A discussion followed, in which Mr. Brougham vehemently stood 
 forw-ard in the capacity of her champion, and vindicated his owm 
 recent proceedings. The impression on all sides, and it is pleasing 
 to find that such good sense leavened that great assembly, was that 
 everything should be done to arrange matters, and avoid touching 
 the portentous green bag. Mr. Wilberforce carried all with him in 
 proposing an adjournment for the purpose of trying an accommo- 
 dation. The Queen, no doubt yielding to good advice, having 
 moved to Lady Anne Hamilton’s house in Portman Square, on the 
 evening of the 9th informed Lord Liverpool that she was willing to 
 receive any proposal. 
 
 “It was the general opinion of ministers, ” says Mr. Grey-Bennett, 
 who was well acquainted with everything connected Avith the 
 Queen’s case, “that she would not come to England, but accept 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV, 
 
 701 
 
 the terms proposed. The King, however, said he knew her better 
 than they did, and come she would ; and so it turned out, for the 
 intelligence of her having reached Dover arrived at the very moment 
 when the Duke of Wellington was riding m the Park with Lady 
 Jersey, arguing the point with her and persisting that she could not 
 come. Lord Hutchinson had been sent out by the Government to 
 treat with her, but had no written instructions. The proposition 
 was taken by Brougham, who consented to be the official bearer of 
 it, though he said he should not advise her to accept it. He and 
 Lord Hutchinson left town together in the same chaise, crossed the 
 sea in the same packet, and arrived at St. Omer together, where 
 they found the Queen, who had come by slow journeys from Geneva. 
 Brougham told m.e he had the greatest difficulty to persuade her to 
 cross the Alps, as he wished her to be near England to carry cn the 
 negotiation, and though he had the Government proposals in his 
 pocket since the month of April, he kept them to be presented in 
 person, for he knew that when she received them she would set off 
 instanter to return to England, and he was in hopes to prevent that 
 decisive step being taken on a sudden and without reflection. The 
 Queen, on her approach towards home, had written to Lord Liver- 
 pool to request to be informed what residence had been prepared for 
 her, and to Lord Melville to demand a yacht to bring her over. The 
 letter to Lord Liverpool was dated Villeneuve le Roi, the 29th of 
 May, in which she announced her intention of coming to England on 
 Saturday, the 3rd of June. The letter to Lord Melville was written 
 by Lady Anne Hamilton, and bears the same date. Lord Melville 
 answered it on the 1st of June, and stated that, as the King was 
 not in town, he could not take his commands about sending a 
 yacht.” 
 
702 
 
 THE LIFE OF QEOBGE IV. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 1820. 
 
 The battle was commenced in the House of Commons ; Brougham 
 from the outset intrepidly contesting every inch of ground. It was 
 on June 6th that his Majesty sent this message to the House of 
 Lords, commending his Queen to be dealt with by them, the first 
 instance of the kind since the precedent of King Henry VHI. 
 
 “ [George R.] 
 
 “ The King thinks it necessary, in consequence of the arrival 
 of the Queen, to communicate to the House of Lords certain papers 
 respecting the conduct of her ]VIajesty since her departure from this 
 kingdom, which he recommends to the immediate and serious atten- 
 tion of this House. 
 
 ‘ ‘ The King has felt the most anxious desire to avert the necessity 
 of disclosures and discussions, which must be as painful to his peo- 
 ple as they can be to himself ; but the step now taken by the Queen 
 leaves him no alternative. 
 
 “The King has the fullest confidence that, in consequence of this 
 communication, the House of Lords will adopt that course of pro- 
 ceeding which the justice of the case and the honor and dignity of 
 his Majesty’s crown may require. 
 
 “Geokge R.” 
 
 It was then that Brougham, no doubt alarmed at the prospect of 
 her learning the truth from others, confided to her that he had 
 brought to Calais propositions from the King. The effect of this 
 revelation on a woman who was about making propositions herself 
 may be conceived; and her distrust and suspicion of her advocate 
 from that moment were excessive. She even thought of dismissing 
 him. 
 
 ir^as felt, however, that before further measures were taken, 
 something might be attempted in the way of compromise. It is to 
 the credit of the Queen that the first offer came from her. This 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 703 
 
 seems to have been prompted by Mr. Brougham. After Mr. Can- 
 ning’s speech she thought he would be found most suitable, intend- 
 ing to send a message to him with her odd proposal, that he should 
 arrange an interview between her and the King. He naturally said 
 it was not to be thought of, unless, indeed, ‘ ‘ she threw herself upon 
 his mercy.” Sim answered haughtily that she would never ask 
 mercy from him ; but that, like any other peeress, she was entitled 
 to ask an audience. She then asked Mr. Brougham what mode he 
 would recommend of approaching his Majesty. 
 
 The minister had pointed out in the debate in the House of Com- 
 mons, that no renunciation of her royal prerogative or privileges 
 was required ; she was merely to abstain from using them. This 
 declaration was acknowledged in a cordial spirit, and she seemed 
 inclined to agree on this basis, suggesting that some one of position 
 should be named to prescribe the place of residence and terms gen- 
 erally. It was this that suggested to Mr. Wilberforce the hope of 
 arrangement, for, as he said, the claim as to the Liturgy was only 
 urged as a recognition, and if this could be secured by other means, 
 the end could be gained. Accordingly, the Duke of W ellington and 
 Lord Castlereagh met the Queen’s advocates. After many discus- 
 sions, the important concessions were made that “ official announce- 
 ment of her position ” was to be given to the various Courts ; she was 
 to leave in a King’s ship ; an address of congratulation from both 
 Houses to her and the King to be passed ; in short, a pont For as 
 satisfactory as could be desired. But these were declined as insuf- 
 ficient, and the demand still pressed that her name should be restored 
 to the Liturgy. The matter was therefore broken off. 
 
 The excellent Wilberforce incurred much odium for his share in 
 the transactions that followed. He was eager that she should make 
 concessions and resign the claim “to be prayed for.” He accord- 
 ingly proposed that the Houses should “address” her to this effect. 
 He thus had the air of deserting the popular side. 
 
 The secret history of this transaction is that he had received a 
 letter from her, “ bad in composition, vulgar and foolish,” in which 
 she wondered how “a religious man ” could propose such a thing! 
 Brougham remonstrated with her on this foolish step, and she owned 
 to him that she “had got into a scrape.” He then engaged to soothe 
 Wilberforce and get him to do something. She then wrote a letter, 
 and in clear terms threw herself upon the House, engaging to com- 
 ply with their desires. And it is infinitely to his honor that, when 
 the matter fell through^ and he was pursued with obloquy for trying 
 
704 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 to make her compromise her cause, he should never have vindicated 
 himself by producing this authorization. 
 
 Accordingly, on June 22nd, the motion was proposed and carried, 
 with the approbation of ministers. Four delegated members waited 
 on her, halving to run the gauntlet of an incensed mob, who were 
 expecting them in front of her residence. The Queen received them 
 “sternly and haughtily,” but declined to comply, on the ground 
 that whether she would accept any proposed measure or not was to 
 be decided by her own feelings and conscience. 
 
 Mr. Brougham tells that he had no part in this refusal, and that 
 he had not even seen her reply, which was drawn up by Lushington 
 or her solicitor. Indeed, he adds that he had assured Mr. Wilber - 
 force “she will accede, I pledge myself.” He was even anxious 
 she should do so. The deputies were received by an enormous 
 crowd in the most opprobrious fashion, saluted with cries of ‘ ‘ rogues, 
 villains, hypocrites, Cantwells.” They and their carriages were spat 
 on, and they were with difficulty saved from violence. When it 
 was known that the Queen had refused, the shouts might have been 
 heard at Charing Cross.* 
 
 It would almost seem that the fate of the Queen was really deter- 
 mined by the decision taken on this occasion. She herself was ready 
 to adopt whatever course would be thought the most prudent. All 
 her friends, however, including Brougham, Grey - Bennett, and 
 others, declined to advise her, telling her that she knew her own 
 case best, and what truth there was in the charges — a rather artful 
 suggestion, if they thought that the agitation was to be profitable. 
 
 * MS. “Diary,” Grey-Bennet. It seems probable that her adviser was ac- 
 countable for this, though he affects to lay the blame upon her camarilla. 
 But Mr. Wilberforce says that he had “ every reason to believe she would have 
 acquiesced, but for circumstances which I had rather state to you in person 
 than by letter.” “ It was plain,” says Mr. Brougham, “that they had nothing 
 like full powers from the King. Nor, indeed, had we from the Queen; for, 
 upon some alarm being given her by the meddling folks whom she saw, she 
 complained that she was not informed of the whole of the negotiation.” Act- 
 ing under the influence of Lady Anne Hamilton, one of her ladies, she sent 
 letters to the Speaker, or rather formal messages, beginning “ Caroline R.,” 
 “which Lady Anne’s brother. Lord Archibald (our stanch supporter) and 
 myself were never aware of till an hour before they were [to be] read by the 
 Speaker.” His behavior was inconsistent with this theory. There was, how- 
 ever, a disturbing element, of which account must be taken, namely, the 
 King’s determination to concede nothing that would favor a solution. The 
 Chancellor declared that he was determined to get other ministers, if the 
 present ones would not aid him in getting rid of his Queen. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEOROE IV. 
 
 705 
 
 Alderman Wood was seen in the House of Commons going about 
 and canvassing for opinions.* Had there been one thoroughly dis- 
 interested capable adviser, he would have certainly influenced her, 
 and the disastrous issue might have been avoided. 
 
 The excitement of ‘ ‘ the mob, ” as it was fashionable to call the 
 lower classes of her supporters, grew to be a nuisance, and became 
 a serious trouble to those who did not share their feelings. The 
 Chancellor, changing horses on his way to the country, was saluted 
 with yells of “Long live the Queen !” and was in other ways marked 
 out for annoyance. When a suitable house was being selected for 
 the Queen — for the Government had agreed to find her one — her 
 friends with some malice pitched on one in Hamilton Place, next 
 door to the Chancellor’s. He appealed, almost in an agony, to Lord 
 Liverpool, and declared that if the project was persisted in he would 
 give up, not merely his house, but his office. When they, of course, 
 declined to purcha.se this mansion, the Queen’s friends, still bent on 
 harassing him, set a subscription afoot to secure it ; and the Chan- 
 cellor could see no other way to save himself from this persecution 
 than to buy it himself. He disposed of it, however, again without 
 loss. More serious ground for apprehension was in the behavior 
 of a battalion of the Guards — the 3rd — which at this unfortunate 
 moment became mutinous. The Queen’s friends insisted that this 
 was owing to their sympathies with her ; while the royal party at- 
 tributed it to the harsh orders of the Duke of Gloucester, their 
 colonel, who had harassed them with new severe regulations, the roll 
 being called four times a day. This made them mutinous. They 
 were ordered out of town next day to Portsmouth. 
 
 “But,” says Mr. Grey-Bennett, “the story soon got wind, and in 
 the evening some thousands of persons assembled opposite to the 
 barracks in the King’s Mews, Charing Cross, shouting ‘ Queen for- 
 ever! ’ and calling to the soldiers to do the same. The people made 
 every coachman and footman of the carriages passing by take off 
 their hats to the barracks in honor of the soldiers; and there was 
 evidently a very bad feeling among them. I mixed in the crowd 
 coming up from the House of Commons, and heard many unpleas- 
 ant observations. The Life Guards at last came, and the people dis- 
 persed ; but I believe one or two people were wounded. The 3rd 
 Guards on the march to Portsmouth behaved in a most disorderly 
 manner. My neighbor. Sir Thomas Williams, told me that some 
 
 * MS. “Diary,” Grey-Bennett. ' 
 30* 
 
706 
 
 TBB LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 were quartered at Collen, near his house, and that he went towards 
 the village in the evening, and heard them shouting ‘Queen for- 
 ever'.’ and I have been told the same took place at Kingston, where 
 they drank the health of all the popular leaders in the alehouses 
 where they were billeted. As usual, all this was denied by the Gov- 
 ernment and the officers; but it is true, and no doubt a strong feel- 
 ing of compassion for the Queen existed in the minds of the soldiery. 
 Even the 10th Hussars, the King’s Own Regiment, showed it, and a 
 person of credit told me he walked into the Toy Tavern, Hampton 
 Court, where the regiment was quartered, and passing by the tap 
 saw twelve or fourteen soldiers sitting in it, where, one of them 
 taking up a pot of porter said, ‘ Come, lads, the Queen ! ’ when they 
 all rose and drank her health.” * 
 
 No wonder that the witty Luttrell declared that “ the extinguisher 
 was taking fire.” 
 
 It must be said that whatever hesitation Mr. Brougham had shown, 
 he from this moment threw himself heart and soul into her cause, 
 conducting it in the most intrepid as well as masterly manner, show- 
 ing tact, resource, and courage and ability of the most extraordinary 
 kind. Nor did his client owe less to the calmer virtues of his coad- 
 jutor penman, whose character and talents were no less valuable. 
 The episodes that followed were of the most stirring character. 
 There was seen her advocate warning and even threatening the 
 House of Lords, and yet with infinite adroitness keeping within due 
 bounds, f 
 
 The Chancellor indeed contrived ingeniously to obstruct the popu- 
 
 *“‘The Commander-in-Cliief,’ wrote the Duke of Wellington, ‘ha’fe felt 
 great uneasiness respecting the Coldstream Guards, and was afraid of again 
 being surprised by a mutiny.’ He also heard ‘of the cry of disaffection of 
 “ The Queen ” being raised on the march.’ He did not know whether there 
 was foundation for this; but Mr. Greville was assured by Lord Worcester that 
 he heard the soldiers utter it.”— “ Despat. Cor. and Mem.,” i. 127; Greville, 
 i. 30. 
 
 t Brougham, however, all through made a distinction between the Queen 
 and the woman, and he wisely never identified himself with the camarilla. 
 \Ve find him cautioning the ministers, through Mr. Arbuthnot, as to the pay- 
 ment of witness, counsel, etc., which he said should be done by responsible 
 pensons, who should see that the proper parties received it. He hinted that 
 she was being “plundered by Wood and oth«>rs,” who he was afraid would 
 get hold of this Government allowance He entreated that this communica- 
 tion should not transpire. No wonder Mr. Arbuthnot remarked upon “the 
 extraordinary footing he must be on with his client.”— “Life of Lord Liver- 
 pool,” iii. 93. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 707 
 
 lar cause as much as he could. For when the Queen sent to him to 
 say she would come in person to present her petition, he answered 
 that she must apply to the House for leave. When she asked him 
 to give this message to the House, he answered that the House only 
 received messages from the King. Then she asked him to present 
 her petition, which he declined. ‘ ‘ I am resolved not to be employed 
 in any way by this lady,” he wrote. “ They must get another Chan- 
 cellor,” he added, “if he should be required to do work of that 
 kind. ” But he put this yet more strongly. Those near him, when he 
 was being harassed by Brougham’s fierce attacks, heard him mutter- 
 ing that he “would be damned if he would act as Chancellor if such 
 things were permitted. 
 
 One of the most interesting Incidents in this exciting episode was 
 the behavior of Mr. Canning, which offered a pleasing instance of 
 constancy and’ loyalty. 'If was a surprise to hear one of the prose- 
 cuting ministry standing forth in praise of the accused, though 
 ‘ ‘ with great ingenuity he let out all the private communications 
 made by Brougham in the preceding summer, and pushed the argu- 
 ment very hard. A most remarkable passage in his speech was his 
 protesting he would not be an accuser of the Queen, and that his 
 respecf and affection remained undiminished, and that she was the 
 grace and ornament of every society. As may be imagined, these 
 expressions created the greatest astonishment in the House, and I 
 never saw Castlereagh so agitated. It is said that he complained 
 loudly of it, declaring that he considered Canning to be a partner to 
 all their proceedings.” 
 
 In private also he expressed the same opinions : ‘ ‘ Brougham has 
 had his game, too. . . . He dreaded compromise. He thought he 
 saw how it might be effected. He barred that course by offering 
 mediation. He thus got the thing into his own hands, and, having 
 got it there, he let it languish till success was hopeless.” * 
 
 Though he spoke on the ministerial side he gave her the highest 
 and warmest praise: “There was no society in Europe,” he said, 
 “of which she would not be the grace, life, and ornament. The 
 honorable gentleman,’' said Mr. Canning, “called upon the Govern- 
 ment to come forward frankly, and at once, as her Majesty’s accus- 
 ers. I for one,” continued he, “will never, so help me God, place 
 myself in the situation of her accuser.” He concluded with declar- 
 ing that he should take no further share in the deliberations on the 
 
 * Grey-Bennett, “Diary.” 
 
708 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 subject. This announcement he proceeded to put into practice 
 forthwith.'^ 
 
 It was not surprising that this chivalrous man should feel his 
 position untenable, and when Mr. Wilberforce’s compromise was 
 rejected he waited on the King and placed himself at his disposal. 
 The following is the account of the interview sent to a friend, the 
 real names being originally disguised as “Marcus,” “Mars,” “The 
 Magdalen,” etc. He explained that while he approved of all the 
 steps up to the present, he could not join in any further proceed- 
 ings owing to the old intimacy and the confidence she had placed 
 in him. He submitted whether it was then desirable that he should 
 remain in the ministry; though he did not offer his resignation. 
 
 “The King expressed his strong sense of the manly proceeding 
 of Mr. Canning on this occasion, and his especial satisfaction at 
 his having come at once to him with this communication, instead 
 of conveying it through a third person. He acquiesced with per- 
 
 * “ Let any one put this question to himself,” he wrote from abroad, “Do 
 you think we could get the Duke of York off, as we did in 1809, after such a 
 bill as this will be, when it ceases to be a bill of divorce, had been enacted?” 
 I would defy you to do so ; and, after all, without the clause of divoi*ce, of 
 w'hat value is the bill, supposing it passed into a law, to the King? Would he 
 have given sixpence for it originally in that state? Not he. But having tasted 
 the sweets of discussion, he may be now willing to compromise for getting 
 anything through, so as not to appear to come out of court, as in fact he does, 
 completely defeated. But this is precisely the mortification from w'hich w'e, 
 his servants, ought to have saved him. We ought to have said from the begin- 
 ning: “ Sir, divorce is impossible.” “ What, if she comes, if she braves, if she 
 insults?” etc. “Yes, Sir, in any case, divorce is impossible. Other things 
 may be tried, other expedients may be resorted to; but divorce, Ave tell you 
 again, is impossible. It can never be.” These were sagacious warnings. 
 
 “ Had we stuck to this, and this, I say, was our opinion, in February (mine 
 always, now more than it was then— not more then than it is now), depend 
 upon it he would have discarded Leach, and played us fair. But, there Avere 
 conferences as well as minutes, and I suspect the unAvritten counteracted the 
 written communications. And see the fruits! — a Government brought into 
 contempt and detestation ; a kingdom throAvn into such ferment and convul- 
 sion, as no other kingdom or government ever recovered from Avithout a revo- 
 lution; but I hope w^e shall. 
 
 “ I would have pledged my life to settle the Avhole matter last summer, or 
 at any time before the fatal measure of the Liturgy. I would have under- 
 taken it even after, though Avith diminished confidence of success. But the 
 Government was not prepared to pursue their OAAm course by any means but 
 those which were indicated to them ; and these indications came from a quar- 
 ter which wished for extremities, as the way of getting at Avhat they are now 
 enjoying!” 
 
TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 709 
 
 feet cordiality and good humor in the adoption by him of the line 
 of proceeding which he had announced with respect to the Queen’s 
 affairs, said it was what he had expected, but plainly intimated at 
 the same time his impression that Mr. Canning had not told all his 
 reasons for declining to take a share in the hostile proceedings 
 against the Queen. With respect to the question of retirement, as 
 it affected the general interest of the King’s service, the latter 
 declared that it was full of difficulty, and that he should wish to 
 liave a few hours for the consideration of it before he returned a 
 final answer to Mr. Canning’s communication. After a conversa- 
 tion of more than an hour in the most friendly tone, they shook 
 hands at parting, and the King again assured him of his entire 
 approval of his conduct; that whatever might be the King’s deci- 
 sion upon this matter, whether to adopt his advice with respect to 
 his retirement or not, he should never cease to feel the sincerest 
 regard for Mr. Canning. He said further, that if ever he should 
 hear (as he probably might) reflections thrown out against him for 
 stopping short after having gone so far in the proceedings against 
 the Queen, he should uniformly declare that Mr. Canning had 
 acted in the most manly, and honorable, and gentlemanlike manner. 
 
 “ The next day he was informed that he must remain and follow 
 what course he pleased as to the Queen ; and further, might assign 
 the King’s pleasure as the reason for his remaining. This showed 
 what favor he enjoyed. In a fortnight he was addressing the most 
 earnest remonstrances to Lord Liverpool, over whom he exercised 
 extraordinary influence against the divorce. His arguments seem 
 unanswerable, the main one being that the consequence of such a 
 clause would alarm every one, and shipwreck the bill. All through 
 the proceedings he gave warning in this sense, appealing with jus- 
 tice to their own Cabinet addresses to the King, in which this very 
 step was deprecated with forcible arguments. But his strongest 
 point wasffiis appeal to the Duke of York’s case. For if the divorce 
 were dropped, he argued, it became a question of private morality 
 unworthy the investigation of the House; the very argument so 
 vehemently pressed against the Opposition when it was the interest 
 of the Court that the Duke’s ‘ green bag ’ should not be opened. 
 Again and again he prophesied, ‘The bill will not pass,’ and he 
 advised withdrawing it frankly in the Upper House — a course which 
 Lord Liverpool later was to adopt. He felt, however, the awk- 
 wardness of his situation, and withdrew from the scene, remaining 
 abroad till the matter terminated.” 
 
710 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE TV. 
 
 On the amiable Denman, who seems to have viewed the whole 
 through an atmosphere of romance, the Queen and her trials had 
 left an impression of deep pity and sympathy. 
 
 He was looking on when she entered London on that eventful 
 day. Her equipage, he says, was mean and miserable. On the 
 box of one carriage was a man with a turban, in the others Italians, 
 “with enormous moustachios ” — a rather unusual spectacle, and 
 always considered ‘ ‘ outlandish.” There was scarcely a well-dressed 
 person in the crowd, while among the few on horseback he recog- 
 nized a sheriff’s broker, and his own “bankrupt cousin.” A touch 
 of character that a dramatist would relish was to be noted in the 
 remarks made by husband and wife of each other on this occasion. 
 The King said indignantly, “ That beast Wood sat by the Queen’s 
 side!” This being reported to the Queen, she said, “That was 
 very kind of him!” “She pertinaciously,” says Denman, “cher- 
 ished the hope of a reconciliation, and related with pride a compli- 
 ment twenty 3^ears old, paid her by the Prince, when speaking 
 handsomely of a bride, he had declared, ‘she was just like the 
 Princess of Wales.’ She might well treasure up these meagre tes- 
 timonials: they had been few. She looked at me,” he goes on, 
 “with uncommon earnestness, and said. ‘I know the man. Well, 
 mark what I say, we shall be good friends before we die.’ Her 
 bearing,” he sa^’s, “as she appeared on the balcony was most noble 
 and attractive, firm and graceful, with a fixed courage in her e^^e. 
 She kept repeating again and again, ‘If he wished me to stay 
 abroad, why not leave me in peace? So here I am.’ ” 
 
 Almost to the last, however, the Queen had a rooted distrust of 
 her advocate. Brougham, and suspected he had acted a double part. 
 She made the significant declaration, “Had he come over to me at 
 Geneva, I had been spared all this.” And on the very eve of the 
 trial she thought seriously of dismissing him. It does, indeed, 
 seem that while Denman was the advocate of her cause. Brougham 
 merely considered himself as “holding a brief,” as it were, “in- 
 structed by an attorney.” Even when he left her on her arrival, 
 she said, “He is afraid.” 
 
 In the interval between the debates in the Houses and the trial, 
 the Queen removed to Brandenburgh House, not long before the 
 residence of a rather eccentric lady, the Margravine of Anspach — 
 Lady Craven — whose matrimonial relations had also been of a dis- 
 turbed character. This was a large villa at Hammersmith, on the 
 edge of the Thames, and hither she removed in the first week of 
 
TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IK 
 
 711 
 
 August. The owner could scarcely have congratulated himself on 
 his new tenant, for from that hour the house was almost daily 
 invaded by large mobs in charge of addresses, who spread them- 
 selves over the flowers, coming up to the windows, and freely enter- 
 ing the drawing-rooms and other portions of the premises. These 
 testimonials of attachment were sent from all parts of the kingdom, 
 and the list is certainly an extraordinary one; but there was a sad 
 loss of dignity incurred from the familiarity of the proceedings, 
 and the proletarian character of this sort of popularity. The poor 
 lady, however, never flagged in the resolute energy of her part, 
 receiving all comers with unfailing enthusiasm, and w^elcoming all 
 “the greasy rogues” that arrived “ in their thousands.” 
 
 Quiet retirement with an air of suffering would have been far 
 more politic. As it was, all this afforded an opening which those 
 opposed to her were not slow to turn to account, and a newspaper 
 which had been recently established — the JoJm Bull* whose chief 
 
 * So successful was this journal that the editor was receiving £2000 a year. 
 Its personality may be gathered from this specimen — “ The Visit of Mrs. Mug- 
 gins to Brandenburgh House.” 
 
 Have you been to Brandenburgh, heigh, ma’am, ho, ma’am? 
 
 Have you been to Brandenburgh, ho?— 
 
 Oh yes, I have been, ma’am, to visit the Queen, ma’am. 
 
 With the rest of the gallantee show, show — 
 
 With the rest of the gallantee show. 
 
 And who were the company, heigh, ma’am, ho, ma’am? 
 
 Who were the company, ho? — 
 
 We happened to drop in with gemmen from Wapping, 
 
 And ladies from Blowbladder Row, row — 
 
 Ladies from Blowbladder Row. 
 
 What saw you at Brandenburgh, heigh, ma’am, ho, ma’am? 
 
 What saw you at Brandenburgh, ho?— 
 
 We saw a great dame, with a face red as flame, 
 
 And a character spotless as snow, snow— 
 
 A character spotless as snow. 
 
 And who were attending her, heigh, ma’am, ho, ma’am? 
 
 Who were attending her, ho?— 
 
 Lord Hood for a man— for a maid Lady Anne, 
 
 And Alderman Wood for a beau, beau — 
 
 Alderman Wood for a beau, etc. 
 
 Lord Byron wrote an epigram. The Are never slackened an instant; wit, or 
 coarse persiflage, was poured xipon her: as when the braziers of London pre 
 sented their address, declaring that they would “find more brass than they 
 carried.” And it was stated that these bitter and unscrupulous attacks had 
 
712 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 raison d'etre was to expose her failings — was now rendering, under 
 the clever direction of Theodore Hook, most valuable aid to Gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 The incidents of this extraordinary trial were, as it may be con- 
 ceived, full of a dramatic interest; and conspicuous above all were 
 the singular courage and resolution displayed by the chief person- 
 age concerned. Next to her, all interest was drawn by the match- 
 less exertions of Brougham, whose conduct of the case and masterly 
 exposure of the witnesses were beyond all praise.* * 
 
 The interval between this proceeding and the trial was filled up with 
 processions, shoutings, etc., which her Majesty heartily encouraged. 
 On the other side, the witnesses — the Italian herd — were sent for, 
 and arrived. Public curiosity was much exercised by the prepara- 
 tions for their reception. There was something revolting in seeing 
 the large space next Westminster Bridge being built in and barri- 
 caded, so that there could be no approach save from the river. The 
 houses of the officers of the House of Lords were devoted to their 
 accommodation, while the place was regularly victualled, furniture 
 being secretly introduced ; walls were run up to prevent them being 
 seen as they took exercise ; and gunboats on the river and a military 
 force on the land side strictly guarded them : f while the royal cooks 
 were installed. By the 12th several boatloads of witnesses were 
 landed at the stairs, and the whole band was finally mustered by the 
 14th of August. “About this building, in which they were im- 
 mured from August until November,” says Lord Albemarle in his 
 agreeable recollections, “the London mob would hover like a cat 
 round the cage of a canary. ” The Italians, however, w^ere not dis- 
 tressed at their confinement; enjoying the good fare provided for 
 them, and amusing themselves with their national dances. 
 
 When the day of the trial drew near, the Queen came to town, 
 having at last selected a house by Lady Francis’s in St. James’s 
 
 the effect intended, viz., of frightening away any of the higher and more re- 
 spectable classes who were inclined to support the Queen. 
 
 * That unclean band he, with delightful irony, described to the House. He 
 apologized for “ seeking ” to elude a bill “ supported by so respectable a body 
 of witnesses as those assembled in Cotton Garden. Judging from their exte- 
 rior,” said he, “ they must be like those persons with whom your lordships are 
 in the habit of associating. They must doubtless be seized in fee-simple of 
 those decent habiliments— persons who would regale themselves at their own 
 expense, live in separate apartments, have full powers of locomotion, and 
 require no other escort than their attendant lacquais de place." 
 
 t Lord Albemarle, “ Fifty Years of my Life,” ii. 123. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 713 
 
 Square, adjoining Lord Castlereagh’s, who was too intrepid a man 
 to be affected, as was the Lord Chancellor, by such a neighbor.* 
 
 On the morning of August 17th, the day when the trial really 
 began, and the Queen was to attend, the whole of London was in a 
 ferment, and Westminster a network of barricades. Enormous 
 bodies of soldiers and police were at every corner, while the whole 
 space between St. James’s Square and the Houses of Parliament was 
 crammed with people from six o’clock in the morning. 
 
 The peers began to arrive betimes, while the Chancellor came at 
 the singularly early hour of eight. Every window and housetop 
 was covered with spectators. The Duke of York arrived on horse- 
 back, the Duke of Wellington being hissed and groaned at.f The 
 
 * The bill was as follows: 
 
 “ An Act, entitled ‘ An Act for depriving Caroline Amelia Elizabeth, Queen 
 of Great Britain, of and from the style and title of Queen of these realms, and 
 of and from the rights, prerogatives, and immunities now belonging to her as 
 Queen Consort.’ 
 
 “Whereas in the year 1814, her Majesty Caroline Amelia Elizabeth, then 
 Princess of Wales, but now Queen of England, being at the Court of Milan, 
 engaged in her service one Bartholomo Pergami, otherwise Bartholomo Ber- 
 gami, a foreigner of low situation in life, and afterwards the most unbecoming 
 and indecent familarities took place between her Royal Highness and the 
 said Bartholomo; and her Royal Highness not only advanced him to a high 
 situation in her household, but received also many of his relatives into her 
 service in inferior and other situations, and bestowed on him, the said Bartho- 
 lomo, various marks of distinction and favor, and took upon herself to confer 
 upon him the Order of Knighthood, and pretended to institute an Order of 
 Knighthood, without the authority of your Majesty, and conducted herself 
 both in public and in private in various places, with indecent and offensive 
 familiarities and freedom towards the said Bartholomo, and carried on with 
 him a disgraceful, licentious, and adulterous intercourse, to the great scandal 
 of your Majesty’s royal family, and to the dishonor of the kingdom, and mani- 
 fested a most scandalous, disgraceful, and vicious conduct towards the said 
 Bartholomo. We, therefore, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Com- 
 mons of Great Britain in Parliament assembled, humbly pray your Majesty 
 that it may be enacted, and be it therefore enacted, that from and after the 
 passing of this Act, the said Caroline Amelia Elizabeth be wholly deprived of 
 and from the style and title of Queen of these realms, and of and from the 
 rights, prerogatives, privileges, and immunities now belonging to her as Queen 
 Consort, and that she shall and may be, from and after the passing of this 
 Act, forever displaced from, and be utterly incapable of, exercising or enjoy- 
 ing the same, and that the said marriage between his Majesty the King and 
 the Queen be, and the same is hereby wholly dissolved and annulled, to all 
 intents and purposes.” 
 
 t The Duke, however, was getting pretty well accustomed to the attentions 
 of the mob, and thoroughly despised the manifestation either of applause or 
 dislike. He would ride to and from the House, where he took a prominent 
 
714 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 Duke of Sussex was received rapturously. The roar of voices all 
 along the route gave notice of the procession, for such it was, which 
 was to be the daily programme for some time to come, which swelled 
 into shouts as the carriage, drawn by six horses, with servants in the 
 royal liveries of scarlet and gold with purple velvet caps and fac- 
 ings, came into view. Behind followed other carriages, containing 
 Sir William G-ell and Mr. Keppel Craven, who, though they might 
 have left her service in some disgust at her conduct, were chivalrous 
 enough to return to it, to show their belief in her innocence of more 
 serious charges. This to an impartial mind would not be without 
 weight. Along the route the soldiers on duty were posted, and the 
 multitude watched those stationed at Carlton House with feverish 
 anxiety, to see whether they would present arms. They did so, to 
 the delight and even rapture of the mob, who shook hands with 
 them, while some of the women embraced them. The cries were all 
 of the same affectionate character. “God bless your Majesty!” 
 “We’ll give our blood for you!” “The Queen or death!” “May 
 you overcome your enemies!” Men were seen carrying green bags 
 at the end of long poles. At Westminster Lord Albemarle, who 
 was present, graphically describes the scene, and the appearance of 
 the chief actress. 
 
 “Denman was addressing the House on the morning of the 18th, 
 when a confused sound of drums, trumpets, and human voices 
 announced the approach of the Queen. Beams a foot square had 
 been thrown across the street between St. Margaret’s Church and 
 the Court of King’s Bench; but this barrier her Majesty’s admirers 
 dashed through with as much ease as if they had been formed of 
 reeds, and accompanied her Majesty to the entrance of the House. 
 The peers rose as the Queen entered, and remained standing until 
 she took her seat in a crimson and gilt chair, immediately in front of 
 her counsel. Her appearance was anything but prepossessing. She 
 wore a black dress with a high ruff, an unbecoming gypsy hat with 
 a huge bow in front, the whole surmounted with a plume of ostrich- 
 
 part against the Queen. As the people would press on his horse, shouting out 
 to his face, “No foul play, my lord! The Queen forever!” he would answer 
 in his own characteristic style, “Yes, yes, yes.” One of the stories ran, that 
 he added good-humoredly, “And may all your wives be like her.” Long 
 after the fickle crowd had forgotten the services of Waterloo, and broken his 
 windows, he was attended home by a mob, shouting in uproarious applause, 
 and cheering him all the way. But as he entered he pointed significantly to 
 his windows, then decorated with the iron shutters, never opened till the day 
 of his death. A finely contemptuous rebuke. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 715 
 
 feathers. Nature had given her light hair, blue eyes, a fair com- 
 plexion, and a good-humored expression of countenance; but these 
 characteristics were marred by painted eyebrows, and by a black wig 
 with a profusion of curls, which overshadowed her cheeks, and gave 
 a I old, defiant air to her features.* 
 
 Almost the most dramatic incident was the appearance of the 
 notorious “ Majocchi,” of Non mi ricordo memory. When he came 
 forward this strange incident occurred. “The Queen,” says one 
 who witnessed the scene, “ stood up close to him and threw her veil 
 completely back, held her body very backward, and placed both her 
 arms in her sides. In this position she stared furiously at him. For 
 some seconds there was a dead silence, and she screamed out ‘ Theo- 
 dore ! ’ in the most frantic manner, and rushed violently out of the 
 House. I think she is insane, for her manner to-day chilled my 
 blood.” f This seems to point to what was so often said by her 
 family and others, that there was some madness below all her eccen- 
 tricities. On the evidence of this Majocchi and that of Dumont, 
 both discharged servants — the latter her femme de chamhre — rested 
 the chief charges, which, as is well known, related to her behavior 
 to Bergami, a man whom, from being her courier, she had made her 
 chamberlain. Her proceedings in this connection raised extraor- 
 dinary presumptions of guilt ; yet it could be argued that the instance 
 most insisted on, that of having her courier’s and her own bed 
 placed in a tent on the deck of a vessel, showed from the publicity 
 of the proceedings an insane recklessness as to public opinion. 
 
 * The trial began on August 17th, and by September 7th the Attorney- 
 General, the examination and cross-examination of the witnesses for the 
 Crown being concluded, proceeded to comment on the evidence. The House 
 adjourned to October 3rd, to give time for the defence being prepared. On 
 the 5th Mr. Brougham’s speech was concluded. On November 2nd, the debate 
 on the second reading began, which lasted until the Cth, when there was a 
 majority for the bill of twenty-eight; and on the third reading it was passed 
 by a majority of nine, when it was withdrawn. 
 
 t Some declared that she said “ Traditore !” And the graphic sketch of the 
 present Lord Albemarle’s father, written on the day of the occurrence, was 
 no doubt the true version. “ Some consider it proof of conscious gilt, forget- 
 ting that the Queen knew well that he was to be examined; others, an indig- 
 nant protest at seeing her servant dressed up and turned into a gentleman on 
 the next day.” “I never,” says her admiring counsel, Denman, ” saw a human 
 being so interesting. Her face was pale, her eyelids a little sunken, her eyes 
 fixed on the ground, with no expression of alarm or consciousness, but with 
 an appearance of decent distress at being made the subject of such revolting 
 calumnies.” This demeanor, however, would natui’ally have been the result 
 of a reaction after the outburst of the preceding day. 
 
716 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 On the part of the prosecution, it was insinuated that all her Eng- 
 lish suite had left her within a few months. This included Mr. St. 
 Leger, Sir W. Gell, Mr. Craven, and Lady Charlotte Lindsay. Satis- 
 factory reasons were given by all these persons for their retirement. 
 On the other hand, there was a long roll of Italian testimony com- 
 ing from persons of the highest rank in her favor — secured, indeed, 
 too late for the trial.* 
 
 The re-entry into her service, when the trial came on, of Sir W. 
 Gell and Mr. Keppel Craven, also of Lord and Lady Llandaff, was 
 certainly evidence in her favor. But then it was urged, against 
 their testimony in the witness-box, that they had been with her but 
 a few months, and previous to her extravagance. There can be no 
 doubt that Bergami was of a good family. His father was a physi- 
 cian, in possession of a good property, lands, and houses, which had 
 got involved and had to be sold, on which his son enlisted in an hussar 
 regiment. It is remarkable, too, that his whole family — mother, 
 brothers, sisters, cousins, to the number of eight or nine — were 
 established in this strange woman’s service. 
 
 But what taints the whole proceeding was the mode — almost un- 
 avoidable under the circumstances — in which the evidence was se- 
 cured. When it was known that all who could tell anything or find 
 out anything would be taken to England, paid for their time and 
 services ; that the Hanoverian minister, Baron Ompteda, had eagerly 
 taken on himself the duty of “ferreting out” evidence; that there 
 was an Italian lawyer, Vimercati, employed to visit all “likely” 
 persons, employing Italians to bring forward the diffident or reluc- 
 tant; when it was known, in short, that the “King of England” 
 desired aid, who could doubt that a premium was set on falsehood 
 and exaggeration? 
 
 But still the course of her admitted proceedings — her extraordi- 
 nary ill -regulated defiance of public opinion, her reckless patronage 
 of those she liked, her taste for associating with the lowest, and her 
 instinctive repulsion to those who were respectable and decorous — 
 all this, carried on in a distant land, warranted the evil opinion held 
 of her, and made her accountable for it. The public, not having 
 time or inclination to appraise nice distinctions, for its own conve- 
 nience holds a particular sort of conduct to be significant of evil, 
 
 * The most complete view of the investigation will be found in Wilks’s 
 “Memoirs,” where a fair analysis of the charges with reference to the evi- 
 dence by which it is supported, and the reply, are set out. • 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 717 
 
 throwing the onus of disproof on those who exhibit such behavior. 
 Much of this was owing to the consciousness that she was surrounded 
 by spies, proved by the fact that at Baden an official of the Court 
 was engaged in taking notes of her proceedings, which at the trial, 
 by direction of the Grand Duke, he declined to produce. This 
 seemed mysterious, and the conclusion was that their record would 
 have damaged the prosecutor’s case. But Miss Wynne, the agree- 
 able diarist, was told by Lord Redesdale that at Baden, when a par- 
 tie de chasse had been made for her, she appeared “ with a half 
 pumpkin on her head,” to the amazement of the Grand Duke. She 
 explained that it was the coolest sort of coiffure ! If the spy-diarist 
 had this /act upon his notes, it is needless to say that it would have 
 shown she was scarcely accountable for her actions. 
 
 The intrepid Brougham, as we have said, confronted this hired 
 miscellany, though with an interpreter interposed. One of his coups 
 was masterly. He learned by the merest accident that Rastelli, one 
 of the King’s witnesses, had been allowed to go away, and instantly 
 turned it to profit, by desiring to have him recalled to clear up some 
 point. It win be seen what could be made of this. For the tribu- 
 nal he was addressing he luade no secret of his contempt, crushing 
 interruptions with a fierce sardonic tone, that made the offender ap- 
 peal for protection to the House. The very interpreter he would 
 address with studious politeness as “Marquis” — he had been a 
 teacher — affecting to put him on a level with the noble persons round 
 him. It was thought a great hardship that he had been compelled 
 to declare whether he would call witnesses before being allowed to 
 open his case — as he desired to conduct his case in his own way, to 
 make his speech so as to neutralize the admirable one made by the 
 comparatively obscure Williams, who had admirably summed up the 
 evidence for the prosecution. The Attorney-General was considered 
 to have made but a weak display. The Chancellor, however, had 
 insisted on his announcing the course he had decided on. By the 
 adjournment for three weeks, the startling evidence had come to 
 circulate, without antidote and uncontradicted. Mr. Greville’s com- 
 ments express happily enough the view of an ordinary observer of 
 the day. 
 
 “There is no one more violent than Lord Lauderdale,* and 
 
 * In the course of the trial, in order to show that the Queen had associated 
 in Italy with ladies of good character, it was stated that a Countess T fre- 
 
 quented her society at Florence. On cross-examination it came out that the 
 Countess spoke a provincial dialect, anything but the purest Tuscan, whence 
 
718 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 neither the Attorney-General nor the Solicitor-General can act with 
 greater zeal than he does in support of the bill. Lord Liverpool is 
 a model of fairness, impartiality, and candor. The Chancellor is 
 equally impartial, and as he decides personally all disputes on legal 
 points which are referred to the House, his fairness has been con- 
 spicuous in having generally decided in favor of the Queen’s 
 counsel.” 
 
 The struggle being vital, no one was to be spared, and the strokes 
 at the King were of the most unsparing personality. In his splen- 
 did speech — the peroration of which he had written again and again 
 — Mr. S. Percival suggested to him the happy d propos, asking who 
 was the secret instigator — the airy, unsubstantial being who was be- 
 hind — he wished to encounter — 
 
 This shape— 
 
 If shape it could be called— that shape had none 
 Distinguishable in menaber, joint or limb. What seemed its head 
 The likeness of a kingly crown had on. 
 
 This Pythian dart — piercing where the King was most sensitive 
 — was never forgiven, though his Majesty long after said that 
 Brougham had only done his duty. But Denman carried this li- 
 cense of quotation beyond decent limits. Dr. Parr, who had ardent- 
 ly taken up the Queen’s case, had bidden Denman look into Bayle’s 
 Dictionary for suitable classical allusions, under such headings as 
 Julia, Judith — and the name of Octavia, the wife of Nero, at once 
 flashed upon the counsel, and, as he tells us, he determined to make 
 her his heroine, of course elaborating the parallel. In the classical 
 story is given a retort by the “honest chambermaid ” not fit for ears 
 polite, which he determined to use, meaning to apply it to Majoc- 
 chi. No one can doubt Denman’s truth; but the public most natu- 
 rally applied the gross insinuation to the King, who was, further, 
 dubbed Nero in the newspapers — his palace “ Nero’s Hotel.” This, 
 as will be seen, was also never forgiven, or, rather, cherished with 
 undying rancor. The Duke of Clarence, to whom he made the well- 
 
 it may be implied that she was a vulgar person, and Lord Lauderdale espe- 
 cially pointed out this inference, speaking himself in ver3’' broad Scotch. 
 
 Upon which Lord , a member of the Opposition, said to the witness, 
 
 “ Have the goodness to state whether Countess T spoke Italian with as 
 
 broad an accent as the noble Earl Avho has just sat down speaks with 
 his native tongue.” The late Sir Henry Holland "was present when this 
 occurred, and used to relate the anecdote. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 719 
 
 known apostrophe, “Come forth, thou slanderer,” was magnani- 
 mous enough to dismiss it from his recollection.* 
 
 The ingenious device by which the Queen’s friends actually sup 
 ported the divorce clause, knowing that it was odious to the ortho 
 dox, in spite of the effort of the Government to withdraw it, was 
 successful. It is amusing to find that though “ the bishops’” con 
 sciences were exercised, they obeyed the instincts of party rather 
 than of conscience, and supported the bill, divorce and all. By 
 these tactics the majority on the third reading sank to nine, on 
 which the Prime Minister announced that he would withdraw the 
 measure. At this moment of triumph a supporter of the Queen’s 
 met her “coming out alone from her waiting-room, preceded by an 
 usher. She had been there unknown to me. I stopped involunta- 
 rily ; I could not indeed proceed, for she had a dazed look, more 
 tragical than consternation. She passed me; the usher pushed open 
 the folding doors of the great staircase, she began to descend, and I 
 followed instinctively, two or three steps behind her. She was evi- 
 dently all shuddering, and she took hold of the banister, pausing for 
 a moment. Oh ! that sudden clutch with which she caught the rail- 
 ing! It was as if her hand had been a skinless heart. Four or five 
 persons came in from below before she reached the bottom of the 
 stairs. I think Alderman Wood was one of them; but I was in in- 
 describable confusion. The great globe itself was shaking under 
 me. I rushed past, and out into the hastily assembling crowd. The 
 pressure was as in the valley of Jehoshaphat that shall be. I knew 
 not where I was, but in a moment a shouting in the balcony above, 
 on which a number of gentlemen from the interior of the House 
 were gathering, roused me. The multitude then began to cheer, 
 but at first there was a kind of stupor; but the sympathy, however, 
 soon became general, and, winged by the voice, soon spread up the 
 street ; every one instantly, between Charing Cross and Whitehall, 
 turned and came rushing down, filling Old and New Palace Yards, 
 
 * Not less unfortunate was he in other allusions— as in his finale, when he 
 talked of repentance, and bade her “ go and sin no more,” an awkward point, 
 which gave rise to the pleasant epigram— 
 
 Gracious lady we implore 
 
 That you will go and sin no morb; ' ' 
 
 Or, if the effort be too great. 
 
 Go away at any rate. 
 
 The likening her to “unsunned snow ” caused merriment. 
 
720 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 as if a deluge were unsluiced. The generous exultation of the peo - 
 ple was beyond all description.” 
 
 Brougham and Denman drew her into a room to sign a petition to 
 the House to be heard by counsel. Then it was that the woman, 
 victorious and triumphant, as she wrote her name, “ Caroline,” add- 
 ed '‘Regina,” in spite of them! 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 721 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 1821. 
 
 One of the immediate steps following on the conclusion of 
 the trial, was the retirement of Mr. Canning. The reasons given 
 showed his chivalry and delicacy. These he set out in a letter to 
 the King. 
 
 “When, in the month of June, I presumed humbly to represent 
 to your Majesty the impossibility of my taking any part in the 
 proceedings against the Queen, and in consequence laid at your 
 Majesty’s feet the tender of my resignation, your Majesty had the 
 goodness and condescension to command me to continue in your 
 service, abstaining from any share in those proceedings. And your 
 Majesty was farther pleased to grant me full authority to plead your 
 Majesty’s express commands for so continuing in office. 
 
 “That authority I have not abused. And I have persevered in 
 obedience to your Majesty’s commands (the generosity of which I 
 can never sufficiently acknowledge) until a state of things has arisen 
 to which they cannot be considered as applying. 
 
 “The proceeding in the House of Commons, which was then in 
 contemplation when your Majesty’s commands were laid upon me, 
 was one which would have been conducted (as that in the House of 
 Lords) apart from all other matters. The absenting myself from 
 that separate proceeding would have required no other explanation 
 than that which your Majesty had so indulgently authorized me to 
 furnish; nor need such partial absence from the House of Commons 
 have created any embarrassment in the general conduct of parlia- 
 mentary business. 
 
 “But the discussions respecting the Queen, which may now be 
 expected in the House of Commons, will be so much intermixed 
 with the general business of the session, that a minister could not 
 absent himself from them without appearing virtually to abandon 
 the parliamentary duties of his station. On the other hand, to be 
 present, as a minister, taking no part in the discussions, must pro 
 31 
 
722 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 duce not only the most painful embarrassment to himself, but the 
 greatest perplexity to his colleagues, and the utmost disadvantage 
 to the conduct of your Majesty’s affairs.” 
 
 THE KING TO MR. CANNING. 
 
 “ Carlton House, Dec. 13th, 1820, 
 
 “The King receives with regret, but not with surprise, Mr. 
 Canning’s letter, tendering his resignation. 
 
 “The King feels, as he should do, the loss of a servant, whose 
 great talents rendered him so very useful to the Government and 
 the country.” 
 
 In January, 1821, the ministry determined to make an allowance 
 to the Queen. When the King read his speech, and mentioned the 
 provision to be made for the Queen, he laid great emphasis on the 
 word “you,” as if he would be no party to it. He looked, too, 
 very black, and was in no way in a good humor. In going down 
 to and returning from the House of Peers, he was civilly treated. 
 Many cries of “Queen, Queen,” were heard; some few people 
 applauded; but the general feeling was one of contempt and 
 indifference : the greater part of the spectators not taking off their 
 hats.* 
 
 On the 1st of February, after the presentation of petitions in 
 reference to the Queen had taken from four to five hours, a message 
 from the Queen was read to the effect that she declined any pro- 
 vision so long as her name was excluded from the Liturgy, This 
 she was persuaded into sending by Mr. Brougham, though she was 
 disinclined to take his advice, saying, “she ought not to refuse the 
 only act of kindness and consideration which the King had shown 
 his subjects since his accession.” The debatesf that followed were 
 
 * Grey-Bennett’s “ Diary,” from which the passages in inverted commas 
 that follow are taken. 
 
 + An amusing story is recorded by the same diarist. In one of these debates 
 ” Mr. Horace Twiss replied— a lawyer-like artificial speech, got up with care, 
 but singularly absurd; good language in general, but foolish throughout. 
 Macintosh told me that Dr. Holland informed him that as he was going down 
 Searle Street, where Twiss lives, he saw a crowd of persons standing under 
 the window of his lodgings, and joining them, he found they were listening to 
 some one haranguing to himself in the room above. While he stood there he 
 
 heard: ‘Mr. Speaker,— The Bill of Pains and Penalties ’ In this way Mr. 
 
 Twiss prepared his speech.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 723 
 
 of' the most exciting kind. We hear of Brougham being called to 
 order for alluding to the House as persons who “ presumed to think 
 themselves administrators,” declaring his perfect faith in her inno- 
 cence, and invoking maledictions on himself if he were not speaking 
 the truth — ‘ ‘ tearing opponents limb from limb, ” It was determined 
 to appeal for a subscription to be set on foot by her party in lieu of 
 an allowance. But the great Whig lords either objected to the pro- 
 posal or took it up very coldly, and it flagged from the outset. After 
 various ineffectual attempts to kindle enthusiasm, the changeable 
 woman began to think that she would accept the provision from the 
 public purse. 
 
 “I dined,” said Mr. Grey-Bennett, “on Saturday the 17th inst,, 
 with the Queen at Brandenburgh House. The party consisted of 
 the Duke of Bedford, Lord Grey, Lord Nugent, my brother Ossul- 
 ston-Lambton and Lady Louisa Brougham, Mr. Lushington, Aider- 
 man Wood, Sir 11. Fergusson, Mr. Denman, Lord A. Hamilton, 
 Madame Oldi, Madame Fabrici, Major Antaldi, and two or three 
 other Italian gentlemen. The dinner was good and agreeable, the 
 Queen very civil and free, and evidently more at her ease and more 
 tranquil within than she was when I dined there before Christmas. 
 She, as usual, by her natural gait of a bad manner, with a short, 
 fat, clumpy, ilkdressed figure, and by endeavoring to look tall and 
 young, contrived by several strange and curious movements to be 
 the very reverse of a queen; but no one who studied the manner, 
 such as it was, but must have been convinced how easily an unpar- 
 donable interpretation might be given, and yet how unjust and ill- 
 founded such construction might be.” 
 
 The King carried out his role of indifference not unskilfully at 
 levees. “Many petitions were presented to him about the Queen; 
 he was very civil to some persons and rude to others. Lord Grey 
 he received in a very marked and good-humored manner. He said 
 to the Duke of Bedford; ‘How do you do, my lord? I hope the 
 Duchess is Avell,’ At the last levee he had only said, as the Duke 
 passed by: ‘ How does your grace do? ’ The Duke of Leinster pre- 
 sented several petitions about the Queen. The King took the first, 
 and, with a sneer, said, ‘Et caetera, et caetera, et caetera, et caetera.’ 
 Lord Darlington, not being able to wait for the levee (Lady Dar- 
 lington being ill in the north), wrote to Bloomfield to present the 
 city of Durham petition at Brighton. Bloomfield replied that the 
 King made it a rule to do no business at Brighton, and that for 
 many years the King and Lord Darlington had not been upon such 
 
724 
 
 TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 terms as to warrant his asking to be received privately. Lord Dar- 
 lington upon this waited upon Lord Sidmouth, who read the cor- 
 respondence, and, saying nothing, only begged Lord Darlington 
 not to leave town, but to wait upon him on the next day. Some 
 short time before the hour fixed Lord Darlington received a note 
 postponing the visit to the following morning. When he came to 
 the Home OflQce Lord Sidmouth said: ‘Your lordship must have 
 observed my astonishment at the letter you did me the honor to 
 show me a few days back. Accordingly, the moment I got home, 
 I sent a special messenger down to Brighton vuth a letter to the 
 King, praying him to reconsider his resolution. I have this day 
 received an answer, and his Majesty will receive your lordship 
 to-morrow morning.’ This is amusing, and of a piece with a speech of 
 Lord Sidmouth’s to the Archbishop of York during the Queen’s trial. 
 ‘My lord,’ he said, ‘ the King will ruin us all; he hangs like a dead 
 weight about us.’ Lord Darlington went down to Brighton, had 
 his audience, and presented his petitions. On receiving them the 
 King said: ‘My lord, you have done your duty, and I have done 
 mine,’ and bowed him out of the room.” 
 
 “The Queen wrote a letter,” goes on Mr. Grey-Bennett, “a few 
 days back, to Lord Liverpool, accepting the £50,000 a year, and 
 returning thanks to the King for it. This letter she wrote of her 
 own accord, consulting no one, not even Alderman Wood, who, 
 aware of her intention, and wishing to throw an impediment in the 
 way, took off in his pocket Lord Liverpool’s letter to her, announc- 
 ing the parliamentary grant, and the King’s consent to the bill. He 
 told me he had advised her to consult Denman as to the terms of 
 the letter (Brougham being out of town on the circuit), but she did 
 no such thing. The ministers are very triumphant at this act, and 
 the letter is very unworthy of her, the expressions being by far too 
 humble, and the tone not at all that of defiance, which it was the 
 duty she owed to herself at all times to take. They and their 
 friends now say, ‘ She will go abroad immediately, and that she has 
 given up Brougham,’ etc., etc., etc. She has, to my mind, done 
 another foolish thing, and when she acts of herself she seldom does 
 a wise one.” 
 
 She then made another foolish demand to be admitted to the 
 Drawing Boom, and being refused, declared that she would go, but 
 was dissuaded by her friends. Yet there was something almost 
 pathetic in the position of the unfortunate, who, it was plain, was 
 
TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 725 
 
 not indisposed to peace and reconciliation, but was urged forward 
 by the faction. 
 
 “I went in the morning,” says the diarist, “to take up an address 
 from the people of Manchester to the Queen, signed by 9,000 per- 
 sons. We found there Lord Fitzwilliam, Lord Milton, and Mr. 
 William Russell, Sir William Rowley, Sir G. Anson, Mr. Pym, Mr. 
 Whitbread, and many others of the House of Commons, all with 
 addresses. Lady Anne Hamilton said to me: ‘This, indeed, is a 
 Queen’s levee. ’ Brougham came home with Lambton and myself, 
 and showed us the communication of the Queen refusing the money ; 
 he said that with great difficulty he had persuaded her to sign it, 
 and showed us a letter from her to him on the preceding Sunday, in 
 which she said, ‘ that she thought she ought not to refuse the only 
 act of kindness and consideration which the King had shown his 
 subjects since his accession to the throne.’ Brougham, however, 
 persevered and convinced her she had nothing left but to sign the 
 paper, and that the country would stand by her.” 
 
 Returning now to his Majesty, we find him engrossed in prepara- 
 tions for a scheme that kindled his utmost enthusiasm. He had 
 resolved to be crowned. The circumstances were more embarrass- 
 ing now than they would have been the preceding year; but he was 
 eager to attempt it. 
 
726 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 1821. 
 
 The magnificent ceremonial of the coronation of George IV. is 
 described by those who witnessed it as one of the most dazzling 
 pageants that could be conceived. It was the last, and probably 
 will be the last, that was carried out on such a scale and with due 
 attention to the old and chivalric theatrical elements of the cere- 
 mony. With such a monarch it was a show that was indeed after 
 his own heart and Ins special tastes. In the preceding year a day 
 had been fixed, and the “ Court of Claims” had begun to sit, when 
 tidings arrived of the Queen being on her way home. This dis- 
 agreeable news tlirew^ all into confusion, and it was determined to 
 put the ceremonial off. The following year it was determined to 
 proceed afresh, even though the Queen was likely to give some 
 trouble. The most costly preparations were set on foot. The 
 “ Court of Claims,” for adjudging on the persons who were entitled 
 to be present, again sat. Fancy dresses and jewels were ordered. 
 Westminster Abbey and Westminster Hall rang to the sounds of 
 workmen. 
 
 The singular correspondence that follows, relative to the unhappy 
 lady’s claim to share in the proceedings, will be found interesting 
 if not amusing. 
 
 THE QUEEN TO LOUD LIVERPOOL. 
 
 “ Brandenbourgh House, 3the of March, 1821. 
 
 “The Queen having been informed through themidium of Lord 
 Liverpool, namely, that Parlement had voted a Provision for the 
 Queen, and that the sum agreed to by the two Houses of Parle- 
 ment would be ready for the immediate use of the Queen, she find 
 herself under the necessity of accepting it, with a sense of gratitude 
 towards the King, having been proposed by his majesty himself at 
 the opening of Parlement; and the Queen is only anxious to show 
 to the King that She wishesse to Received from Him, and not from 
 
THE LIFE OF GEOROE IV. 
 
 727 
 
 a mere Party Spirit. The Queen at the same time thinks herself 
 authorized to look upon this messure as the first act of Justice of 
 his majesty toward’s the Queen. She also add that she most enter- 
 tains the flattering expectation that the same sentimens of Justice 
 which has prevailed in her favor will also effect upon the Heart of 
 the King, by plaicing her name in the Liturgi as Queen, as such 
 having been the Rights and custum of Her Predecessors. The 
 Queen can never forget what difficulties, and a great deal of 
 troubles She has undergone on that account upon the Continant by 
 having her Name been omitted in the Liturgi, and in consequence 
 She deed not Received the Honor which where due to the Queen, 
 as the Consort to the King of England. 
 
 “Justice is the basis of happiness for King’s, and the good judg- 
 ment of His Majesty will point it out to him the Methods by which 
 he will accelerate the wish of his People, and the satisfaction of 
 the Queen on this subject, and the Queen has not the least doubt 
 but that the King will, taking into his consideration the Queen’s 
 situation, and to act accordinly with that generosity which Char- 
 acterizes a great Mind. Under such circumstances the Queen sub- 
 mit herself intierly to his majesty’s dicesion. 
 
 “ Caroline R.” 
 
 MINUTE OP CABINET. 
 
 “March 19th, 1821. 
 
 “ It is not probable that, after receiving the proposed answer, the 
 Queen should make any attempt to come to Court on Thursday. 
 
 “It appears to be proper, however, to be prepared for such an 
 event, in case it should occur. The King’s confidential servants are 
 unanimously and decidedly of opinion that in such case no attempt 
 should be made to obstruct the Queen on her way to Buckingham 
 House. Such obstruction could not be made without the risk of 
 creating general confusion in the metropolis, and of shedding 
 quantities of blood. 
 
 “It is proposed therefore that if the Queen should arrive at 
 Buckingham House she should be immediately shown into a room 
 on the ground-floor, and that the Lord Chamberlain, Vice-Cham- 
 berlain, or some other officer of his Majesty’s household, should be 
 sent to her to receive her petition. 
 
 “If she should decline delivering it into any hands but the 
 King’s, the King should not be advised to permit her to come up to 
 
728 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 the drawing-room, but should himself go down to the room where 
 the Queen is, attended by such of his household and his ministers 
 as may be there, and receive the petition. 
 
 “It is conceived that there can be no difficulty, by previous 
 arrangements such as those which have been recently adopted, to 
 prevent the Queen from coming up the stairs, without incurring 
 any of the inconveniences which must arise from a conflict in the 
 streets or in the park.” 
 
 THE PETITION OF CAROLINE, QUEEN CONSORT, TO THE KING’S MOST 
 EXCELLENT MAJESTY. 
 
 “ Brandenbourgh House, March 21st, 1821. 
 
 “ Her Majesty seeks to lay before the King this representation of 
 the grievance to which she has been subjected by the continued 
 omission of her name in the Liturgy. The privilege of being 
 prayed for by name in the Church service has been enjoyed by her 
 predecessors Queens Consorts of England from the time of the 
 Reformation, and has been ever highly esteemed as a mark of honor 
 and dignity. 
 
 “Her Majesty has always been impressed with the strongest 
 feelings of regret that the King should have yielded to any advice 
 by which she should be excluded, and thereby degraded in the 
 estimation both of his Majesty’s subjects and of foreign nations. 
 All further proceedings against her Majesty being now finally 
 abandoned, the Queen solicits your Majesty as an act of justice and 
 grace to permit her the enjoyment of that privilege now so long 
 withheld. 
 
 “The Queen with reluctance makes this her appeal to your 
 Majesty, and earnestly prays that this, her only request, may be 
 granted. Caroline R.” 
 
 THE KING TO LORD LIVERPOOL. 
 
 “ Carlton House, Wednesday, March 21st, 1821. 
 
 “The King has the pleasure to return to Lord Liverpool the 
 Queen’s note and petition, and has no doubt that his lordship will 
 return a proper answer to each. 
 
 “The King congratulates Lord Liverpool upon the prospect of 
 his being relieved from a disagreeable duty to-morrow.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 729 
 
 THE QUEEN TO LORD LIVERPOOL. 
 
 “ 29the of April, 
 
 “The Queen, after having been a considerable time of receiving 
 a answer from Lord Liverpool, in consequence of the last conversa- 
 tion that passed between his Lordship and Doctor Lushington: 
 
 “ Her majesty feels herself under the necessity to establish herself 
 in England, and communicates to Lord Liverpool that the Queen 
 intends to be present at the Coronation, and requests him to present 
 the inclosed letter to his majesty. 
 
 “Caroline R'’ 
 
 THE SAME. 
 
 “ Brandenbourgh House, Sunday, 29th of April, 1821, 
 
 “The Queen from circumstances being obliged to remain in Eng- 
 land, she requests the King will be pleased to command those 
 Ladies of the first Rank his majesty may think the most proper in 
 this Realms, to attend the Queen on the day of the Coronation, of 
 which her majesty is informed is now fixed, and also to name such 
 Ladies which will be required to bear Her majesty’s Train on that 
 day, 
 
 “The Queen being particularly anxious to submit to the good 
 Taste of his majesty, most earnestly entreate the King to informe 
 the Queen in what Dresse the King wishes the Queen to appear in, 
 on that day, at the Coronation. 
 
 “ Caroline R.” 
 
 LORD LIVERPOOL TO THE KING. 
 
 “ Fife House, 30th April, 1821, 
 
 “Lord Liverpool has the honor to send your Majesty a letter 
 addressed to your Majesty by the Queen, and likewise a copy of a 
 letter from the Queen to Lord Liverpool, 
 
 “The communication from Dr, Lushington to which the Queen 
 refers took place somewhat more than a fortnight since.” 
 
 THE KING TO LORD LIVERPOOL. 
 
 “ [Most private.] 
 
 “ Brighton, May 1st, 1821. 
 
 “ The King has just received the box from Lord Liverpool, con- 
 taining the copy of a letter from the Queen to Lord Liverpool, and 
 
 31 - 
 
730 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 Lord Liverpool’s account of a conversation which took place a short 
 time since between Lord Liverpool and Dr. Lushington, referred to 
 in the Queen’s letter to Lord Liverpool, and a letter from the Queen 
 addressed to the King. 
 
 “ The King highly approves of the line and of the tone taken by 
 Lord Liverpool in his conversation with Dr. Lushington. The 
 King, however, entertains considerable doubts whether some de- 
 cided notice should not be taken of the ‘ threat ’ (as Lord Liverpool 
 justly terms it) l>eld out by the Queen in her letter to Lord Liver- 
 pool, ‘of her intention of being present at the coronation.’ Had 
 such an intimation reached Lord Liverpool merely in the shape of 
 an idle report or of a fabrication, such as almost every day pro- 
 duces, the King would then entirely concur with Lord Liverpool’s 
 opinion that it would not justify any direct notice being taken of it. 
 
 “The matter here, however, stands widely different, as the 
 Queen has decidedly and pointedly specified to Lord Liverpool that 
 it is her intention to obtrude herself at the King’s coronation. If, 
 therefore, the subject were suffered to pass over in utter silence 
 after this express and positive declaration on the part of the Queen, 
 officially communicated by her under her own hand to Lord Liver- 
 pool as the King’s first minister, the Queen, on the one hand, might 
 have some sort of color to assume that it had never been formally 
 notified to her, as it is now the king’s intention that it shall be, that 
 she should never be suffered by the King, under any circumstances, 
 to appear at that most solemn ceremony, the law having placed the 
 entire control upon that head in the hands and at the pleasure of 
 the King: while, on the other hand, she might attribute such silence 
 to an unworthy timidity on the part of the King and of his Govern- 
 ment, as well as invidiously pretend that her intimation upon this 
 point had not only not been treated with common civility, but had 
 been contemptuously disregarded. 
 
 “ Lord Liverpool will observe that the King returns unopened 
 the letter addressed by the Queen to the King. This is only in 
 conformity to a resolution adopted more than twenty years ago, 
 and since invariably adhered to by the King (but which must have 
 escaped Lord Liverpool’s recollection) that the King would never 
 again receive or open any letter or paper addressed to him person- 
 ally by the Queen. 
 
 “ The King will only further suggest to Lord Liverpool the pro- 
 priety of postponing an}" reply or communication whatsoever upon 
 this subject to the Queen until after the Court at Buckingham 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 731 
 
 House on Thursday next. From what so recently occurred with 
 respect to the last drawing-room, the King thinks that Lord Liver- 
 pool will clearly perceive the wisdom of this precaution.” 
 
 LORD LIVERPOOL TO THE QUEEN. 
 
 “ Fife House, May 4th, 1821. 
 
 “ Lord Liverpool has the honor to inform the Queen that, as it 
 has been his majesty’s invariable determination for some years to 
 receive no communication from the Queen except through his Gov- 
 ernment, the King directed Lord Liverpool to open the Queen’s 
 letter; and. Lord Liverpool having laid the substance of it before 
 his majesty, the King has commanded Lord Liverpool to say in an- 
 swer that it is his Majesty’s prerogative to regulate the ceremonial 
 of his coronation in such manner as he may think fit; that the 
 Queen can form no part of that ceremonial, except in consequence 
 of a distinct authority from the King, and that it is not his majes- 
 ty’s intention under the present circumstances to give any such 
 authority. 
 
 “Lord Liverpool thinks it must be unnecessary, in consequence 
 of this communication, to notice the other points in the Queen’s 
 letter, but he will further add that the King has dispensed with the 
 attendance of all ladies upon his coronation.” 
 
 THE QUEEN TO LORD LIVERPOOL. 
 
 “ Brandenbourgh House, Saturday, May 5th. 
 
 “ The Queen is much surprised at Lord Liverpool’s answer, and 
 assures the Earl that her majesty is determined to attend at the 
 coronation ; the Queen considering it as one of her rights and privi- 
 leges, which her majesty is resolved ever to maintain.” 
 
 LORD LIVERPOOL TO THE KING. 
 
 “ Fife House, May 5th, 1821. 
 
 “ Lord Liverpool has the honor to send your majesty the answer 
 which he has received from the Queen. Lord Liverpool humbly 
 submits that the correspondence would better end here, at least for 
 the present. The threat is an empty threat, which the Queen has 
 evidently not the power of carrying into execution, and must 
 appear to have been made solely with a view to extorting mone3^ 
 
 “Lord Liverpool will request your majesty to be pleased to re- 
 
732 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 turn the Queen’s letter. Lord Liverpool has directed a copy to be 
 prepared for your majesty of the whole correspondence.” 
 
 “Fife House, May 7th, 1821. 
 
 “Lord Liverpool has received the King’s commands, in conse- 
 quence of the last communication of the Queen to Lord Liverpool 
 of the 5th inst., to inform the Queen that his majesty having de- 
 termined that the Queen shall form no part of the ceremonial of his 
 coronation, it is therefore the royal pleasure that the Queen shall 
 not attend the said ceremony.” 
 
 The Queen persisting in her demand to be crowned, she was at 
 last referred to the Privy Council, when the question was argued 
 by her counsel. A curious array of precedents showed that most 
 of the queens had not been crowned with their husbands, and some 
 not at all. The King therefore, having the discretion, declined to 
 sanction her being crowned with him. 
 
 The eagerness to be present was extraordinary, which a dispute 
 that arose between the Chamberlain and other high functionaries, 
 as to who were entitled to give away seats in Westminster Hall, 
 tended to increase. The whole area between the Abbey and the 
 Hall was filled with grand-stands and galleries. The Dean and 
 Chapter farmed out the side aisle of the Abbey — as it was their 
 privilege — to a speculator, to be fitted up with boxes, which he let 
 at an enormous price. Special envoys came from all the Courts. 
 Every peer was given five tickets, all the great functionaries had 
 a certain number, but the Chamberlain and High Steward had the 
 distribution of three and four thousand apiece respectively. 
 
 On the eve of the ceremonial the King came to stay at the 
 Speaker’s, while at one in the morning the guests began to arrive. 
 At that hour, indeed, all the streets were crowded and blocked with 
 carriages. Some slept in the stands: the Guards were under arms 
 all the night. At ten o’clock his Majesty appeared, and a proces- 
 sion was formed in Westminster Hall. He entered at ten o’clock, 
 wearing his magnificent robes, said to have cost £25,000^ The cost 
 of the jewels for the coronation was enormous, and the amount 
 was swelled by the addition of costly ornaments which his Majesty 
 obtained for one of his favorites, which it was attempted to include 
 in the estimate. This was discovered by Sir Benjamin Bloomfield, 
 and exposed, which entailed his fall and banishment. The King’s 
 herbwoman, attended by six maids, led the way. Dignitaries, lay 
 and ecclesiastical, followed. English, Irish, and Scotch lords, bear- 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 733 
 
 ing the standards of their respective countries. The Knights of the 
 Bath, in blue and silver, succeeded; and it was noted that of all the 
 brilliant figures Lord Londonderry, the only one who wore the full 
 robes of the Garter, was the most striking and imposing. There 
 was but one noble surviving who had walked at the coronation of 
 George III. — the Duke of Gordon — but he was too infirm to attend. 
 The King was dreadfully exhausted, the heat adding to his fatigue, 
 and it was thought he would have fainted. The splendid scene that 
 waited him at the Abbey restored him. The weight of his cloak, 
 though the train was borne by seven supporters, added to his dis- 
 tress. Then the religious rites, of great length, began — the anoint- 
 ing, a sermon, the taking the Sacrament, when the Archbishop 
 prayed that “he might observe the commandments of God.” * 
 
 In the evening followed the grand banquet in Westminster Hall, 
 a more magnificent scene still. A sort of scene-painter’s Gothic 
 archway, with folding gates, had been erected at the bottom, through 
 which the Duke of Wellington and Lord Anglesey and others rode 
 up to do service. The excitement rose to its height when the well- 
 known spectacle of the challenge was performed. Young Dymoke, 
 the hereditary champion, in full armor, rode in — his horse was 
 furnished from a circus — and three different times flung down his 
 gauntlet, while the challenge was proclaimed by a herald. The 
 King drank to him from a gold cup, and he drank to the King, re- 
 ceiving the goblet “as his fee.” He retired backwards. f It is a 
 pity that this good old ceremony has been abolished. It was related 
 as a prodigy of culinary organization, that 240 tureens of soup, 
 7000 lb. of beef, 20,000 lb. of mutton, etc., were served; but in our 
 time the ordinary professional caterer would smile at such an insig- 
 nificant call on his exertions.:}: 
 
 This great day thus passed over with infinite success for all con- 
 cerned, save the unhappy Queen, who was persuaded to attempt the 
 profitless venture of forcing herself on the ceremonies. At an early 
 hour she set off in her coach and six, attended by Lord Hood, who, 
 as we shall see, was to figure later in the King’s interest. After 
 
 * Wlien the King returned from St. Edward’s Chapel, where some of the 
 rites had taken place, he found the Abbey almost deserted by the tired peers 
 and peeresses, “ but he moved about with great good-humor,” and spoke to 
 those he knew. 
 
 t The hero of a hundred fights had also to back his steed, which was found 
 embarrassing to Lord Hood, whose horse was not well bitted. 
 
 X There were 100 dozens of champagne, 200 of cJaret, and 350,000 of port and 
 sherry. Three thousand persons were entertained in adjoining rooms. 
 
734 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 having passed in, on a ticket, not her own, and been refused admit- 
 tance at various entrances, the following scene took place on her 
 first attempt. A number of soldiers drew across her path, and she 
 was asked for her ticket. Lord Hood said: “ Don’t you know your 
 Q ueen? She needs no ticket. ” The official said he had his orders, 
 which were, to admit no one without a ticket. Lord Hood then 
 produced his ticket, and the man said, according to~tlie' report, that 
 she might enter upon that. She hesitated, then declined.*. What 
 would have occurred had she obtained permission — whether she 
 would have advanced and taken her place beside her consort, on 
 which some unseemly scene would have followed — it would be diffi- 
 cult to say ; but it was agreed by friends and enemies that it was an 
 undignified and fruitless proceeding, as she attempted it; and that, 
 if attempted at all, it should have been carried through with daring 
 and resolution. As she retreated baffled, scornful jeers from the 
 crowd — whose sympathies are often forfeited by defeat or repulse — 
 followed her. 
 
 From this time all her proceedings were marked with worse than 
 the old recklessness. On that evening she wrote to the Duke of 
 Norfolk, demanding in consequence “of the insult of that morn- 
 ing,” to be crowned by herself within a week; as the preparations 
 being ready, it would save expense to the nation ! A few nights 
 later, Denman went to see her, and found her with a large party, 
 dancing, laughing, and romping, ‘ ‘ but he saw that her spirits were 
 frightfully overstrained.” Indeed, her friends held that she had 
 received her death-blow in that mortification. But this may be 
 fairly doubted, as her nerves were not of such delicate texture. 
 
 , This magnificent celebration being happily concluded, to his great 
 glpry, the King was now free to consider other schemes — and 
 notably to cultivate his favorite passion for building. We may 
 review the state of affairs to which his mania for rebuilding or al- 
 tering his two palaces of Windsor and Buckingham House had 
 brought him. The year before his death the account stood thus : 
 
 
 Original Estimate. 
 
 Cost. 
 
 Excess. 
 
 Windsor Castle, building. . . 
 State Apartments 
 
 £150,000 
 
 £325,000 
 
 £175,000 
 
 Furniture, etc 
 
 Lands 
 
 £150,000 
 
 £167,000 
 
 £58,000 
 
 £17,000 
 
 Total 
 
 £300,000 
 
 £550,000 
 
 £250,000 
 
 * This part of the story seems improbable, as it is likely the tickets were 
 personal and not transferable. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 735 
 
 Thus here was an unwarranted debt of £250,000 incurred. We 
 turn to Buckingham House, and find that the estimate was £270,000, 
 the actual cost £482,000 — an excess of £212,000 — making nearly 
 half a million together. But even this was not all. The net revenue 
 of the Woods and Forests, reaching a surplus of £70,000 a year, had 
 been allotted to pay for the building as it went on ; but it was found 
 out that this ready-money had been seized on and devoted to other 
 building purposes, leaving but a balance of £4000 a year for the 
 palaces.* How these unlawful plunderings were tolerated is incon- 
 ceivable. An advance out of moneys owing by the Frencli Govern- 
 ment was then made, equally unjustifiable, and amounting to 
 £250,000. On the other hand, it must be mentioned that it was 
 calculated that the rents of the new Carlton House Terrace would 
 sell for £70,000. Nash, his favorite architect, had been concerned 
 in all his plans for the Pavilion and the new Regent quarter. These 
 proceedings show that it was not so unprecedented a thing for min- 
 isters to allow the King to help himself to “ odds and ends ” of the 
 public moneys as Mr. Herries, in his Memoir of his father, would 
 make out. It is impossible that the Secretary to the Treasury should 
 not have at least known of these practices. The result, however, 
 was to raze, not St. James’ Palace, f but Carlton House, and to take 
 Buckingham House in hand for restoration, or rather rebuilding. 
 Accordingly, in 1825, it was handed over to the builders and archi- 
 tect, and at the King’s death was left an unfinished pile. The King 
 took his favorite mode of planning piecemeal and altering bit by bit, 
 to which his favorite was obliged to adapt his plans and suggestions. 
 It should, however, be stated that the Duke of Montrose assured 
 Lord Colchester that a calculation had been made of the repairs 
 necessary for Carlton House, and also for those of Buckingham 
 House, and that there was but little difference between them. 
 
 * It had been thus spent: 
 
 On account of York House £57,000 
 
 Finishing Windsor 19,450 
 
 Ditto, New Carlton House 11,073 
 
 Ditto, Downing Street 3,017 
 
 Redemption of Land Tax, Carlton House 22,022 
 
 Alterations, St. James’s Park 6,000 
 
 £118,562 
 
 t “Life of Lord Liverpool,” v. p. 420. This proposal, already referred to, 
 probably concerns the grounds round St. James’s Palace gardens, etc., and 
 does not, as Mr. Young thinks, implj' that the palace was to be razed. The 
 strict meaning, however, seems to convey that the palace was to be levelled. 
 
736 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 ‘ ‘ Other alterations of an architectural sort are also proceeding in 
 London,” wrote Lord Colchester later. “The King’s new palace, 
 on the site of Buckingham House, is covered in; the Duke of York’s, 
 on the site of his former house, is sold in its unfinished state to Lord 
 Stafford for £80,000; and he gives £30,000 more to Lord Gower to 
 finish it for his residence. Carlton House has nearly disappeared; 
 and the new terrace of houses towards the Mall is rising rapidly ; the 
 grass part of St. James’s Park is to he laid out in shrubberies like 
 Regent’s Park. New gateways, colonnaded, are already built at 
 Hyde Park Corner, leading on one side into the King’s garden by 
 Constitution Hill, and on the other side by the Duke of Wellington’s 
 house, into Hyde Park. A new bridge of five arches has been 
 thrown across the Serpentine, at the end nearest to Kensington Gar- 
 dens ; and a new carriage drive has been made round the whole of 
 the Park north of the Serpentine, which makes a most desirable 
 addition to the airing ground for carriages and equestrians.” 
 
 To the Londoner few objects are more familiar than the Marble 
 Arch, the Oxford Street entrance to the Park. This monument, 
 suggested by his Majesty and copied frnm that of Constantine at 
 Rome, stood within living memory in front of Buckingham Palace. 
 It has no doubt puzzled th^ spectator what could have been the 
 intention in erecting this rather bald and costly gateway; but, it 
 / seems, it was designed to commemorate the glories of his Majesty, 
 much as the great French monarch erected flamboyant memorials of 
 himself, a la gloire de Louis XIV. On the summit was to have been 
 an equestrian statue of the King by Chantrey; on each side bas- 
 reliefs recording Trafalgar and Waterloo. The Duke’s bust was to 
 have been displayed on the pedestal of the equestrian statue, ‘ ‘ be- 
 tween Europe and Asia,” while on various other portions were to 
 have been shown the King “approving the plan of the campaign,” 
 the King “rewarding the Duke of Wellington after Waterloo.” 
 Statues of the inferior officers were to have been disposed about the 
 monument. The cost would have been enormous, and the King 
 was prudent enough to set the plan aside.* 
 
 * Two enormous blocks of Carrara marble, which had been ordered by Na- 
 poleon for the purpose of making some commemoration of his victories, had 
 been presented to his Majesty by the Duke of Tuscany. It was determined to 
 fashion out of them an enormous Waterloo vase, twenty feet high, and the 
 talents of Westmacott, the sculptor, were employed for the purpose; but the 
 King requiring that his figure should be conspicuous among the group of vic- 
 tors, tliis idea was also abandoned. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 731 
 
 At this time Mr. Canning began to reappear upon the scene ; and 
 it was to be expected that such an intellect as his was, even when he 
 affected by resignation to efface himself, should let its force be felt. 
 Lord Liverpool, over whom he exercised an extraordinary influence, 
 seemed to look for the first opportunity to get his aid once more; 
 and when Lord Sidmouth, in June, 1821, proposed retiring, and 
 there was to be a redistribution of offices, he suggested to the King 
 ‘ ‘ that the first offer must be made to Mr. Canning, whom he pro- 
 posed to place at the Admiralty.” The King, however, who liked 
 nursing his resentments and giving effect lo them, as a mode of 
 adding to his importance, declined to make any change. This led 
 to a regular discussion, in which the point w’as pressed on the King, 
 much to his annoyance. As he (Lord Liverpool) had just lost his 
 wife, the Cabinet took the matter in hand. In a conversation with 
 Lord Sidmouth, his Majesty explained that “he did not mean to 
 proscribe Mr. Canning altogether, nor to express his determination 
 to exclude him forever from the Cabinet; he only begged not to 
 have him pressed on him at present, not being prepared, on the 
 sudden, to give him that full confidence which a Cabinet minister 
 had a right to expect; that he had nothing like enmity to Mr, Can- 
 ning; that, on the contrary, if Mr, Canning should attend the 
 levee, he would receive him with the greatest civility; and that, if 
 Mr. Canning had other objects, he would gladly promote them.” 
 
 That he had resentment was only too certain; and he later de- 
 clared that “he had made a vow” never to admit him. Mr. Can- 
 ning’s secretary tells us that the cause of this dislike was, not his 
 share in opposition to the prosecution of the Queen, but the con- 
 duct of his supporters in the House of Lords, who, though followers 
 of the Grovernment, had thought it right to adopt his course. The 
 King, however, attributed it to his instigation. 
 
 Lord Liverpool, however, in his bereavement, urged the point, and 
 to his friends commented bitterly on the unworthy pretexts urged. 
 It was proscription, he said. The objectiop was “one of personal 
 pique and resentment,” “But you must know,” he wrote to a 
 friend, “what has been passing behind the scenes.” This feeling 
 on the part of the King “has been the cause of all our past errors.” 
 He even charged him with a secret scheme for destroying the 
 Government when the opportunity offered. If the King persisted, 
 “he must look out for another minister,” The King, ever fertile 
 in resources, then affected to be eager to have Lord Sidmouth with 
 him on his journey to Ireland, which would postpone the issue, and 
 
738 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEOROE IV. 
 
 Mr. Canning himself begged that he might not be pressed ; on which 
 Lord Liverpool gave way for the present, declaring however that 
 the question was only adjoured. 
 
 There was a bitterness in this discussion which the question itself 
 does not account for, and which was really owing to a matter of a 
 private character which had inflamed the King to an extraordinary 
 degree. It was indeed to add to his long roll of personal feelings, 
 and was the cause of rooted dislike which from this hour he 
 bore to the Prime Minister. A young clergyman named Sumner 
 had been selected as tutor by Lord Conyngham for his two sons, 
 and had taken them abroad to Geneva. The father, it seems, had 
 promised that an annuity or a beneflce was to be the reward of his 
 services.* In 1820 this pupil, Lord Francis Conyngham, had been 
 appointed Master of the Robes and First Groom of the Chamber to 
 the King, whose devotion to the family was now beginning to 
 declare itself. The pupil had often sounded his praises to his 
 Majesty, who took as great a delight in new faces and persons that 
 were likely to please him, as a sultan does in favorites. His Majesty 
 expressed a wish to see him, and he was sent for to Brighton, dined 
 at the Pavilion, and “had a conversation of three hours’ standing.” 
 
 The courtiers, we are told, looked grave, but, with nice forecast, 
 told him his fortune was made. The following year, in April, 1821, a 
 canonry at Windsor fell vacant, and the King at once named the 
 new favorite, a young man of thirty years old and a mere curate, for 
 the canon’s otflce. But Lord Liverpool boldly and decidedly de- 
 clined to adopt this recommendation, and told the King that it 
 ‘ ‘ would be most injurious to his interests and give great umbrage to 
 the Church.” He added, however, that to help his Majesty out of 
 the difficulty, he was willing to recommend the clergyman for a 
 benefice and advance him afterwards. 
 
 THE KING TO LORD LIVERPOOL. 
 
 “ Brighton, April 13th, 1821. 
 
 “It is with considerable regret that the King has received Lord 
 Liverpool’s letter of yesterday, and the more as the King feels that 
 
 * This arrangement naturally roused some speculation, and it was often 
 repeated that this was only the reward for a more substantial service than 
 merely education, in the shape of having saved his eldest charge from an im- 
 provident marriage with a young Swiss girl, by marrying her himself. This, 
 however, it is only fair to state, has been distinctly denied by his family; and 
 it must be said that the clergyman proved an excellent divine and bishop, 
 with whose career so shrewd a stroke was scarcely consistent. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 739 
 
 ever since the appointm'"nt of Lord Liverpool as his First Minister 
 he has not merely shown an uniform desire not to thwart any views 
 of Lord Liverpool or of his friends in the disposal of the patronage 
 of the Crown; but, on the contrary, to oblige Lord Liverpool, and 
 to give every support in his power to an Administration created by 
 himself, the King has yielded every personal feeling. 
 
 ‘ ‘ In illustration of which the King need only draw Lord Liver- 
 pool’s attention to two very recent events, amongst numberless 
 others ; namely — the removal of Lord Fife (a measure certainly pain- 
 ful to the King’s private feelings), and the disregard of the King’s 
 desire (conveyed to Lord Liverpool through Sir Benjamin Bloomfield) 
 ‘that Mr. B. Paget should succeed to the office of Receiver-General.’ 
 Notwithstanding which, the appointment of another individual (how- 
 ever eligible) took place without further reference to the King. 
 
 “Under so extraordinary a proceeding did the King withhold his 
 signature to the warrant of appointment? or did the King call upon 
 Lord Liverpool to forfeit his promise or his word? The King might 
 also add the instance in which he sacrificed the most painful per- 
 sonal feelings and opinions to the advice and earnest desire of Lord 
 Liverpool ‘ that the King should not accept the resignation of Mr. 
 Canning, but suffer him to remain in his councils, ’ in spite of the 
 very unwarrantable conduct of that gentleman (as a member of the 
 Cabinet) in his place in Parliament. 
 
 “The question of this nomination to the vacant canonry of 
 Windsor does not rest upon the selection which the King has made 
 for that appointment, nor does the King doubt the sincerity of Lord 
 Liverpool’s desire to make a suitable provision in lieu of that des- 
 tined by the King for Mr. Sumner ; but there are principles para- 
 mount to all other considerations which will ever guide the King in 
 his course through life. Lord Liverpool, in his desire to relieve the 
 King from any embarrassment which the present case may occasion, 
 appears solely to have directed his view to the policy or impolicy of 
 this nomination, and wholly to have disregarded that vital point 
 of the transaction which involves the good faith and honor of his 
 sovereign. 
 
 “The King, therefore, sees no reason to alter his determination 
 of appointing Mr. Sumner to the vacant canonry of Windsor; and, 
 however willing the King might be to give up his own opinions to 
 Lord Liverpool’s wishes, it is no longer a question of the propriety of 
 this little appointment (as the King has alread}^ stated), but whether 
 the King’s word is to be held sacred or is to be of no avail. 
 
740 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 “The King acquainted Lord Liverpool that the appointment was 
 
 given by himself alone, unsolicited by , or at the instance of any 
 
 private friend of the King’s or of Mr. Sumner’s. His merit and his 
 character were his only recommendations, and the King thinks such 
 recommendations more calculated to do honor and to give satisfaction 
 than to give ‘umbrage’ to the Church.” 
 
 Extraordinary offices seemed to become vacant of a sudden for 
 the special benefit of the man whom the King was eager to honor. 
 
 Lord Liverpool, in reply, vindicated himself, but declined posi- 
 tively to change his resolution — a determination infinitely creditable 
 to his firmness. 
 
 But it is amusing to read the excitement produced at the Castle by 
 this contention. “If you had seen the King,” wrote his pupil to 
 the candidate, “you would have given up all your own feelings 
 and have been entirely interested in his. I never saw anything like 
 it. He was quite in despair. ” Expresses were sent to the clergy- 
 man that “he might not suffer more than could be avoided.” 
 ‘ ‘ There never was anything which threw such a gloom of despair 
 upon all our faces. But, as the King most kindly quoted, when he 
 saw my agony, ‘Nil desperandum, ’ etc. You cannot conceive what 
 he has suffered on this occasion. He is without exception the best- 
 hearted man that ever lived.” The injured but fortunate divine 
 was at once made King’s chaplain, and given a capital house at 
 Windsor, and was informed that other arrangements were in pro- 
 gress. This took the shape of librarian at Carlton House; vicarship 
 of St. Helen’s, Abingdon; Canon of Worcester in the following year. 
 
 But the King was ‘ ‘ mortally wounded ” by the transaction, and 
 Lord Mount-Charles, with perfect truth, declared “he would never 
 forget it.” For a more experienced judge, the Duke of Wellington, 
 writing to Lord Liverpool a little later, assured him that “the King 
 has never forgiven your opposition in the case of Sumner. This 
 feeling has infiuenced every action of his life in relation to his 
 Government from that moment ; and, I believe, to more than one of 
 us he avowed that his objection to ]Mr. Canning was, that his 
 accession to the Government was peculiarly desirable to you. Noth- 
 ing could be more unjust or more unfair than this feeling; and as 
 there is not one of your colleagues who did not highly approve of 
 what you did respecting Sumner, so there is not one of them who 
 would not suffer with you all the consequences of that act. ” 
 
 What a picture of weakness and folly ! W e may smile at the scene 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 741 
 
 at Windsor — the camarilla's ‘‘agony,” the agitated King, and the 
 whole worked up by the courtiers and flatterers into a tempest. The 
 lucky divine was consoled by being made librarian at Carlton House, 
 Vicar of St. Helen’s, Abingdon, Canon of Worcester in the succeed- 
 ing year. Chaplain in Ordinary, Clerk of the Closet, and three years 
 later was offered the bishopric of Jamaica. But here he hesitated, 
 and consulted the excellent Knighton as to its being acceptable to 
 his Majesty, owning, however, that he would “be heartless and 
 profligate ” to overlook such objections as to the health of his little 
 children, etc! However, he went down to see the King, who 
 declared he would leave him “unbiassed.” The King indeed said 
 he was advancing in years, and did not now easily attach himself to 
 new faces: he must now expect many and frequent illnesses, “when 
 it was a satisfaction to him to know that I was at hand, that I suited 
 him, that he had other views for me.” In short, he felt it a duty to 
 comply with the King’s wishes. ‘ ‘ I hope, ” wrote Mr. Sumner to 
 his lady, “you know and think how the King deserves to be loved. 
 He could not talk of the possibility of my leaving England, without 
 shedding tears. He behaved most beautifully. In the meantime, I 
 am quite sure It is better, spiritually speaking, to have been ready 
 and desirous to go; temporally speaking, it may be better for me 
 to stay.” 
 
 And so it was to prove with singular rapidity. The following 
 year a stall at Canterbury was offered by Lord Liverpool, who nicely 
 suggested that “ it would in no way interfere with any further pro- 
 motion;” on which his Majesty suggested that “he should be the 
 next bishop,” which Sir W. Knighton declared was done by the 
 King in the most agreeable way. “ So now, my dear friend,” 
 writes the physician, “you may begin to do everything as if you 
 were at this moment a bishop. Be so good as to get rid of your 
 shirt-frill and your trousers. It is the King’s wish you should im- 
 mediately take your doctor’s degree.” 
 
 Next year he became Bishop of Llandaff. But this was a poor 
 Welsh thing, so the year after the fortunate divine received the fol- 
 lowing from his patron : 
 
 THE KING TO THE BISHOP OF LLANDAFF. 
 
 “Royal Lodge, November 18, 1827. 
 
 “My dear Bishop, 
 
 ‘ ‘ The very moment I was informed of the death of the Bishop 
 of Winchester, I nominated you his successor. In doing this I 
 
742 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 have not only consulted what is most agreeable to my own feelings, 
 but what my conscience tells me will be most beneficial to the see 
 of Winchester, and also for the good of the Church in general. 
 
 “ Yours sincerely, 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 The following year his brother became Bishop of Chester. 
 
 When the King returned from Hanover, a new plan for disposing 
 of Mr. Canning released the King from the prospect of having his 
 services forced upon him. There was a plan of sending him as Gov- 
 ernor-General to India. Lord Hastings had signified his wish — in 
 an informal way, as it proved — to bef«-eleased from that office, and 
 the directors were willing to offer it to Mr. Canning. The King, to 
 use his father’s expression, had “jumped ” at this solution. He was 
 so eager indeed, that when it was found that Lord Hastings’s resig- 
 nation was a sort of vicarious one, and full of difficulties to act upon, 
 the King pressed it, and insisted it should be handed to the direc- 
 tors. In his eagerness he had even declared that otherwise he should 
 have found no objection to receiving Mr. Canning among his minis- 
 ters. It, however, came to nothing, as the resignation was found to 
 be inoperative. Meanwhile the offices had been filled up by recruits 
 from the Grenville section of the Opposition, all pro-Catholics, and 
 the King might congratulate himself on his adroit management. As 
 Canning wrote bitterly, he was in the position of having declined 
 India, which was not vacant, “and there has been no other proposal 
 made to me since this failure.” This, it will be seen, was the first 
 of many such struggles in which the ministers were to be engaged. 
 
 The power and fertility of resource shown by the King in resist- 
 ing what was objectionable to him would have commanded admira- 
 tion, if displayed on worthier occasions and directed by a probability 
 of success; but it was his fate to choose occasions where his case 
 was weak, and he usually only succeeded in protracting his surren- 
 der. He mistook the signs of the crisis, and either resisted where 
 he should have yielded, or yielded where he might have resisted. 
 
 Yet he had told the Irish that instead of opposing the union they 
 should have “made terms.” His tactics, A\dien he found Mr. Can- 
 ning was about to be forced upon him, were ingenious, if not crafty. 
 The secret of his new dislike to the minister was, as Canning in- 
 formed his secretary, a belief that he, while withdrawing himself 
 from the prosecution of his Queen, had secretly urged his friends 
 in the House of Lords to strenuous opposition. When the King 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 743 
 
 learned that the East Indian directors were anxious to appoint Mr. 
 Canning Governor-General, with rather suspicious ardor he became 
 an eager supporter of the plan. Mr. Canning himself relates the 
 incident: “In June last there was a contest between Liverpool and 
 the King, for and against my readmission into office. I then begged 
 not to be pressed upon the King. On his Majesty’s return from Ire- 
 land, he expressly forbade Liverpool to open the subject, and it was 
 adjourned till the return from Hanover. Soon after the King’s de- 
 parture for Hanover the chairman of the Court of Directors commu- 
 nicated to me a letter from Lord Hastings, implying in the clearest 
 manner his (Lord Hastings’s) wish to hear that a successor to him 
 had been appointed. I consented to be named — subject, of course, 
 to the King’s being prepared to approve the nomination.” Mr. Can- 
 ning goes on to say that not many days after this communication 
 Colonel Doyle, Lord Hastings’s most confidential friend, came to say 
 that the resignation was a misapprehension, and that he knew Lord 
 Hastings had no intention of resigning. And presently it was dis- 
 covered that such vicarious resignation would be informal and have 
 no effect. “ Here was an end of the vacancy, which, however, had 
 been announced to the King. The King had jumped at the solu- 
 tion of difficulties which was opened to him by the appointment to 
 India. His Majesty undertook to do anything in his power to make 
 Lord Hastings’s resignation easy to him; and he determined, on his 
 return to England, to see Colonel Doyle himself, and to learn 
 whether the resignation so sent to him (as has been described) might 
 not now be made available. I understand his Majesty to have said 
 at the same time that, if he could not succeed in opening India, he 
 would waive his objection to the arrangement proposed in June. In 
 this state things were when I saw Lord Liverpool after the King’s 
 return from Hanover.” He concluded by declaring that ‘ the failure, 
 I presume, everybody will attribute (as I do in my own mind) not to 
 the ill-disposition of the Government, but to the unaltered resent- 
 ment of the King.” His Majesty had, however, to yield, and Mr. 
 Canning became Foreign Secretary. 
 
 THE KING TO LOUD ELDON. 
 
 “ Carlton Palace, Saturday night, July 7th, 1821. 
 
 “My dear Friend, 
 
 “ I must thank you for your affectionate letter,* which is very 
 acceptable to my feelings : God grant that you may long live to enjoy 
 
 * Acknowledgment for his earldom. 
 
 t 
 
744 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 the honors so justly due to your eminent talents and distinguished 
 services. I shall hope to see you early in the morning, as I have 
 much to say to you. Always, my dear Friend, 
 
 “Very affectionately yours, 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 THE SAME. 
 
 “Thursday evening, 6 o’clock, July 26th, 1821. 
 
 “My deak Chancellor, 
 
 “I delay not a moment thanking you for your affectionate 
 note. I have known you, and with truth I do add that I have 
 loved and esteemed you as a friend, much too long for a moment to 
 entertain a thought that you would not have presented yourself both 
 at the levee yesterday, as well as the Drawing Room this day, if it 
 had been morally possible for you to have done so. If there be any 
 blame, it rests with me, for not having sent to inquire after you, but 
 which I desire you will not impute to forgetfulness on my side, but 
 to the constant worry and hurly-burly I have been perpetually kept 
 in for the last fortnight. 
 
 “ I remain, my dear Lord, 
 
 “Always your most affectionate Friend, 
 
 “G. K 
 
 “P.S. — I shall rejoice, if you are able to come to me, to see you 
 on Sunday as usual.” 
 
 THE SAME. 
 
 “Brighton, Dec. 26th, 1821. 
 
 “My DEAR Friend, 
 
 “You flattered me that when you had relaxation from busi- 
 ness you would make me a short visit. It strikes me that next Mon- 
 day and Tuesday are the two most probable days to afford you such 
 an opportunity; therefore, if this should be so, and unless you 
 have formed any pleasanter scheme for yourself, pray come to me 
 then. I believe it will be necessary for you to swear in one or two 
 of my state servants, the most of whom you will find assembled 
 here; therefore pray be properly prepared. I hope it is not neces- 
 sary for me to add how truly happy I should be, if our dear and good 
 friend Lord Stowell would accompany you. A hearty welcome, good 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 745 
 
 and warm beds, turkey and chine, and last, though not least in love, 
 liver and crow, are the order of the day, 
 
 “Ever, my dear Lord, 
 
 “Most sincerely yours, 
 
 “G. R. 
 
 “P.S. — N.B. No Church preferment will be requested on the 
 present occasion,” 
 
 ' Excited by the plaudits that attended him during this brilliant 
 show, the King now conceived the plan of travelling through the 
 various portions of his dominions. His flatterers had, no doubt, 
 'persuaded him that he was now popular, and that this proceeding 
 of showing himself to his people would f arther stimulate their loy- 
 alty, In this and the following year, he made progresses through 
 Ireland, Scotland, and Hanover, which, taken with the coronation 
 and his failing health, must have been very fatiguing to his Majesty, 
 The news that the King was coming to Ireland caused unbounded 
 excitement in that portion of his dominions, of which evidence is 
 found in the fact that the religious parties agreed to hold a truce 
 for the occasion, the Lord Mayor sending a message to Lord Fingal 
 to announce that “ King William’s statue should not be dressed” 
 on the usual occasion. All united in the joyful preparations. Sir 
 Benjamin Bloomfield, who had been despatched as avant-courier, 
 was feted at a public dinner of all factions, at which he struck the 
 key-note of the general rapturous strain which was to characterize 
 future proceedings, declaring that ‘ ‘ no sooner was the crown on 
 his master’s head than he had determined to visit Ireland, ” Lord 
 Sidmouth, the Secretary of State, though starting later, arrived at 
 Pheenix Park a little in advance, where was Mr, C, Grant, the Irish 
 Secretary, who was entertaining Lord Londonderry and the min- 
 isters in attendance on the King, His Majesty started from Carlton 
 House on July 31st, 1821, “ at twenty minutes before twelve,” and 
 at half-past five arrived at Portsmouth, where he instantly went on 
 board his own “ yatch, ” as it was spelled then, the Royal George, 
 But a most tedious and disagreeable journey was before him, and 
 not until a fortnight was he able to set foot on Irish soil. On reach- 
 ing Holyhead, news that the Queen was almost in extremis reached 
 him, and the King determined to go to his friend Lord Anglesey — 
 “ Paget ” — whose place was close by, and wait for news. 
 
 32 
 
746 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 THE KING TO SIR W. KNIGHTON. 
 
 “ Off Holyhead, August 10th, 1821. 
 
 “Dearest Friend, 
 
 “ As I know you like brevity in writing, I shall endeavor to 
 be as concise as possible, and shall try to convey to you all the 
 matter possible in the smallest compass. 
 
 “1 mu&t first thank you for your kind letters, the last of which 
 I have now just received. You need not be under any apprehen- 
 sion that every regard to decorum -and decency will not be strictly 
 observed. 
 
 ‘ ‘ I have now been at anchor in this harbor ever since Monday 
 night at half -past eleven, when we received the first intimation of 
 the Queen’s indisposition. 
 
 ‘ ‘ On Tuesday at noon, as I had heard nothing from my friend 
 Lord Sidmouth, who had passed over to the other coast some hours 
 before, we took up our anchorage here. We had reason to know 
 he had heard the report before he left Holyhead ; and it was deter- 
 mined, as the best medium-line that could be adopted until I could 
 hear from him, that I should proceed for twelve hours to Lord 
 Anglesey’s. 
 
 “Accordingly I wrote to Lord Sidmouth and Bloomfield, to 
 acquaint them with the communication I had received respecting 
 the Queen, to account for the delay in my not proceeding to Ireland, 
 and desiring Lord Sidmouth’s advice as to what I had best do, and 
 that he would make all the arrangements' which might be necessary 
 under existing circumstances. 
 
 “ I returned from Plasnewydd to my yatch here about four o’clock 
 on the next day (Wednesday), and found Lord Sidmouth just dis- 
 embarked and ready to receive me. He stayed about two hours 
 with me on board, and then again took his passage m the steam- 
 boat, having arranged with me, that if the accounts from London of 
 the Queen the next day should represent her to be in an improved 
 state, that then we should set sail as quickly as possible, and land 
 at Dunleary, and make my public entree at Dublin on that day 
 (Friday); although he had already taken measures for a private 
 entry if matters should be worse, as it was utterly impossible for 
 me under any circumstances not to proceed now to Ireland, where 
 public notice would be given that I should observe the strictest 
 privacy for some days, until we were acquainted either with the 
 Queen’s recovery or her demise, and till after the body should be 
 interred. 
 
THE LIFE OF OEORGE IV. 
 
 747 
 
 • Lord Londonderry fortunately arrived the next morning after 
 Lord Sidmouth left me — that is to say, yesterday (Thursday), before 
 seven o’clock in the morning — and has remained with me, and will 
 continue to do so till I have set my foot on the Irish shore. He 
 approved of all the arrangements I had made with Lord Sidmouth 
 as the best possible, and with every view I had taken of the whole 
 circumstance : and it is now determined that either in the course of 
 the day, or as soon as possible as the wind and weather will permit 
 (but which at present does not appear very encouraging), we are to 
 set sail, either in the yatch alonh or by steam, to Ireland ; to make 
 Howth (about five miles from Dublin), and to proceed without any 
 sort of show or display to Phoenix Park, without entering or passing 
 through Dublin at all. My arrival there will then be publicly 
 announced, and that the strictest privacy for a few days will be 
 observed, as far as proper decency and decorum may require ; and 
 that after that the day will be announced when I shall make my 
 public entree, and when all public ceremonies and rejoicings will 
 commence. 
 
 “ Continue, I conjure you, from time to time, and constantly if 
 you can, to let me hear from you, be it only that ‘ all is well ; ’ for 
 even this is a security and comfort to me that you cannot imagine ; 
 it is utterly impossible for me to tell you how uncomfortable and 
 how miserable I always feel when I have you not immediately at my 
 elbofv. You may, then, judge what I do now at this moment feel, 
 and what I have gone through without you near me during all these 
 recent perplexities and difficulties. You are too well acquainted 
 with the warmth of my feelings towards you to render it necessary 
 for me to add a syllable more upon that head, dear and best of 
 friends, except that I am always 
 
 “Most affectionately yours, 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 Here the unexpected news of the Queen’s death reached him, and 
 Lord Sidmouth, fearful of some unbecoming step being taken, 
 hurried over to Holyhead to press on his Majesty the necessity of a 
 decent retirement, for at least a short space.* Nothing could be 
 more unfortunate; but it was curious that her illness seems to have 
 
 * It seems to have been an anxious business, as the Secretary wrote to Mr. 
 Hobhouse that “ he would not trouble him with a detail of difficulties and 
 vexations he had to deal with ; but he endeavored to reconcile himself to the 
 service in which he was engaged,” etc. 
 
748 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 commenced on the very day that the King set off, on which evening 
 1 she went to the theatre to see Mr. Kean’s performance. The un- 
 happy lady’s sorrows had come to a close, and within a few days 
 her remains were being transported back to that Brunswick which 
 it was a pity she ever quitted. 
 
 On the following Sunday, the 12th of August, crowds were look- 
 ina: out to the sea at where Kingstown now rises, and Sir Benjamin 
 was observed to be hurrying to the point of old Dunleary Harbor, 
 then newly opened, at present a colliers’ shelter. Presently “the 
 Lightning steam -packet, Capt. Skinner,” was seen to approach, and 
 the anxious crowds rushing forward recognized the familiar, portly 
 figure. “ A quarter before three,” says a loyal rapturous account, 
 “they descried by glasses a steam-vessel, which, from the circum- 
 stance mentioned, excited strong sensations; about twenty minutes 
 after a second steam-vessel seemed to approach in the same course : 
 no doubt remained but that his Majesty or some word from him 
 would arrive in a short time. Within a few minutes of four the 
 steam-packet closed in with Ireland’s Eye, and immediately the 
 royal carriage, which had taken Sir Benjamin Bloomfield down, 
 was seen driving rapidly to the pier-head. At half-past four the 
 Lightning steam-packet came to the projection in the west point of 
 the pier. A breathless suspension of two minutes succeeded, the 
 anxious hearts of the spectators beating high. At length some 
 person, recognizing his Majesty on board, cried, ‘ The King! ’ when 
 all entlmsiastically exclaimed, ‘The King! the King! God bless 
 him!’ Cheers echoed and re-echoed, which his Majesty, on iiearing, 
 stood forward and warmly returned, taking off his cap and winding 
 it several times over his head. He was dressed in a blue frock, 
 blue pantaloons, Hessian boots, a black cravat, white silk gloves, 
 and a foraging cap with gold lace. His Majesty was a little 
 browned from the weather. With him were Lords Londonderry, 
 Tlioniond, Mount-Charles, Francis Conyngham, and Mr. Freeling, 
 Secretary to the Post Office. A small ship-ladder covered with 
 carpeting was fixed to facilitate his landing. Some of his suite 
 preceded his Majesty. Whrn he reached the top of the ladder, 
 which he did with great agility and without assistance, the pressure 
 was so great that he was much incommoded. This could not be 
 avoided; as almost every person present stood on the small tongue 
 of land which projects from the pier, through them no convenient 
 passage could be opened without forcing some persons into the 
 water. His Majesty bore the inconvenience with much good-humor. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 749 
 
 perceiving the cause. On seeing the Earl of Kingston, his Majesty 
 exclaimed, ‘Kingston, Kingston, you black-whiskered, good-natured 
 fellow, I am happy to see you in this friendly country.’ Having 
 recognized Dennis Bowes Daily, he cordially shook hands with 
 him, who in the very act was deprived of a watch valued at sixty 
 guineas and a pocketbook. S'r Benjamin Bloomfield having opened 
 the door of the carriage, his Majesty stepped in ; the cheers of all 
 rent the air. Having turned round, and extending forth both his 
 hands, he said with great emotion, ‘ God bless you all ; I thank 
 you from my heart.’ Seemingly exhausted, he threw himself back 
 again, and on the cheers being repeated, taking oil his cap, bowed 
 again and again. The cavalcade then drove straight to the lodge at 
 the Phoenix, a distance of about eight or nine miles. On reaching 
 the entrance to the demesne, some halted outside, fearing that pro- 
 ceeding further would be an intrusion. His Majesty, perceiving 
 the delicacy, put out his hand and exclaimed, ‘ Come on, my 
 friends.’ Some of those who entered, having walked on the grass, 
 were reprimanded by others for so doing. ‘Oh,’ said his Majesty, 
 good-humoredly, ‘don’t mind the grass; let them walk where they 
 please.’ Having alighted from his carriage at the hall of the lodge, 
 he addressed those round him, about a hundred in number, in the 
 following words: ‘In addressing you I conceive I am addressing 
 the nobility, gentry, and yeomen of Ireland. This is one of the 
 happiest moments of my life. I feel pleased, being the first of my 
 family that set foot on Irish ground. Early in my life I loved 
 Ireland — my heart was always with them. I rejoice at being 
 amongst my faithful Irish friends. I always considered them such, 
 and this day proves to me I am beloved by them. Circumstances 
 of a delicate nature, to which it is needless to advert, have precluded 
 me from visiting you sooner. I have had a fatiguing voyage. If 
 I do not express myself as warmly as I ought, I beg you will not 
 attribute it to want of affection. I am obliged to you for the kind- 
 ness you evinced towards me this day; rank, station, and honor are 
 nothing; to feel that I live in the hearts of my Irish subjects is to 
 me the most exalted happiness. I assure you, my dear friends, I 
 have an Irish heart, and will this night give a proof of my affection 
 towards you, as I am sure you will towards me, by drinking your 
 health in a bumper of whisky-punch.’ ” 
 
 Such was this amazing harangue, which produced a singular 
 impression. The only de-taj re jiunt was t ie arrival of the irrepressi- 
 ble Sir William Curtis, who seemed in this as in the Scotch visit to 
 
750 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 compete with the King for public attention. It was found that with 
 his yacht he had taken up the best “ berth ” in Dunleary Harbor, 
 from which he was promptly removed. 
 
 Then set in a tumult of excited demonstrations, to which the im- 
 pulsive King lent himself, declaring “that he had never felt himself 
 a King till that time,” as well as the no less excited crowd: both 
 acted and reacted on one another to an extraordinary degree. 
 
 By the 17th, which time, it was thought, had exhausted the 
 tribute due to bereavement, he entered Dublin in state. The pro- 
 cession was brilliant with banners, music, and show: his Majesty, 
 seated in an open barouche drawn by eight horses, repeatedly 
 pointing to an enormous shamrock displayed in his hat. In the 
 midst of the shouts, he declared to Sir B. Bloomfield “he might be 
 proud of his country: they are a noble peeple.” At the Castle 
 windows, as he looked on the acclaiming multitudes, he was ob- 
 served to shed tears. Then followed illuminations, reviews, visit to 
 the theatre, ball at the Mansion House, where a number of gentlemen 
 improvized new a body-guard, devising a uniform for the occasion, 
 showing they knew one of their sovereign’s weaknesses. “A silk 
 doublet of coronation blue reached half way down the thigh, white 
 casimere breeches, white silk stockings with blue rosettes at the 
 knees and shoe-ties formed the lower part of the dress, round the 
 waist a pink silk sash, from which hung a rich dress sword and 
 sword-knot, round the neck a white ruff, under which lay a broad 
 pink ribbon, from which hung a coronation medal. The hat was 
 blue, with the leaf turned up before with a large plume of blue and 
 white ostrich-feathers. The weapon was a battle-axe, with a spear- 
 head of burnished silver. As the King passed they shouldered their 
 axes, and the lines had an imposing effect.” 
 
 A magnificent circular ball-room of great size, still used for the 
 Lord Mayor’s balls, had been erected. After a handsome entertain- 
 ment, the King retired, when speeches were made by Lord London- 
 derry and others, an alderman being so far carried away by his 
 feelings as to give, “The glorious, immortal, and pious memory,” 
 which had nearly shipwrecked all. The King was infinitely dis- 
 pleased, but the matter was arranged. Then followed a visit to 
 Slane, Lord Conyngham’s place; an entertainment given by Trinity 
 College, set off by music and such loyal tunes as “Rule Britannia.” 
 “They had scarcely commenced the first line of that inspiring an- 
 them, when the royal countenance glowed with peculiar animation. 
 At the words, ‘ the charter of the land,’ his Majesty, slowly raising 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 751 
 
 his right arm, and looking impressively at the assemblage of persons, 
 seemed to renew, in the only manner in which the Constitution 
 would admit, the solemn compact that had been so recently entered 
 into between the King and his people. During the chorus of each 
 stanza the monarch’s feelings uniformly assumed a higher tone, 
 moving his hand, and keeping time with the orchestra, until the 
 choir came to that part which prophetically declares tnat ‘ Britons 
 never shall be slaves,’ when, in the glorious fervor of his wishes for 
 the happiness of the inhabitants of the realm, he vigorously struck 
 the table at every word.” This was characteristic, and indeed all 
 his behavior through these pageants deserved the praise of being 
 truly nat-ural, though scarcely dignified. He generally wore a field- 
 marshal’s uniform. At the Rotunda ball, we are told, “our fair 
 countrywomen and gallant beaux were so much overawed with the 
 presence of Majesty, that they completely bungled their evolutions, 
 which did not escape his penetration, for he was pleased to observe 
 ' that in whatever else the Irish can distinguish themselves, they 
 had no pretensions to dancing ’ 
 
 “I will here mention an anecdote, which is one of the many 
 instances of his Majesty’s condescension. One of the attendants 
 happened to go into the room where his Majesty was, at the Cur- 
 ragh, to look for Earl Talbot’s hat, when the man incautiously took 
 up the King’s and was going away with it; his Majesty perceiving 
 him, good-humoredly called out, ‘Stop! stop! my friend, that is my 
 hat; you must not take it.’ * j 
 
 * A little sketch is given of his conversation in his more moderate humor, 
 and the favorable impression he left. It is certain, says Mr. Wallace, that 
 he left upon the minds of persons very competent to judge, who then con- 
 versed with him for the first time, fiattering impressions both of his capacity 
 and demeanor. “Among those invited to meet him were two individuals 
 holding office in Ireland, who had agreed in being strenuous opponents of the 
 union, but now entertained adverse opinions on the Catholic claims. One of 
 these, a person equally and eminently distinguished by his eloquence, wit, 
 and personal character, sat at dinner opposite the King. Lady Conyngham 
 whispered something in the royal ear. There was nothing extraordinary in 
 this; but their eyes were directed to the opposite guest, who appeared some- 
 what disturbed by the seeming scrutiny. The King relieved him by saying; 
 ‘ Bushe. you would hardly guess that Lady Conyngham has been repeating to 
 me a passage from one of your speeches against the union. My early opinion 
 was, that yours and Mr. Saurin’s ’ (referring to the other functionary present) 
 ‘opposition to the measure was well founded; and since I have seen this 
 glorious people, and the effects produced by it, that opinion is confirmed; 
 but,’ he added, as if correcting himself, ‘I am sure you will agree with me in 
 
752 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE lY. 
 
 “Before bis Majesty left the race-course at the Curragh, be pre- 
 sented a superb whip to the Duke of Leinster, and, on handing it, 
 turned round to Capt. Browne, the ranger. ‘Mr. Browne,’ said his 
 Majesty, ‘I intend this whip to be presented to the owner of the 
 best horse in Ireland, weight for age. and I wish you to fix the 
 weight and draw up an article according to which it is to be run 
 for; and in addition to this vvhip, which is to be run for every year, 
 I give a stake of one hundred guineas annually, as I wish to en- 
 courage the breed of strong horses in this country. You will take 
 care to make the weights very heavy, and that no horse younger 
 than four years old will be permitted to run for it.’ ” 
 
 After a visit to Powerscourt, in the county of Wicklow, he laid 
 his hand on Lord Fingal’s shoulder, saying: “To-morrow you 
 shall see my letter. I think it will please.” An allusion to a sort 
 of proclamation of liberal treatment for the Catholics. He also paid 
 a visit to Slane, Lord Conyngham’s castle. 
 
 Finally, on Monday, September 3rd, the King embarked amid 
 the most rapturous demonstrations and some eccentric displays. 
 “At the edge of the shore, his Majesty declared, in answer to an 
 address, and much affected: ‘ Gentlemen, I approached your shores 
 with pleasure; I now quit them with regret. May God Almighty 
 bless you all until we again meet.’ Mr. O’Connell, with a deputa- 
 
 opinion that, now the measure is passed, you should both feel it your duty to 
 oppose any attempt to repeal it with as much zeal as you originally opposed 
 its taking place.’ Both bowed assent; and the King continued: ‘ But you all 
 committed a great mistake: you should have made terms, as the Scotch did; 
 and you could have got any terms.’ He then referred, with perfect familiar- 
 ity, to the stipulations of the Scotch union. Mr. Saurin, the anti-Catholic fimc- 
 tionary, said; ‘And the Scotch further stipulated for the establishment of 
 their national religion.’ ‘You are right,’ said the King; ‘they secured that 
 point also; but— no, no’ (again hastily checking himself), ‘you must give no 
 weight to what I have just said. It should not be supposed that I entertain 
 an opinion from which inferences might be drawn that would lead to disap- 
 pointment.’ Mr. Saurin obviously meant that the Irish Parliament, at the 
 union, should have stipulated for Protestant ascendancy; but the King ap- 
 peared to understand the Catholic by the national religion of Ireland, the 
 emancipation of which should have been made a condition. 
 
 “Despatches were received in the course of the evening, announcing the 
 riots at the funeral procession of the Queen ; and he expressed, without the 
 slightest reserve, in somewhat contemptuous terms, his dissatisfaction at the 
 want of arrangement and energy on the part of the ministers. He then ad- 
 verted to the firmness with which his father had acted in the riots of 1780; 
 and spo'<ie of him in a tone of solemn reverence, with the reality or well-acted 
 appearances of screng emotion.’’ 
 
THE LIFE OP GEORGE IV. 
 
 753 
 
 tion of ten others, on his knees presented to his Majesty a laurel 
 crown. His name was announced by Lord Sidmouth. The King 
 took particular notice of this distinguished personage, shook him 
 cordially by the hand, and accepted the tribute. Mr. O’Connell was 
 loudly cheered as he retired. Before his Majesty descended the 
 royal slip, appearing much affected, he addressed those around him: 
 ' My friends! when I arrived in this beautiful country, my heart 
 overflowed with joy; it is now depressed with sincere sorrow. I 
 never felt sensations of more delight than since I came to Ireland; 
 I cannot expect to feel any superior nor many equal, till I have the 
 hapiiiuess of seeing you again. AVhenever an opportunity offers 
 wherein I can serve Ireland, I shall seize on it with eagerness. I 
 am a man of few words. Short adieux are best. God bless you, 
 my friends — God bless you all.’ His Majesty then descending the 
 sloping avenue that led to the barge, with great activit}^ jumped 
 into it. Four gentlemen (two of them in riding dresses, with spurs 
 on) laid hold of the rudder and clung to it. Three fell into the 
 water and swam to the shore, among whom was Sir Richard Steele, 
 of Kilmainham memory. Another, more persevering than the rest, 
 stuck to the rudder until his Majesty, apprehensive for his safety, 
 ordered him to be conveyed on board a barge in attendance, and 
 thanked him for his zeal.” His Majesty at last got on board, but 
 had the mortification of being detained four days in the harbor, 
 owing to contrary winds. Not till Friday was the squadron able to 
 put to sea. The voyage, however, was to be most disastrous. The 
 King thus graphically tells the story of his sufferings and hair- 
 breadth escapes to his confidant; 
 
 THE KING TO SIR W. KNIGHTON. 
 
 “Dearest Friend, 
 
 “I am sure that you will be quite surprised, after the long 
 letter which I hope you received safe from me by this evening’s 
 post, dated from hence the day before yesterday, at receiving 
 another from me, and also from the same place, but which I hope 
 will be the last; for I have now determined, by whatever inconveni- 
 ence it may be attended, upon proceeding directly by land for Lon- 
 don, and we finally start at five o’clock to-morrow, and hope to be 
 with you before four o’clock on Saturday at Carlton House. 
 
 “ There is no time for a flt^rid description. We sailed again yes- 
 terday morning between four and five o’clock, with a most promis- 
 
754 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 ing breeze in our favor, to make the Land’s End, About two or 
 three in the evening the wind shifted immediately in our teeth; a 
 violent hurricane and tempest suddenly arose; the most dreadful 
 possible of nights and of scenes ensued, the sea breaking every- 
 where over the ship. We lost the tiller, and the vessel was for 
 some minutes down on her beam-ends; and nothing, I believe, but 
 the undaunted presence of mind, perseverance, and courage of 
 Paget preserved us from a watery grave. The oldest and most 
 experienced of our sailors were petrified and paralyzed; you may 
 judge somewhat, then, of what was the state of most of the passen- 
 gers: every one almost flew up in their shirts upon deck in terrors 
 that are not to be described. 
 
 “Most affectionately yours, 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 “Royal George Yacht, Milford Haven, Sept. 10th, 1821. 
 
 “ My Dear Freexd, 
 
 “ So many unexpected circumstances have taken place since 
 I wrote to you, that I scarce know where I am to take up matters 
 to put you aufait of everything in all quarters. It is rather a difll- 
 cult task to undertake, particularly as I know you are not partial 
 to long letters. I will, however, endeavor to do my best, and be 
 as concise as possible. 
 
 “ My last letter told you I was to embark (as I did) that day at 
 Dunleary. We made since that two efforts to stand out on our 
 homeward voyage, but were driven back by change of wind. 
 However, on Friday last we stood out suddenly upon a change of 
 wind in our favor, and persevered; but we encountered a most for- 
 midable tempest for nearly forty-eight hours, such as has been 
 hardly known by the most veteran sailor, and, with the blessing of 
 God, arrived safe in this port about eleven o’clock in the forenoon 
 of yesterday. Not to be prolix, but in order to give you some lit- 
 tle idea of our state, most of our fleet were separated, except the 
 Royal Sovereign yacht, the Liffey frigate, and ourselves. The 
 Grecian sloop of war, reckoned one of the best schooners in the 
 service, sprung her mast, and was obliged entirely to part company 
 from us in distress, and to make for the very first anchorage she 
 could, where it is hoped she is long before this in safety, though as 
 yet no intelligence of her has been received. 
 
 “Most even of our crew and company were deadly sick, but the 
 very worst of all was my poor self; and I am now for the first time, 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 755 
 
 since we are again at anchor in smooth water, risen from my bed, 
 and not without considerable exertion and inconvenience to my- 
 self. I have suffered so much solely for the purpose of writing to 
 you; for I too gratefully feel the warmth of your affectionate heart 
 towards me at all times, not only not to neglect you, but to prove 
 to you that you are always present to my mind; and I felt quite 
 sure, that if any part of our history of the last week should reach 
 you, that the short note which Francis wrote you yesterday would 
 not in the least answer the purpose of quieting your affectionate 
 anxieties and cares about me. When Francis wrote, it was in the 
 utmost haste to save the post, which leaves here before three in the 
 afternoon, that you might know something decidedly of us, and we 
 had then thoughts of pursuing our return overland, as he ac- 
 quainted you; but, upon thorough consideration, we found this 
 scheme next to impracticable — what from the very mountainous 
 and bad state of the roads through this part of South Wales, the 
 scarcity of horses, the dreadful length of the stages, and, after all, 
 the formidable length of the journey itself to London (being above 
 two hundred and seventy-two miles), and this, too, unattended 
 with any sort of comfort or accommodation on the road, at any 
 rate until we reached Gloucester. Upon the best calculation, there- 
 fore, we could not have reached our destination at earliest till 
 Thursday night. We have therefore determined, all matters con- 
 sidered, to summon up resignation and patience to our aid, to wait 
 the first steady and favorable wind, and which is now very promis- 
 ing, that will carry us round the Land’s End in about eight hours; 
 after which we shall make Portsmouth at the very latest twelve 
 hours afterwards, let the wind be then almost whatever it may. 
 
 “In addition to this, I must also say that it was quite out of the 
 question my being able, for two or three days at least, to encounter 
 so tedious a journey by land; I am so completely shattered and 
 torn to pieces by the effects and sickness of an eight-and-forty 
 hours’ tempest. Up to this moment, then, you are acquainted with 
 everything upon which it is in my power to give you an}'^ informa- 
 tion by letter. The veriest minutiae of the details of what has passed 
 since we met, you shall have from me when we meet. Now, then, 
 God bless you! Ever yours, etc., 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 The following is the diary of the voyage: “On the 8th. Satur- 
 day, the wind being unfavorable, the fleet could not proceed, and 
 
756 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 was obliged to lay to at sea during the night. On the 9th the squad- 
 ron reached Milford Haven at twelve o’clock. On the 11th the 
 royal squadron sailed from Milford. The gale being strong and 
 contrary, the fleet enicountered many dangers incident to boisterous 
 weather. On the 12th it returned to Milford Haven, and his Majes- 
 ty, after suffering much fatigue during his protracted voyage, de- 
 termined to land. j\lilford was illuminated on the 13th, athalf-past 
 five. The King landed and commenced his journey to London. 
 He slept at the Priory, the seat of the Marquis of Camden, that 
 night. On the 14th, at 4 a.m., he set out again on his journey, 
 and breakfasted at Monmouth with the Duke of Beaufort. His 
 Majesty slept that night at Chapel House, Oxfordshire. On the 
 15th his Majesty arrived at his palace in Pall Mall, at seven o’clock 
 in the evening, attended by Lord Graves, after an absence of forty 
 days, twenty-two of which he spent in Ireland.” 
 
 Such was this eventful progress, the disappointment at the result 
 being of course in proportion to the rapturous delight exhibited. 
 The display was virtually insincere on both sides, the epanchement 
 de coeur evoked being unwarranted. Lord Byron gave vent to his 
 contempt and bitterness at the whole proceeding in the well-known 
 lines, “ The Irish Avatar,” in which he grossly ridiculed the person 
 and the tastes of the King: 
 
 THE IRISH AVATAR. 
 
 Ere the daughter of Brunswick is cold in her grave, 
 
 And her ashes still float to her home o'er the tide, 
 
 Lol George the triumphant speeds over the wave. 
 
 To the long-cherished isle— which he loved like his bride. 
 
 But he comes! The Messiah of Royalty comes! 
 
 Like a goodly Leviathan roll'd from the waves! 
 
 Then receive him as best such an advent becomes. 
 
 With a legion of cooks and an army of slaves. . . . 
 
 Is it madness or meanness which clings to thee now? 
 
 Were he God— as he is but the commonest clay. 
 
 With scarce fewer wrinkles than sins on his brow — 
 
 Such servile devotion might shame him away. . . . 
 
 Spread, spread for Vitellius the royal repast. 
 
 Till the gluttonous despot be stuffed to the gorge. 
 
 And the roar of his drunkards proclaim him at last, 
 
 The Fourth of the fools and oppressors called “ George.” 
 
 I 
 
 The wildest hopes were naturally excited, and a passage in his 
 letter to the Lord Lieutenant, ambiguously expressed, seems to 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 757 
 
 have been construed as a promise of immediate relief for the Cath- 
 olics. “All classes and descriptions of his Irish subjects have 
 made the deepest impression on his mind, and he looks forward to 
 the period when he shall revisit them with the strongest feeling of 
 satisfaction. His Majesty trusts that, in the meantime, not only 
 the spirit of loyal union, which now so generally exists, will re- 
 main unabated and unimpaired, and that every cause of irritation 
 may be avoided and discountenanced, mutual forbearance and 
 good-will observed and encouraged, and a secunty be thus afforded 
 for the continuance of that comfort amongst themselves, which is 
 not less essential to his Majesty’s happiness than to their own, and 
 which it has been the chief object of his Majesty, during his resi- 
 dence in this country, to cherish and promote.” This was no more 
 than a benevolent desire for peace among the opposing factions. 
 
 A great deal, however, was built on his studiously courteous \ 
 reception of the Catholics, who were received in the closet, which f 
 caused consternation among many of the old “true blue” order. 
 The impression made on the Duke of Montrose is worth recording. 
 “It is not a little remarkable,” he WTites to Lord Eldon; “also, 
 the command over themselves wdiich the whole nation have had, 
 from the highest to the lowest. At the theatre, though full of en- 
 thusiasm, they had a quietness and a desire to conduct themselves 
 with propriety I never saw before. I have seen no drunkenness, 
 no unregulated marks of affection and loyalty in the city; else- 
 where, indeed, they have pressed upon the King to see and to touch 
 him, a little inconveniently, and mixed perhaps with some super- 
 stition, as if some good would happen to them in some way or 
 other from having touched the King or his clothes. The manner in 
 which his Majesty has been received has had a great effect on his 
 Majesty’s feelings, and requires great tact not to hurry his Majes- 
 ty into expressions which discretion may lament, or into compari- 
 sons more open perhaps than politic; also, perhaps, into grounds 
 of expectation and hope which can hardly be realized.” There 
 was sound sense in these forecasts. Within a short time there 
 was disgust on the one side at unfulfilled hope, and on the other 
 a sense that his bourgeois familiarities and giaciousness had been 
 ill-repaid. 
 
758 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV, 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 1821. 
 
 In his absence occurred the death of the unfortunate Queen, 
 whose troubled career was no doubt hurried to a close owing to the 
 recent mortification she had encountered. It had been almost 
 settled that she was to undertake a sort of tour in Scotland — it may 
 ^be presumed a counter-move to the Irish expedition of her consort. 
 There was, Sir Henry Holland says, a strange sort of irrational 
 bravery in her nature, which made her disregard all common pre- 
 cautions. not merely as to public opinion, but even where personal 
 risk was concerned. An acute internal inflammation had gone on 
 for a couple of days without any attempt at checking it. She went, 
 as we have seen, to the theatre; and it was on an accidental visit of 
 her physician. Dr. Holland, that the first notice was taken of the 
 malady. Bulletins were now regularly issued, but by the end of 
 the week recovery was found to be hopeless. Her faithful friends 
 gathered round her dying bed; Lord and Lady Hood (who, how- 
 ever, w'ere quitting her service, the poor lady having selected a new 
 favorite, the Rev. Mr. Wood, a sou of the alderman). Lady Anne Ham- 
 ilton, Mr. Wilde, Dr. Lushington, and the two counsel. Brougham 
 and Denman — the former quitting the sickbed of his child to corne 
 to her. Mr. Denman describes what he saw with much true feel- 
 ing. She lay on a sofa, a handkerchief round her head, her face 
 flushed, her eyes bright, while she gave instructions for her will. 
 From the first she had but little hope, and indeed was eager to 
 quit the world that had been so troubled for her; and Lord Hood 
 assured Mr. Denman that the speech reported in the newspapers 
 was often on her lips- “ I shall quit life without regret.” She was 
 constant and cheerful throughout, even heroic, without being the- 
 atrical. On the Tuesday she grew suddenly worse, and towards 
 evening an access of fever coming on, mortification having set in, 
 she with much vehemence of manner and excitement denounced 
 the conspiracies and persecution that had attended her, but pres- 
 ently became calm. Seeing Dr. Holland beside her, she said with 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 759 
 
 a smile: “Well, my dear doctor, what do you think now?” She 
 took leave of her friends, thanking them for their kindness, and in 
 a not undignified fashion passed away about ten o’clock on the night 
 of August 7, 1821. By her will and codicils what fortune she pos- 
 sessed was left to her protege Austin, with remembrances to various 
 friends and dependants. Some debts — indeed £15,000 for her house 
 — she commended to the care of the Government. She desired that 
 she should be interred at Brunswick, and that the inscription, 
 
 Here lies Caroline of Brunswick, the injured Queen of England,” 
 be put on her coffin. If we can trust the profuse accounts of her 
 conversations, one of her last acts was to declare her forgiveness of 
 Dumont’s calumnies. Mr. Wilde, afterward Lord Chancellor, was 
 with her to the last, and told Mr. Denman that in her delirium the 
 name of Bergami was never mentioned.* 
 
 The excitement and grief at Hammersmith during these events 
 was prodigious — expresses passing and repassing, the people crowd- 
 ing at the gates to learn the news. The whole kingdom was pro- 
 foundly moved. Lord Castlereagh’s blunt opinion was, that it was 
 “to be regarded as the greatest of all possible deliverances for his 
 Majesty and the country.” But though this might be so, her inter- 
 ment was to bring his Majesty the most serious trouble and incon- 
 venience. 
 
 It was evident that the funeral would be seized on as an opportu- 
 nity for a public demonstration, which the Government were natur 
 ally eager to check. They resolved, therefore, while paying her the 
 honors of a “lying in state,” guards of honor, etc., that the body 
 should not be taken through the City proper, but be brought round 
 by devious and private ways. But the various partisans of the 
 Queen, female as well as male, were determined that some capital 
 should be made out of the display. A foolish correspondence 
 was published between the Prime Minister and Lady Hood, the 
 latter demanding that the funeral should be put off till she got her 
 mourning ready — that there should be no guards, but the people 
 should be trusted. On the day of the funeral — which was on the 
 day week of her death — the unseemly proceedings began by a 
 wrangle between the executors and the undertakers. Dr. Lushing- 
 ton made formal protest, urging the indecent haste shown, the 
 
 * Some Methodists were singing hymns on the river opposite her house, and, 
 as they raised their voices, a violent gust of wind burst open the door of her 
 room. At that moment she expired. 
 
760 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 forcing into the procession a guard. “Touch the body at your 
 peril!” exclaimed the eminent counsel. “You will not use vio- 
 lence?” replied the undertaker, who also had to endure much abuse 
 of the strongest from Mr. Wilde. Both he and the undertaker 
 declared they would use force to carry out their views, but wiser 
 counsels prevailed, and the procession set out at about eight o'clock. 
 It must be said that, un ler the circumstances, the affair was con- 
 ducted handsomely. A hear.se emblazoned with escutcheons and 
 drawn by eight horses, heralds, twelve mourning coaches, and six 
 squadrons of troopers, made a handsome show. But there was a 
 deluge of rain that never ceased. The arrangements, no doubt due 
 to the dull Lord Sid mouth — ware from the starting-point carried out 
 with a mixture of obstinacy and weakness that led to disastrous 
 results. It had been determined that at Kensington the procession 
 should turn off the main-road, ascending the sleep Church Street, 
 and so gain the Bayswater Road. But on arriving at this point, it 
 was found that an enormous barricade of overturned w'agons, etc., 
 had been formed, which was literally impassable. The procession 
 halted, while messengers were despatched for instructions to the 
 Prime Minister. Towards eleven there arrived a Bow Street 
 magistrate at the head of a troop of Life Guards, and who decided 
 that it w^as impossible to force the obstruction. Amid yells of 
 triumph from the mob, the word was given to move on to the gate 
 next to Knightsbridge Barracks, w^here it was proposed to cross the 
 Park. Here it became evident that the passionate excitement of the 
 mob would lead to mischief, for they clung to the gates and refused 
 to let them be opened. Again the authorities had to yield, and the 
 crowd, flying on before, were found to have formed a fresh obstruc- 
 tion at Park Lane, where the next passage upwards was to be 
 attempted. The officers in command, as well as the magistrate, 
 had received the most imperative instructions not to go through the 
 City, and were determined, or rather were obliged, to carry them 
 out at all costs. The only resource appeared to be to open the Park 
 gates and make for the gate where the Marble Arch now stands. 
 Thus foiled, the crowd made for the gate, which they clo.'ied, and 
 threw up a barricade in the direction of the Edgeware Road, along 
 which the procession was to be taken. The railings were torn down 
 and converted into pikes; the soldiers were attacked furiously with 
 brickbats and stones, and, showing much good temper, were at last 
 obliged to fire, killing two persons and wounding several others. 
 On this the mob fell back sullenly, but, as will be seen, were not 
 
TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 761 
 
 beaten. For his share in this transaction, Sir Robert Wilson, having 
 remonstrated with the officers in command in unbecoming language, 
 was dismissed from the army. No doubt this was a severe step, 
 but not more than was warranted by his behavior. Even after the 
 collision^ Lord Liverpool, who directed all the proceedings, sent 
 repeated instructions to the magistrate to carry out the original pro- 
 gramme, which the militsiry all through persisted could have been 
 done, but after the bloodshed at the Park, those in charge did not 
 wish to risk another collision. The reason they were so eager not 
 to pass through the City, was the foolish idea that the body would 
 be seized and detained there in consequence of the executors’ pro- 
 test against the “indecent haste ” exhibited. It is curious to find 
 that they were also afraid the Lord Mayor would not admit the 
 military. The procession, having made its way to Tottenham Court 
 Road, had succeeded thus far in carrying out their programme — 
 though indeed it was a strange funeral progress, marked at every 
 step by violence, ill-will, stones, and bloodshed. Here there was 
 found another enormous barricade. Attempts were made to turn 
 the obstacle, but the result was that the procession was driven down 
 to Drury Lane, and presently forced to enter the City at Temple 
 Bar. The people having tlius gained the victory, the body was 
 taken triumphantly through the City, being met by the Lord Mayor 
 and authorities. 
 
 It took a couple of days to get to Harwich' where on the embarka- 
 tion there was a fresh unbecoming scene, though not an actual dis- 
 turbance At Colchester an altercation took place in the church 
 as to screwing on the plate with the inscripticn, “Injured Queen 
 of England,” which the undertaker objected to, but which Dr. Lush- 
 ington insisted on. The entrance into Harwich is described by the 
 Queen’s friends as offering a most degrading spectacle: “The under- 
 taker leading on a lame horse, ten of his assistants following in pairs 
 — a miserable spectacle, both as to cattle and dress: some with 
 shoes, seme with gaiters, some in spurs, others not.” Unfortunately 
 there is always something mean even in the most pretentious of 
 these ceremonials — nothing is more degrading than the “ behind the 
 scenes ” of these things. But it does not appear that the rites that 
 attended the hapless Caroline to her grave were wmrse than others. 
 The coffin was put on board a man-of-war, but it was then seen 
 that another plate and inscription had been substituted. O i the 
 24th of August it reached Brunswick, and was there interred with 
 due state and ceremony at nightfall. 
 
762 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE lY. 
 
 The "whole obstructive attitude of the executors was indeed un- 
 reasonable, and justified Lord Sidmouth in describing it as factious. 
 Their particular grievance was the “ indecent haste ” with which 
 within a week the obsequies were pressed on, and the mode in 
 which the direction was assumed by Government. But the case of 
 the Government was unanswerable. The time, within three days, 
 had actually been fixed by the Queen herself in her will. The Gov- 
 ernment was defraying all expenses, and the King, as her husband, 
 had the undoubted right of making what arrangements he thought 
 fit. Even all these were to be subservient to the public peace. That 
 the charges of wishing to perform the ceremonies meanly and of 
 wishing to give her maimed rites were unfounded, is shown by the 
 order of the programme. 
 
 The Government w^as much troubled by these untoward events. 
 It is amusing to find Lord Sidmouth, who was attending the King 
 in Dublin, advising “that the tables should be turned, and we 
 must become the accusers of the complainants, instead of suffering 
 the complainants to be the accusers.” Otherwise he is convinced 
 “ the Government will suffer severely in estimation and character.” 
 The police magistrate was dismissed. A contrast was the behavior 
 of Lord Liverpool, who wrote eagerly to Dublin to propose a gen- 
 eral mourning, which he said would gracefully wind up the un- 
 happy business. But the King would not agree to this. He was 
 displeased, too, at the bodj^ not being embarked in the river, but 
 the Admiralty had objected. Lord Liverpool again pressed that 
 the mourning should be general, and pronounced three weeks too 
 short; but the King declined to alter his resolution. 
 
THE LIFE OF OEOBOE IV. 
 
 763 
 
 CHAPTEIl VI. 
 
 1821—1822. 
 
 In this year also the King set off to visit Hanover. Sir William 
 Knighton attended his Majesty, and wrote to his own family re- 
 ports of his progress. They got to Brussels on Thursday the 28th 
 of September. “ The Duke of Wellington and Lords Londonderry 
 and Clancarty were in waiting to receive us. In about half an hour 
 after our arrival the King of the Netherlands, the Prince of Orange, 
 and Prince Frederick paid their respects to his Majesty. We were 
 all introduced. We then sat down to dinner, amounting to twenty- 
 eight persons. I had one of my bad headaches; but I am now 
 quite well. The truth is, I have so much to do I am almost worked 
 to death. Sir B. precedes us. My King, God bless him! never 
 gives me a moment. The pen is never out of my hand b}^ day, and 
 it is his wish that I sleep in his dressing-room at night; so that he 
 has access to me at all hours. You will not, therefore, be surprised 
 that you do not get long letters from me.” 
 
 On Monday the 1st of October he writes: “This has been a 
 busy and an interesting day. Early this morning we quitted Brus- 
 sels for this place. We reached the little village of Waterloo about 
 twelve o’clock, accompanied by Prince Frederick of Holland, the 
 Duke of Wellington, Lord Clancarty, and a number of persons of 
 minor distinction. The King went into the little church of the 
 village, examined all the tablets of inscription upon the walls, then 
 visited the willow-tree under which was buried the shattered limb 
 of Lord Anglesey, and seemed greatly impressed with all around 
 him. The. day was very unfavorable — it rained torrents; but, not- 
 withstanding this, the King went to the plain of Waterloo, accom- 
 panied by the duke, and examined every part of the various posi- 
 tions.” This seems to have left a vivid impression on the King’s 
 mind. He often used to describe the ground and the battle, as it 
 had been explained to him, and after libations of his favorite 
 liqueurs, would delude himself that he had actively taken part in 
 
7C4 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 the operations of the glorious day.* At Dusseldorf “the whole 
 garrison marched out by torchlight to serenade the King on his 
 arrival. The effect was beautiful: I never heard such bands. The 
 style in which they played ‘God save tlie King’ was enough to 
 electrify one. I get but little sleep I am, however (thanks be to 
 the Almighty!), quite well. You may -judge what I have to do. 
 Sir B. is at Hanover, or nearly so, by this time. Our suite consists 
 of nearly forty horses, besides the escort; and all this moves with- 
 out the slightest confusion. I have now two large Prussian grena- 
 diers at my bedroom door.” 
 
 On Saturday the 6th of October they were at Osnaburg, where 
 he was received with great rejoicings, illuminations, reviews, and 
 even tears. Sir William tells us it was some sixty years since the 
 loyal Hanoverians had seen their King. On the 10th he made his 
 grand entry into Hanover on horseback. Then followed levees 
 and drawing-rooms. There were battues and other festivities, a 
 hasty coronation, but the natural result of these pleasures soon de- 
 clared itself. 
 
 “Here I am, full of anxiety and wretchedness,” writes the Court 
 physician on the 4th of October. “The King has got a most severe 
 and uncomfortable fit of the gout. This attack commenced two 
 days since. I still entertain hopes that I shall be so far able to get 
 it under that we may begin our journey on Thursday w^eek. This 
 will be two days later than I expected; but still I hope to save this 
 by the route Ave intend to take. I have had an anxious time of it, 
 I can assure you; but I do not regret it.” 
 
 He soon got better, and Monday the 29th was able to set off for 
 home. At Gottingen there was a tournament, and an address from 
 the University of so feeling a character that “the King burst into 
 tears.” At a civic ball, however, he was in great spirits, dancing a 
 polonaise with the wife of Herr Von Schimmelpennick and waltz- 
 ing with the burgomaster’s daughters. Notwithstanding, Mr. Fre- 
 mantle reported that his Majest}^ returned “bored with the Ger- 
 mans and disgusted with his Hanoverians, and that his fit of the 
 gout was but a pretext to get rid of them.” 
 
 It was noted that since his dangerous voyage from Ireland, his 
 Majesty had shown signs of a new- born religious feeling. On his 
 way to London from Milford after the storm he had met Lord and 
 
 * On one occasion, boasting that he had led his own regiment dow n a great 
 hill, he earnestly appealed to the Duke of AVellington as to his recollections 
 of the feat. The reply was: “Vejry steep, your Majesty.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 765 
 
 Lady Harcourt. He got out of liis carriage and sat with them in 
 theirs, on the public highway, recounting all his perils at sea. The 
 lady, as she told her friends, was quite edified at his pious acknowl- 
 edgments of his escape, and there was quite a change to be noticed in 
 his conduct. His physician, too, writing on the German expedi- 
 tion, notes various occasions on which service was performed. 
 Connected with this feeling is an amusingly scrupulous letter on 
 the appointment of an Irish Archbishop: 
 
 THE KING TO LORD LIVERPOOL. 
 
 “ [Most secret and confidential.] 
 
 “ Carlton House, Thursday night, 12.30, May 16th, 1822. 
 “Dear Lord Liverpool, 
 
 “I have been thinking very seriously on the subject relative 
 to the Primate of Ireland, and I cannot make up my mind that 
 either you or the Lord Lieutenant are right in the conclusion which 
 you both seem disposed to come to as to the individual to be exalted 
 to that sacred station. 
 
 “lam too far advanced in life not to give subjects of this de- 
 scription the most serious and attentive consideration. It is, alas! 
 but too true that policy is too often obliged to interfere with our 
 best intentions; but I do think, where the head of the Church is 
 concerned, especially at such a moment, we ought alone to be in- 
 fluenced by religious duty. Do not be surprised at this scrupulous 
 language, for I am quite sincere. I think that you would do well 
 to inquire of the Archbishop of Canterbury if no English bishop 
 on the bench can be found fitting and suitable for such an impor- 
 tant trust; and if not, if no dignitary of the Church in this country 
 can be selected for that purpose (for you will remember that Dr. 
 Howley was most justly at once made Bishop of London); let us 
 have piety and learning if possible. Besides, I do not like, I can- 
 not reconcile myself to have the primacy of Ireland filled by an 
 Irishman, for let us not forget the particular circumstances in 
 which we are at present placed. I have no confidence in L )rd 
 Wellesley’s opinion upon this subject. I shall say no more, but I 
 desire you to give this your deliberate consideration. 
 
 “ Believe me your sincere friend, 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 It is to be also noted that effusive declarations of the Irish voyage 
 now often suggested themselves as requiring some fulfilment, and it 
 
766 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 was significant that Sir M. Tierney went about declaring that it was 
 an injustice to the King that the claims of the Catholics should be 
 refused. The King was also out of humor with his ministers as to 
 baronetcies, and on his desire to make Lord Conyngham Master of 
 the Horse, the ministry objected, on which “ a violent quarrel ” took 
 place. 
 
 The King, who had visited Ireland and Hanover, now felt that he 
 must confer a similar honor on an important portion of his domin- 
 ions. Indeed, the Scotch had already expressed some jealous dis- 
 satisfaction at the preference given to another portion of the kingdom, 
 and the Sovereign — who was now, and not unnaturally, beginning 
 to fancy himself the “idol of his people” — was eager to receive 
 fresh instalments of the welcoming acclamations of his subjects. 
 A visit to Edinburgh was therefore settled upon. 
 
 That nation, with a more wealthy middle class, and a more mag- 
 nificent nobility, far exceeded the Irish in the splendor of their 
 preparations for his reception. The whole kingdom became alive 
 with preparations, for which some antique remnants of chivalric 
 customs, newly kindled by the enthusiasm of Walter Scott, were 
 admirably adapted, in the view of scenic effect. The preparations 
 were of the most elaborate character — new roads were made, old and 
 ugly buildings thrown down, painting and decorations set on foot, 
 while for the Lord Provost a magnificent equipage or coach, with 
 six horses, was got ready; costumes and fancy uniforms, imagina- 
 tively accepted as connected with old days of chivalry, were devised ; 
 Celtic guards, etc. ; while Sir Walter Scott wrote ballads to kindle 
 the enthusiasm.* 
 
 His Majesty embarked at Gravesend on Saturday, August 10th, 
 
 * CARLE, NOW THE KING’S COME I 
 
 BY SIR WALTER SCOTT, BART. 
 
 Being new Words to an auld Spring. 
 The news has flown frae mouth to mouth, 
 The North for ance has bang’d the South; 
 The Deil a Scotman’s die o’ drouth, 
 
 Carle, now the King’s cornel 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 Carle, now the King’s come! 
 
 Carle, now the King’s come! 
 
 Thou shalt dance, and I will sing. 
 Carle, now the King’s come! 
 And so on for nearly forty stanzas. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 767 
 
 1822, amid tumultuous exclamations of joy and loyalty. The royal 
 yachts, the Lord Mayor’s barge, and a fleet of attendant boats, were all 
 moored off the hospital, and formed a scene of extraordinary bril- 
 liancy and color. The Royal George and the Royal Sovereign were 
 to take him down the river, while a squadron of war- vessels awaited 
 him at the open sea.* 
 
 The King embarking, as was latterly his wont, with a benediction 
 — “God bless you all!” — retired to his cabin to change his dress, 
 and presently appeared on the deck in full naval uniform, and 
 “ wearing a cocked hat.” His yacht was taken in tow by a steam- 
 tug, and he set off amid extraordinary excitement. Not till Wednes- 
 day did the vessels reach Leith, f As soon as it was descried all 
 Edinburgh poured out to line the hills and try and get a glimpse of 
 the visitor ; but the King determined not to land until the following 
 morning. Visitors however arrived, among them Sir W. Scott, 
 whom he greeted with, ‘ ‘ The man in Scotland I most wished to see. 
 Let him come up.” As on the Irish visit, whisky celebrated the 
 arrival, and his Majesty called for some prime Glenlivat, in which 
 he made Sir Walter pledge him.j: The latter was the bearer of a 
 
 * The modest accommodation of a royal yacht in those days offers a con- 
 trast to what is required now. “ The quarter-deck of this royal yacht scarcely 
 exceeded in decoration that of one of our crack frigates. The King’s dining- 
 cabin is a room about twenty-three feet wide and full seventeen feet deep. 
 A door, opposite to that by which we had entered, conducted us through a pas- 
 sage about three feet and a half wide and seven feet and a half long, to the 
 King’s state-cabin, or drawing-room, which we supposed to be about twenty 
 feet wide and fifteen or sixteen deep. To the left of the passage, entered by a 
 door from the state-cabin, was the King’s bedchamber, measuring about 
 thirteen feet one way and the length of the passage the other. The ceiling 
 was about six feet and a half from the deck, and the royal apartments, 
 though richly and tastefully fitted up, did not appear to contain a single 
 superfluous piece of furniture. In the two bookcases of the state-cabin were 
 several standard works. The Royal George, we understand, measures three 
 hundred and thirty tons, and was built in 1817, at Deptford dockyard, from a 
 design by Sir Henry Peake, one of the surveyors of the navy. The King's 
 trip to Ireland last year, it seems, afforded indubitable proofs of the superior- 
 ity of her construction. In the two days' gale which his majesty experienced 
 on his return, the yacht shipped scarcely any water; while the attendant 
 frigates were ‘ plunging bows and bowsprits under.’ ” 
 
 + One of the avant-couriers was the inevitable Sir William Curtis, in his 
 yacht. Die jonge '7row Rebecca Maria. 
 
 t The enthusiastic poet, who was in a sort of rapture the whole time, 
 begged for the glass, and put it in his pocket; but on his return found his 
 brother-poet Crabbe waiting, and in his excitement forgot the preclQhS relic, 
 ftnd sat down upon it, crushing it to pieces. 
 
768 
 
 TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 badge or decoration, made to the order of the ladies of Edinburgh, 
 and which he promised to wear. A bottle of wine was graciously 
 thrown into another vessel, in which his Majesty’s health was 
 drunk: a guinea was offered for the empty bottle, and refused. 
 Two noblemen begged to be allowed to keep the glasses which the 
 King had handed to them. 
 
 Sir William Knighton gives this little account of the scene: “Yes- 
 terday was the day of our arrival. The weather continued wet, 
 stormy, and uncomfortable during the whole night at Leith Roads ; 
 the yacht at anchor had an uncomfortable motion. I saw, for the 
 first time, Walter Scott, who came on board immediately on our 
 coming to anchor. He has no trace in his countenance of such 
 superior genius and softness of mind as the beauty of his writings 
 displays ; but the moment he speaks you discover a correctness of 
 understanding and a display of intellect marked by the utmost 
 accuracy of thought. Speaking of the incessant rain, he said in his 
 Scotch phraseology, ‘ All I can say is, I am perfectly ashamed of it.’ 
 The King then desired him to take a glass of cherry brandy, which 
 ne graciously handed to him himself. Walter Scott, when he had 
 drunk it, craved a great favor from his Majesty, that he might be 
 permitted to put the glass in his pocket to keep it as a relic, to his 
 feelings above all value. The King’s landing yesterday was most 
 impressive and magnificent. By all accounts, more than a million 
 of people had collected together on the occasion.” 
 
 On the following day the King entered Edinburgh, being met by 
 a magnificent procession, in which all the old offices of honor were 
 represented, and to set off which picturesque, if fanciful, dresses 
 were devised. There was the Lord Lyon with a crown on. White 
 Rod, Celtic guards, while his Majesty himself appeared in his 
 admiral’s uniform. “ He was heard to declare that the Scotch were 
 a nation of gentlemen.” At the close of the proceedings he arrived 
 at Holyrood, where the old regalia of Scotland were offered by the 
 “Knight Marischal;” then a pair of “barbed arrows” were pre- 
 sented on behalf of the “Royal Archers,” who had dresses for the 
 occasion. The day was finished at Dalkeith Palace, where the 
 young Duke of Buccleuch — then about sixteen years old — received 
 the King, who, however, brought his own cooks and household. 
 
 Then followed levees and drawing-rooms of extraordinary mag- 
 nificence. His Majesty appeared in a suit of Stuart tartan, though 
 he was not a little annoyed at the gaucherie of his admirer, Sir W. 
 Curtis, who was arrayed in a suit of the same material and clan, and 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 769 
 
 from his bulk seemed a sort of parody of his august patron At the 
 drawing-room the King appeared as a field-marshal. Then followed 
 a performance at the theatre of “Rob Roy,” and a banquet, at 
 which he was observed to partake of turtle and grouse soups, stewed 
 carp, and venison, in the first course, and in the second, of grouse 
 and apricot tart. He drank moselle, champagne, and claret. 
 
 He made a characteristic speech, in the delivery of which “the 
 voice of his Majesty was evidently affected by his feelings. There 
 was a blandness in it, a pathos, which, more than even the words, 
 spoke to the heart of every one present. Throughout his Majesty’s 
 utterance was most distinct; but, as he proceeded, there was an 
 increase of energy; and, in concluding, he placed his hand upon his 
 heart, and expressed himself with powerful emphasis.” During the 
 loyal songs, he not only beat time to the chorus, but ‘ ‘ accompanied 
 it with his voice.” A more edifying spectacle was his visit to 
 church of a Sunday morning. It was noted that “he lifted a 
 psalm-book, and stood during the reading.” * 
 
 The music and dancing seemed to give him great enjoyment, 
 which he signified by ‘ ‘ looking up at the band and snapping his 
 fingers.” The celebrated Gow orchestra, which performed at Al- 
 mack’s, was here, and his Majesty used pleasantly to despatch his 
 young host on errands to the chef d'orcJiestre, “with the benevolent 
 view of disengaging him from the more arduous duties of the table. 
 ‘ Come, Buccleuch, ’ said his Majesty, slapping him on the shoulder, 
 ‘ you are the youngest man in the company, and must make yourself 
 useful.’ A glass of liqueur having been offered to the young duke 
 immediately after dinner, the King observed it, and said with a 
 gracious smile, ‘No! no! it is too strong for his grace to drink.' 
 After dinner his Majesty rose from his seat, and, advancing close to 
 the band, graciously condescended to address Mr. Gow for the space 
 of several minutes. Among other battering remarks, he observed r 
 
 * “ The spectacle of a monaich proceeding to humble himself in adoration 
 before the King of kings could scarcely fail with a rational people to act as 
 an example— as an incentive to devotion, rather than as the signal of clamor- 
 ous rejoicing. When the royal carriage w'as near to the Cross, a few boys 
 took off their hats, as if about to cheer his Majesty; but some old men dis- 
 suasively held up their hands, and the most prompt obedience was yielded to 
 the signal. This circumstance was much noticed by the King, who turned 
 roimd, seemingly pleased, and made some observation respecting it to his 
 attendants. Indeed, we have reason to believe that there was no part of the 
 behavior of his Scottish subjects which was more admired by his majesty 
 than their conduct on this solemn occasion.” 
 
 33 
 
770 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 * From my earliest years I have always been fond of Scottish music, 
 and have often listened to it with pleasure, but have never had so 
 great a treat as this evening. I am happy to see the representative 
 of Neil Gow in this place ; and long may he live to delight his 
 friends! ’ Gow was quite confounded with such a marked proof of 
 the royal regard — his heart swelled, and his lips faltered; but, sen- 
 sible that some acknowledgment was due, which, if not courteous, 
 ought at least to be emphatic, he made an effort to ejaculate the 
 words, ‘God Almighty bless your Majesty! ’ which fell upon the 
 royal ear in indistinct murmurs. When the King had withdrawn, 
 Gow in some degree recovered his composure, and was heard to 
 utter, ‘ I’m perfectly contented to die now! ’ ” 
 
 On the 29th of August the King took his departure. His last 
 words on quitting Dalkeith being his favorite benediction, ‘ ‘ God 
 bless you all !” * 
 
 * One of those fantastic exhibitions which he delighted in and encouraged, 
 attended his departure. “In Ireland last year he was visited by a poor 
 diminutive Irish cripple of the name of O’Brien, who came from the south 
 coast in a miniature cutter of his own constructing, not more than four feet 
 in length, and in which (his legs and the greater part of his body being curi- 
 ously stowed under the deck) he encountered rather a stormy sea in coasting 
 along into Dublin Bay. He got safely alongside the royal yacht, however, 
 and appeared in his tiny bark before his majesty, who, pleased with the 
 novel effort of the dwarfish and adventurous sailor, gave orders that ten 
 sovereigns, with a plentiful supply of provisions, should be presented to him. 
 The completion of this spirited expedition justly entitled the obscure navi- 
 gator to preferment, and he was promoted by the sailors to the rank of com- 
 modore, by which title he has been familiarly distinguished ever since. On 
 the occasion of his Majesty’s recent visit to Scotland, O’Brien deemed it 
 proper to repeat his demonstrations of loyalty and attachment; and for this 
 purpose he shipped himself and his craft to Scotland, but it was upset and 
 lost, and the King kindly ordered a new one for him.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 771 
 
 CHAPTER Yir. 
 
 1822-1824. 
 
 But while he was engaged in his junketing to Scotland a very 
 serious event had occurred. This was the death of Lord London- 
 derry.* It was curious that while he was in Ireland he should have 
 lost his Queen, and while in Scotland his Minister. Naturally this 
 death threatened serious annoyance for the King. He, as his min- 
 isters also, felt that Mr. Canning alone must fill the vacancy. Lord 
 Liverpool suggested that the matter should stand over till the Scotch 
 progress should be concluded. Lord Liverpool was probably not 
 sorry that the occupations of a different kind to which his Majesty 
 was pledged for the next week or two would give him time gradu- 
 ally to accustom his mind to the contemplation of what he himself 
 must have seen to be so desirable as to be almost unavoidable ; and 
 therefore in his lirst communication proposed to postpone all dis- 
 cussions on the subject till the King should return to London. The 
 King’s reply approved the delay. 
 
 * On leaving the King, a gentleman (Sir J. Beckett) said to him carelessly: 
 '‘So you purpose leaving us for the Congress?” “Purpose!” was the answer; 
 “so you are in the conspiracy against me, to prevent me going?” The other 
 was confounded, and knew not what to answer. But to the Duke of Welling- 
 ton his behavior was more strange. He had noticed, he said, his silence and 
 depression. “ Just,” he continues in his memorandum, “ as he was starting 
 for the Netherlands at four o'clock, he took me into his house to talk to me 
 about the same story that he told to you and to Lord Livei-pool; and, strange 
 to say, he imagined from my manner at the last Cabinet, and afterwards 
 walking home with him, that I had heard something against him, and believed 
 it. ■’He thought the same of the Duke of York. And he told me some 
 strange story of a man telling him this day that his horses were waiting for 
 him when he was coming out of Carlton House .... as a proof that the 
 person who had ordered up his horses thought there was so much against 
 him that he ought to fly the country. He then rang the bell to ask about his 
 horses.” He then cried excessively. The Duke adds: “I fear he has men- 
 tioned this story to more.” The Duke at once sent to Dr. Bankhead, Lord 
 Londonderry’s medical adviser, who went to him, cupped him, and suc- 
 ceeded in getting him down to his country place, also going himself. He tells 
 
772 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEOBGE IV. 
 
 THE KING TO LORD LIVERPOOL. 
 
 “ [Private.] 
 
 “ Royal George Yacht, Leith Roads, 
 
 “ August 15, 1822. 
 
 “Dear Lord Liverpool, 
 
 “I cannot express the painful grief which I feel at your 
 melancholy communication; melancholy indeed, both for myself 
 and othe*rs who knew the inestimable value of this superior and 
 excellent person. 
 
 “The ways of Providence are so inscrutable to us poor blind 
 creatures that, on occasions of this description, the agony of one’s 
 mind is lost in amazement. You, my lord, will not be surprised 
 that I should feel this. I think you have judged rightly in not 
 coming, and I quite approve that no arrangements should be thought 
 of till my return to town. Your sincere friend, 
 
 “ George R. 
 
 “ P.S. — I write one word more, to desire that you will favor no 
 intentions respecting the blue ribbon.” 
 
 But, as Mr. Yonge says, a couple of days afterwards he followed 
 up his first letter by a second, showing a curious desire to elude the 
 proposal which he foresaw must be made to him, by getting Can- 
 ning, if possible, out of the way before it could be mentioned. 
 
 THE SAME TO THE SAME. 
 
 “ [Most private.] 
 
 “ Dalkeith Palace, August 17th, 1822. 
 
 “ Dear Lord Liverpool, 
 
 “Notwithstanding the hurry and agitated confusion in 
 which I am necessarily kept, yet, as you may suppose, I cannot help 
 considering very deeply the distress and embarrassment in which 
 
 the tragedy that followed. About seven o’clock on the Monday morning the 
 maid called to him, saying Lord Londonderry wished to see him. He found 
 him in his dressing-room, standing opposite the window, with his face to the 
 ceiling. The doctor ran towards him, saying: “My dear Lord, w'hy do you 
 stand so’’’ Upon which, without turning, he answered: “Bankhead, let me 
 fall upon your arm; it is all over.” In the agony of the moment Dr. Bank- 
 head caught him on his arm, and, dreadful to relate, saw a short-bladed knife 
 in his right hand, fiercely clinched, with which he had deeply divided the 
 carotid artery. And from the sudden effusion of blood he instantly fell from 
 Bankhead’s arms on his face upon the floor, and was instantly dead without 
 a struggle. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 773 
 
 my Government must be placed by the death of my esteemed and 
 valued friend Lord Londonderry. 
 
 “The immediate object of my writing to you this letter is not to 
 make any proposal at present with a view of supplying the lament- 
 able void produced by the untimely death of this excellent states- 
 man, but to desire that you will not interrupt, and on no account 
 impede the arrangements which are already settled respecting 
 India, as it is my decision that they should remain final and un- 
 alterable. 
 
 “ I am induced to say thus much to you for the purpose of guard- 
 ing you against any new negotiations with the individual in 
 question. Believe me, your sincere friend always, 
 
 “G. R” 
 
 MR. PEEL TO LORD LIVERPOOL. 
 
 “ [Most private.] 
 
 “ Edinburgh, August 20th, 1822. 
 
 “Dear Lord Liverpool, 
 
 “I think it right, at least it will be a satisfaction to my 
 mind, to mention to you something which passed with the King 
 yesterday. 
 
 “On going into the closet to him before the addresses were pre- 
 sented, he said to me, ‘ I will now tell you what I purposely post- 
 poned telling you until forty-eight hours after I had done it, that I 
 have written to Lord Liverpool informing him that it is my decided 
 intention that all the arrangements with respect to India should 
 remain as they were settled before Lord Londonderry’s death, and 
 that there should be no delay in completing them.’ The King added, 
 ‘ I hope you think I have done right.’ I replied that I was sensible 
 of his kindness in not having previously mentioned his intention to 
 write to j^ou, and that I hoped he would excuse me if I declined 
 giving any opinion upon the subject of his letter to you, or saying 
 a word upon any point connected with it. 
 
 “ Believe me, dear Lord Liverpool, yours most truly, 
 
 “Robert Peel.” 
 
 THE KING TO LORD ELDON. 
 
 "Royal George Yacjit, Leith Roads, 
 
 “ August 15th, pt. 8 P.M., 1822. 
 
 “My dear Friend, 
 
 “I have this moment heard from Liverpool of the melan- 
 choly death of his and my dear friend, poor Londonderry. On 
 
774 
 
 THE LIFH OF GEORGE TV, 
 
 Friday was the last time I saw him: my own mind was then filled 
 with apprehensions respecting him, and they have, alas! been but too 
 painfully verified. My great object, my good friend, in writing to 
 you to-night* is to tell you that I have written to Liverpool, and I 
 do implore of you not to lend yourself to any arrangement what- 
 ever, until my return to town. This, indeed, is Lord Liverpool’s own 
 proposal; and, as you may suppose, I have joined most cordially in 
 the proposition. It will require the most prudent foresight on my 
 part relative to the new arrangements that must now necessarily 
 take place. You may easily judge of the state of my mind. 
 Ever believe me, Your sincere Friend, 
 
 “G. R” 
 
 It will thus be seen that the King fancied that this transparent 
 artifice, this affected eagerness that the arrangements of the late 
 Secretary should be carried out, would escape observation. 
 
 When the King returned to town, however, a very serious strug- 
 gle began, and he showed that he was determined to resist the in- 
 troduction into his Cabinet of the person he so disliked. The 
 Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington, who was at this time ill, 
 and the Cabinet generall3^ with the exception of the Chancellor, 
 felt that there was no other course to be taken. They were, more- 
 over, aided by the camarilla influence. It was lamentable to find 
 the King invariably taking issue on matters where resistance was 
 perfectly idle; but there are weak minds which are deluded into 
 supposing that such a struggle in which they are worsted is a vic- 
 tory instead of a humiliation. He had some reliance on the Duke 
 of Wellington, to whom he despatched Sir W. Knighton for advice 
 and consultation; “the gentleman,” the Duke says, “whom the 
 King had been so kind as to send to him.” To him he gave the 
 most substantial and sensible reasons for submission, based on Can- 
 ning’s talents, and his opinions being in the main the same as those 
 of the Government. As to the Chancellor’s objections, if Canning 
 had spoken harshly of him, so had he of Canning. As to the 
 * King’s “feelings,” the Duke addressed his Majesty in this bold and 
 manR strain- “ Then your ]N[ajesty’s feelings. Your Majesty con- 
 ceives that Mr. Canning has offended you, and that your Majesty’s 
 honor requires that you should resent this offence. If it were a 
 case between two individuals, they should lay aside their private 
 feelings for the good of the public. But when it came to be a 
 point between the King and one of his subjects, then the honor of 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 775 
 
 your Majesty consists in acts of grace and mercy, and I am con- 
 vinced that your Majesty’s honor is most safe in extending your 
 grace and favor to Mr. Canning.” 
 
 THE KING TO THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. 
 
 “Carlton House, September 5, 1822. 
 
 “My dear Friend, 
 
 “I was very glad to learn by the friend whom I sent to your 
 bedside yesterday, that you w^ere rather better, and I hope that I 
 shall have your further amendment confirmed by him to-day. 
 
 “ He gave me a most faithful and detailed account of your opin- 
 ion and kind feelings under the painful embarrassment in which we 
 are at present placed, and I must confess that it has produced a 
 stronger conviction on my mind than anything that has been pre- 
 viously urged by others. If I could get over that which is so inti- 
 mately connected with my private honor, all might be well ; but 
 how, my friend, is that to be effected? I have a perfect reliance 
 in your dutiful affection towards me as your Sovereign; I have the 
 most unbounded confidence in your sentiments of regard tow^ards 
 me as your friend; my reliance therefore in you is complete. I 
 am, with great truth, . Your affectionate, 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 THE SAME. 
 
 “ Carlton House, September 7, 1822. 
 
 “My dear Friend, 
 
 “If you are quite well enough to come out to-day, of course 
 I shall be most anxious to see you; but let me desire of you in the 
 strongest manner not to leave your room at any hazard. 
 
 “I have written to Lord Liverpool to say I shall defer my inter- 
 view with him until I shall have had the pleasure of seeing you. My 
 friend, whom I again send with this, will receive from you, in the 
 interim, any new sentiments or opinions that further reflection may 
 have induced you to form on the painful subject under considera- 
 tion. I am most sensibly impressed with your dutiful and affec- 
 tionate attention to my interests and happiness. Believe me, wfith 
 great truth. Your affectionate, 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 The Chancellor, whose clinging to office seemed to delude him 
 into the most extraordinary compromises, had talked of resigning. 
 
776 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 He now, however, found himself alone in the Cabinet in his oppo- 
 sition. His explanation of his situation to the Duke of Welling- 
 ton is truly amusing, and it is needless to say the episode is 
 lightly touched in Mr. Twiss’s biography. “ I saw the King,” he 
 writes to the Duke, “this morning (September 8), and he was in- 
 clined to tell me what he was about to tell Lord Liverpool, and to 
 ask my advice. I stated that it was not proper for me to give ad- 
 vice on a thing that I did not concur in. I could not induce myself 
 to act according to the advice you gave me this morning. In truth, 
 I know not how any person who has seen the King in the distress 
 in which I have seen him during this week, and has heard what 
 has fallen from his lips during this week, could in any way further 
 this measure.” At the same time he owns that the Duke’s words 
 “had led to some improvement in my own conduct.” He would 
 like to see him again! 
 
 THE KING TO LORD LIVERPOOL. 
 
 “ [Private.] 
 
 “ Carlton House, September 8, 1822. 
 
 “Dear Lord Liverpool, 
 
 “I send you the enclosed note; by this you will see that 1 
 have sacrificed my private feelings, as you and other members of 
 the Cabinet have represented to me that it is what you consider to 
 be for the good of the public service. I have on every occasion, as 
 in this instance, shown my regard and sincerity towards my Gov- 
 ernment, and I therefore look with confidence to a similar return 
 This is the greatest sacrifice of my opinions and feelings that I 
 have ever made in my lifa 
 
 “Believe me, your sincere Friend, 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 THE SAME. 
 
 “ Carlton House, September 8, 1822. 
 
 “ The King has given the fullest consideration to the proposition 
 submitted by Lord Liverpool relative to the admission of Mr. Can- 
 ning into the King’s Government. 
 
 “The King has always been justly impressed with the value of 
 Mr. Canning’s talents, and the King had taught himself to believe 
 that such talents might and ought to have been exercised for the 
 benefit of his Sovereign and his country. 
 
 “ When Mr. Canning thought proper to tender his resignation to 
 
THE LIFE OF GEOROE IV. 
 
 777 
 
 the King, and to retire from the King’s councils, the King ex- 
 pressed to Mr. Canning his regret that the country was to be de- 
 prived of his services. 
 
 “ It was at this period of time that the King had reason to view 
 with surprise the line of conduct which Mr. Canning then, and 
 afterwards, thought proper to adopt. 
 
 “The King forbears to enter into details; the King is aware 
 that the brightest ornament of his crown is the power of extend- 
 ing grace and favor to a subject who may have incurred his dis- 
 pleasure. 
 
 “The King therefore permits Lord Liverpool to propose Mr. 
 Canning’s readmission into the Government, and the King desires 
 that the communication may be made to Mr. Canning by the trans- 
 mission of this note. G. R. 
 
 LORD LIVERPOOL TO THE KING. 
 
 “ [Private.] 
 
 “ Coombe Wood, September 8, 1883. 
 
 “Lord Liverpool has this moment had the honor of receiving 
 your Majesty’s letter, and he feels himself quite overcome with the 
 generosity and goodness manifested by your Majesty, in the sacri- 
 fice which your Majesty has condescended to make of 3'our personal 
 feelings, to the consideration of what has been humbly represented 
 to jmur Majesty by so many of your confidential servants, as the 
 advantage of the public service. 
 
 “Your Majesty may most fully rely upon the deep impression 
 which this act of confidence and kindness of your Majesty cannot 
 fail to make upon the minds of Lord Liverpool and of all those 
 with whom your Majesty has been graciously pleased to communi- 
 cate upon this most trying occasion. 
 
 “Lord Liverpool will, in obedience to your Majesty’s commands, 
 communicate to Mr. Canning your Majesty’s letter, by which your 
 Majesty has been graciously pleased to consent to his admission 
 into your Majesty’s service. ” 
 
 Lord Liverpool was “quite overcome by the generosity and 
 goodness” of his Majesty. But it is curious to find that not until 
 three days later, and after an interview, did he communicate the 
 King’s letter to Canning;* while the latter did not send his reply 
 
 * Lord Liverpool’s doubts in sending the King’s letter are shown in his own 
 to Canning. He urged on him “ that after the severe calamity which the 
 King and the coimtry have sustained, and under all circumstances of the 
 
 33 * 
 
TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 to his Majesty for yet two more days. The King’s letter is dated 
 September 8th, and Canning's reply the 13th. The meaning of this 
 delay in Mr. Canning’s case arose not, as Mr, Yonge supposes, from 
 a disinclination to resign his Indian appointment, but from indig- 
 nation. He took particular offence at the words “grace and fa- 
 vor,” as did also his wife, and he wrote an angry reply to Lord 
 Liverpool, which he intended should be shown to the King. How- 
 ever, Mr. Charles Ellis and Lord Grenville, on hearing of this, 
 hurried to him, and by the most earnest arguments succeeded in 
 dissuading him from sending the document. 
 
 MR. CANNING TO THE KING. 
 
 “ Gloucester Lodge, September 13th, 1822. 
 
 “Mr. Canning apprehends that it might be considered as disre- 
 spectful to the King to omit taking notice of the letter from his 
 Majesty to Lord Liverpool, w^hich Lord Liverpool was specially 
 directed to transmit to Mr. Canning. 
 
 “Mr, Canning therefore acknowledges, with all thankfulness and 
 humility, the King’s spontaneous signification of his Majesty’s 
 ‘ grace and favor,’ and he is particularly grateful for his Majesty’s 
 great condescension in specifying the precise period of time at which 
 INIr, Canning had the misfortune to ‘incur his Majesty’s displeas- 
 ure,’ as he is confident that, if he were not restrained by his IMajes- 
 ty’s declared wish from entering into details, he could make it clear 
 that in the transactions of that period he had not the remotest inten- 
 tion of giving any offence to his Majesty. 
 
 “Mr. Canning has only further to express his humble acknowl- 
 edgments to his Majesty for the confidence so generously manifest- 
 ed in the very nature of the proposal which his Majesty has author- 
 ized Lord Liverpool to make to him, a confidence which it will be 
 Mr. Canning’s earnest and constant endeavor to deserve.” 
 
 present crisis, a sense of public duty must preclude you from making any 
 difficulty as to taking your part in the councils of the King's Government at 
 home at this time. I know enough of his Majesty’s disposition and mag- 
 nanimity to be satisfied that, however his feelings may have been wounded 
 by some past occurrences, the causes of which have now gone by, he 
 would never have consented to admit you, or anyone, into his councils, unless 
 he had determined to afford to the individual the fullest confidence that 
 might be necessary for the discharge of the important duties of the high and 
 arduous situation which he might be called upon to fill.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 779 
 
 There is something ironical in the quotation of the words ‘ grace 
 and favor,’ and the affected gratitude. The King, however, does 
 not appear to have been informed of the real reason for the delay, 
 which he was surprised at. 
 
 THE KING TO THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. 
 
 “ Carlton House, 4 p.m., September 13th, 1822. 
 
 “ My Dear Friend, 
 
 “ I am glad to find, by my friend, that you are better to-day; 
 and I hope and trust that the indisposition is nearly over. 
 
 “Lord Liverpool has just been with me, and the affair respecting 
 Canning may be considered as concluded. The reason given for 
 the delay was what you kindly sent to me this morning; viz. — the 
 sentiment expressed in my letter, which either you or I should have 
 settled in five minutes. I was glad to find there was no other 
 crotchet or proposition behind. This ends the last calamity. My 
 reliance is on you, my friend; be watchful therefore. God bless 
 you. 
 
 “Your sincere Friend, 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 It always seemed a little mysterious why the King, after so in-i 
 diligently condoning Mr. Canning’s behavior on the Queen’s trial, 
 should have taken offence at his conduct in the later proceedings 
 connected with it. Mr. Greville, who is generally well informed, 
 heard from an intimate friend of Canning’s that the resentment was 
 owing to the payments for the Milan Commission, which Lord Lon- 
 donderry promised should be charged to the State, but which Can- 
 ning insisted should be defrayed by the King himself But there 
 was another and better reason to be stated presently. 
 
 All being thus happily composed, an interview with the King 
 followed, of which Mr. Canning says coldly: “ I have reason to be 
 contented with the King’s behavior at our first interview; and I 
 have learned from good authority that his Majesty professed to have 
 been ‘ pleased and satisfied ’ with mine.” It is amusing to hear the 
 King’s account. He told Madame de Lieven “that having consent- 
 ed to receive him, he behaved, as he always did, in the most gentle- 
 manlike manner he could, and that on delivering the seals to him, 
 he said to him that he had been advised by his ministers that his 
 abilities and eloquence rendered him the only fit man to succeed to 
 the vacancy which Lord Londonderry’s death had made, and that 
 
780 
 
 THE LIFE OF OEOROE IV. 
 
 in appointing him he had only to desire that he would follow in the 
 steps of his predecessors.” There was something clever in this 
 speech. By-and-by it will be seen how this step was for the King’s 
 good, and how this admirable foreign minister was to raise his coun- 
 try to a high position abroad by his fearless resolute conduct in his 
 dealings with the representatives of other countries. 
 
 Lord Liverpool had written on the subject of sending Lord W. 
 Bentinck to India, and on some other political steps. He received 
 this reply : 
 
 THE KING TO LORD LIVERPOOL. 
 
 “ [Private.] 
 
 “ Keeper’s Lodge, October 8th, 1822. 
 
 “Dear Lord Liverpool, 
 
 “ I coincide completely with you in the opinion that it would 
 be highly unadvisable that Lord William Bentinck should be the 
 successor of Lord Hastings. 
 
 “ With respect to the other suggestions you have offered me for 
 my consideration, I must fairly acknowledge to you that I think 
 they are all attended with more or less difficulty, and any one of 
 them in the abstract likely, if not certain, of being followed by seri- 
 ous inconvenience in the result. 
 
 “ I can have no hesitation in stating as my opinion, that the pres- 
 ent Speaker would be a very proper person to go to India. As to 
 Mr. Wynne, if he is deemed the properest person to fill the vacan- 
 cy in the Chair of the House of Commons, and supposing him to 
 attain it, I am decidedly of opinion that he and all his connec- 
 tions (taking into view the two very highest and most marked favors 
 which I have conferred within the short space of two years upon 
 the Duke of Buckingham) ought to be content; and that if they are 
 not so in consequenee, nothing that ever I can do, or my Govern- 
 ment ever can or may do, will satisfy their immeasurable preten- 
 sions. 
 
 “ With regard to the admission of the Duke of Buckingham into 
 the Cabinet, I am certain that, independent of any other objection 
 to which it is so palpably open, it would be one of the most unpop- 
 ular measures that the Government could have recourse to; and 
 here I must candidly state to you an opinion which I have long 
 entertained, that my Cabinet (from a variety of circumstances) has 
 become by far too numerous ; and at the same time that I do admit, 
 that in the present instance (were it to take place) this would not 
 
TEE LIFE OF GEOROE IV. 
 
 781 
 
 be increasing the number of those who compose the Cabinet at 
 present, still I think you ought well to consider, upon any vacancy 
 occurring in several of those offices which have lately been made 
 Cabinet situations, before you suffer them to be filled up with the 
 like important trust being attached to them. 
 
 “ Your sincere Friend, 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 THE SAME. 
 
 pPrivate.] 
 
 “ Royal Lodge, Windsor Park, October 9th, 1822. 
 
 “ Dear Lord Liverpool, 
 
 “I hope you will find that I have »ot delayed the return of 
 the messenger very long. 
 
 "I shall certainly not object to the nomination of Lord Amherst 
 to the station of Governor-General in India, if he be the individual 
 that is the most desired by the Board of Directors; at the same time 
 you cannot but be sensible, that for many reasons he could have no 
 pretensions, and indeed in no way could he be the object of my 
 own selection. 
 
 “ Your sincere Friend, 
 
 “G. R.'’ 
 
 The strangely-constituted disposition of George lY. often dis- 
 played itself in his dislike to various ministers even holding the 
 more subordinate positions, to whom he objected as being forced 
 upon him. It being now proposed to promote Mr. Huskisson, he 
 offered some objections; but in this showed a certain sagacity, as it 
 would be strengthening Mr. Canning in the Cabinet, whose friend 
 he was. Lord Liverpool, however, and the others seem to have 
 arranged that the King was to be humored, by foregoing the plan 
 and by yielding to his Majesty’s objections; and it was agreed with 
 Mr. Huskisson that he was reculer pour mieux muter. 
 
 THE KING TO LORD LIVERPOOL. 
 
 “ [Private.] 
 
 “ Pavilion, Brighton, January 3, 1823. 
 
 “My dear Liverpool, 
 
 “ I have great pleasure in acquiescing in your proposal re- 
 specting Mr. Yansittart, and in whatever way it may be agreeable 
 to him to be raised to the peerage, I am most ready to assent to it. 
 I beg you will have the goodness to acquaint him that I am fully 
 
782 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 sensible of the value of bis past services, and the high estimation in 
 Avhich I hold his private character, 
 
 “I think your selection of Mr. Robinson as Mr, Yansittart’s suc- 
 cessor well judged, and one very likely to give great satisfaction to 
 the country gentlemen. 
 
 “I hope Mr. Robinson will feel the tribute of affection and re- 
 gard that has been paid to the memory of his and our friend poor 
 Lord Londonderry by your selection. 
 
 “To Mr. Huskisson’s appointment I have no objection; I think 
 that you are quite right in abridging the number in your Cabinet; 
 but I leave it entirely to your decision if you should think the ad- 
 mission of Mr. Huskisson into the Cabinet for the good of the pub- 
 lic service not to hesitate to do so, but upon this I rely with great 
 confidence on your honest and prudent judgment. Who is to suc- 
 ceed Mr. Huskisson? for that you have not mentioned. I beg to 
 offer you and Lady Liverpool * the compliments of the season. 
 
 “Believe me, with great regard, 
 
 “ Your sincere Friend, 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 There was another who had grave misgivings as to what was 
 going on — “Old Baggs,” the Lord Chancellor, What first seriously 
 staggered him was this introduction of Mr. Huskisson, Mr. Can- 
 ning’s friend, into the Cabinet. Lord Sidmouth, one of the last of 
 the “ True Blues,” was leaving. Lord Liverpool had “ backslided,” 
 He was almost the sole survivor of the supporters of the Constitu- 
 tion. “Really,” he exclaims, “this is rather too much — turning 
 out one man and introducing another in the way all this is done, is 
 telling the Chancellor that he should not give them the trouble of 
 disposing of him, but should (not treated as Chancellor) cease to be 
 a Chancellor, What makes it worse is, that the great man of all has 
 a hundred times most solemnly declared that no connection of a 
 certain person’s should come in. There is no believing one word 
 anybody says; and what makes the matter still worse is, that every- 
 body acquiesces most quietly, and waits in all humility and patience 
 till their own turn comes. I have written to Liverpool (before this 
 news came, and therefore not on the ground of this fact) that I have 
 no wish to remain Chancellor; and, to say the truth, I think those 
 
 * In the preceding autumn Lord Liverpool had married Miss Chester, a 
 niece of the first Lord Bagot. 
 
THE LIFE OF OEOUGE IV. 
 
 783 
 
 who do remain, and especially that ofiBcer, stand a very good chance 
 of being disgraced.” The “great man” was of course his “dear 
 master, ” with whom he was much discontented, and on whom, in 
 letters to his family, he could be sarcastic enough. To his Majesty 
 personally, however, he was lavish in professions of devotion. 
 
 (“ Probably July 21, 1823.) 
 
 “All the world here is running on Sundays to the Caledonian 
 Chapel in Hatton Garden, where they hear a Presbyterian orator 
 from Scotland, preaching, as some ladies term it, charming matter, 
 though downright nonsense. To the shame of the King’s ministers 
 be it said, that many of them have gone to this schism shop with 
 
 itching ears. Lauderdale told me that when Lady is there, 
 
 the preacher never speaks of an heavenly mansion, but an heavenly 
 pavilion. For other ears mansion is sufficient. This is a sample !’» 
 
 THE KING TO LORD ELDON. 
 
 “August 18, 1823. 
 
 “My dear Friend, 
 
 “ I have now to thank you for two letters: the expressions in 
 the first bespeak so well those kind and affectionate feelings of your 
 heart towards me, and so long known to me, as to ensure you a 
 thorough reciprocity on my part towards j^ourself. With respect 
 to the letter which I received from you this morning, I can only say 
 that I hope you will not neglect availing yourself of the very first 
 moment of release that you can seize from all your arduous and 
 laborious occupations, to indulge in a little tranquillity and repose 
 in the country, and which I pray God may be the means of very 
 long preserving a life so very invaluable, both to me as a friend as 
 well as to the public service. 
 
 “With sincere affection I remain always, 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 Not to be beguiled, however. Lord Eldon wrote to his venerable 
 brother: 
 
 “The appointment of Lord Francis Conyngham in the Foreign 
 Office has, by female influence, put Canning beyond the reach of 
 anything to affect him, and will assuredly enable him to turn those 
 out whom he does not wish to remain in. The King is in such 
 thraldom that one has nobody to fall back upon. The person that 
 
784 
 
 THE LIFE OF OEOROE IV. 
 
 has got . . . after having in conversations, I believe, uttered noth- 
 ing that was kind about Canning, was one of his voters for his 
 Cabinet office. The devil of it is, there is no consistency in anybody. 
 Again, upon ne cede malis, it is better to go out than to be turned 
 out ! which will assuredly be the case. God bless you. 
 
 ‘ ‘ Eldon. ” 
 
 In the following year (1824) came the alarming proposal to pass 
 an Act allowing the Catholic Earl Marshal of England to perform 
 his office, on merely taking the oath of allegiance. This was surely 
 compromising the great principle of ascendency and introducing 
 “the thin edge of the wedge.” The King appears to have been 
 rather unceremoniously treated in this matter, or gave out that he 
 was. But the ministers could not have introduced such a measure 
 without his sanction. He took the extraordinary course of calling 
 the Chancellor to his aid against his ministers. Seeing that the 
 Chancellor had given notice of a motion to put the bill off for three 
 months, accounts for the irritable tone of the letter to his sudden 
 adhesion. Lord Colchester had asked him whether he was going to 
 oppose it. He replied that “he did not know that, but he thought 
 that it ought not to proceed now.” 
 
 “ Carlton House, June 23, 1824. 
 
 “The King desires to apprise the Lord Chancellor, that the King 
 has learnt, through the medium of the newspapers, what has been 
 passing in Parliament relative to the office of Earl Marshal of 
 England. 
 
 “ The King cannot suppose that the Lord Chancellor of England 
 can approve of the King’s dispensing with the usual oaths attached 
 to that, or any other high office; but if the King should be mistaken 
 in this supposition, the King desires that the Lord Chancellor will 
 state his reasons in writing, why the King should be expected to 
 give his consent to such an unusual and unprecedented measure. 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 Yet on the following evening we find the Lord Chancellor earnestly 
 advocating the measure ! On the next evening he met his Majesty 
 at a magnificent entertainment at Apsley House. “We did not,” 
 he says, “get there till past eight — all the turtle gone, alas ! Ditto, 
 all the fish — very splendid; — open window on my left side — got a 
 cold thereby. In the evening hundreds came — one in fifty was as 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 785 
 
 many as I knew. The King went in great state with an escort of 
 horse. I think that job and prorogation to-day will lay him up. 
 
 , . , At dinner yesterday, 1. The King. 2. Duke of York. 3. 
 The Lady. 4, 5. Duke and Duchess of Wellington. 6, 7. Count 
 Lieven and Lady. 8. Prince Polignac. 9. Dutch Ambassador. 10. 
 Chancellor. 11. Marquis Conyngham. 12. His son. 13. His 
 daughter. 14. Liverpool. 15. Bathurst. 16. Melville. 17, 18. 
 Lord and Lady Warwick. 19, 20. Lord and Lady Gwydir. 21. 
 Lord Glenlyon. 22. Mr. Canning. 23. Mr. Robinson. 24. Lord 
 Maryborough. 25. Lord Westmoreland. 26. Mr. Peel. And two 
 more, I forget who.” 
 
 In such good-humor was his Majesty, that when the Chancellor 
 gave his dinner later, “he sent me a message by the Duke of York, 
 that be would have dined if he had been asked. He should cer- 
 tainly have been asked if I had been aware that he would have 
 condescended to permit me to send him an invitation. I have not 
 heard, however, of his dining out since the Crown descended upon 
 him. Perhaps it is better, great as the honor would have been, that 
 I did not know that he would have conferred it : for as to these 
 things, such a condescension would have excited a good deal of 
 jealousy in some men’s minds.” 
 
 “Parliament’s last day is over, and well over. The King went 
 to the House, and was amazingly well received in going and return- 
 ing. . . . Mamma took a view of the show in her carriage. The 
 King espied her, and, bowing to her in going, gave her no less than 
 three acknowledgments of the same kind in returning.” But not- 
 withstanding this, his faithful loyalty was sinking lower and yet 
 lower. 
 
 At the prorogation it was remarked that his Majesty “looked 
 very heavy, languid, morbid, and livid : the crown pressing heavily 
 on his brows.” He was indeed in a wretched state — his legs swell- 
 ing, with all the symptoms of dropsy. 
 
 “ I dined with the Duke of York,” goes on the Earl, “ who spoke 
 of the conduct of the Artillery at this review in terms which it 
 would have delighted the Dyneleys to hear. Our Sovereign Lord 
 the King did not attend. No weather would have prevented George 
 HI. from being at the head of his troops.” 
 
 “There was what is called a grand review in Hyde Park yester- 
 day, July 11th, 1824. The Duke of York was, I hear, very 
 popular, and prodigiously cheered. My royal master was in Carlton 
 House, i.e., within half a mile of this scene, but did not approach 
 
786 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 it. It is astonishing what is lost by this sort of dealing, and it is 
 grievous that the popularity which might be so easily earned and 
 acquired at so small an expenditure of time and trouble, should not 
 only not be secured, but a feeling of disgust and reproach be engen- 
 dered towards a person with respect to whom a very different feel- 
 ing must and ought to be created My royal master is 
 
 amusing himself, and, I am sorry to add, amusing some others, 
 pretty publicly, at Windsor. In the overturn there the other day, 
 in sight of the party of ladies and gentlemen. Admiral Sir E. Nagle 
 fell on Sir A, Barnard, and hurt him. The admiral was only 
 distressed by his small clothes being rent in pieces. He was one of 
 the King’s choice favorites. 
 
 “At about eleven, November 15th, Sir William KnigJjton called 
 upon me, ordered, as he said, to give me the King’s affectionate 
 regards; and, if all Sir William said is Gospel truth, very affection- 
 ate indeed they must be. He still remains with too much gout to 
 come to town, but hopes to manage it by Saturday, to have the 
 
 Recorder’s report To-day we have Cabinet in Downing 
 
 Street, and Council at Carlton House, to try if we can make a good 
 speech for the King. But there are too many hands at work to 
 make a good thing of it, and so you will think, I believe, when you 
 read it. 
 
 “The King^s speech was settled yesterday, in the ante- room to his 
 bedroom, he having too much gout to come downstairs. His arm, 
 in which part of the disorder is, was slung in a black handkerchief, 
 and he seemed to be in a good deal of pain. I don’t much admire 
 the composition or the matter of the speech. My old master, the 
 late King, would have said that it required to be set off by good 
 reading It falls to my lot to read it, and I should read it better if 
 I liked it better.” All these attestations of feeling are amusing 
 enough. 
 
 At this time the ambitious Secretary pressed to be made a mem- 
 ber of the Privy Council, “as a comfort to the King,” and found a 
 patron in the Duke of Wellington, who urged that as he was in such 
 confidential relation with the King, he must know all secrets, politi- 
 cal and personal, and yet was not sworn to secrecy. There was a 
 nice point involved here. Lord Liverpool objected that a private 
 secretary had no official recognition, and that no King, until his 
 late Majesty, had one, and that was owing to his blindness. Mac- 
 Mahon and Bloomfield had indeed both been Privy Councillors, 
 but “we thought it wrong, as it conferred authority and conse- 
 
TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 787 
 
 quence where there should be none. George III. , than whom no 
 one understood matters of this kind better, put his on the footing of 
 our Under-Secretary of State. The oath seems rather a far-fetched 
 idea, as both the position and an honorable understanding implied 
 secrecy, as much as an oath. 
 
 It will have been noted that an important part has been taken in 
 these transactions by this official, “the gentleman whom the King 
 was kind enough to send ” to the Duke, and who was now attaining 
 an extraordinary influence, if not control, over the King. This was 
 Sir William Knighton, who had this year been created Keeper of the 
 Privy Purse on the fall of the favorite, Bloomfleld. 
 
 Nothing indeed Is more curious than the domination, steadily 
 maintained all through his life, of favorites over the nature of the 
 King; some working on his prejudices, others on his fears, others, 
 again, on his affections. To those who reigned he got accustomed. 
 
 Sir John MacMahon was perhaps the most familiar name of all 
 the favorites. He was “originally bred,” we are told, in the family 
 of Mr. Clements, and “his mother also resided in the same house.” 
 He obtained “a pair of colors” from Lord Moira, repaired to Bath, 
 then the Irishman’s hunting-ground, where he married, and through 
 one of the royal Dukes obtained the entree to Carlton House. Never 
 was there so adroit or useful an auxiliary. His qualifications were 
 remarkable. “ He made, ” .we are told, “a most graceful and ele- 
 gant bow, which he regulated in due proportion to the rank and 
 influence of those he addressed. His voice was exactly modulated 
 so as to soothe and to please, for it exhibited those undertones which 
 never disturb the nerves of the great and powerful. He also wrote 
 a letter in the politest style possible ; nor was he unacquainted with 
 the arts of rendering himself useful on every possible occasion.” 
 Valuable lessons here for such as wish to rise in this profession. 
 Render yourself “useful on every possible occasion:” far better and 
 more secure bond than regard or faithful service. 
 
 For some thirty or forty years this gentleman kept his post, 
 becoming “Privy Seal,” “Keeper of the Privy Purse,” Privy 
 Councillor, being finally created a baronet. The amount of his 
 influence may be conceived when he arranged that this honor 
 should be in remainder to his brother, as he himself had no chil- 
 dren. This brother, being a distinguished officer, was a K.C.B., 
 while a third brother, an Irish judge as distinguished, was also 
 created a baronet. It shows there must have been ability in the 
 family. There was a little talk when his patron appointed him to 
 
788 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 be paymaster of the sixteen hundred widows of the army. Mr. 
 Raikes revealed him in a characteristic sketch. “George the 
 Fourth, ” he says, ‘ ‘ never had any friends : he selected his confidants 
 from his minions. MacMahon was an Irishman of obsequious man- 
 ners ; he was a little man, his face red, covered with pimples, always 
 dressed in the blue and bull uniform, with his hat on one side, copying 
 the air of his master, to whom he was a prodigious foil, and ready to 
 execute any commissions, which in those days were somewhat com- 
 plicated.” While a third spectator thus oddly draws him: “In per- 
 son he was small, and devoid of beauty. His face, too, was seamed 
 and scarred with the small-pox ; but, as his conversation was pleas- 
 ant and he possessed all the graces, any impression arising from a 
 transient view soon wore off.” But the hard living of the court 
 soon brought decay, and Mr. Grantley Berkeley, who is still living, 
 described the faithful personal attendant grown old, with palsied 
 hand struggling to carry the glass of old port to his lips. In 1815 
 he felt that it was time to retire. The courtier of this class will be 
 found almost always “in harness” to the last, save of course in the 
 case of sheer helplessness from old age. He is scarcely ever dis- 
 missed, for the simple reason that it is impossible to get rid of him. 
 It can be imagined what a blow to the old courtier was his with- 
 drawal, and how accountable it might almost seem for his death, 
 that followed in 1817. He left behind him, it is stated in the 
 necrology of the day, “a large fortune, which never could possibly 
 have been obtained from the income of his several places.” The 
 amount of his personal property was £90,000, an enormous sum, 
 which might fairly invite the speculation just alluded to. But the 
 old man was true to his principles to the last, and by his long prac- 
 tice seemed to have worked himself into a belief in the virtues of 
 his master. There was a sort of deputy agent named Marrable, who 
 was employed in those “confidential” matters with which his 
 Majesty was always engrossed, and of him writes the aged equerry 
 in his will: “To Thos. Marrable, a dear and esteemed friend, 
 £2000, and with my last prayers for the glory and happiness of the 
 best-hearted man in the world, the Prince Regent, I bequeath him 
 the said Thomas Marrable, an invaluable servant.” The £90,000 
 would have been a more acceptable bequest. 
 
 MacMahon’s death caused the introduction of a new favorite, who 
 was of more powerful calibre, and who gradually came to rule in 
 the most despotic fashion. Appointed about the Court at the par- 
 ticular request of Lord Wellesley, he at once made an impression- 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 789 
 
 The Prince had met with an accident to his foot at Oatlands, and 
 consulted Knighton, whom he pronounced to “be the best-man- 
 nered medical man he had ever seen.” This excited a good deal of 
 jealousy, and stories and remarks about the Princess of Wales were 
 retailed to the Prince to injure him — the Prince’s countenance at the 
 levee “betraying displeasure.” However, he triumphed over all, 
 was made a baronet ; but he formed an alliance with MacMahon, 
 who made him his executor, while a skilful and proper stroke gave 
 him the succession. Among his friend’s papers he found some 
 documents of “a singularly delicate nature,” referring to Queen 
 Caroline and the late Lady Jersey, which he took at once to the 
 Regent, “without comment or condition.” The Prince appointed 
 him administrator of his Duchy of Cornwall, gave him his Grand 
 Cross of the Guelph, and made him his most confidential adviser. 
 He could not have found a more useful or more unwearied assistant. 
 He brought all his complicated money embarrassments into perfect 
 order, going on distant journeys to the Continent to arrange these 
 matters. Meanwhile, however, another favorite had arisen. 
 “Bloomfield was a handsome man,” says Mr. Raikes, “and owed 
 his introduction at Court to his musical talents ; he was a lieutenant 
 in the Artillery, and by chance quartered with his regiment at 
 Brighton. The Prince, who was always fond of music, then gave 
 frequent concerts at the Pavilion : some one happened to mention 
 that a young officer of Artillery was a proficient on the violoncello; 
 an invitation was sent, the royal amateur was pleased, the visits 
 became more frequent, a predilection ensued, and the fortune of the 
 young lieutenant was assured.” Nothing could be done without 
 him. But the various factions at Court undermined him, and his 
 reign was not a long one, and the picture of his decay and fall is 
 truly instructive. When other influences set, either from his inde- 
 pendence, or more probably because his place was desired for one 
 of the family, nothing more pitiable could be conceived than his situa- 
 tion. Every one noticed the coolness, the “snubs,” and the imper- 
 turbable complacency of the victim, who for a time declined to 
 become conscious of what was intended. Mr. Greville was among 
 those looking on, and saw the stages of the game. He was no longer 
 necessary to the King, who, however, was still “civil ” to him. He 
 bore this treatment in a manly way. Presently there was a tendency 
 indeed to hustle him out of office, but this the discarded favorite 
 would not “stand.” He soon showed them he was not to be bul- 
 lied, and by a determined bearing, and, as Mr. Greville says, forti- 
 
790 
 
 THE LIFE OF OEOBGE IV. 
 
 fied by the possession of some Court secrets, soon brought them to 
 terms, and was actually despatched as minister to Sweden. The 
 dismissed favorite is rarely thus handsomely dealt with, as the fact 
 of his being discarded proves that he is powerless even to make 
 terms. 
 
 When Bloomfield fell Knighton was made Private Secretary and 
 Keeper of the Privy Purse. It will be seen that in the later days of 
 the reign he had outlived his favor, but he was not to be dislodged : no 
 camarilla could disturb him. His oflQce must have been in those 
 later days of an ungrateful kind, for the King seemed to resent his 
 tutelage, even though in his interest. To the last, however, he 
 maintained his position. He was, indeed, of stern stuff, and held 
 his position long after his favor had been exhausted. He ruled by 
 the influence a strong mind has over a weak one, and soon made k 
 appear that he was indispensable, and that it would be inconvenient 
 to get rid of him. He had taken on him the duty or task of arrang- 
 ing the King’s much involved affairs, and, holding all the threads, 
 applied himself resolutely and with success to the settlement. It 
 was no doubt to him that was owing the cancelling of the Dutch 
 Bonds, now undischarged for so many years. With untiring energy 
 he would set off in the depth of winter and in all weathers to Berlin 
 and Hanover — now arranging the Duke of York’s debts, now the 
 Duke of Brunswick’s. In political matters and those connected 
 with a ministerial crisis, he would contrive with great adroitness to 
 soothe the King’s mind and lead him gradually to whatever con- 
 summation was devoutly to be wished by the parties concerned ; 
 and we find him settling with ministers what was to be suggested 
 and what was likely to do. Three letters written in this very year 
 give a great idea, not merely of how far he could go in carrying out 
 his wishes, but of the mode he adopted for carrying them out, which 
 seems to have amounted to a threat of leaving his Majesty to his own 
 resources. The first is, for a professional courtier, singularly adroit. 
 The independent and even haughty tone was well calculated to draw 
 forth an apologetic answer. 
 
 “ June 10, 1822. 
 
 “ Sm, 
 
 “I j’-esterday received from Lord F. C. a message that it was 
 your Majesty’s desire to see me at the Lodge this morning. 
 
 “My first duty and impression was, of course, to obey your 
 Majesty’s most gracious commands; but circumstances have arisen, 
 connected with your Majesty’s interests, which oblige me to remain 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 791 
 
 in town, and to forego that pleasure which is al-ways so acceptable 
 to my feelings, namely, that of throwing myself at your Majesty’s 
 feet. 
 
 “I am so surrounded with cares on your Majesty’s account, so 
 separated from every kind of support hut what I derive from my 
 own intellectual efforts, that when I say happiness and myself are 
 strangers, I do not mention it in the language of complaint, but 
 only to hope that when I venture to oppose any of your Majesty’s 
 commands, your Majesty will believe it always arises from those 
 feelings of devotion and honesty which are the true characteristics 
 of my nature towards your Majesty. 
 
 “ I am aware it often happens, humble as I am, that it alone falls 
 on me to raise the voice of opposition towards some of your 
 Majesty’s schemes. This, I fear, must gradually tend to separate 
 your Majesty’s mind, as far as agreeableness of feeling is concerned, 
 from me: nevertheless, I do hope that your Majesty will believe I 
 am on every occasion influenced with the purest affection and most 
 unsullied attachment towards your Majesty’s person.” 
 
 It is signed with his initials. merely. The next was written a month 
 later. 
 
 FROM THE KING. 
 
 “ Carlton House, Wednesday morning, eight o’clock, July 11, 1822, 
 
 “ You may easily imagine, warm and sincere as my affections are 
 towards you, I have had but little rest since we separated last night. 
 The feeling that I may possibly and unfortunately, in a hurried 
 moment, when my mind and my heart were torn in fifty different 
 ways from fifty different causes, have let an unjust or a hasty 
 expression escape me to any one, most especially to you, whom I 
 so truly love, and who are so invaluable to me as my friend, is to 
 me a sensation much too painful to be endured: therefore let me 
 implore you to come to me, be it but for a moment, the very first 
 thing you do this morning; for I shall hate myself until I have the 
 opportunity of expressing personally to you those pure and genuine 
 feelings of affection which will never cease to live in my heart so 
 long as that heart itself continues to beat. I am much too unhappy 
 to say more, but I am ever your affectionate Friend, 
 
 “G. R” 
 
 This, for a king, was certainly apologetic. During the voyage 
 to Scotland Knighton was in the most confidential relations with 
 
792 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 him, occupying the cabin next his Majesty, proving himself an 
 indispensable right-hand man, as it is called, and, as we have seen, 
 never sparing himself, sitting up late to answer letters, and saving 
 his Majesty as much trouble as possible. This naturally strength- 
 ened their relations. On his return, finding that it was impossible 
 to keep the King to his engagements, as to expense, etc., which 
 was strictly necessary for the arrangement of his affairs, he suc- 
 ceeded in extracting from him the following unprecedented docu- 
 ment, which was to be his warrant for dealing with all concerned: 
 
 “ Royal Lodge, October 26, 1822. 
 
 “We hereby authorize and direct Sir William Knighton, Bart., 
 Keeper of our Privy Purse, to give notice to our several tradesmen, 
 that they are not to receive orders, or to furnish any articles of fur- 
 niture, etc., or to incur any expense whatsoever from their different 
 trades, where such expense is to be provided for by our said privy 
 purse, without receiving a specific order in writing for that purpose 
 from the said Sir William Knighton, Bart., and we do also give our 
 authority to the said Sir William Knighton, Bart., and order and 
 direct him, during our will and pleasure, to undertake the entire 
 management of our private affairs, with a view to the observance 
 of the most strict and rigid economy, that we may have the oppor- 
 tunity of relieving ourselves from certain embarrassments which it 
 is not necessary to mention further in detail. We do therefore rely 
 with confidence on the said Sir William Knighton for the strict per- 
 formance and fulfilment of all our wishes on this head. 
 
 “G. R.”* 
 
 * Mr. Dickie, the clerk at Coutts’ Bank, who regulated the king’s accounts, 
 on his death-bed gave the following testimony to Knighton’s services: “He 
 managed and guarded his pecuniary concerns with an indefatigable care, 
 and such a peculiar understanding, that had I not myself been a witness, I 
 could scarcely have credited it. There were times when Sir 'William thought 
 that he was getting over difficulties, when large accounts came in of which 
 he was not aware, like thunder-claps. He has more than once on such oc- 
 casions, in my presence, most respectfully but firmly remonstrated with his 
 Majesty upon the impossibility of managing his affairs with any satisfaction, 
 or indeed propriety of conduct, if such unforeseen expenditure occurred. 
 Sir William’s words, tone, and manner acted like magic upon the King. His 
 Majesty, like a sensible man, seemed obliged from his heart; his whole de- 
 meanor showed it; and I myse.f at such a novel scene was struck with 
 astonishment,”— See also Greville, i, 72, 
 
TEE LIFE OF GEORGE tV. 
 
 793 
 
 Owing to the practice of uttering his complaints to strangers and 
 foreigners, the King indeed must have been a perpetual source of 
 annoyance to his ministers. Thus we find that at the levee on 
 April 21 he expressed toM. de Marcellushis approval of the French 
 policy ill Spain. A few days later The Times commented on this 
 indiscreet proceeding with great violence, hinting that if the King 
 had spoken as described, he must be suffering from something more 
 than gout or mere physical maladies. M. de Marcell us seized the 
 opportunity to write a sympathetic letter to Mr. Canning, which 
 much pleased the King. At a ball the King indiscreetly referred 
 to this matter, unburdening his grievances to Marcellus, the French 
 minister. “If the ministers,” he said, “declared me to be mad, I 
 might recover my senses, but they would lose their places. At any 
 rate, for the wellfare of mankind, we ought not to wish any other 
 people to have our institutions. AVhat does pretty well for us would 
 be worthless elsewhere. Remember this, Marcellus; it is my unal* 
 terable conviction.” 
 
 34 
 
794 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV, 
 
 CHAPTER Vm. 
 
 1823 — 1825 . 
 
 Most characteristic of the King was the course of secret opposi- 
 tion and trdcasseries, by which he chose to indemnify himself for 
 having been obliged to accept a minister like Canning, whom he 
 disliked. He affected to give his whole confidence and friendship 
 to the Duke of Wellington. On him, and on “him only,” did he 
 rely. 
 
 THE KING TO THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. 
 
 “ March 19, 1823. 
 
 “My dear Friend, 
 
 “ Sir William has faithfully related to me all your sensible, 
 wise, and judicious observations respecting the state of our foreign 
 policy. My feelings are in complete unison with your own on this 
 most important and vital question. My confidence is in you, and 
 you only, and in placing my friendship and affection in you, and 
 with you, I feel safe, happy, and comfortable. I could not resist 
 writing you these few lines, to assure you that I am, with very great 
 regard, Your very sincere Friend, 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 These “ feelings ” were further inflamed by the appearance of Mr. 
 Canning at a dinner given in the following year by the Radical Lord 
 Mayor, Waithman ; an obelisk to whose memory now stands at Lud- 
 gate Circus. This seemed certainly an indiscreet step, as only he 
 and an inferior member of the Cabinet attended. 
 
 THE KING TO LORD LIVERPOOL. 
 
 “ Windsor Castle, May 1, 1824. 
 
 “The King very much regrets that the conduct of some of the 
 members of his Government impels the King to communicate to 
 Lord Liverpool his feelings upon this subject. 
 
 ‘ ‘ The appearance at the dinner of the Lord Mayor at the Mansion 
 
THE LIFE OF OEOROE IV. 795 
 
 House of two of the members of the King’s Government unques- 
 tionably calls for explanation, 
 
 ‘ ‘ The entertainment was that which belongs to the Lord Mayor 
 himself, and not to the Corporation. 
 
 “ The public life of the individual filling the office of Chief Mag- 
 istrate of the City of London has been marked by a continued series 
 of insults to the Government, to the monarchy, and, above all, per- 
 sonally to the King himself. This is not matter of opinion, for 
 several of his acts are on record, and are notorious to the world. 
 
 “Mr. Canning could not be ignorant of this, and had also long 
 known that his visit to the Mansion House would in the highest 
 degree be offensive and personally disagreeable to the King ; that, as 
 Mr. Canning was there almost alone, his presence marked a differ- 
 ence of opinion and of conduct between the other members of the 
 Cabinet and himself. 
 
 “The King therefore thinks that he has just reason to complain, 
 that in a case in which there was no official, or indeed any, duty to 
 be performed, and no necessity consequently existing, why the 
 King’s expressed wishes and his known feelings should have been 
 so entirely disregarded. 
 
 “The King desires to remind Lord Liverpool, that when at his 
 particular desire, and that of other members of the Cabinet, the 
 King yielded to Mr. Canning’s readmission into the Government in 
 the prominent situation which he now fills, the King consented to 
 forget and to bury in oblivion all that had previously passed, and of 
 which the King felt he had so much reason to complain. 
 
 “ The King is quite satisfied that he has since acted with the most 
 uniform, condescending, conciliatory, and confidential kindness 
 towards Mr. Canning. The King desires to observe the return is 
 now before Lord Liverpool. 
 
 “The King has always shown, under all the fortuitous events 
 that have happened, an honest, steady, and sincere desire to pre- 
 serve his present Government; but the King owes it to himself and 
 to his own honor to state that (notwithstanding the same desire 
 exists) the King will never consent that his Government shall be 
 degraded by such attempts to acquire popularity; and, finally, 
 whenever the King sees anything in the conduct of any member of 
 his Government calculated to be injurious to the King’s service, or 
 personally offensive to his honor and feelings, the King will always 
 feel it his duty frankly to declare it to his minister. 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
796 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEOBOE TV. 
 
 The minister tried to soothe him by quoting the precedent of Mr. 
 Pitt and assuring him that he would represent the matter to his col- 
 league, who, he was certain, would regret having done anything to 
 give his Majesty pain — excuses of the most conventional kind, as, 
 indeed, the King considered them. When no letter arrived from 
 Mr. Canning, he grew very indignant, for “it was observed,” as Sir 
 W. Knighton wrote to the Duke, that “ as to the outrage offered to 
 his feelings, Lord Liverpool might with as much propriety have 
 referred to the days of Adam as to those of Mr. Pitt, for the purpose 
 of extenuating Mr. Canning’s conduct,” The precedent, however, 
 had more force than this. But his confidential physician, whom the 
 King little suspected to be in communication with the other camp, 
 was declaring to the Duke that he thought no excuses would have 
 any effect. However, Mr. Canning wrote, expressing his concern, 
 and the matter was allowed to drop. 
 
 The King was beginning to try what the French call the “system 
 of the baacule ” with his ministers. It will be noted how he distin- 
 guishes “our friend ” from the rest. What the paper referred to is 
 not clear. No wonder the Duke of Wellington at last lost all 
 patience, and wrote to one of the King’s familiars who would repeat 
 it, “ that the transaction of the King’s business became a most diffi- 
 cult and arduous task, almost impossible to be performed. Some 
 misfortune would happen,” he prophesied, “which will occasion 
 his Majesty a great deal of trouble. ” 
 
 THE KING TO THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. 
 
 “ Windsor Castle, April 30, 1824. 
 
 “My dear Friend, 
 
 “ I have been very ill: indeed I am still very, very weak, and 
 therefore I need not tell you what a painful effort it has been to me 
 to write the enclosed, which I transmit to you and to our friend 
 Lord Bathurst, for the purpose of delivering it jointly to Lord 
 Liverpool on his arrival in town, that it may be submitted to the 
 Cabinet. I really could not rest till I got this off my mind, for I 
 cannot tell you, my dear friend, nor Bathurst, how much this has 
 disturbed me. You and Lord Bathurst are, of course, to read the 
 enclosed. 
 
 “Ever your affectionate Friend. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 797 
 
 > THE KING TO LORD LIVERPOOL. 
 
 “ Windsor Castle, May 1st, 1824. 
 
 “Dear Lord Liverpool, 
 
 “I transmit you the enclosed for your serious and best con. 
 sideration; I have sent a copy to the Duke of Wellington and Lord 
 Bathurst, two personal friends both of my own and of yours, that 
 they may in conjunction with yourself know my sentiments. I 
 have been very ill, and am still unable to leave my bed. I am glad 
 to hear that your own health is improved, and I hope that you have 
 not returned to business prematurely. 
 
 “lam glad that the arrangements for that worthy man, the Dean 
 of Hereford, going to Chester are completed. You may be quite at 
 ease about his pecuniary embarrassments. 
 
 ‘ ‘ I wish you would give the living of Brighton, which now falls 
 in to the Crown, to the chaplain of our friend the Duke of Welling- 
 ton. The gentleman’s name is Driscoll, a most repectable and 
 good orthodox clergyman. He was with the Duke during the 
 whole of the war, and is therefore surely entitled to our considera- 
 tion. I wish you to have the entire merit of this, as the Duke is 
 very delicate upon the subject. 
 
 “ Your sincere Friend, 
 
 “C.R” 
 
 It should be considered that there had always existed a coldness, 
 if not hostility, between the Duke of Wellington and Mr. Canning, 
 which the King with seme craft was turning to profit. The Duke 
 invariably addressed Canning as “My dear Mr. Canning” — indeed . 
 it is evident from all the memoirs of the time that he now cordially 
 disliked him. It was natural, therefore, that the effusive partiality 
 of the King should not be wholly unacceptable where it helped to 
 check the growing power of his colleague, whose suspicions, we 
 find, were awakened at certain rather “ underhand ” proceedings, as 
 he considered them, on the part of the King and the Duke, This 
 arose more immediately in connection with Canning’s grand coup of 
 the recognition of the South American Colonies, on which the Duke 
 had formed a strong opinion opposed to the Government plan. The 
 recognition of Buenos Ayres had been made and agreed to by all 
 his ministers in July, 1824; but in December it became necessary to 
 consider the recognition of the rest, Mexico and Colombia particu- 
 larly, and here the Duke was inclined to carry his disapproval so 
 far as to resign. Lord Liverpool tried to dissuade him. The King 
 
798 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 addressed a veliement remonstrance, in which he set forth his 
 objections to the plan. This, as he told the Duke of Wellington, 
 “he meant to be a solemn protest against the measures of his 
 servants ” — an idle, childish form which he fancied in other more 
 important matters was as good as action. He “ chuckled,” how- 
 ever, as Mr. Canning said, on a little embarrassment which he hoped 
 his Cabinet had got into in reference to an intended prosecution of 
 Mr. O’Connell. He asked the Duke how they could take this 
 course, when they were actually going to make a treaty with 
 Bolivar, who was much in the same position. The Duke was 
 puzzled and could give no answer, at least “without hair-splittings.” 
 Mr. Canning wrote pleasantly that it might be fancied that therefore 
 the King wished the prosecution to be stopped. The workings of 
 the King’s mind seem to have furnished intense amusement to his 
 ministers. The strong force by which he had been driven to 
 sanction these measures inclined him to give vent to his feelings in 
 a most singular proclamation or manifesto of his opinions and 
 grievances in gldho — his general dissatisfaction at the whole. This 
 course he adopted on several occasions, and was always met with a 
 hint to put his objections in shape by finding other ministers and 
 declining to sanction the proceedings of his present servants. 
 
 In this long protest was a profession of political faith, and a curi- 
 ous reassertion of the principles held when he was Prince of Wales 
 The document, Mr. Wynne writes, was dictated by foreign influence 
 — no doubt that of Madame de Lieven. 
 
 Mr. Canning was quite certain that the King was acting under 
 this influence. “I am quite aware,” he says, “that the King has 
 strong prejudices on this subject. ... I think he should be set 
 right upon this point, as well as made to feel that the opinions 
 which he sometimes avows on the subject of legitimacy would 
 carry him to the full length of the principle of the Emperor of 
 Russia and Prince Metternich.” This appeal was dated on the 8th 
 of December. When Lord Liverpool went to Windsor on the 16th 
 he was asked significantly by his Majesty : “Were they unanimous ?” 
 And on the following day the minister received this protest or mani- 
 festo — a singular composition : 
 
 THE KING TO LORD LIVERPOOL. 
 
 “ Royal Lodge, Dec. 17, 1824. 
 
 “ The King cannot allow to pass unnoticed the minute of Cabinet 
 transmitted by Mr, Canning on the 15th instant. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 799 
 
 " The King always wishes to concur with the opinions of his 
 Cabinet. It is, therefore, with deep regret that the King finds him- 
 self under the necessity of differing from the majority of the Cabinet 
 upon the present occasion. 
 
 “ The King considers that the system of policy of his Government 
 upon this subject has been erroneous, and that instead of seeking for 
 opportunities to promote even that policy, such as it is, the measures 
 now recommended should have been forced upon us by cireum- 
 stances not to be avoided or controlled. 
 
 “However, the King will not oppose himself to the measures con- 
 sidered for the benefit of his subjects, and for the promotion of the 
 navigation (?) of the country, by those to whom the King has given 
 his confidence. 
 
 ‘ ‘ The King wishes that these measures should stand on the ground 
 of the interests of his subjects and not as measures of war or retali- 
 ation against other Powers ; and that they should not be put forth to 
 the world as having any other objects in view than those which the 
 King has stated as his motive for assenting to them. 
 
 “ The King wishes that his allies and the King of Spain should be 
 informed of the present intention, previous to its being carried into 
 effect, and in such language and manner as may make the commu- 
 nication as little obnoxious as possible.” 
 
 He was inspired to renew the matter. The plan he thought of 
 was the extraordinary one of requiring each member of the Cabinet 
 to forward to him his separate opinion on the point. This, as one 
 of the ministers observed, pointed to an attempt at breaking up the 
 Cabinet. They were easily able, by an adroit reply, to turn this 
 clumsy movement, answering him with respectful gravity. 
 
 THE KING TO LOED LIVERPOOL. 
 
 “ Carlton House, January 27th, 1825. 
 
 “The King thinks it right to draw the attention of his Cabinet to 
 the sentiments and opinions contained in the accompanying paper. 
 The King therefore desires that Lord Liverpool will lay the paper 
 before the Cabinet for the purposes required. G. R.” 
 
 [enclosure.] 
 
 “The line of policy pursued by the King’s Government, under 
 ^he Ewing’s direction at the close of the late war, whieh terminated 
 
800 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEO ROE IV. 
 
 under such happy circumstances, was unanimity of co-operation with 
 the great Continental Powers, not only for the purpose of putting an 
 end to the then existing hostilities, but for preserving the future 
 peace and tranquillity of Europe. 
 
 “The late Lord Londonderry, in conjunction with the Duke of 
 Wellington, so effectively accomplished this great and desirable ob- 
 ject, that this country took a position that she had never before 
 held. 
 
 ‘ ‘ The King supposes it will not be denied that the anarchy pro- 
 duced through the world by the French Revolution, has left us a 
 record so instructive, that the councils of the British Government 
 should never fail to be regulated by the wholesome remembrance of 
 that terrible event. 
 
 “ That we should therefore regard with the most anxious suspicion 
 every attempt to revive the example of British America, which 
 ended, unhappily for Great Britain, in a separation from the mother- 
 country. France treacherously assisted that rebellion’s successful 
 enterprise, and by her fatal policy gave the first impulse to that 
 revolution which entailed for a quarter of a century such compli- 
 cated misery on the whole of Europe. The revolutionary spirit of 
 past years, although lulled and suspended, is by no means extin- 
 guished; and it would be wisdom to look to the ultimate conse- 
 quences which the result of our intended recognition of the inde- 
 pendence of the South American provinces may probably produce 
 on the evil and discontented, who are controlled, even at this moment, 
 with difficulty, by the established power of regular governments. 
 
 ‘ ‘ Let us also look at home, and observe the dangerous attempts 
 which the active firebrands of Ireland are at this time pursuing under 
 the deceptive pretence of Catholic emancipation. The rebellious 
 and organized schemes so actively afloat in that unhappy country 
 are only a part of the same system promoted by the same evil spirit 
 which gave rise to the calamities of the French Revolution. 
 
 “The Liberalism of late adopted by the King’s Government ap- 
 pears to the King to be a substantial part of that creed which was 
 hailed in the House of Commons in those revolutionary days when 
 it required all the talent and firmness of Mr. Pitt to put it down ; 
 and the support which that great statesman received from the King’s 
 revered and excellent father gave him the opportunity of using his 
 great ability with such effect as enabled him successfully to resist 
 the desolating storm. 
 
 ‘ ‘ The King has long been aware that the principles promulgated 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 801 
 
 by the King’s early friends were at that period the bane which 
 threatened the destruction of our happy Constitution, and with it 
 our internal peace and happiness ; and if the King withdrew himself 
 from his early friends for the good of the country, can the present 
 Government suppose that the King will permit any individuals to 
 force upon him, at this time, a line of policy of which he so entirely 
 disapproves, and which is in direct opposition to those wise princi- 
 ples which the King’s Government has for so many years supported 
 and uniformly acted upon? 
 
 ‘ ‘ The King would wish to ask Lord Liverpool whether he sup- 
 poses the great abettors of this Spanish- American question, connected 
 with the Opposition, give their support to a recognition of the Span- 
 ish provinces, in relation to the great mercantile advantages which 
 this measure may offer to this country, or from their love of democ- 
 racy in opposition to a monarchical aristocracy. 
 
 ‘ ‘ The King has no difficulty in answering this question : and let 
 the opportunity arise, the same line of conduct would be as promptly 
 applied by these gentlemen to the emancipation of our own colonial 
 possessions, or to any other of the remote colonial settlements, at 
 present under the dominion of the British Crown. 
 
 “The King cannot but be aware that this, as well as every other 
 kingdom, must have its own latent sources of wealth and power, 
 peculiar to itself, the cultivation of which becomes essential to the 
 maintenance of its individual prosperity; but the King desires to 
 observe that the policy or wisdom which is to balance the interest of 
 kingdoms is not to be found in party divisions. 
 
 ‘ ‘ The King has too much reason to apprehend that the separation 
 from our Allies, so justly and so honestly referred to by the Emperor 
 of Austria, will very soon lead to consequences that will end in dis- 
 turbing the tranquillity of Europe. 
 
 “Why was the Quadruple Alliance formed? To carry into exe- 
 cution, not only the maintenance of the treaties of peace connected 
 with the settlement of Europe (just then concluded), but also for the 
 purpose of controlling the ambitions and the jealousies of the great 
 Allied Powers themselves in relation to each other. 
 
 “ The Jacobins of the world (now calling themselves the Liberals) 
 saw the peace of Europe secured by this great measure, and have 
 therefore never ceased to vilify the principle of the Quadruple Alli- 
 ance. The late policy of Great Britain has loosened these beneficial 
 ties, by demonstrating a restless desire of self-interest in direct oppo- 
 
 34 * 
 
802 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 sition to these wise and comprehensive principles, in which the 
 peace and general interests of Europe were bound together. 
 
 “ The King desires, therefore, distinctly to know from his Cabi- 
 net individually, seriatim, whether the great principles of policy 
 established by his Government in the years 1814, 1815, and 1818, 
 are or are not to be abandoned. 
 
 “ The answer to this question will enable the King to satisfy him- 
 self of the steps necessary to be taken for the purpose of preventing 
 this country from being again involved in a ruinous and disastrous 
 war. G. R.” 
 
 The foreign influence ever working on the King’s mind appears 
 to have been highly irregular. He would have constant interviews 
 with the Metternichs, Esterhazys (to say nothing of Madame de 
 Lieven), during which he delivered himself on his situation, asked 
 s>Tnpathy, and uttered those long harangues to which he was so 
 addicted. 
 
 The extraordinary request to have separate opinions from each 
 member of the Cabinet, pointed to an attempt, as we have said, at 
 breaking up the Cabinet. As they met for the purpose of obeying 
 his commands, they must have been scarcely able to control their 
 amusement. Their answer gave him but cold comfort. There was, 
 indeed, a sort of ironical strain through it, though this arises from 
 the unanswerable character of the statement. Mr. Canning wrote a 
 special explanation to the King, on the gi’ound that an insinuation 
 was made that hitherto there had not been that full and faithful 
 confldence and communication with the Allies. He then entered 
 on a long resume of his policy. The King had thus almost suc- 
 ceeded in his plan of at least making the opposing elements in the 
 Cabinet declare themselves. 
 
 To this exposition there was, it appears, some qualifying words 
 which were omitted, owing, Mr. Canning says, to his “being ill and 
 tired to death with Westmoreland’s discussions.” And this the King 
 “dexterously seized on, declaring himself satisfied with the pledge 
 given by his ministers (of reciprocal confidence with the Allies), and 
 throwing all responsibility upon the mode of action upon it. ” 
 
 THE KING TO LORD LIVERPOOL. 
 
 “ Carlton House, January 80th, 1825. 
 
 “The King has received from Lord Liverpool the declaration of 
 the Cabinet in reply to the King’s paper. 
 
TEE LIES OF GEORGE IK 
 
 803 
 
 “The King has only to observe that if an earnest desire of 'main* 
 taining the system of confidence and reciprocal communication with 
 the Allies ’ be fully and faithfully acted upon, it is all that the King 
 can require. 
 
 “The King readily admits Lord Liverpool’s statement that the 
 recognition, at this time, of the South American provinces was cer- 
 tainly in opposition to the King’s own judgment; but the King 
 hopes, as the step has been taken, that it will prove a measure full 
 of the beneficial results which are anticipated, by adding to the 
 prosperity of this country without interfering with the general peace 
 and tranquillity of Europe.” 
 
 In his irritation at these events, the King was enabled to find 
 some relief in indulging his “ religious feelings.” He was naturally 
 embarrassed when public reference was made to his Concordat as 
 King of Hanover “with Pope Leo, by Bull, dated March 26th, 
 1824, for regulating the dioceses and endowments of Roman Cath- 
 olic bishops and chaplains in the Kingdom of Hanover, with a 
 domestic election of bishops, etc., subject to a royal veto and papal 
 confirmation; such as,” Lord Colchester says, “if established in 
 England, with ‘ the spiritual authority ’ therein reserved, would be 
 tantamount to a counter-reformation; and be (according to Lord 
 Liverpool’s declaration, in his last speech on the Roman Catholic 
 question) a violation of the King’s coronation oath in this country.” 
 
 This was awkward enough ; indeed, the whole question v’as to 
 involve all concerned in inconsistencies and compromises. The 
 King addressed himself to Lord Liverpool for comfort. 
 
 THE KING TO LORD LIVERPOOL. 
 
 “King’s Lodge, Feb. 25, 1825. 
 
 “The King sends his kind regards to Lord Liverpool, and is 
 more distressed than can well be expressed at the absurd note 
 which has been lately published in Germany, relative to the Catho- 
 lic Association, in reference to the local circumstances of that 
 country. The King had no knowledge of such an intention, or it 
 would most certainly not have happened. 
 
 “The King desires that Lord Liverpool would send for Count 
 Milnster, that he may explain the details of the affair. The King 
 is afraid that whatever inconvenience may arise from this late 
 declaration has its origin in the line of policy and original stipula- 
 
804 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 tions entered into by our much regretted friend, poor Lord London- 
 derry, so long since at the Congress held at Vienna. The King 
 wishes, however, distinctly to state to Lord Liverpool that on the 
 subject of Catholic emancipation, the King’s revered father’s opin- 
 ions are ever before him and ever will be, to the King’s latest 
 existence. 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 Lord Liverpool replied dryly that he “never supposed the paper 
 connected with any alteration in your Majesty’s mind.” 
 
 THE KING TO LORD LIVERPOOL. 
 
 “ Carlton House, Wednesday morning, May 18, 1825. 
 “Dear Lord Liverpool, 
 
 “I congratulate you most sincerely on your successful efforts 
 of last night. God be thanked. Your speech was indeed most 
 powerful. I hope you will not suffer from the great exertions. 
 
 “Your very sincere Friend, 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 805 
 
 ' CHAPTER IX. 
 
 1825. 
 
 When the Catholic question was once more brought forward — 
 perhaps the most serious of the many struggles that immediately 
 preceded the settlement of the question — the Duke of York, when 
 presenting an anti-Catholic petition, took occasion to deliver his 
 well-known apostrophe, which was to enjoy the honor of being 
 printed on pocket-handkerchiefs, and also in letters of gold to be 
 framed and hung up in loyal houses. The topics of this unbecom- 
 ing appeal were the usual ones, but there were personal references 
 in the worst taste, while others, taking a rather theatrical tone, 
 were outside argument. 
 
 “What the effect of the proposal of such measures was at that 
 day (the late King’s), your lordships know. The apprehension 
 that the Sovereign might be called upon to differ with his Parlia- 
 ment in the discharge of his duty — to adhere to his coronation oath, 
 the compact he had made at the altar of God — led to affliction” — 
 (here he could not proceed) — “ and to the temporary dismissal of 
 the best, the honestest, and the wisest minister he ever had. 1 
 have opposed the concessions of popular power from the first 
 moment in which it was proposed to make them. I have so acted 
 throughout, under a conviction, whenever I have been called upon 
 to act, that Iwas bound so to act. I shall continue to oppose such 
 concessions to the utmost of my power. My lords, allow me to 
 call your attention to what must be the state of the King upon the 
 throne, who has taken this coronation oath” — (here he read the 
 oath). “ The dread of being called upon — of having it even pro- 
 posed to him — to act contrary to his understanding of that oath, 
 led, or materially contributed, to his late Majesty’s sufferings in the 
 last ten years of a life” — (here he could not proceed, and was in 
 tears: after a pause he said) — “My lords, if you have taken oaths, 
 and differ about the meaning of them, those who think proposed 
 measures contrary to their sense of their oaths are overborne by a 
 majority — they do their duty — they act according to their oaths — 
 
806 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEOItGE IV. 
 
 the measure is carried without their violating their compact with 
 God. But recollect that it is not so with the individual who is the 
 Sovereign. He has a right — if he is convinced that it is his duty — 
 to refuse his assent when the measure is proposed. to him. His 
 refusal is a constitutional bar to the measure — his consent, if given 
 contrary to his understanding of his oath, is that for which he 
 must ever be responsible. My lords, I understand my duty in this 
 place too well, to be stating what any other person may or may not 
 feel with respect to these proposed measures, what any other per- 
 son may or may not propose to do, or to forbear doing. I speak 
 for myself only; for myself only I declare my opinions and deter- 
 minations. But I apprehend that I may be in this place allowed to 
 call your attention to observations upon what ma}^ be the state of a 
 sovereign to whom measures may be proposed ; who is not to con- 
 sider what oath might have been administered to him, and taken 
 by him but who has taken an oath.” 
 
 A characteristic comment on this deluding “self-righteousness” 
 of fanaticism is to be found in a letter of Lord Eldon’s, a week or 
 two later: “ The D. of Y. is at Newmarket. It is to be regretted 
 that, in his highly important and lofty situation, he spends so many 
 days with .blacklegs, and so many nights at cards, among which we 
 know there are knaves, as well as what are better company for 
 him, kings and queens.” 
 
 “ Monday, May 23, 1825. 
 
 “We had a most sumptuous and splendid set-out at the Duke of 
 York’s on Saturday— twenty-four rejoicing Protestants round the 
 table— and such a magnificent show of plate as even eclipses the 
 King’s exhibition of that article, and, as it appears to me, eclipses 
 all of the same article which all the monarchs of Europe have 
 presented to the Duke of Wellington. We drank the ’48, the year 
 1688, and the glorious and immortal memory of William the Third 
 — but without noise or riot. 
 
 “ I saw the King yesterday, who is much better, and not a little 
 relieved in point of anxiety by the vote on the Catholic question. 
 So much for the present; but politics may possibly soon present 
 some other troublesome matter, for it is in the nature of politics to 
 be restless, and to furnish plague after plague.” 
 
 “ Wednesday, May 25, 1825. 
 
 “I forgot to tell you yesterday that we have got a new favorite 
 toast. Lady Warwick and Lady Braybrooke (I think that is hej 
 
TEE LIFE OF GEOROE IF 
 
 807 
 
 name) would not let their husbands go to the House to vote for 
 the Catholics ; so we Protestants drink daily, as our favorite toast, 
 ‘The ladies who locked up their husbands.’ ” 
 
 The Duke’s inflammatory language was the subject of much com- 
 ment. There can be no doubt the King was pleased with it, though 
 he good-humoredly affected to complain of that awkward reference 
 to his successor — “in whatever situation he might be.” The royal 
 brothers had met on the Sunday preceding, and when the King 
 opened the subject of the Catholic claims, the Duke begged of him 
 not to mention the subject until some days had gone by ; for, as he 
 told Lord Eldon, he was determined to take the whole responsibility 
 of this protest. The effect was extraordinary. It kindled again the 
 bigotry of the country, which was rather flickering, and stimulated 
 the King to new deliverances. 
 
 “Two days afterward,” says Lord Colchester, “the Duke of 
 York, at the levee, told Lord Sidmouth that ‘ the King had declared 
 that he would not give the royal assent to such a bill ;’ a declara- 
 tion made, not publicly, but not unknown to the Duke of York. 
 The Chancellor told me he had had a long audience of the King this 
 morning, in which his Majesty went through the whole of his political 
 life as connected with opinions upon the Roman Catholic question, 
 and represented himself to have been ever uniformly against, or at 
 least that he had never been for, increasing the powers of the Roman 
 Catholics ; and that he was now very anxious upon the subject, and 
 exceedingly disturbed at the progress of the bill depending in the 
 House of Commons.” 
 
 And on receiving the congratulations of the archbishops and bishops 
 at the Drawing Room, he “took notice of the delicacy with which 
 all mention was avoided of the great constitutional question lately 
 under discussion ; and declared that he considered the Church and 
 the monarchy as essentially united; and that they must stand or fall 
 together. He said also to the Bishop of Lincoln, “this will cor- 
 roborate what my brother (the Duke of York) has said.’ ” 
 
 The bill was rejected in the House of Lords by a majority of forty- 
 eight. 
 
 At this time the Duke of Wellington was enjoying the highest 
 favor of the King, who was exhibiting his regard by the greatest 
 kindness and the most tender solicitude. Towards Christmas in 
 1826 the office of Constable of the Tower fell vacant. 
 
808 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 THE KING TO THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. 
 
 “ Royal Lodge, December 21st, 1826. 
 
 ‘ ‘ My DEAR Friend, 
 
 “ I must tell you that I feel a pride, whenever the opportunity 
 offers, of showing not only the affection I have for you, but the 
 gratitude which this country owes you. The glory of my reign is 
 so identified with you that the one cannot be separated from the 
 other. It IS like yourself to think so little of yourself, and as you do 
 not choose to hold the office of Constable of the Tower and the Gov- 
 ernment of Plymouth together, take that which will be most agree- 
 able to your own feelings. If you do not take that of Constable of the 
 Towner, I will then bestow it on Field Marshal Earl Harcourt, now, 
 from his great age, the father of the whole army. In that case I shall 
 appoint my old and attached friend and servant. Sir William Kep- 
 pell, to succeed him in the Government of Portsmouth, to whom I 
 have long owed this debt of proper feeling. Upon your taking the 
 Constableship, then Earl Harcourt shall go to Plymouth, and my 
 intentions towards Keppell will still be fulfilled by the Governor- 
 ship of Portsmouth. I have given you this detailed explanation to 
 set you quite at your ease, and, believe me, ever yours affectionately, 
 
 “G. R. 
 
 “P.S. — Give me one line, with your deeision, as soon as you can. 
 Alas! my poor brother.” 
 
 In a manly letter the Duke wrote to decline keeping the Governor- 
 ship of Plymouth, on the ground that his officers “would form a 
 very injurious notion of him if they found that he was competing 
 with them for honors.” The other post, howeA^er, he accepted. 
 
 This eagerness to propitiate the Duke Avas not unlikely to have 
 been connected with an extraordinary idea Avhich, on the death of his 
 brother, had taken possesion of him, namely, to assume the com- 
 mand of the army. Even before the Duke of York’s death he had 
 been sounding the Duke as to a successor, proposing him for the 
 office; on Avhich the Duke entreated of him not to think of the mat- 
 ter until his brother’s demise and then to be guided by his ministers. 
 His Majesty, hoAveA^er, persevered, talked of the suitability of him 
 self as a candidate, but on the whole inclined to the Duke. The 
 latter left town purposely, to be out of the Avay. “I liaA^e always 
 considered this conversation, like many others, as so many unmean- 
 ing words and phrases.” The Duke Avas ever consistent in this half- 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 809 
 
 contemptuous opinion. ‘ ‘ I will protest against it in the most formal 
 manner.” The ministers were indignant, Mr. Peel declaring the 
 “idea was preposterous,” and they would never agree to it. The 
 King proceeded to make arrangements, proposing that Sir H. Taylor 
 should do the serious work as secretary, and ‘ ‘ give commands in 
 his name.” The latter was only too eager to be released from this 
 embarrassing honor, and was communicating with the ministers. 
 At last Sir W. Knighton was set at work, and the only proper 
 appointment — that of the Duke himself — was made. 
 
 When the Duke of Wellington was away on his mission at St. 
 Petersburg, the King was seized with about the severest fit of illness 
 he had yet encountered. All about him were seriously alarmed. A 
 violent attack of gout and inflammation were the ailments from 
 which he was suffering, but, as usual, his fine constitution enabled 
 him to rally. The Duke of York’s conduct was pronounced to be 
 “perfect,” and he was complimented on his behavior to his brother 
 being “so easy, so natural, it seems as if it never occurs to him that 
 the King is mortal. ” This indeed was but a fitting tribute to this 
 amiable, well-meaning Prince, who counted many genuine friends 
 in the community, and who ever showed himself a true, manly, 
 straightforward English gentleman. 
 
810 
 
 TEE LIFE OF QBOROE IV. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 1825. 
 
 The skilled emissaries of foreign countries may have found their 
 account in interviews with his Majesty, but they soon learned they 
 had to deal with their master, It is pleasant to read Mr. Canning’s 
 spirited mode of dealing with the ambassadors ; and one can well 
 understand the high position in Europe held by the country under his 
 direction. “The last three mornings,” he writes in March, 1825, 
 “ have been occupied partly in receiving the three successive com- 
 munications of Count Lieven, Prince Esterhazy, and Baron Maltz- 
 ahan, of the high and mighty displeasure of their Courts with respect 
 to Spanish America. Lieven led the way on Wednesday. He began 
 to open a long despatch evidently with the intention of reading it 
 to me. I stopped in limine, desiring to know if he was author 
 ized to give a copy of it. He said ‘ No upon which I declined 
 hearing it, unless he could give me his word that no copy would 
 be sent to any other Court. He said he could not undertake 
 to say that it would not be sent to other Russian missions, but that 
 he had no notion that a copy of it would be given to the Courts 
 at which they were severally accredited. I answered that I was 
 determined either to have a copy of a despatch which might be 
 quoted to foreign Courts (as former despatches had been), as having 
 been communicated to me, and remaining unanswered, or to be able 
 to say that no despatch had been communicated to me at all 
 It was utterly impossible for me, I said, to charge my memory 
 with the expressions of a long despatch once read over to me, or 
 to be able to judge on one such hearing whether it did or did 
 not contain expressions which I ought not to pass over without 
 remark. Yet by the process now proposed I was responsible to the 
 King and to my colleagues, and ultimately perhaps to Parlia 
 ment, for the contents of a paper which might be of the most essen 
 tially important character; and of which the text might be quoted 
 hereafter by third parties, as bearing a meaning which I did not on 
 til? instant attribute to it, and yet which upon bare recollection 1 
 
TEE LIFE OF OEOROE IV. 
 
 811 
 
 could not controvert. Lieven was confounded. He asked me what 
 be was to do. I said, what he pleased : but I took the exception now 
 before I heard a word of his despatch, because I would not have it 
 thought that the contents of the despatch, whatever they might be, 
 had anything to do with that exception I must, however, own that 
 I was led to make it now, the rather because 1 had learnt from St. 
 Petersburg that he. Count Lieven, had been instructed not to give 
 me a copy of the despatch on Turkey and Greece, which instruction 
 his own good sense had led him to disobey, that in that instance it 
 was absolutely preposterous to refuse a copy; that the despatch pro- 
 fessed to be a narrative, of which dates and facts w^ere the elements; 
 and that to have read such a statement to me, and then circulated it 
 throughout Europe as what had been communicated to me, and 
 acquiesced in by my silence, would have been an unfairness such as it 
 w^as as well to let him know, once for all, I was determined to resist. 
 Might he state to me verbally what he was ordered to state without 
 reference to his despatch? He then proceeded to pronounce a dis- 
 course — no matter for the substance at present — after which he left 
 me. 1 instantly wrote down the substance of what I understood him 
 to have said to me, and sent him my memorandum, with a letter 
 requesting him to correct any inaccuracies. The result is, that I 
 have a document in spite of ail their contrivance. Yesterday the 
 same scene with Esterhazy, wLo had not seen Lieven in the interval, 
 and therefore came unprepared. He, too, made me a speech, and 
 to him I immediately sent a memorandum of what I understood 
 him to have said. I have not yet received his answer. To-day 
 Maltzahn came, evidently prepared; for he produced no paper, but 
 set off at score. This rather provoked me. for he is the w^orst of 
 all; but I was even with him. For whereas with the others 1 
 merely listened, and put in no word of my own. I thought it a 
 good opportunity to pay off my reserve upon Maltzahn: and accord 
 ingly said to him a few as disagreeable things as I could upon the 
 principle of legitimacy.” 
 
 Under all this was indignation at the private communications 
 with the King. How he was preparing to deal with this conduct 
 will be seen by the following extract from one of his letters; “I 
 wonder whether he (Metternicli^ is aware that the private commu- 
 nication of foreign ministers with the King of England is wholly 
 at variance with the spirit, and practice too, of the British Con- 
 stitution. That, during his reign of half a century, George III. 
 (whom all parties now agree in takini^ as the modej of an English 
 
812 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 king) never indulged himself in such communications, and that 
 the custom introduced in the time of my predecessor survives only 
 by sufferance, and would not stand the test of parliamentary dis- 
 cussion. I should be very sorry to do anything at all unpleasant to 
 the King, but it is my duty to be present at every interview between 
 his Majesty and a foreign minister. Nothing would induce me to 
 go to that extent; but short of that, being in the right, I would justly 
 resent, and pretty effectually repress, such manoeuvres as Metternich 
 has been encouraging.” 
 
 It is seldom that a minister talks in this strain of his sovereign, 
 and it was clear that matters would soon have come to a crisis ; but 
 a little more than a fortnight later, a wholesome foreboding seems to 
 have visited his Majesty, who, either from a whim or sense of its 
 being his interest, determined on a complete volte face. The pliant 
 Sir William was despatched on a formal mission to the minister, 
 then laid with up the gout. Mr. Stapleton, the secretary, who was 
 with his chief, describes the scene, and also furnishes a report of what 
 passed, dictated to him by Mr. Canning. 
 
 “On April 27111, 1825,” he says, “Mr. Canning, not having been 
 well (had passed the day in bed), was dictating a despatch, when a 
 carriage drove up to the door. The servant was desired to inquire 
 ‘ whether Mr. Canning would not see, for a very few minutes. Sir 
 William Knighton, who was the bearer of a message from the King? ’ 
 Mr. Canning, who well knew that Sir William had been actively mixed 
 up in the late proceedings, looked at me with amazement when I 
 reported to him the message from Sir William. He, however, at 
 once decided to admit the messenger from his sovereign. At length, 
 when three hours had nearly elapsed. Sir William left, and I rejoined 
 Mr. Canning. 
 
 “ Well,” he said, with a countenance beaming with pleasure, “we 
 have had a most curious and satisfactory conversation. Take a 
 sheet of paper and I will dictate to you what has passed.” 
 
 “ [Most Secret Memorandum.] 
 
 “ Gloucester Lodge, April 27, 1825. 
 
 “ Sir William Knighton called upon me to-day by the command, 
 as he said, of his Majesty, to inquirie after the state of my health. 
 Sir W., after inquiring about the gout, hoped Parliament would 
 not give me much more trouble this year, so he flattered himself also 
 that in other respects I should have less occasion of .agitation and 
 anxiety than heretofore; that he was quite aware that the last year 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 813 
 
 must have been to me most trying, and the pulse of the mind (as he 
 expressed himself) must have been going at the rate of sixteen miles 
 an hour. 
 
 “I admitted that there was some truth in this observation, and 
 said that I dated the origin of my present fit of the gout at least as 
 far back as December. But that in truth from the rising of Parlia- 
 ment last year up to December (which was the crisis) had been a 
 period of constant labor and anxiety. I did not particularize this 
 statement further; but he at once showed that he understood me, 
 and liad, in fact, himself been alluding to the same thing, by saying, 
 that I must be aware that the King had sent him to the Continent 
 three or four times during the last six months ; that whenever he 
 had gone he had, of course, had his eyes and ears about him, and 
 had been anxious to collect general feelings and opinions — that he 
 was quite satisfied that the Spanish- American question was every- 
 where working in the sense which I could desire; that foreign 
 nations were astounded at the step, and some of them very angry, 
 but that not one of them ventured to imagine that it was possible to 
 interpose any resistance to England. That Metternich had been try- 
 ing what he could do, and covering his intrigues with the most 
 plausible topics, but that his motive at the bottom was soreness at 
 my success, and envy of my reputation, from which motive he 
 would have done anything to get rid of me. But that he (Metter- 
 nich) was now convinced that I was too strong for him, and would, 
 he (Sir W. K.) had no doubt, henceforth try to accommodate him- 
 self to circumstances as well as he could. 
 
 “ Sir W. K. said that he failed not to mention his own impressions 
 to the King, and that he had never in his life seen the King so tran- 
 quil and comfortable as he appeared at the present moment. I said 
 that it was my object to make his Majesty comfortable and happy, 
 by placing him at the head of Europe instead of being reckoned 
 fifth in a Great Confederacy. 
 
 “ I said that I was aware that the King had been afraid that the 
 steps taken with respect to Spanish-America would involve us in a 
 war; that I was perfectly confident that they would not if taken in 
 time. ... Sir W. K. said that the King had certainly enter- 
 tained that fear, but was now perfectly satisfied that his fears had 
 been unfounded ; that he (Sir W. K.) was certain that, on the contrary, 
 the fear of England was a predominant feeling with the Continental 
 Governments. I said that I hoped so ; that that was the state to 
 which I had wished to bring things, and that I trusted his Majesty 
 
814 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 must feel better pleased, upon reflection, to be the object of such 
 fear, than of cajolery and contempt. Sir W. K. said that he felt 
 sure that his Majesty was coming to that mind ; that he had cer- 
 tainly been very loth to give up all his Continental gossipings (or 
 some expression to that effect) to which he had been accustomed too 
 much and too long; that it was a great misfortune that the royal- 
 ties and their suites had ever come to this country, but that he 
 did hope that the effects of all that system were gradually pass- 
 ing away; and that Esterhazy’s departure and Madame L ’s 
 
 would be a break-up of the system of living with those two embas- 
 sies, which he (Sir W. K.) had long lamented. I asked him, then, 
 if he were aware that the gossipings of the Cottage were regularly 
 
 transmitted to Metternich by Madame L . He said he had no 
 
 doubt of it, but that he very much doubted whether in their Cottage 
 parties the King ever talked serious politics at any of them, though, 
 of course, they had an opportunity of instilling any opinions which 
 they wished ; but the King certainly liked their society better than 
 any others, and was somewhat at a loss to make up a society for 
 himself. 
 
 “Sir W. K. went on to say, that upon all points, and upon every- 
 thing connected with the King, he wished (if I would allow him) to 
 speak to me at all times with the most perfect confldence and unre- 
 servedness; that he did not know that he could do any good, but 
 that he was sure that it was his wflsh to do so, and that he had long 
 desired an opportunity of explaining himself thus openly to me ; 
 that he could not help at the same time saying something of his own 
 situation with the King, which was a very extraordinary, and might 
 become a very embarrassing one. That, oflicially, he was nothing 
 but Keeper of the Privy Purse, the concerns of which, he flattered 
 himself, he had now brought into order; so that the King was now 
 free from debt, and in a state of ease as to his finances that he had 
 never been before; but that as Keeper of the King’s Privy Purse he 
 had nothing to do with politics, yet politics of every sort Avere every 
 day forced upon him; applications, petitions, representations of all 
 sorts, which he got rid of as well as he could, but which made his 
 life a very weary one. He had access to everything that was most 
 secret, and was employed, not by his own good-will, but necessarily 
 for the King’s convenience, on matters of the most delicate nature, 
 for which he had no sort of responsibility; that for his own part he 
 could well be contented to be allowed to live with his family, and 
 
TBE LIFE OF GEORGE IK 
 
 815 
 
 come up occasionally to pass liis accounts with the King. He could 
 just as well administer the King’s private revenue, living at a dis- 
 tance from his Majesty, as Abercrombie could the revenues of the 
 Duke of Devonshire in England. But that he knew the putting 
 this plan into execution would expose his Majesty to great inconve- 
 nience; that his Majesty was used to him and to his help; and such 
 was the growing disposition to indolence in his Majesty, that if he 
 were away, business would get on very ill . . . that it was a most 
 painful part of his (Sir W. K.’s) duty to press business upon his 
 Majesty, when it was absolutely necessary to be done .... and 
 that his doing so sometimes produced unpleasant scenes. . . . ‘ I 
 believe ’ (said Sir W. K.) ‘he has as great an esteem and affection for 
 me as anybody living; but he is uncertain, the creature of impulse 
 . . . . when he has got a particular notion into his head there is no 
 eradicating it; and I have known him talk himself, when agitated 
 and perfectly fasting, into as complete a state of intoxication as if 
 he had been dining and drinking largely. You see, therefore, that 
 it is natural that I should wish for some arrangement. As to money, 
 it is no object to me: I made my fortune by my profession before I 
 quitted it for the King’s service.’ 
 
 “I keep myself as much as possible to myself in my present 
 situation. I make it a rule never to dine abroad. I constantly re- 
 fuse Eleven’s and Esterhazy’s; and even the other day, when you 
 dined at the Duke of Wellington’s with the King, I declined his 
 gracious invitation, and therefore do not push myself forward ; but 
 my situation is not the less embarrassing, knowing everything, and 
 known to know everything, and assailed on all sides, not allowed 
 to be the private servant of the King, and yet not having any con- 
 nection with his Government.” 
 
 “ I asked, ‘ Have you any desire to be in Parliament?’ ‘ Oh no,* 
 he said. In truth, it seemed very difficult to him to say vrhat 
 would answer his purpose ; that all his object had been to open 
 himself fully to me, and to explain all his feelings and all the diffi- 
 culties of his present situation, that I might think it over at my 
 leisure, or think no more about it, as I pleased; but that as long as 
 I held my office, which he hoped would be very many years, and 
 he remained about the King, I might rely upon his entire devotion, 
 and employ him in any way which I thought useful in making 
 things go on easily and satisfactorily. He thought the King very 
 
816 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 well, and quite as likely to live as the Duke of York. The mention 
 of the Duke of York’s name led to that of the Catholic question. 
 He said the King knew nothing of the Duke of York’s intention to 
 make that speech, and certainly did not approve of it, that his 
 JVIajesty had been so much out of humor with the Duke of York, 
 about a house that he was going to build— so much so, that they 
 nearly came to disagreeable words about it. and that he (Sir W. K.) 
 had been employed to compose the difference; that the King al 
 ways likes the Duke of York to go to the play with him, and was 
 in an excessive fidget and auger when the Duke did not come to 
 dine; and that his ill-humor would certainly not be cured by hear- 
 ing what kept him away. I asked him if the King, though not dis- 
 posed to express it. had the same feeling as the Duke of York about 
 the Coronation Oath. He said not the same, or to the same degree, 
 but certainly a strong feeling about it; so much so, that he had, 
 before he became King, consulted the late Lord Londonderry as to 
 the expediency of altering it before he was called upon to take it. 
 I asked if there was any record of that consultation, and if he 
 knew what had been done upon it. He said he did not know, nor 
 did he believe that there was anything in writing; but that he was 
 quite sure that the King had told him the fact, and that he would 
 endeavor to refresh his memory as to the particulars. The difll- 
 culty wdiich you will have with the King will be to satisfy him that 
 the decision of Parliament and the advice of his Government ought 
 to oyerbear his scruples. I said, of that there can be no doubt, as 
 the King of England can do nothing, except by the advice of his 
 responsible advisers. He may indeed change his advisers as often 
 as he pleases, till he gets those who will advise what he likes, if he 
 can; but on this occasion, I doubt whether, changing ever so often, 
 he will be able to make a completely anti -Catholic Government 
 which would long stand. ‘Oh nol (said Sir W. K.) it would be 
 quite impossible: he has no notion of that, I am sure; but I think 
 he would like to dissolve the Parliament, and take the sense of a 
 second House of Commons.’ On which I said I thought I saw in 
 that nothing unreasonable. ‘ My expectation (said Sir W. K.) is 
 that when the thing comes a little nearer and more pressing, his 
 Majesty will wish to talk to you upon the subject.’ ‘ It is one (said 
 I) upon which, divided as the Government is, I should not think 
 myself at liberty to originate any advice or opinion to his Majesty; 
 but of course, as upon everything else, I should be ready to speak 
 my opinion if he wishes to talk to me.’ Lord Liverpool, he said. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 817 
 
 of course, if he does not make up his mind to support the ques- 
 tion, will go out, if it should become necessary to carry it; though 
 the state of the Government upon the question is now such as you 
 allude to, it is evident that the settlement of it must be made by a 
 Government. I said I saw no necessity for Lord Liverpool to go 
 out, and I trusted that he had no thought of it. He said, ‘ You may 
 depend upon it he would, and that he has made up his mind to do 
 so; and then,’ he added, ‘I never saw Lord Liverpool in such an 
 amiable humor, and so says the King, who was delighted with him 
 at the levee on Wednesday, and said that he was all svaviter in 
 modo' He (Sir W. K.) then went on: Peel, too, would go out on 
 account of Oxford. I said, God forbid ! for he was certainly the 
 most efficient Secretary of State for the Home Department that this 
 country ever saw, and the most able and honest minister. Indeed, 
 I added, the King ought to be aware that he owes the unexampled 
 comfort and tranquillity which he at present enjoys, and which 
 (said Sir W. K., interrupting) he admits never to have enjoyed be- 
 fore. Well, I said, he owes it not to Lord Liverpool and me only, 
 in our respective situations, but to the extraordinary efficiency 
 with which those other great departments of the State are filled by 
 Peel, Robinson, and Huskisson; those offices were never so filled 
 altogether before. Sir W. K. agreed to this, and went off in a 
 great panegyric about Huskisson: but, to my surprise, said nothing 
 about Robinson, whom I believed to be one of the greatest favor- 
 ites of the King, and particularly of Knighton. He then reverted 
 to Peel, and gave reasons why he thought he would go out. His 
 health, his wealth, his desire of leisure, and particularly of travel- 
 ling; but without any particular praise of Peel, whom I had also 
 imagined to be one of Sir W. K.’s first favorites. 
 
 “He talked of the Duke of Wellington as the person in whom 
 the King had great confidence, though he thought he saw him much 
 less than heretofore, when the Continental system was in more 
 vogue. He thought the Duke essentially ill, but hoped that he was 
 now taking care of himself. Several other matters of less conse- 
 quence arose in the course of the conversation, of which I entertain 
 no very distinct recollection. The cause of the visit probably was 
 as stated, the King’s command to inquire after my gout . . . but 
 
 the main object which he (Sir W. K.) evidently had at heart, was to 
 set himself right with me as to the intrigues of last summer, of 
 which he knows that I suspect him, and perhaps suspects that I 
 knew him to be, if not an active instrument, a very interested spec- 
 35 
 
818 
 
 TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 tator, and to bring his situation before me with a view to some ob 
 ject, and in the contemplation of some contingency, which 1 do 
 not pretend to divine. ” 
 
 In September, 1825, Mr. Canning found himself, as was to be ex- 
 pected, directly confronted with the grand question, which by his 
 principles and declarations he was bound to favor. There were 
 many reasons why it would have been inconvenient for him to deal 
 with it then- not the least of which was the impracticable mood of 
 the King. He contrived to put it aside for the moment, address 
 mg a letter to Mr. Plunket, setting out the “inopportunes” of the 
 time, “ the certainty of its rousing unconquerable hostility,” but he 
 added a promise of bringing it forward at the first opportunity 
 after a dissolution. 
 
 “lam aware,” he added, “ to what misconstructions this pro 
 ceeding may possibly expose me. I need hardly say that I had 
 much rather that this extreme measure was averted by the discre- 
 tion of those of the Catholic -body with whom the bringing the 
 question forward may rest.” But so fixed was his resolution, he 
 said he was determined to move the previous question, should it be 
 brought on. 
 
 This letter he forwarded to the King, with a skilfully-written one 
 of his own. 
 
 “ Dated Oct. 19, 1825. 
 
 “Mr. Canning, in submitting with his humble duty the accom- 
 panying copy of a letter for your Majesty’s gracious perusal, 
 humbly entreats your Majesty to believe that he does not presume 
 to entertain the slightest wish or expectation that your Majesty 
 should condescend to express any opinion upon the subject to 
 which it relates. 
 
 “ But in the very embarrassing situation in which that subject is 
 placed (by no fault of any one, but through its own intrinsic diffi- 
 culties), Mr. Canning is, above all things, anxious that your Majesty 
 should be informed (if your Majesty will deign to receive such in- 
 formation) of any step taken by Mr. Canning, individually, upon 
 a question upon which your Majesty’s confidential servants do not 
 offer to your Majesty any collective opinion. 
 
 “For himself, Mr. Canning begs leave most humbly to assure 
 your Majesty, that however impossible it would be for Mr. Canning 
 at any time to pursue, consistently with his honor and conscien- 
 tious conviction, any other course than that which he has hitherto 
 
TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV, 
 
 819 
 
 pursued upon this most momentous and perplexing question, senti- 
 ments of affectionate duty and grateful attachment to your Majesty 
 make him feel at all times no less the wish than the obligation to 
 consult to the utmost of his power, in the discussions which may 
 arise upon this question, your Majesty’s ease and comfort, and to 
 omit no endeavor by which the decision upon it (whatever that de- 
 cision may be) can be rendered least prejudicial to the general well- 
 being of your Majesty’s Government.” 
 
 He thus describes to Lord Granville the King’s reception of his 
 communication : 
 
 “ I sent to his Majesty for his private perusal a copy of my letter 
 to Mr. Plunket. 
 
 “He has returned it with thanks, describes it as ‘admirable;’ 
 and though he does not (nor could I expect that he would) look be- 
 yond the next j’^ear for what must follow, there is not one word in 
 his letter of determination not to yield, not a syllable of his royal 
 brother’s language, and not a shadow of ill-humor. This is well 
 so far as it goes, and it is a great thing to have begun with his 
 Majesty upon a subject which hitherto has been considered as inter- 
 dicted ground. 
 
 “You remember, of course, that in the discussions (in Cabinet) 
 which followed the loss of the question last session, I declared my 
 determination to be no longer precluded from communicating with 
 his Majesty when I thought fit.” 
 
 The minister showed himself here rather too sanguine and credu- 
 lous as to the King’s disposition; indeed, it must be said that the 
 latter was not called upon to do more than signify his approbation 
 of the postponement, at which he might reasonably exclaim “Ad- 
 mirable!” without, too, exhibiting “a shadow of ill-humor.” The 
 proceeding was indeed one which recalled Pitt’s and Fox’s considera- 
 tion for the feelings of his royal father on analogous occasions. 
 
 It is evident, however, that the King relied on their assurances 
 that he was not to be annoyed by the Catholic question. But had 
 Mr. Canning lived, it is clear he must have been obliged to bring 
 forward the question. For the present it was staved otf. He, how- 
 ever, had no objection to reciprocate these cordial advances, and 
 contrived to turn them to profit. 
 
 Mr. Stapleton declares that from that day to Mr. Canning’s 
 
820 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEOROE IV. 
 
 death there was a most remarkable change in the King’s behavior, 
 who became as cordial and loyal in his support as he was before 
 unfriendly. The results were immediate. He even anticipated his 
 wishes in regard to the recognized States. 
 
 “ You will not think my journey to town fruitless,” he wrote in 
 October, “ when I tell you thfft I received, the day before yesterday, 
 from the King a note in which is the following sentence: ‘The 
 King will receive the ministers of the New States early in Novem- 
 ber.’ Recollecting that this time twelvemonth it was a question 
 whether there should be any New States at all, and that in the dis- 
 cussions of that day one of the main arguments employed to deter 
 me from my purpose was, that the King would never be brought 
 to receive their ministers, I think the two lines above quoted as 
 satisfactory a proof of the sum as could be desired. I am afraid, 
 however, that the King offers me more than I shall be able to take; 
 for I have only one minister, that of Columbia, here. Immediately 
 after the presentation I shall ajDpoint ministers to both States; and 
 to this also I have obtained his Majesty’s complete acquiescence. 
 The King had now begun to feel, he said later, that ‘ I had not, as 
 he was taught to apprehend, lost him his status among the Powers 
 of the Continent,’ but had only changed it from ‘ the tail of Europe 
 to the head.’ ” 
 
 The presentation of the Columbian envoy was a special source 
 of satisfaction to him. As “ a scene ” it is interesting, and a favor- 
 able specimen of Mr. Canning’s spirited style. 
 
 “ I had mentioned to his Majesty before Signor Hurtado came 
 into the closet, that he had conducted himself eminently well 
 during his residence of some years in England — had mixed himself 
 in no factious cabal, nor, so far as I know and believe, in any dirty 
 speculations. 
 
 “ Immediately upon his coming in, the King, without waiting 
 for his address, began with a sentence to this effect, extraordinarily 
 well worded and pronounced: 
 
 “‘I have learnt with great satisfaction, sir, that during your 
 residence in this country you have conducted yourself with par- 
 ticular prudence and propriety, under very difficult circumstances. 
 It is an earnest of the manner in which you will discharge the du- 
 ties of the situation to which you are now appointed, and in ’which 
 I have great pleasure in receiving you.’ 
 
 “Hurtado then made his speech, which was a very judicious and 
 
TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 821 
 
 proper one; though rather of the longest, and in the most unli- 
 censed and arbitrary French which it is possible to imagine. (The 
 King’s speech to him was in English, which he understands, but 
 does not venture to speak.) 
 
 “I then told the King (in the presence of Hurtado), that ‘ I had 
 received from Hurtado the most positive assurances of the, dispo- 
 sition and desire of his Government to cultivate the relations of 
 peace with all the world, but especially with the New States of 
 America, and especially, among them, with the State more imme- 
 diately under his Majesty’s protection — Brazil.’ 
 
 “To which Hurtado bowed, and muttered his assent; and his 
 Majesty added: ‘I rejoice to hear it;’ and turning to Hurtado, 
 ‘ Peace, peace, by all means, and above all things. We have had 
 thirty years of convulsions; let us all now conspire to keep the 
 peace.’ 
 
 “And so the audience ended. And so, behold! the New World 
 established.” 
 
 Another version of his proud boast of calling the New World 
 into existence ‘ ‘ to redress the balance of the Old 1” What if we 
 could have foreseen the miserable little republics, which were in 
 reality to be engendered by his bold step? 
 
 In December he had the satisfaction of witnessing Prince Ester- 
 hazy’s farewell audience, which was to bring him fresh proof of his 
 new-born favor with the King. He reports it in the same dramatic 
 style : 
 
 “After many gracious expressions of regret, his Majesty said 
 (in French) that it was particularly mortifying that Prince Ester- 
 hazy should leave England at such a time, wdien all was going on 
 so well; when his Majesty’s Government was so much to his own 
 mind, and when he should think every other Power was so com- 
 pletely satisfied with it. 
 
 “Prince Esterhazy interposed a few words in confirmation of the 
 King’s sentiments, and expressive of his own satisfaction at the 
 manner in which he was treated, especially by me. ‘ Que les formes 
 amient ete toujours les plus amicales et qu'd present il Unit convain- 
 cu — ’ and was evidently proceeding to some reference to former 
 political differences of opinion between himself and me, when the 
 King interrupted him, and said: 
 
 “ ‘ Oui, out — il faut Hre juste f and then turning to me, went on 
 (still in French) to say — ‘Yes, it is right that you should know, and 
 
822 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 I am determined to tell you in his presence, that Esterhazy was the 
 first “de Temnir sur votre compte,” and to disavow and to complain 
 of the unreasonable “preventions” of Prince Metternich. It is 
 many months ago since Prince Esterhazy said to me, of his own 
 accord, that he was ashamed for himself, and for his Court, of the 
 injustice which had been done to you; and to express his convic- 
 tion that, even on the points on which you had most differed, you 
 had been right, and had done what was best for all.’ 
 
 “ ' Oui—je vous U jure,’ said Prince Esterhazy, holding out his 
 hands and taking mine, and the tears coming into his eyes; and 
 then turning to the King, he said: 'Sire, de touies les graces dont 
 noire Majeste m’a comblees’ (or words to that effect), ‘I consider this 
 as the most kind. I wished Mr. Canning to know this, but I could 
 not myself tell it him, or be sure that he would have given me 
 credit for it if I had. How little could I expect your Majesty 
 would have deigned to take the task upon yourself. Oui,jenou8 
 jure,’ he repeated, turning to me, ‘ qice meme dans la question coloni- 
 ale, upon which it was my duty and that of others, according to 
 our instructions, to oppose you all that we could, I have long been 
 satisfied that you were entirely right; but still more upon the ques- 
 tion which now occupies all our minds — I mean the Greek ques- 
 tion. 
 
 “ ‘I do confess. Sire,’ he said to the King, ‘ I was, as we all were, 
 excessively dissatisfied with Mr. Canning for his constant refusal to 
 join in the conferences at St. Petersburg, and did really and truly 
 think that he was sacrificing the general good to his particular 
 opinions; but I now assure your Majesty, upon my honor, that I 
 am quite convinced that he judged the matter rightly from the be- 
 ginning, and that he took the only course which, as a British min- 
 ister, it was for the honor and interests of his country to take. 
 Moi-meme dans sa situation et arec ses moyens, I hope I should have 
 acted like him. Indeed, Sire, events have proved how just a view 
 he took of this subject. He foresaw the uullity of our conferences, 
 and knew that he could not commit England in them without ex- 
 posing her to discredit and impairing her utility in future.’ 
 
 “The King said a few words implying assent, and I interposed, 
 saying: 'Yes, Sire, in this country we cannot afford unprofitable 
 discussions, or to take any public step, of which one knows before- 
 hand that it will lead to no good.’ 
 
 “ ‘Yes,’ said the King. ‘ When we see our way, and can employ 
 our own influence, we can do anything. Qui est ce,’ turning to 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IK 
 
 82B 
 
 Prince Esterhazy, ‘ gui pourroit amir fait ce que nous mnons d'accom- 
 plir au Brezilf’ Prince Esterhazy expressed his entire consent, 
 and went into a panegyric of the instructions given to Sir Charles 
 Stuart. 
 
 " ‘ Au moinsi I said, ‘ Sire, nous awns sauve Id une monarcMe — 
 which, as part of a confederacy, I would not answer for having 
 been able to do.’ 
 
 “ The conversation then turned upon the Emperor of Russia’s 
 death; upon the danger of a Turkish war. The King expressing 
 his determination to exert all his influence to preserve peace, and 
 Prince Esterhazy expressing for himself and for his Court the per- 
 fect and entire confidence which (pointing to me) they reposed in 
 his Majesty’s Government. 
 
 “After Prince Esterhazy had taken leave, the King made me sit 
 down, and repeated to me the conversation to which he had alluded 
 in presence of Prince Esterhazy; and which, his Majesty said, had 
 begun by a voluntary declaration on Prince Esterhazy’s part of the 
 error in which he had been for some time respecting the course of 
 my policy, and of his complete abjuration -of that error. 
 
 “The King said that Prince Metternich, though a very clever, 
 was a very prejudiced man; that he had been used to have very 
 much his own way; that poor Lord Londonderry had often found 
 that however well Prince Metternich might have appeared to un- 
 derstand a subject relating to England in conversation, yet, that 
 three months after he got back to Vienna he appeared to have for- 
 gotten totally all that had passed, and said and did such things as 
 put Lord Londonderry to great embarrassment; that his (the King’s) 
 wish had been to bring me and Metternich together; that he had 
 proposed to him (Metternich) to come over from Paris for that pur- 
 pose ; that he would have introduced us to each other and shut us 
 up in a room together, when in the course of an hour he was sure, 
 I should have convinced Metternich and brought him to reason. 
 
 “Referring to his majesty’s expressions of regret at the loss of 
 Prince Esterhazy, I offered to write privately to Sir H. Wellesley, to 
 sound Metternich, whether the arrangement for his removal could be 
 reconsidered ; which the King commanded me to do. 
 
 “I asked whether his majesty’s sentiments with respect to Count 
 Lieven were the same, and the King answered, ‘ Certainly; ’ that his 
 majesty wished I would do anything in my power to preserve Count 
 Lieven in his present situation, for that with Lieven and Esterhazy 
 1 could manage everything. 
 
824 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE lY. 
 
 “On leaving his majesty, I found Prince Esterhazy waiting for 
 me in the outer room. He came up to me and repeated with emotion 
 the substance of what he had said before the King; thanked me for 
 my intention to write to Sir H. Wellesley, but expressed his belief 
 that it would be of no avail ; regretted his departure at a moment 
 when it was so essential that Austria and England should understand 
 each other; but conjured me to believe ' qu’il me rendit enjin pleine 
 justice;' and that he now comprehended and ‘ sgawit appi'ccier ma 
 politique,' that I had everything in my hands, and was ^destine d 
 jouer le plus grand role en Europe.' 
 
 “ It is needless to add that we parted very good friends.” 
 
 There seems no reason to doubt that this was the result of an in- 
 tellectual victory, and that Mr. Canning had really gained one over 
 the King. The latter, indeed, some years later, in conversation with 
 Mr. Canning on Lord Liverpool’s retirement, frankly assured him 
 that this was so; and that his prejudices had been removed and his 
 support gained by the brilliant results of the policy adopted, and the 
 great position in Europe to which he had raised the country.* 
 
 THE KING TO SIR WILLIAM KNIGHTON. 
 
 “ Royal Lodge, Nov. 15th, 1825. 
 
 “ My dear Friend, 
 
 “ I have so little to say since your departure from hence, that 
 it is scarcely worth while troubling you with a line even now — 
 especially as in the course of a few days I look for your reappear- 
 ance — except to acknowledge and to thank you for the short epistle 
 I received from you, dated Frankfort. 
 
 “ Tranquillity, I am sure you will be pleased to learn, has in gen- 
 eral been the order of the day since you left us. However, there 
 have been, and I am fearful that they are still existing, some diffi- 
 culties and misunderstandings in the final arrangement of that busi- 
 ness which has caused you so much trouble and anxiety ; and which 
 at present do, and which I fear will stilv procrastinate the final ad- 
 justment until your return. 
 
 “It is impossible to detail to you what cavillings there have been, 
 and what strange crotchets have started up, and sometimes seem- 
 ingly upon the merest rifles, among the lawyers, and indeed, pretty 
 much all the parties concerned ; such immensity of talking back- 
 
 * Stapleton, ‘‘ Canning,” p. 582. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 825 
 
 wards and forwards, here and there — the mistake of a sentence, and 
 of even a single word — all which creates delays; and even if there 
 be the possibility of correcting it and setting it to rights again after- 
 wards, I think but little progress has yet been made; and 1 see the 
 impracticability, and next to impossibility of its being brought to 
 any final issue, until the moment of your return, when by your good 
 and kind advice it may in all likelihood be ultimately settled.* 
 
 “You, I am confident, will understand all this without the neces- 
 sity of any further explanation on my part, especially as they, I 
 know, are at this very moment in the act of writing to you; so prob- 
 ably they may enter into some further details. 
 
 “ As to bodily health, I am certainly not as well as I ought to be, 
 although I complain but little, which you are well aware is generally 
 the case with me; but as to that which is more and most essential 
 (as it is the mainspring to lever 3 dhing, and the only security for 
 health), the state of my mind and my feelings, I shall reserve all I 
 have to say till next we meet. 
 
 “Now, then, God bless you, dear friend; and believe me always 
 affectionately yours, 
 
 “G. R” 
 
 THE KING TO SIR WILLIAM KNIGHTON. 
 
 “Royal Lodge, Two o’clock p.m., Dec. 28tli, 1825. 
 
 Dear Friend, 
 
 “I write a few lines in great haste to request that you will be 
 with me here at an early hour to-morrow morning. You may depend 
 upon it, that if it were not for matters of considerable moment, I 
 would not break in upon the few moments of peaceful enjoyment 
 with your family which you allow yourself, and it is therefore with 
 sincere regret that I feel myself under the necessity of doing so upon 
 the present occasion. However, you may assure Lady Knighton 
 and your family from me, that four-and-twenty hours, I hope, will 
 be the utmost extent of time of which they will be deprived of your 
 
 * This letter referred to the young Duke of Brunswick’s affairs, of whom 
 the King was guardian, and which brought his Majesty much trouble and 
 litigation. This child grew up to be the well-known eccentric Charles Duke 
 of Brunswick, whose strange life, chiefly conspicuous for diamonds, was 
 closed by his strange legacy to the town of Geneva. 
 
 35 * 
 
826 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 society. The matter is too big with a variety and combination of 
 matters not to require without the loss of a moment your presence, 
 and your best advice and assistance. I have not time to add an- 
 other word, but that I am always 
 
 ‘ ‘ Affectionately yours, 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
THE LIFE OF OEOBGE IV, 
 
 827 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 1825 — 1826 . 
 
 On the accession of the new Czar (the late Emperor Nicholas), it 
 was proposed to send the Duke of Wellington to St. Petersburg to 
 explain personally the views of the Government. The duke had 
 been a little unwell, but otherwise there could be no objection to his 
 setting out on so important and honorable a mission. The King, 
 however, complicated so simple a matter by some fancied ditficul * 
 ties, and addressed to the duke what seems an apologetic letter* 
 
 THE KING TO THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. 
 
 “ [Most secret and confidential, and for yourself alone.] 
 
 “ Royal Lodge, 27th December, 1825. 
 
 ‘ ‘ My dear Friend, 
 
 “In consequence of an interview I have just had with Mr. 
 Canning, I have determined upon sending you the enclosed letters, 
 in hopes that they will reach you, before you can, or will, hear from 
 Mr. Canning, and which I am confident that you will shortly. If 
 upon reading my letter, you should not approve of it, the only 
 apology I can otfer is that which I am sure the generosity of your 
 heart, and of your nature, will of itself naturally suggest to you for 
 me, the sincerity and warmth of my most affectionate feelings to- 
 wards you, which will, at all times, supersede every other con- 
 sideration. . 
 
 “I must in justice to Mr. Canning add, that every expression he 
 made use of was in a very friendly and proper tone. My fear was, 
 that you might think that the proposal originated with me, and 
 therefore that you might consider it as something in the shape of an 
 official order, without any previous consultation on my part with 
 you, my friend, as to that which might be agreeable to your feelings, 
 and of which I do entreat you to believe I am wholly and entirely 
 incapable. 
 
 “Mr. Canning’s fear, on the other hand (from what I have just 
 
828 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEOROE IV. 
 
 heard from him), seems to have arisen from this: the apprehen- 
 sion, that if this proposal was not in the very first instance made 
 to you, you might possibly suppose that from some unjustifiable 
 reason he had overlooked your superior consequence, pretensions, 
 and ability; and therefore, he might be deemed as guilty of not 
 showing towards you all that high consideration and respect, 
 which are no more than your due; and which, as well as with 
 private regard for you, he not only expresses himself, but appears 
 to be strongly impressed. 
 
 “By the statement I have just made to you, you will perceive 
 (when you receive Mr. Canning’s communication) that the matter 
 now stands on a perfectly dilferent footing and principle than it 
 did appear to me to do. When I wrote my answer to Mr. 
 Canning’s first letter, for now you will, if you please, consider it 
 either as a matter of personal respect and compliment to yourself, or 
 deal with it in any other way that may be most congenial and satis- 
 factory to your own feelings ; and it is upon this ground, and this 
 ground alone, that I assented to Mr. Canning’s approaching you at 
 all upon the subject; and, after a further consultation with Lord 
 Liverpool, to whom he is gone at Coombe, immediately upon leav- 
 ing me. Advice I do not pretend to otfer, but, as to my wishes, 
 they are to be summed up in very few words indeed; and not to 
 repeat all, I do so sincerely feel personally towards you, I must say 
 that your absence for any length of time, or rather, the want of your 
 presence, would be quite intolerable to me, besides the risk which 
 yonr health would run, perhaps even your life, which is too fright- 
 ful a consideration, either for the private man that loves you, or the 
 public man that cares for his country, or for the interests of all 
 Europe, to entertain or tolerate for a single instant. 
 
 “Believe me, my dear Duke, 
 
 “Ever your most affectionate Friend, 
 
 “G. R. 
 
 “P.S. — When you have done with Canning’s letter, as well as 
 with the copy of my answer, I will thank you to return them. ” 
 
 From Mr. Canning’s account of this simple transaction, it will be 
 seen that, with his usual love of tortuous ways, even in trifles, the 
 King’s letter had been addressed to the Duke without Mr, Canning’s 
 knowledge — hence “for yourself alone ” 
 
 proposed it to the King almost as soon as the event was 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV, 
 
 829 
 
 known; but his majesty doubted — solely, however, on the ground 
 of the duke’s health. I persuaded his majesty to let me try 
 the question upon the duke, with an express intimation of his 
 majesty’s commands that he should not undertake the mission, 
 unless he felt himself strong enough to go through with it, and 
 _ unless his medical advisers concurred in the same opinion. The 
 duke not only accepted, but jumped, as I foresaw that he would, 
 at the proposal. ‘Never better in his life,’ ‘ready to set out in 
 a w'eek, ’ and the like expressions of alertness^ leave no doubt upon 
 my mind that the selection of another person would have done his 
 health more prejudice than all the frosts or thaws of the hyperbo- 
 rean regions can do it. ” 
 
 As the reader will have seen, it is not proposed in this work to 
 give a complete view of ministerial changes and politics during 
 this reign, which would be entering on a vast field, but simply" to 
 deal with these matters only so far as they exhibit the behavior of 
 his majesty. 
 
 THE KING TO SIR W. KNIGHTON. 
 
 “January, 1826. 
 
 “Dear Friend, 
 
 ‘ ‘ Many thanks to you for your letter, just received. Inclosed, 
 and unsealed, I send you a short note of thanks for Robinson, 
 which, after you have read, you will be so good as to seal and for- 
 ward to him. Cathcart’s paper I also return you, properly signed. 
 
 “With respect to Munster’s re-despatching the quarterly messen- 
 ger to Hanover on the 25th of this month, as he proposes, I can only 
 say at present, that he may prepare him eventually for such depart- 
 ure, if such things as I shall have to send abroad by him shall be 
 ready (and which I hope they will by that day), but that, should 
 they not, he must positively await my further orders. Amongst the 
 rest of the articles which I shall have to send by him are the com- 
 plete set of Handel’s scores and works for the King of Prussia, now 
 binding, which I must beg of you to look after, and to see yourself 
 carefully, properly, and safely packed up, and then to be simply 
 addressed ‘ Pour 8a Majeste le Boi de Prusse; ’ and the outward 
 cover, ‘For H.R.H. the Duke of Cumberland, K.G., Berlin.’ 
 
 “With your usual precaution, celerity, and zeal, you seem to 
 have carried, and settled to my entire comfort and satisfaction, all 
 the necessary and essential points respecting Windsor Castle and 
 
830 
 
 TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 the King’s palace, as well as what to me is almost equally agree- 
 able (as you state it) to the quietude and gratification of poor little 
 Nash’s feelings. 
 
 “A little charitable impulse induces me to desire you to inquire 
 into the distressed circumstances of poor old O’Keeffe, now ninety 
 years of age and stone-blind, whom I knew a little of formerly, 
 having occasionally met him at parties; my juvenile recreation and 
 hilarity to which he then contributed not a little. Should you 
 really find him so low in the world, and so divested of all comfort 
 as he is represented to be, then I do conceive that there can be no 
 objection to your offering him, from me, such immediate relief, or 
 such a moderate annual stipend, as will enable him to close his 
 hitherto long life in comfort, at any rate free from want and abso- 
 lute beggary, which I greatly fear at present is but too truly his 
 actual condition and situation. Perhaps on many accounts and 
 reasons, which I am sure I need not mention to you, this had best 
 be effectuated by an immediate application through j^ou to our 
 lively little friend G. Colman, whose good heart will, I am certain, 
 lead him to give us all the assistance he can, especially as it is for 
 the preservation of one of his oldest invalided brothers and wor- 
 shippers of the Thespian muse. 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 THE KING TO LORD LIVERPOOL. • 
 
 . _ “Royal Lodge, April f9th, 1R26. 
 
 “ [Most private.] 
 
 “I think your explanation on the subject of the Northum- 
 berland peerage, although not satisfactory to one’s feelings, is upon 
 the whole conclusive; but I do think that it is a hard thing, both 
 upon you and me, that Lord Grenville should make a point of 
 
 driving me to do that which I think wrong, and take no interest in, 
 politically 01 otherwise. However, let it be, for I do not choose 
 that you should be compromised. All the others that you have put 
 down have my entire approbation. I will now add my own; and 
 I shall begin by naming my friend Charles Long; the second, about 
 whom I am even more anxious, is my old and attached friend Lord 
 Fife. I am quite aware of the trifling objection to some of the 
 fooleries of his past life, but who is exempt from some nonsense or 
 other? I dismissed him from my household, and used him appar* 
 ently ill to please my Government and poor Lord Londonderry; 
 but, notwithstanding this, my friend Fife never gave a vote against 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 831 
 
 the Government afterwards, and by his loyal example when I was 
 in Scotland did the greatest good. I am mnch attached to him. If 
 you choose to let Sir John Leicester stand, I have no objection; and 
 with this understanding, that I shall be willing to consider myself 
 as owing you a peer at any future period that you may propose. 
 Peace and harmony is my great object. You will be glad, I am 
 sure, to learn that I am gradually improving in health every day. 
 
 “Your sincere Friend, 
 
 “G. R” 
 
 THE KING TO THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. 
 
 “ Royal Lodge, October 7th, 1826. 
 
 “ The King has read with attention the papers transmitted to him 
 by the Duke of Wellington, and which he now returns. 
 
 “The King is entirely of the same opinion as the Duke of Wel- 
 lington with regard to the propriety of the second condition pro- 
 posed by Mr. Canning. 
 
 “ The King doubts Marshal Beresford’s acceptance of the com- 
 mand of the Portuguese army, if hampered with tlie first condition; 
 and therefore, if Mr. Canning considers it is of great importance 
 that the command should be taken by Lord Beresford, probably 
 Mr. Canning will reconsider the first proposition. 
 
 “The King desires that the Duke of Wellington will communi- 
 cate the contents of this letter to Mr. Canning and Lord Liverpool. 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 THE KING TO THE SAME. 
 
 “My dear Friend, 
 
 “ I add this short note, merely for yourself, to tell you that I 
 am quite of your opinion on this matter. The first proposition 
 cannot be flattering to the feelings of Lord Beresford; nor do I 
 think in a political view it would be a dignified measure for us 
 to sake. 
 
 “ Yours very affectionately, 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 THE KING TO SIR W. KNIGHTON. 
 
 “ Royal Lodge, Dec. 30, 1826. 
 
 Dear Friend, 
 
 “I write a short line, merely for the purpose of wishing you 
 and yours from my heart a happy new year, and many returns of 
 
832 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEOROE IV. 
 
 the same. I shall trouble you with but little on the present occa- 
 sion, though I have much, and that too of great importance, which 
 I must with the shortest lapse of time possible discuss and talk over 
 witli you ; and therefore I rely upon your affection for me that you 
 will not disappoint me, but that you will be punctual with me at 
 the Lodge by noon, and not later than on Wednesday the 2nd, by 
 which time I trust the old mansion will be completely restored to 
 its wonted tranquillity and quiet. But see you I must on that day. 
 
 “ It was fully my intention to have written you a few lines on 
 Christmas Day, but I was then, and had been confined ever since 
 this day se’ennight, to my room with a general cold and feverish 
 attack, attended with great tightness and oppression upon the chest, 
 and for which, by Sir Henry’s advice, we were obliged to have 
 recourse to the lancet, which produced the expected relief, but not 
 such entire relief as to set me free from my chamber, but from 
 which, thank God, I am to emerge this day, by going down to din- 
 ner for the first time. My affection for you made me feel that, how- 
 ever I might be suffering myself, it would be both cruel and unjust in 
 me, knowing how very little time you ever allow yourself to pass in 
 comfort with your family (especially at this season of the year), were 
 I to write that to you which, from your affection to me, might have 
 induced you generously to break up your domestic board by coming 
 away to me suddenly, or at any rate have cast a damper over those 
 happy, cheerful, and enviable hours, which you cannot fail to enjoy 
 when surrounded by your happy domestic circle; and that long 
 may this be your case, dear friend, my best prayers are, and ever 
 will be offered up. 
 
 “Now good-by to you. I look forward with impatience to 
 Wednesday next, the 2nd, when I rely and depend upon seeing 
 you. Till then, God bless you ! 
 
 “Yours affectionately, 
 
 “G. R” 
 
 In the January of 1827 the royal Protestant champion, the Duke 
 of York, was taken ill and died — a great loss to his majesty. He 
 had been giving much trouble to Mr. Canning, owing to his inter- 
 ference ; and not long before his death he had exhorted the King 
 “strenuously to place the Government of the country in a state of 
 uniformity, and that that uniformity should be one of a decided 
 opposition to the Catholic claims.” The King, however, was not 
 prepared to take his advice ; but Mr. Canning was actually medi- 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 833 
 
 tating taking some serious step to put a stop to his interference. He 
 congratulated himself that he had not done so. But still in death 
 the duke was destined to help the cause he loved, for it was on 
 attending his funeral that Mr. Canning caught the fatal cold that 
 carried him off. 
 
 Of a sudden came the catastrophe of Lord Liverpool’s seizure 
 and subsequent death; which led to a crisis of singular embarrass- 
 ment for all concerned. 
 
834 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEOMGE IV, 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 1827. 
 
 On March 27th Mr. Canning went down to the Royal Lodge, to 
 hold one of those long conversations in which the King was fond 
 of indulging in his last years, and which rather took the shape of 
 monologues, in which he rambled from topic to topic, but chiefly 
 dwelt upon himself, and his life and principles. These views often 
 astonished and confounded the listener, owing to their inconsistency 
 with the real course of events. “ The King gave him the whole his- 
 tory of his political opinions, both before as well as after he became 
 Regent, and subsequently King, especially with reference to wha.t 
 they had been, and then were, on the Catholic question. He stated 
 that on that point, even at the time of his closest connection with 
 Mr. Fox, his opinions had been against concession, and, in short, 
 that he was decidedly opposed to emancipation. His majesty’s ex- 
 pressions were very strong on this subject. His majesty expressed, 
 in the most unequivocal terms, his satisfaction with Mr, Canning’s 
 services, and his wish to retain them for the rest of his life; but, he 
 added, that as the Catholic question was a matter of conscience, he 
 must take great precautions against exposing himself to the imputa- 
 tion of abandoning his opinions on that question, which he feared 
 he would do if he were to select a Catholic Prime Minister, He 
 therefore wished to retain all his present ministers, and to fill up 
 Lord Liverpool’s place with some peer holding Lord Liverpool’s 
 opinions upon the Catholic question. 
 
 “ Mr. Canning said that the first advice which, as an honest man, 
 lie was bound to tender to him was, that his majesty should form a 
 Government calculated to represent his own opinions. The King 
 thought that was impossible, and cited Lord Liverpool’s opinions to 
 that effect upon the Duke of York’s paper of November last. Mr. 
 Canning observed that he did not agree in that opinion; but that it 
 was not, however, his business to point out the mode in which such 
 a Government might be formed, but all he could do was to lay his 
 
TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 835 
 
 office at his majesty’s feet, in order that the attempt might be 
 made. 
 
 “His majesty then declared his sense of the impossibility of part- 
 ing with Mr. Canning, and repeated his assurances that the repug- 
 nance with which he frankly admitted he had received Mr. Canning 
 into his service in 1822 had not only been completely effaced within 
 a short time after their coming together, but was now changed into 
 sentiments of satisfaction, regard, and warm affection; that Mr. 
 Canning had placed this country in a position, with respect to 
 Europe, in which it had never stood before; that the maintenance 
 of the country in that situation depended upon Mr. Canning’s con- 
 tinuance in office, on the personal consideration which was placed 
 in him by foreign Courts, and on their knowledge that his majesty 
 completely approved and adopted Mr. Canning’s system. 
 
 “ Mr. Canning answered with becoming expressions of gratitude, 
 but asked whether his majesty wished him to speak his mind freely, 
 otherwise he had sufficiently discharged his duty in advising his 
 majesty to form an exclusively anti-Catholic Government. His 
 majesty repeated that that was impossible, and desired Mr. Canning 
 to go on. Mr. Canning then said, in obedience to his majesty’s 
 commands, that he would speak without reserve. After declaring 
 that he could not alter his views on the Catholic question, his 
 majesty must permit him to say that it was not just to change that 
 footing without previous warning, and that it was obviously unjust 
 to do so without giving each minister, who had entered his service 
 upon the faith that the footing was unchanged, permission to retire 
 without incurring his majesty’s displeasure; that if the proposition 
 made to Mr. Canning was either to conform to a new footing on 
 this subject, or retire, he should not complain. He could only say 
 that, if he remained in the Government, it must be to act as he had 
 hitherto acted upon the Catholic question, whenever the discussion 
 of it occurred. 
 
 “ That most happy should he be, if, by any fair management or 
 reasonable compromise, he could contrive to spare his majesty’s 
 feelings, or, to use a word which his majesty had employed, to pro- 
 tect him from the vexation which he had experienced in the annual 
 agitation of this painful question; but that, in order to do this, Mr. 
 Canning must be free as air with respect to the question ; that he 
 could give his majesty no pledges of any kind respecting it. 
 
 “His majesty graciously admitted the reasonableness of this view 
 of the subject; but then, reverting to his own feeling upon the 
 
836 
 
 THE LIFE OF OEOROE IK 
 
 Catholic question, asked what he should be able to say to those 
 who relied upon his majesty’s firmness for the maintenance of the 
 Protestant cause, if he were to name what would be called a Catho- 
 lic Prime Minister? 
 
 “ The other replied that ‘ as the Catholic question was an open 
 question on which the members of the Gov.ernment were free to act 
 according to their opinions, without entailing any disadvantageous 
 consequence upon themselves, how could he allow it to be proved 
 in his person, that those whose sentiments were favorable to the 
 Roman Catholics were to be excluded solely on account of those 
 sentiments, as much as the Catholics, from the highest elevations in 
 the State and from the greatest objects x)f ambition? ’ 
 
 “He could not, therefore, consent that, in his person, such a 
 principle should be established; and he felt bound honestly to tell 
 his majesty, in plain terms, that the substantive power of First 
 Minister he must have, and what is more, must be known to have, 
 or he must beg leave to be allowed to retire from a situation which 
 he could not longer fill, either with satisfaction to himself or with 
 benefit to the King’s service.” 
 
 The result of this conversation is embodied in the following 
 “corrected minute:” 
 
 “ Minute of what was said to me by the King at the Royal Lodge, 
 March 21, 1827, Read by me to his majesty March 29, and cor- 
 rected in his majesty’s presence. 
 
 “G. C.” 
 
 “For the Cabestet, 
 
 “That his majesty is desirous of retaining all his present ser- 
 vants in the stations which they at present fill; placing at their head, 
 in the station vacated by Lord Liverpool, some peer professing 
 opinions, upon whom his majesty’s confidential servants may agree, 
 of the same principles as Lord Liverpool.” 
 
 It was thought advisable, however, not to present this view to the 
 Cabinet, so matters remained exactly as they were for more than a 
 week. Mr. Peel and the duke had interviews with his majesty 
 later.* 
 
 *Mr, Greville learned from Lady Bathurst: “When the accoimt of Lord 
 Liverpool’s seizure reached the King at Brighton, Peel was at the Pavilion; 
 the King got into one of his nervous ways, and sent for him in the middle of 
 the night, desiring he would not dress; so he went down in his bed-gown and 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 837 
 
 It would take too long to set out the difficulties of the imbroglio 
 that followed. They could be anticipated, when it is considered 
 that the elements were a Tory Cabinet, deprived of its chief, and 
 expected to enlist under “a Catholic Premier.” These ministers 
 were willing to take service under any one who corresponded to the 
 type of the late Premier — that is, a “ Protestant ” — and was content 
 to leave the question an “open one.” They expected that the Duke 
 of Wellington would answer this description; on the other hand, 
 the claims of Mr. Canning were conspicuous for his commanding 
 abilities. Neither party, it was clear, wished to bring the matter to 
 this distinct issue. Mr. Canning had many interviews with both 
 Mr. Peel and the duke, which were reported to have brought “the 
 greatest satisfaction to the parties,” but nothing came of it. During 
 these interviews, however, Mr. Canning came at last to believe that 
 what was in the duke’s mind was, that he, the duke, should be 
 Premier; which might have been confirmed by Mr. Peel’s actually 
 making the suggestion. But the public growing impatient at the 
 delay, the King found himself obliged, on April 10th, to give formal 
 commission to Mr. Canning to form a ministry. 
 
 He accordingly applied to the members of the late Cabinet, who 
 nearly all declined; while the Duke of Wellington, with something 
 that seemed like insolence, inquired in reply: “ Who was to behead 
 of the Grovernment?” He was deeply offended at the tone of the 
 rather sharp answer he received, and resigned his office at the head 
 of the army. But it is with the King’s behavior we are most inter- 
 ested; wdio in the crisis appears to have ‘passed through all the 
 stages of indecision, cunning, revolt, advances, and concession. 
 He could not endure to have a Catholic Premier, and yet he knew 
 what worry and annoyance were in store for him if he rejected him. 
 He dreaded facing his “ Protestant” friends, the Eldons and others, 
 who used to support him with comforting ascendency doctrines, 
 and to whom he would pour out his valiant assurances of resistance. 
 He felt, too, the genius and fascination of Canning, who, like Lord 
 Wellesley, used to kindle his regal ardor, by grand schemes that 
 would bring glory to his reign. 
 
 But he himself shall presently unfold his own views in his own 
 characteristic style. 
 
 sat by the side of the king’s bed. Peel has got an awkward way of thrusting 
 out his hands while he talks, which at length provoked the King so much that 
 he said: “Mr. Peel, it is no use going on so (taking him off) thrusting out your 
 arms. The question is, who is to be my minister?” 
 
838 
 
 TEE LIFE OP GEORGE IV. 
 
 THE KING TO SIR WILLIAM KNIGHTON. 
 
 “ St. James’s Palace, Friday, April 6tli, 1827. 
 
 “Dear Friend, 
 
 ‘ ‘ For God’s sake, for all oiir sakes, pray, pray take care of 
 yourself, and do not think, upon any account, of stirring until to- 
 morrow morning. It is true, I am jaded and quite worn out, and 
 writing from my bed, where I have laid down for a little rest; but 
 to-morrow will be quite time enough. Little or no advance, I regret 
 to say, has as yet been made, amidst, perhaps, almost unravelable 
 perplexities. Yours affectionately, 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 At this crisis the Duke of Buckingham, then struggling with diffi- 
 culties, and going abroad on a yacht voyage, with a view to retrench- 
 ment, was passing through London, and determined to see and 
 fortify his sovereign by offers of support. This rather singular 
 nobleman had been fatiguing his political friends by a long course 
 of querulous demands for place and advancement; and the publica- 
 tion of the voluminous family papers has helped us to see in what 
 estimation he was held by his contemporaries.* 
 
 Not obtaining the Governorship of India, which he hoped for, he 
 appears to have conceived the idea of attaching himself to the King 
 as to a party. The interview that followed is so characteristic of his 
 majesty, and his views at this crisis are so freely delivered, that it 
 is worth giving here at length. 
 
 “ On the 13th I went to the King, according to appointment, and 
 was received most graciously. He made me sit down, and I had an 
 audience of near three hours. He had kept me waiting, owing to 
 some boxes arriving from London. He therefore sent the Lord 
 Steward to entertain me, offer me refreshments, etc. I began by 
 asking him about his own health. He is much altered and aged, 
 walked but feebly, but still without assistance, but complained of 
 his knees. This conversation related at first to his own health, and 
 to that of his old companions in the gout, Lord Forester and others. 
 
 * There are some curious particulars reported by Mr. Greville, and which 
 he gathered from the duke’s friend, Arbuthnot— such as the King’s declara- 
 tion to the duke, “ that if the Tories would not agree to his (Canning) being 
 Prime Minister, he was sure of the Whigs.” But this is inconsistent with 
 Mr. Canning’s account, or it was probably due to the imagination of the King. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 839 
 
 '*He then exclaimed, ‘Ah! these are indeed strange times, and it 
 is a strange political atmosphere which we are breathing.’ 
 
 “I replied, ‘So strange, sir, that I cannot breathe it, and I retire 
 to avoid it.’ 
 
 “ He then, hardly allowing me to say a word, entered himself into 
 a detail, for two hours uninterruptedly, of the whole circumstances 
 attending the late change, and most clearly made out a story against 
 Peel and the Duke of Wellington, the truth of which I cannot doubt 
 and which perfectly surprised me. The King, on the political 
 ‘ smash ’ of the Ministry, urged the Government to hold together, and 
 to choose some one — he cared not who, Protestant or Catholic — to 
 recommend as Prime Minister. That, of course, he could not admit 
 the situation to be elective; but that if they would name any one 
 that would hold them together on the principles of Lord Liver- 
 pool's Government, that man should be his minister. Twice he 
 saw the Duke of Wellington, and twice said the same thing to him, 
 urging them to unite — and twice the Duke of Wellington declined 
 Himself suggesting any person, specially saying that he could not 
 be his minister, that he had gained all he wished for, more than he 
 had hoped for — that he had been bred up amongst camps and 
 armies, that all his political views had arisen out of, or had been 
 secondary to, his military proceedings, and therefore that he could 
 not be his minister; that as to a purely Protestant Government, it 
 could not be made. The King suggested several names — Bexley, 
 Bathurst, etc. etc. Why not make them sticks to rally round? 
 No, they would name nobody, and the Duke of Wellington per- 
 severed in excluding himself. At last Peel, who had kept a very 
 high and mighty bearing, declared himself ready to meet Canning 
 upon the subject; and after their meeting. Peel wrote to the King 
 to say that one had been suggested, but that he w^ould wait upon 
 the King, as he did not like to put the name in writing. In the 
 meanwhile several delays occasioned by Peel intervened, and at 
 last after Tierney had declared that he would ask a question in the 
 House of Commons about the Government — that he must do so to 
 keep it out of other hands — Peel came to the King and thundered 
 out the Duke of Wellington’s name. 
 
 “The King, having been refused twice by the duke himself, and 
 having under that refusal announced that he was not to be the man, 
 said he would not then, in the last moment, in the eleventh hour, 
 have a man crammed down his throat; declined the duke, and sug- 
 gested any other; and then upon, for the first time, a refusal being 
 
840 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IK 
 
 given to act with Canning, refused the Duke of Wellington, named 
 Canning, and then the resignation took place — the Duke of Welling- 
 ton leading the way, because his own suggestion had been adopted ; 
 and he followed it up by throwing at the King’s head the whole of his 
 employments, military and all. The King begged him to keep the 
 army. No — all or nothing! Now, the duke had an entire right to 
 say that he was the fittest man to be minister, and the only one to 
 keep parties together. But he had no right to protest until the 
 last moment that he would not be the man, and then employ that 
 last moment in putting the pistol loaded with his own name to the 
 King’s head. 
 
 “ Now, as to the Whigs, I asked him if he had any hope that 
 they would stand steadily by him on what both he and I considered 
 the best interests of his country? 
 
 “ The King’s answer was: ‘Alo?^s, comme alors.' 
 
 “I then asked him whether he did not see that the Whigs 
 would pledge him much closer to the carrying of that question, 
 the Catholic, than any other public body would? His answer was: 
 ^Alors, comme alors! Canning has pledged himself never to press 
 me upon that subject, and never to be a member of the Cabinet that 
 does! ’ 
 
 “I begged to have that repeated to me, that I might be sure of 
 the fact. The King repeated it, and then said: ‘ As yet he has kept 
 his word, and I think he will go on and do so; but, by God, the 
 moment he changes his line, he goes — and, of course, I look only 
 to my Prime Minister. It is his business to complete his adminis- 
 tration upon the same principles on which he himself consents to 
 form it, and it is no business of mine to look further.’ 
 
 “ What assistance, I said, could he look to from the Whigs? 
 
 “He replied: ‘ I cannot help it; you may be sure I cannot forget 
 the past. But where else could I go? I did all I could short of 
 making the situation of Premier elective. I offered to take any one 
 whom they would name, Protestant or Catholic, provided I could 
 have kept the thing together. Canning from the beginning was 
 ready to undertake the task. I told them so. They expressed no 
 feeling against him personally at first. I only asked them to name 
 — they declined. I must have a minister; the Opposition threat- 
 ened to storm my citadel. I again urged them. They again re- 
 fused, and in the last moment, when they saw that I was driven to 
 the wall, they pressed upon me the very name which they and the 
 individual himself had repeatedly declared was the only name that 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 841 
 
 could not and ought not to be put forward! I then had no resource 
 but to direct Canning to write the note to the Duke of Wellington, 
 which you saw, and all the occurrences which you are aware of 
 followed. If it is the great devil that has been forced upon me, 
 it is they who have done it. I did not want Canning in the Govern- 
 ment upon Castlereagh’s death, but they forced him upon me. Now 
 they wanted in the same way to force Wellington; but I am, at 
 least, somebody in the State, and have shown them that I will not 
 be bullied. The future must take care of itself. Now, as to the 
 Opposition, the Corn Bill has held it together; but draw the Catho- 
 lic question round it, and what becomes of it? Like a salamander, 
 it must expire, surrounded by its own fire.’ 
 
 “ The King expressed much indignation against Lord Mansfield, 
 who had accused him in the House of Lords of having changed his 
 opinion on the Catholic question. 
 
 “ ‘ He lied. Had I been an individual I would have told him so 
 and fought him. As it was, I put the Archbishop of Canterbury in 
 a fright by sending him as my second to Mansfield, to tell him he 
 lied. The archbishop came down bustling here to know what he 
 was to do? So said I; “Go and do my bidding — tell him he lies, 
 and kick his behind in my name!” ’ ” 
 
 We may accept the perfect accuracy of this amusing scene, for 
 the duke was a diligent and painstaking reporter. It offers a good 
 vindication of the Duke of Wellington, and shows that he had then 
 no wish for office.* 
 
 To the Duke of Newcastle, who came to warn him, he was loud 
 in professions of stanch orthodoxy; made a valiant display," entered 
 at great length into the whole history of the Roman Catholics from 
 the reign of James II. down to the present time, professed himself 
 a Protestant heart and soul.” He declared he never would give his 
 assent to any measures for Roman Catholic Emancipation. And, 
 when pressed by the duke as to the new form of his Administration, 
 he assured the duke “that the First Minister should be for the 
 
 * In his defence in the House of Lords he said: “ But it has been stated that 
 I withdrew myself because his majesty would not submit to my dictation and 
 threats, in case I should not myself be appointed his minister; and this accu- 
 sation is most curiously coupled with another, namely, that his majesty 
 offered to make me his minister, and that I refused. My lords, those know 
 but little of his majesty who suppose that any man can dare to dictate to 
 him, much less to threaten him. My lords, his majesty never offered to me 
 to make me his minister.” 
 
 36 
 
842 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV, 
 
 Protestant side of the question,” and as to Ireland, that the Chan- 
 cellor there should be Protestant also. He added that the present 
 audience would be necessarily known to everybody; but “he must 
 keep faith with his ministers.” He said “ the courage of his family 
 had never been questioned.” Wnen assured that, in choosing Prot- 
 estants for his ministers, his choice would be supported by a large 
 and powerful body of peers, and pressed for an assurance that his 
 choice would be made accordingly, he said, again and again: “Do 
 you doubt me? But it is not I who fail in my duty. It is you in 
 Parliament, Why do you suffer the d d Association in Dub- 
 
 lin?” The King’s sentiments were strongly expressed, but there was 
 reason to apprehend that considerations of ease and repose might 
 outweigh his principles. 
 
 The duke told the King plainly that the support or opposition of 
 himself, and of those for whom he was acting, would depend on 
 the choice that the King should finally make in forming his Admin- 
 istration. 
 
 The Archbishop of Canterbury he had already entertained in the 
 same way on the 14th of March, for six hours, from two till eight. 
 Here he was still more earnest, going back to Mr. Fox’s time, and 
 that of “ the Talents.” In this discourse he exhibits some of the 
 curious delusions into which he had persuaded himself, viz. that of 
 having been a devoted son. He had induced Mr. Fox not to bring 
 forward the Catholic question to disturb his father, who would never 
 consent, nor would he, if the crown descended to him. “When 
 the Grenvilles were dismissed in 1807, it was he that had given early 
 notice of the pro-Catholic scheme to his father,” etc. As to the new 
 Government, he particularly mentioned, as to the coronation oath, 
 that he had told Lord Castlereagh previously to his own coronation, 
 that if they meant he should ever consent to Roman Catholic Eman- 
 cipation, they must alter the coronation oath before he was 
 crowned; for after taking that he would, like his father, sooner 
 consent to lay his head on the block than consent to that measure. 
 The King then desired the archbishop to write immediately to Lord 
 Manners, begging, as a personal request from the King, that he 
 would stay out the year, so as to give time for findiug another Prot- 
 estant Chancellor of Ireland, for he would have a Protestant Lord 
 Lieutenant also, and a Protestant Chief Secretary. The archbishop 
 accordingly had written to, and had received a letter from. Lord 
 Manners, consenting to remain till October. Yet he complained of 
 the Duke of Wellington, declaring that he had agreed to accept 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 843 
 
 with Canning. In his Protestant principles “he was even more 
 immovably fixed than his father was,” and when Mr. Peel told him 
 there were no mateiials for a Protestant Government, he said: 
 “Then it must be a neutral Cabinet. Mr. Canning is forced upon 
 me; but I will have a Protestant Lord Lieutenant,” etc. This latter 
 declaration he made to all sorts of persons, and be bade the arch- 
 bishop tell it “to all the bishops, and all the world.” 
 
 Mr. Canning was finally installed, but his rule was only to be for 
 a brief period, offering a curious parallel to the case of Mr. Fox. 
 According to the Duke of Wellington’s account, he had decided 
 the King’s vacillation in rather summary fashion, taking out his 
 watch and requiring him to make up his mind within a quarter of 
 an hour. The duke himself later found this mode very effectual 
 with his Majesty. The King, however, felt unbounded confidence 
 in his new minister, whose talents would protect him from annoy- 
 ance, especially on the great question of Catholic Relief, which he 
 had the assurance of his minister would not be forced on. A curi- 
 ous incident is connected with this matter by Mr. Jerdan, who by 
 a strange accident was enabled to confirm to Mr. Canning whatever 
 hopes he may have founded on the King’s ardent assurances of sup- 
 port. A friend of his, Mr. Hunt, connected with the Board of 
 Works, was engaged at the palace on the alterations the very day on 
 which Mr. Canning w^as appointed minister. “By a strange casu- 
 alty, when he left off his inspection of the innermost apartment, 
 and was on his way out, he discovered to his dismay that hisMajesty 
 had retired from his meeting with Mr. Canning, and come, vuth the 
 Marchioness of Conyngham, into the room immediately adjoining 
 that in which he was. Retreat was impossible. Bathed in perspi- 
 ration, as he described himself to me, he was thus compelled, per- 
 force, to overhear the conversation between the King and his 
 confidante on this important occasion; and thence the particulars 
 of his Majesty’s interview with the minister, the expression of his 
 confidence in his genius and loyalty, and his firm persuasion that 
 he would conduct the affairs of the kingdom to the heights of pros- 
 perity and glory; in all which sentiments the accomplished mar 
 chioness cordially agreed, and warmly applauded the act by which- 
 numerous political ravels seemed to be so happily disentangled. To 
 Hunt’s infinite relief, the colloquy ended, and the suite of rooms 
 was cleared for his joyous escape.” Mr. Jerdan hurried to Mr. 
 Canning with this news, which was received with the most genuine 
 satisfaction. 
 
844 
 
 THE LIFE OF QEOROE IV. 
 
 One of the first necessary results was the real retirement of the 
 always retiring Eldon. 
 
 “ I took my final leave of office on Monday, May 2nd, 1827. The 
 King, to me personally, behaved with kindness and feeling. He 
 sent for me on the Sunday, as he said he could not prevail upon 
 himself to part with me, having only the short interview, which the 
 hurry of Monday, when the whole change was to be made, would 
 admit. His conversation to me was very kind certainly, and it dis- 
 covered a heart that had such affectionate feelings as one cannot but 
 deeply lament should, from intrigue and undue influence, not be left 
 to its own operations upon the head.” 
 
 Such was the conge of this veteran placeman. Within a year or 
 two more his enthusiasm for his sovereign was to be a good deal 
 abated. 
 
TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 845 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 1827. 
 
 On the resignation of the Tory members of the Cabinet the duke 
 resigned the command of the army in a pet, having found an excuse 
 in what he considered “the want of confidence, respect, and even 
 common civility” with which he had been treated by Mr. Canning. 
 This was most inconvenient for the new Government, for it was 
 felt that the office would lose its prestige if entrusted to any one 
 else while such a man remained unemployed ; in fact, the feeling of 
 the country would be that ministers should restore him, even at the 
 expense of any amende that might be necessary. But the King had 
 no such misgivings, for, with a light heart, he had resolved upon 
 his favorite scheme of taking the command of the army himself, 
 on the ground that it was properly his, from the fact of signing 
 commissions! Sir H. Taylor was informed of this proposed step by 
 Sir W. Knighton and Mr. Canning, much to his alarm and annoy- 
 ance. He was to remain as Adjutant-General. On his objecting, 
 the King himself explained to him that it was impossible to entrust 
 the office to any of the royal family, and that the general in Ireland 
 could not be spared. The Adjutant, however, impressed on him the 
 serious nature of the step, and its unconstitutional character, on 
 which the King gave way. But he, with needless pathos, “called 
 on him, as the person who had been the confidential attendant of 
 his blind father, and the attendant on his brother to the hour of his 
 death, to take this situation; that he had long wished to have him 
 about him; that he laid his commands on him,” etc. But it was 
 felt, however, that the duke should be brought back with all speed, 
 and it was pressed on him that he ought to reconsider the matter. 
 The duke, however, took his ground and kept it firmly. He had 
 been insulted, and the amende must come from the other side. “It 
 remains for his Majesty,” he wrote to a friend, “to decide whether 
 I was mistaken in the view I took.” This was shown to Mr. Can- 
 ning on May 21, who soon got the King to write. 
 
846 
 
 TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 THE KING TO THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. 
 
 “St. James’s Palace, May 21st, 1827. 
 
 “My dear Friend, 
 
 “ I learn from my Government, as well as from other quar- 
 ters, that you have obligingly expresssed your readiness to afford 
 your advice upon any matters of military importance or detail that 
 might occur. These circumstances renew in me those feelings 
 towards you which God knows (as you must know^) I have so long 
 and so sincerely felt, and I hope on all occasions proved — at least it 
 was my intention so to do. I cannot refrain, therefore, from ac- 
 quainting you that the command of the army is still open, and if 
 you choose to recall that resignation which it grieved me so much 
 to receive, you have my sincere permission to do so. 
 
 ‘ ‘ Ever your sincere Friend, 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 To this soothing appeal the duke replied that he could not claim 
 the merit of making any communication to the Government. He 
 had served the King and his father forty-two years, and he was 
 willing of course to give any advice if consulted, but he declined 
 to recall his resignation. Even here he fancied he saw the craft of 
 Mr. Canning, for, in a letter to the Duke of Cumberland, he accuses 
 him of suppressing this portion of his letter, when urging the King 
 to wTite. He required an apology. The King, however, deter- 
 mined to make another trial, and expressed his surprise to Lord 
 Maryborough that the duke had never come down to see him. The 
 duke declined to go until commanded. On this he was invited, and 
 spent three hours at Windsor. The King was gracious and effusive, 
 but the duke w^as reserved and dry. “ The King went over,” says 
 the latter, “the w’hole story of the change of ministry in his own 
 way; in answ’er to which I told him that I Uiought I recollected some 
 circumstances as having occurred in a manner different from that in 
 which his Majesty had stated that they had occurred, and of others I 
 had no knowledge, and that I recollected others which his Majesty 
 had not mentioned, but that upon the whole I thought it best not 
 to enter upon that discussion.” The passage in italics is amusing, 
 and shows the duke’s quiet mode of dealing with the ebullitions cf 
 his royal master. In this interview the duke believed he had dis- 
 covered that the King had been determined at all hazards and all 
 through to take Mr. Canning. He saw, too, that the latter’s influ-, 
 ence was stronger than ever. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 847 
 
 The visit, however, did not bring any profit, hut the visitor was 
 amazed to find that the camarilla immediately gave out that he had 
 come of his own motion and uninvited! “ My opinion, ” he wrote 
 to Lord Bathurst, in strong language, “respecting the King’s con- 
 duct is this. He wished to see me so as to have a resource in case 
 of an evil day; and likewise, if he could, to coax me into taking the 
 command back again without requiring any concession from Mr, 
 Canning. But when he found the last failed, he misrepresented to 
 Mr. Canning the mode in which I had been prevailed upon to visit 
 the Lodge.” The King’s letter, thus alluded to, may be given as 
 the conclusion to this unique piece of strategy. The reader will note 
 the passages I have put in italics. 
 
 THE KING TO MR. CANNING. 
 
 “ [Private.] 
 
 “Royal Lodge, Thursday, half-past two p.m., 
 “July 19, 1827. 
 
 “Dear Mr. Canning, 
 
 “ I delay not a moment in acquainting you with a circumstance 
 that has just occurred very unexpectedly to me — a visit from the 
 Duke of Wellington. I can only attribute this risit to its being the 
 anniversary of my coronation. Our interview was not long, and our 
 conversation for the most part was on general topics. Of coarse it 
 was impossible here and there, occasionally, not to have some reference 
 to matters which have recently occurred. I found the duke extremely 
 temperate, but I could easily perceive, from little expressions which 
 now and then dropped, that the most assiduous pains have been 
 taken, and are still actively employed, to give the strongest jaun- 
 diced complexion to the past, as well as the present state of things, 
 and to keep up, if not to widen as much as malice and wickedness 
 can contrive it, the breach which exists between him and my Gov- 
 ernment. I sincerely hope that you are rapidly recovering from the 
 odious lumbago. Believe me always, 
 
 “ Your sincere Friend, 
 
 "G. R.” 
 
 Mr. Canning was destined to en joy this plenitude of power scarcely 
 two months. He had long been ill, borne down with overwork and 
 disease Many had been struck by the change in his appearance — 
 hig “wasted look.” At the Duke of York’s funeral in January, as 
 we have seen, he had caught a cold, which the venerable Eldon had 
 escaped by judiciously putting his hat under his feet to save himself 
 
848 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 from the chill of the flags. Mr. Greville had seen him at Windsor 
 in the middle of June, when he looked dreadfully ill. A few days 
 before his death he was again with the King, who spoke to him about 
 his looks, when he replied that “he did not know what was the 
 matter with him — he was ill all over.” On the first of August he 
 took to his bed. 
 
 “When the physicians saw him,” says his secretary, “he was in 
 pain, and exclaimed, ‘ My God ! my God ! ’ Dr. Farre observed ; 
 ‘ You do right, sir, to call upon your God. I hope that you pray to 
 Him yourself in secret.’ ‘I do, I do,’ was his answer. ‘And you 
 ask, ’ added the doctor, ‘ for mercy and salvation through the merits 
 of your Redeemer? ’ ‘ Yes,’ he replied, ‘ I do, through the merits of 
 
 Jesus Christ.’ The doctor then asked if he had anything to say 
 about his country, but it was feared that the question might excite 
 him, and the subject was dropped. In the course of the evening he 
 said to Sir W. Knighton, ‘ This may be hard upon me, but it is still 
 harder upon the King.’ August 8. — Went to his room at three in 
 the morning; he was quite unconscious. . . .Sir M. Tierney felt his 
 pulse, thought for a second that he was gone, hut he still breathed. 
 In a few minutes there ceased to he any signs of breathing. He 
 passed away so quietly that the exact moment could not be ascer- 
 tained, but it was between twelve and ten minutes before four. ” 
 
 Thousands assembled at his gates, deploring the death of this high- 
 spirited minister. There is something pathetic and unselfish in his 
 speech to Sir W. Knighton, that “it was harder upon the King,” 
 whose troubles were now to recommence. 
 
 His colleagues, Mr. Greville says, were in despair, as well they 
 might be, for it was not so much the signal for the destruction of 
 the Cabinet, as for the commencement of moribund agonies which 
 were to be protracted to their own discredit. The master-spirit was 
 gone, there was no one left to control the King, and the short-lived 
 Goderich Ministry was formed, consisting of fragments of both par- 
 ties. Yet this death was really the signal for Emancipation. It was 
 naturally believed that the King would deal with the Cabinet sum- 
 marily, and consult his “feelings” in sending for a Protestant pre- 
 mier, such as was the Duke of Wellington. For this he had made 
 that stout and persevering contention when the last ministry was in 
 power. The Duke of Wellington fancied “there was going to be 
 another scene of confusion.” It, however, now appeared that %e 
 King was full of affection for the memory of Mr. Canning, and pro- 
 fessed to wish to carry on his arrangements. At the same time, from 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 849 
 
 his peculiar disposition, he was delighted at the opening offered to 
 him for petty intrigue, and for playing off one part of the ministry 
 against the other. Lord Goderich was weak and easily overborne, 
 and the King, generally viewing matters from the view of his person- 
 nel, was eager for his appointment. 
 
 The behavior of the King in this transaction was characteristic. 
 He had conceived a violent desire for having Mr, Herries in the 
 ministry as Chancellor of the Exchequer, and this scheme he pressed 
 with an extraordinary persistence. As we learn from a recently- 
 published memoir of that statesman, the Whigs were eagerly press- 
 ing for the introduction of some of their own party, and the weak 
 Lord Goderich was unable either to resist them or the King. The 
 post was formally offered to Herries through Sir W. Knighton, but 
 he saw that the Premier wished that he should not accept it, and was 
 himself disinclined, owing to bad health. He, however, repaired to 
 Windsor; where, as he says, “ the scene that took place would fill a 
 volume,” While he was waiting, the Whigs, he said, contrived to 
 work on Lord Goderich, who came to implore him to decline the 
 post, if he could do so. When he went into the King, the latter 
 enlarged on the situation for an hour, declared he would not be dic- 
 tated to, and actually put the seals into his hand. The latter referred 
 him to the minister, who entered in his turn, and persuaded the 
 King to postpone the matter. Mr. Herries was naturally mortified 
 at this treatment, but was induced once more to repair to Windsor 
 with some of the ministers ; when a conversation four hours long 
 took place, and the King, in a speech of an hour and a half, explained 
 his views and dwelt on “his feelings.” He would not compromise, 
 he said, his own just authority. There were two conditions he would 
 hold by, the maintenance of his own honor, “and my character.” 
 Such was his pertinacity, that Mr. Herries was at last induced to 
 accept. Kow it is but too evident that his Majesty must have been 
 thus eager, not so much on account of the public interest, as for 
 some personal object. There are a number of other instances in 
 which he was equally pertinacious, and when the motives were 
 strictly personal. Lord Palmerston, Mr. Greville, and others, not 
 unreasonably imputed it to a wish to have an officer at the Exche- 
 quer who would be tolerant of his own demands; not that Mr. 
 Herries was likely to be so, but his confidential intimacy with 
 Knighton, and frequent conversations with the King, might fairly 
 encourage such a belief. Further, we find Herries later appointed 
 to direct the expenditure on the palaces, and pressing on the works. 
 
 36 ^ 
 
850 
 
 THE LIFE OF OEOROE IV. 
 
 He may not “have got odds and ends out of tlie droitsV which his 
 son indignantly denies; but it must be remembered that many of 
 the royal family had been assisted with more than “odds and 
 ends,” from the same source. Other ministers, too, were obliged 
 to tolerate the King’s unlicensed “helpings ” of himself to the public 
 funds. 
 
 These scenes are well described by Mr. Greville — the whisperings, 
 “the going in to the King four times,” the final return to town 
 without matters being arranged. The King, he says, had resented 
 this breach of agreement on the part of Lord Goderich, and the 
 Duke of Wellington, who was with him on August 21st, learned 
 that Mr. Herries had complained of his treatment by the Prime 
 Minister. He was perfectly outrageous, and said Lord Goderich 
 gave him up to the Whigs, adding that “he Avanted to keep his 
 house till his wife was confined.” He then rang the bell, and bade 
 his page call in Lord Bexley, whom he made First Lord. Mr. Hus- 
 kisson, however, spoke to the King firmly, and got him to agree, 
 but other difficulties arose. 
 
 “Taking up the account.” Mr. Greville goes on, “from where I 
 left off, Goderich went to the King, and it was settled Herries was 
 to be Chancellor of the Exchequer. He returned and wrote to Lord 
 Lansdowne, entreating him to acquiesce. Lord Lansdowne went 
 to the King, and the result of his interview was, that he retained 
 office together with his friends. He wrote a letter to one of them, 
 which he intended might be communicated to others, giving an 
 account of his conduct and motives. I saw this letter. He said 
 the King received him very well and spared no entreaties to keep 
 him in office. The King said that he was most anxious the present 
 Government should continue on every account, but more particu- 
 larly on account of what was now passing on the Continent; that 
 Lord Lansdowne’s holding office was indispensable for this object, 
 and he asked him in his own name and for the sake of the country 
 not to resign; that what had occurred had arisen out of a series of 
 blunders which, ‘let me say,’ he added, ‘were neither yours nor 
 mine.’ Lord Lansdowne said it was put to liim in such a way that 
 he could not do otherwise.” 
 
 The Duke of Wellington had cordially disliked Mr. Canning, 
 and wrote to the Duke of Cumberland that “he felt that Mr. 
 Canning’s temper and habits were such as to render it impossible 
 to serve under him, without becoming liable daily to the conse- 
 quences of acts done or Avords spoken in heat, or Avithout quarrel- 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IT. 
 
 851 
 
 ling with him.’ Nor did this hostility much abate on the death 
 of the great statesman. We find him writing to his friends: “I 
 hear that Dr. Farre says it was Canning’s temper that killed him.” 
 Mr. Croker assured him that the King’s confidence in his late 
 minister v/as almost unlimited. Only a week before his death he 
 had shown Mr. Croker a letter, in which the King “seemed to look 
 to him as the protector of his dignity.” He would have gradually, 
 he said, persuaded him into even receiving Mr. Brougham. His 
 nntimely death had indeed plunged the King into fresh troubles 
 and annoyances. “Heart and soul a Protestant,” as he professed 
 himself, he might surely now gratify his feelings by taking back 
 all the elements of the Liverpool Cabinet, with the duke to replace 
 its chief. The only disturbing influence had passed away. But 
 his perplexed mind began to fluctuate. He told Mr. Huskisson 
 that no Government could be thought of without the Duke of Wel- 
 lington and Mr. Peel. When he was pressed therefore to send for 
 the duke, he declared that the latter would be, “as he had always 
 been, of the greatest comfort to him at this moment; but that after 
 what had so freshly happened, almost with the wax of the present 
 minister’s appointments soft, he could not at once turn round upon 
 those who had adhered to Canning, and treat them as if they were 
 Canning’s lackeys.” He also spoke of his own “ permanent dig- 
 nity,” and that the “simulance of an effort” should be made — 
 which would enable him to take his course with the duke with 
 greater satisfaction. The first result was the restoration of the 
 duke to his command, which was offered to him at seven in the 
 morning, and accepted before eight. 
 
 THE KING TO THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. 
 
 “ Royal Lodge, August 15, 1827. 
 
 “ My dear Friend, 
 
 “ I write for the purpose of again offering to you the com- 
 mand of my army, and I sincerely hope that the time has arrived 
 when the country will no longer be deprived of the benefit of your 
 high talent. 
 
 “ Always, with great truth, your sincere Friend, 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 The duke accepted on the following day.* 
 
 * Lord Anglesey was hurriedly despatched with the communication to the 
 country, and arrived at Strathfieldsaye in the small hours, to find the duke 
 
852 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE lY. 
 
 THE KING TO THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. 
 
 “ Royal Lodge, Friday night, August 17, 1827. 
 
 “ My dear Friend, 
 
 “I have this evening, by the hands of Lord Anglesey, re- 
 ceived your affectionate and dutiful letter. I write to you imme- 
 diately, that I may have the pleasure and satisfaction (as soon as 
 you can conveniently come to me) of seeing you, that you may 
 kiss hands, and assume the command of the army without delay. 
 I will add one word more, merely to express the happiness I shall 
 have in receiving you. 
 
 “Ever, with true regard, your sincere Friend, 
 
 “ G. R” 
 
 As may be conceived, the course of such a ministry was not only 
 short but marked by weakness; but, it may be imagined, it was 
 most acceptable to the King, for he carried and disposed of all sorts 
 of appointments in the most peremptory manner, without consult- 
 ing them. After the battle of Navarino, he and the Duke of Clar- 
 ence dispensed the various honors and promotions. He gave his 
 favorite. Dr, Sumner, the bishopric of Winchester. 
 
 In a conversation with Lord Colchester, Mr. Peel bitterly in- 
 veighed against this system. “The King’s situation; with the 
 existence of a personage like Sir William Knighton (who certainly 
 had formerly got the promise of the Duchy of Lancaster for life); 
 and the playing off one half of the Administration against the other 
 half; the receiving recommendations to honors and offices from 
 each party in the Government; and putting aside both, ‘that nei- 
 ther might have a triumph,’ and bestowing the favor upon some 
 third individual of his own choice, for which there was no respon- 
 sible adviser.” 
 
 Against Mr. Peel the King bad conceived an extraordinary dis- 
 like. “There was nobody,” says Mr. Dawson, “he was more ex- 
 asperated against than Peel, and for this reason: When the late 
 Government (Canning’s) was forming, Peel went to the King, and 
 in reply to his desire that he should form a part of it, told him he 
 
 just returned from a ball. Posting back with the same haste, he entered the 
 room where the ministers were assembled, and flung himself down on a seat, 
 exclaiming: “Well, gentlemen, I have done your commission; but I warn 
 you, he will blow you all up!” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 853 
 
 could not continue in any Government the head of which was a 
 supporter of Catholic Emancipation. The King proposed to him 
 to remain, with a secret pledge and promise from him that the ques- 
 tion should not be carried. This of course Peel refused; and the 
 King, who construed his rejection of the disgraceful proposal as 
 conveying a doubt of his word, dismissed him with much resent- 
 ment. 
 
 By Christmas dissensions broke out in the Cabinet, occasioned 
 by a dispute as to patronage between Herries and Huskisson, so 
 that the King declared that he “did not see why he was to be the 
 only gentleman in his dominions who was not to eat his Christmas 
 dinner in peace.” Lord Goderich seems to have unduly magnified 
 this not very important matter. He was, in fact, unnerved, and 
 shrank from the dangers and troubles that were before him. Lord 
 Campbell, who had the account from Lord Lyndhurst, describes 
 what followed; “ Late at night, on the 6th of January, he came to 
 Lord Lyndhurst in a state of great agitation, and for some minutes 
 walked about the room wTinging his hands, without uttering any 
 articulate sound. At last he exclaimed: ‘I deem it due to 3’’OU to 
 let the Lord Chancellor know that I have made up my mind to 
 resign immediately.’ An explanation taking place, it turned out 
 that, in reality, no new disaster had happened. The Chancellor 
 tried to reassure him, and to advise him to meet Parliament, saying 
 that ‘after all, the session might pass off smoothly, and, at any 
 rate, it would be more dignified to fall by an adverse vote than to 
 tumble down with a confession of incapacity.’ He attempted no 
 answer, but mopped the perspiration from his brows with his 
 handkerchief, as he was used to do in debate when his ideas became 
 very confused. He now merely said that his resolution was irrevo- 
 cable, and that what he feared was to break the matter to the King, 
 who must be much perplexed by being called upon to change his 
 Cabinet a few days before the meeting of Parliament. ‘As far as 
 that goes,’ said the Chancellor, ‘instead of your writing a letter to 
 his Majesty (about which there might be some awkwardness), if you 
 do not like to face him in a private audience, I don’t mind accom- 
 panying you to Windsor.’ This offer was joyfully accepted, and 
 by a dexterous stroke of policy the Chancellor became master of 
 the position which gave him the power of forming the new Admin- 
 istration. 
 
 “Next day they proceeded to Windsor together. The King had 
 been prepared for their visit by reason of a secret communication to 
 
854 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV, 
 
 his private secretary, who was a fast friend of the Chancellor, and 
 his Majesty received them very graciously, and accepted the resig- 
 nation. ‘ But,’ said he, rather addressing himself to the Chancellor, 
 ‘ I ought to ask your advice about the person I ought to send for to 
 consult about the formation of a new Administration.’ ‘Sir,’ said 
 the Chancellor, ‘ I venture to mention the name which must have 
 already presented itself to the mind of your Majesty — the Duke of 
 Wellington.’ King: ‘Let him come to me as soon as possible.’” 
 Lord Lyndhurst, in relating the particulars of this conference, 
 avers that his Majesty added: “Bv^t remember, whoever is to be 
 minister, you, my lord, must remain my Chancellor.”* 
 
 THE KING TO SIR W. KNIGHTON. 
 
 “ Royal Lodge, June 18th, 1827. 
 
 “As to myself, I am pretty well bodily; but I have little or no 
 use of my poor limbs, for I can neither walk up nor down stairs, 
 and am obliged to be carried, and in general to be wheeled about 
 everywhere; for my powers of walking, and even of crawling about 
 with crutches, or with the aid of a strong stick, are not in the 
 smallest respect improved since you last saw me — at the same time 
 that my knees, legs, ankles, and feet swell more formidably and 
 terribly than ever. This, I am sure you will agree with me, ought 
 now to be seriously attended to without delay by some plan devised 
 and steadily acted upon, in order to stop the further progress, and 
 to remedy it effectually and finally; for there is no question it is an 
 increasing and progressive evil (at least so I fear), unless steps be 
 found, and that speedily too, of averting it. 
 
 “You must now have had enough of my epistolary quality; I 
 shall therefore, dear friend, hasten to a conclusion, with the assur- 
 ance that I am always your sincere and affectionate friend, 
 
 “G. R” 
 
 The worthy Secretary Knighton at this time was much annoyed 
 by rumors that he did not stand well with his royal master. Mr. 
 Greville learned that the King was groaning under his t5Tanny, and 
 would exhibit the feeling of a schoolboy in presence of his master. 
 “When alone with him he is more civil, but when others are 
 present (the family, for instance) he delights in saying the most 
 
 * It was reported that Lord Goderich was much affected on taking leave of 
 the King, and that his majesty offered him a pocket-handkerchief. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV, 
 
 855 
 
 mortifying and disagreeable things to him. He would give the 
 world to get rid of him, and to have either Taylor or Mount-Charles 
 instead, to whom he has offered the place over and over again; hut 
 Mount-Charles not only would not hear of it, but often took 
 Knighton’s part with the King, He says that his language about 
 Knighton is sometimes of the most unmeasured violence — wishes he 
 was dead, and one day when the door was open, so that the pages 
 could hear, he said: ‘I wish to God somebody would assassinate 
 Knighton.’ Knighton is greatly annoyed at it, and is very seldom 
 there. Still it appears there is some secret which binds them 
 together. The King’s indolence is so great that it is next to impos- 
 sible to get him to do even the most ordinary business, and 
 Knighton is still the only man who can prevail on him to sign 
 papers, etc.” This, however, may be doubted, as the King’s letters 
 show a good-natured regard and affection for him. He was in fact 
 indispensable — had rescued him from innumerable troubles — and 
 got all his finances into order, and discharged debts. One of these 
 missions has been alluded to. The King had much trouble with his 
 nephew, the young Duke of Brunswick, whose guardian he was, 
 and whose funds he administered. But his eccentricity had prob- 
 ably early displayed itself.* 
 
 * The following note of complaint was found in his own handwriting: 
 
 “The duke never could [obtain] any money during the life of Geo. IV., and 
 only obtained the same from Wm. IV. after the Revolution of 1830. 
 
 “ One most extraordinary fact is that the Duke Charles has never been able 
 to see the testament of his father, and therefore does not to this day know 
 the exact amount, although he has received contradictory extracts from the 
 will. Wm. IV. admitted that he had only paid a portion of the money into 
 the funds, and re1,ained the rest for Prince William, who already had seized 
 the duke’s fort ne.” 
 
 The matter came into the English Courts, and the whole case is summed 
 up in an elaborate judgment of Lord Langdale’s. For an account of this 
 singular case the reader is referred to a little French work, “ Le Due de 
 Brunswick.” 
 
856 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 1828. 
 
 On the new ministry being formed by the Duke of Wellington, 
 and including Mr. Peel, Lord Lyndhurst, and others of the same 
 political school, the King might fondly delude himself that he had 
 now at last secured a ministry of Protestants, and therefore after 
 his own heart. He little dreamed that he was now entering on the 
 most troubled era of his life, and that in its closing days he was to 
 be forced to gulp the nauseous political potion that he had so often 
 successfully put away from him. He was moreover to find that 
 he had imposed upon himself the yoke of two disciplinarians, who 
 were not to be trifled with. The surprise of this discovery must 
 have been painful indeed. This, however, was the last thing that 
 occurred to him, and he had settled that the Duke of Wellington 
 was to be “ my dearest friend,” and with many “ God bless yous!” 
 we may presume, to be made suitably flexible by a display of en- 
 thusiastic affection. Lord Eldon, the Tory buttress, was indeed 
 left out, which he himself attributed to secret female influence^ but 
 a better reason was that he was virtually passe, and not likely to be 
 of further use. 
 
 On January the 9th, the duke was at Windsor arranging de- 
 tails. The duke himself gave an account of his first interview 
 with the King to Mr. Raikes: “ When he sent for me to form a 
 new administration in 1828, he was then seriously ill, though he 
 would never allow it. I found him in bed, dressed in a dirty silk 
 jacket and a turban nightcap, one as greasy as the other; for, not- 
 withstanding his coquetry about dress in public, he was extremely 
 dirty and slovenly in private. The first words he said to me were: 
 ‘Arthur, the Cabinet is defunct;’ and then he began to describe 
 the manner in which the late ministers had taken leave of him, on 
 giving in their resignations. This was accompanied by the most 
 ludicrous mimicry of the voice and manner of each individual, so 
 strikingly like, that it was impossible to refrain from fits of laugh- 
 ter.” The King said he presumed that the ministry must be formed 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 857 
 
 of persons holding both opinions in respect to the Catholic Ques- 
 tion; but that, as in former Protestant Governments, it must not 
 be a Cabinet question. There must be a “Protestant” Lord Chan- 
 cellor of Ireland, a “Protestant” Secretary, and “Protestant” 
 Lord-Lieutenant. Nothing could be more explicit and determined 
 than lie was on this point. He approved, he said, of all his late 
 and of all his former servants, and had no objection to anybody — 
 except Lord Grey. On the whole, he left the duke ca?^te Uanclie. 
 With this pliant mood, the task became easy. But it would seem 
 that he was inclined to be shifty in the case of certain undertakings 
 as to peerages entered into by the fallen Premier. The latter was 
 compelled to appeal to him in great distress on the matter, declar- 
 ing that “his personal honor was concerned,” as he would be ac- 
 cused* of “having broken faith with those whose cases,” he adds 
 significantly, “upon his humble recommendation, received your 
 Majesty’s gracious approbation.” 
 
 THE KING TO THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. 
 
 “Royal Lodge, January 11th, 1828. 
 
 “My dear Friend, 
 
 “I have just received your letters. I can scarcely write. I 
 hope in the course of the evening that you will be enabled to give 
 me some outline as to the probable frame of your Government. 
 Lord Goderich sent me the enclosed yesterday. I am, I suppose, 
 pledged to make the new peers; but you had better see Lord God- 
 erich, as I put the matter in your hands. 
 
 “ Your affectionate Friend, 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 “I am, I suppose, pledged!” A strange royal declaration. The 
 Duke of Wellington wrote to Lord Goderich, with a soldier’s direct- 
 ness, that every case in which his Majesty’s pleasure had been taken, 
 and communication made to the individual, ought to be completed 
 as soon as possible, and “you had better give directions accord- 
 ingly.” Lord Goderich seems to have acted on his instruction. 
 
 THE KING TO THE DUKE OP WELLINGTON. 
 
 “ [From my bed.] 
 
 “Royal Lodge, January 14th, 1828, 
 
 “ Monday, four o’clock. 
 
 “My DEAR Friend, 
 
 “I have just received a letter from Lord Goderich, which 
 
858 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEOROE IV, 
 
 makes it quite necessary for me to see you to-morrow morning. 
 Pray have the kindness to be here at ten o’clock. 
 
 With great truth, ever your sincere Friend, 
 
 “a R.” 
 
 THE SAME. 
 
 “Royal Lodge, Thursday night, January 17th, 1828. 
 
 ‘‘My dear Friend, 
 
 “ I have just received your list, which, of course, I do ap- 
 prove; and I feel very sensibly the very arduous task you have under- 
 taken. Nevertheless, under your care and guidance, I trust it will 
 all do well. I am really quite heartbroken respecting my friend the 
 Duke of Devonshire and my friend Lord Carlisle. Can you sug- 
 gest any means of keeping the duke? 
 
 “Yours affectionately, 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 “ It is really essential to my private affairs that Scarlett should 
 be kept, if possible. There is much depending in my duchies upon 
 this gentleman’s particular knowledge and talent. 
 
 “G. R.”* 
 
 His poignant feelings on parting with the Duke of Devonshire had 
 been more or less excited by “ a scene of an affecting kind ” when 
 that nobleman came to resign his office in person. He was also 
 much concerned about the Duke of Argyll. 
 
 THE SAME. 
 
 “Royal Lodge, January 28, 1828. 
 “Monday evening, seven o’clock. 
 
 “My dear Friend, 
 
 “ I lose not a moment in forwarding to you a letter which I 
 have just received, and which I must candidly acknowledge to you 
 distresses me much. The Duke of Argyll’s statement is perfectly 
 correct. I therefore desire you will see if anything yet can be done 
 to remedy this very unpleasant business, as I cannot submit to the 
 
 * Scarlett was a favorite from his declining to mix himself up with the 
 Queen’s trial. On a commission for inquiry into the courts of the Duchv of 
 Lancashire his majesty wrote: “ The King wosf earn est??/ desires that Sir J. 
 Scarlett be prevailed upon to place himself at the head of this commission. 
 The King feels himself personally obliged to Sir James Scarlett for the 
 manner and conduct pursued by him in the late trial of the Duchy of Corn- 
 wall. The King has the greatest confidence in this gentleman.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 859 
 
 Duke of Argyll’s conceiving that it was by any desire of mine that 
 he has received his dismissal. Your sentiments coinciding so com- 
 pletely with mine, I am sure you will know how to appreciate my 
 feelings upon this subject, and that you will do all you can to re- 
 lieve me from this embarrassment, 
 
 “Always most truly yours, 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 THE KESTG TO THE DUKE OP WELLINGTON. 
 
 “ Royal Lodge, Wednesday evening, seven o’clock, 
 
 “ January 30th, 1828, 
 
 “My dear Friend, 
 
 “ I thank 5mu for the letters you sent me to-day. I am per- 
 fectly satisfied with what you have stated respecting the Duke of 
 Argyll, and I therefore enclose to you the Duke of Gordon’s war- 
 ranty, which I had delayed putting my signature to until I had 
 received your answer to my letter. I congratulate you upon every- 
 thing having apparently gone off so tranquilly and so well yester- 
 day in both Houses of Parliament. 
 
 “Always most truly yours, 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 In the question of the Corporation and Test Act, it would appear 
 that the King’s Protestant feelings were treated with scant consid- 
 eration. The Protestant peers wished that the solemn, all-impor- 
 tant words, “I am a Protestant,” should find a place. The Duke 
 and the Chancellor supported this view. We find the King uttering 
 his querulous and unavailing complaints. 
 
 THE SAME. 
 
 “ St. James’s Palace, Friday, two o’clock, p.m., 
 
 “ April 25tli, 1828. 
 
 “My dear Friend, 
 
 “I received your box, with the account of last night’s debate, 
 about an hour since. I wish that you had come and talked the bus- 
 iness over with me that was to take place in the House of Lords, 
 previous to your going down to the House yesterday. Had I en- 
 tertained the slightest idea of what was to occupy the House, I 
 should most certainly have desired your attendance, and that of our 
 friend the Chancellor, before the discussion. 
 
 “After that which did pass in a conversation (not long since) be- 
 tween me and the Archbishop of Canterbury upon this very sub- 
 
860 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 ject, and in which I strongly expressed my own sentiments, which 
 for years and years have never varied, I feel that unless the word 
 Protestant be introduced as proposed into the Act itself, individu- 
 ally, as a Protestant, and as the head and protector of the religion 
 of this country, we have virtually no sort of permanent security 
 left us to look to for the preservation of the Established Church. 
 
 “I am most anxious, my dear friend, that you should show this 
 letter to the Chancellor, at the first moment you can see him, and 
 at any rate before he takes his seat on the woolsack. 
 
 “Always your sincere Friend, 
 
 “G. R” 
 
 The duke must, in familiar phrase, “have been sick” of these 
 protestations. The first instance in which his majesty tried his 
 power was in the well-known Huskisson episode, when affected 
 resignation and its treatment by the duke was a valuable precedent, 
 and had no doubt exercised a wholesome influence, the memorable 
 reply: “There is no mistake,” etc., operating as a warning against 
 such political coquetting. When the question of his successor was 
 under consideration, the King wrote: 
 
 THE KING TO THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. 
 
 “ St. James’s Palace, Sunday, four o’clock, p.m., 
 
 “ May 25th, 1828. 
 
 “My dear Friend, 
 
 “Pray come to no immediate conclusion upon any new ar- 
 rangement until I see you to-morrow. I have thought much upon 
 this subject since we parted. What do you think of the enclosed 
 list, which has occurred to me ? 
 
 “G. R” 
 
 But the duke replied dryly: “I am afraid the arrangement sug- 
 gested by your majesty would not answer.” * 
 
 * The duke had carelessly said that “ we should soon be as weak and con- 
 temptible as Groderich.” This phrase struck Lord Palmerston, for he recol- 
 lected his friend Huskisson describing the King as using it. The King was 
 prompted by the Duke of Cumberland, who kept repeating to him that the 
 duke had no energy or decision, and was “as weak as Goderich,” and the 
 King, who could be played on with catch phrases, adopted it as his own. It 
 thus got abroad, and was repeated to the duke, who, much nettled, deter- 
 mined to assert himself. This seems a plausible account enough. Lord 
 Palmerston always said that the King “ hated him.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 861 
 
 There was a delicate finesse, too, in his mode of administering 
 a rebuke to the King, who had taken on himself too hastily to en- 
 dorse an application for an Irish peerage for Mr. Daly, which Lord 
 Anglesey had forwarded. He apologized to his majesty for Lord 
 Anglesey’s having sent the official record to the King before his 
 Majesty had the opportunity of considering whether it should be 
 made. And later, again, he wrote on the same subject: “Since 
 my arrival in town, I observe that your majesty has signed the let- 
 ter to Lord Anglesey. I propose to keep that document in my pos- 
 session till I learn your majesty’s pleasure upon it.” 
 
 A glimpse of the King at this time in his social moments is not 
 unpleasing: “June 29th. — I dined yesterday with the King at St. 
 James’s — his Jockey Club dinner. We assembled in the Throne- 
 room, and found him already there, looking very well and walking 
 about. Nobody spoke, and he laughed and said: ‘This is more 
 like a Quaker than a Jockey Club meeting.’ He was particularly 
 gracious to me, talking to me across the table and recommending 
 all the good things; he made me (after eating a quantity of turtle) 
 eat a dish of crawfish soup, till I thought I should have burst. 
 After dinner the Duke of Leeds, who sat at the head of the table, 
 gave ‘The King.’ We all stood up, when his majesty thanked us, 
 and said he hoped this would be the first of annual meetings of the 
 sort to take place, there or elsewhere under his roof. He then 
 ordered paper, pens, etc., and they began making matches and 
 stakes; the most perfect ease was established, just as much as if we 
 had been dining with the Duke of York, and he seemed delighted. 
 He made one or two little speeches, one recommending that a stop 
 should be put to the exportation of horses. He twice gave ‘ The 
 Turf,’ and at the end the Duke of Richmond asked his leave to give 
 a toast, and again gave ‘ The King.’ He thanked all the gentlemen 
 and said that there was no man who had the interests of the turf 
 more at heart than himself, that he was delighted at having this 
 party, and that the oftener they met the better, and he only wanted 
 to have it pointed out to him how he could promote the pleasure and 
 amusement of the turf, and he was ready to do anything in his 
 pow’er. Nothing could go off better, and Mount-Charles told me 
 he was sure he was delighted.” 
 
 Many as had been the struggles with ministers and others in which 
 the King had been engaged, and in which he had to display the arts 
 of delay, wheedling, and craft — in all of which he was a proficient — 
 the severest and most disagreeable of all was now before him. He 
 
862 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 Wcas to be once more confronted with the eternal Catholic question, 
 and to have the tusk, “ most painful to his feelings,” according to 
 his favorite expression, of bringing it to a solution. It was unfor- 
 tunate for him that such a moment had been chosen; for he was at 
 that time almost a dying man, or, as his physician put it, “ was fast 
 breaking up.” During the years 1828 and 1829 he suffered acutely 
 from gouty swellings in his hands and feet; his ankles, always 
 small and attenuated, were insufficient to bear the growing bulk of 
 his body, and on slight exercise sw^elled up. This gave him a disin- 
 clination to walk or go out, and this sedentary life increased his 
 ailments. He was racked with pains, which could only be alleviated 
 by large doses of laudanum — a hundred drops at a time — adminis- 
 tered by direction of Sir Henry Halford, with protest on the part 
 of Sir W. Knighton. 
 
 It was this condition of the King that was one of the chief em- 
 barrassments of the Duke of Wellington and Mr. Peel in their de- 
 termination to “settle ” this great question, a determination to which 
 they had been led long before even a suspicion of their purpose had 
 got abroad. Nor was it so much the physical state of the King, as 
 his shifty impracticable humor which, though the minister had the 
 power of controlling and even intimidating for a time, yet opened 
 opportunities for bigoted opponents to work on. His weakness of 
 “ taking the advice of the last person he saw,” according to Lady 
 Hertford’s expression, and his eager wish to show that he was a 
 King according to the old pattern of his father, made it the most 
 hopeless and harassing task to “fix” him to any engagement; 
 while, finally, his twenty years’ adherence to the fanatical side had 
 fostered an almost rabid bigotry, perfectly genuine, influenced by 
 these protracted and excited conversations with intemperate men 
 of that faction, of which the reader has had many specimens. 
 “Between the King and his brothers, the government of this coun- 
 try has become a most heartbreaking concern. Nobody can ever 
 know where he stands upon any subject.” So said the duke, in 
 perfect despair at his shiftiness in another matter. 
 
 At this time occurred a curious family episode, which added to 
 the troubles of the ailing monarch. The Duke of Clarence, lately 
 appointed Lord High Admiral, had been showing symptoms of ex- 
 travagance, if not of eccentricity in his behavior. This took the 
 shape of an unseemly perverseness and of undignified resentment 
 against one of his colleagues who ventured to remonstrate against 
 
TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV, 
 
 863 
 
 his proceedings. The Duke of Wellingt.on was generally required 
 to recall these royal brethren to their good behavior, and this he 
 did with a wholesome severity of which they stood in awe. The 
 Lord High Admiral, by the terms of his patent, was no more than 
 president of a council, and could not act without its advice, and of 
 this he was respectfully reminded by Sir G. Cockburn, his colleague. 
 To this, on the lOlh of July, he responded, dating from his yacht, 
 Royal Sovereign, on which vessel he had embarked without leave. 
 This strange composition ran; 
 
 “SiK, 
 
 “Your letter does not give me displeasure, but concern, to 
 see one I had kept when appointed to this situation of Lord High 
 Admiral, constantly opposing what I consider good for the King’s 
 service. In this free country every one has a right to have his 
 opinion, and I have therefore to have mine, which differs totally from 
 yours. ... I cannot conclude without repeating, my council 
 is not to dictate, but to give advice.” 
 
 He later complained of receiving a letter, “if possible, a more dis- 
 respectful, more impertinent, if possible, than his first.” 
 
 Appeal was made to the King, who thus intervened; 
 
 THE KING TO THE DUKE OF CLARENCE. 
 
 “Royal Lodge, Tuesday night, July 15, 1828. 
 
 “ My dear William, 
 
 “ My friend the Duke of Wellington, as my first minister, 
 has considered it his duty to lay before me the whole of the corre- 
 spondence that has taken place with you upon the subject relating 
 to yourself and Sir George Cockburn. It is with feelings of the 
 deepest regr^^t that I observe the embarrassing position in which you 
 have placed yourself. You are in error from the beginning to the 
 end. This is not a matter of opinion, but a positive fact ; and when 
 the Duke of Wellington so properly calls your attention to the 
 words of your patent, let me ask you how Sir George Cockburn 
 could have acted otherwise? 
 
 “You must not forget, my dear William, that Sir George Cock- 
 burn is the King’s Privy Councillor, and so made by the King to 
 advise the Lord High Admiral. What becomes of Sir George Cock- 
 burn’s oath, his duty towards me, his sovereign, if he fails to offer 
 such advice as he may think necessary to the Lord High Admiral? 
 
864 
 
 THE LIFE OF OEOEGE IV. 
 
 Am I, then, to be called upon to dismiss the most useful and perhaps 
 the most important naval officer in my service for conscientiously 
 acting up to the letter and spirit of his oath and his duty? The 
 thing is impossible. I love you most truly, as you know, and no 
 one would do more or go further to protect and meet your feel- 
 ings ; but on the present occasion I have no alternative ; you must 
 give way, and listen to the affection of your best friend and most 
 attached brother, 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 The King was complimented by the Duke of Wellington on this 
 production, as being a most able and judicious one. 
 
 The Lord High Admiral vindicated himself to his brother in 
 terms of great effusion, “ rejoicing in the affection and friendship 
 of flfty-seven years.” He adds rather unhandsomely: “I shall, 
 however, make one observation; that Sir G. Cockburn cannot be 
 the most useful and the most important officer in your Majesty’s 
 service, who never had the ships he commanded in proper fighting 
 order. ” 
 
 Mr. Croker, who was then secretary to the Admiralty, describes 
 with much humor the behavior of the duke at the office — picturing 
 him as glancing at the officer who had displeased him with consid- 
 erable exasperation, and threatening his ‘ ‘ own eternal displeasure. ” 
 Sir G. Cockburn positively declined to withdraw his remonstrance 
 or its terms, though he was induced at last to express regret for 
 having offended his highness. Thus the matter was composed for 
 a few weeks, when the Court was again annoyed to learn that on a 
 squadron putting to sea under Sir H. Blackwood, the eccentric 
 High Admiral had joined them in his Royal Sovereign yacht, flying 
 his flag, and all without the King’s orders. 
 
 THE -KING TO THE DUKE OP WELLINGTON. 
 
 “ Royal Lodge, August 3, 1828. 
 
 ‘ ‘ My dear Friend, 
 
 “ If the Lord High Admiral cannot make up his mind to fill 
 his station according to the laws of the country, it will be quite im- 
 possible for the King to retain him in his present situation. It is 
 very painful to my feelings, after all that has passed, that you 
 should be placed in the disagreeable position of again explaining to 
 my brother my sentiments, and consequently those of my Govern- 
 ment, who are the responsible agents in this matter. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 865 
 
 “No man understands discipline better than my brother, there- 
 fore I am the more surprised at his hoisting his flag as Lord High 
 Admiral without my orders. 
 
 “ Your sincere Friend, 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 THE SAME. 
 
 “ Royal Lodge, August 10, 1828. 
 
 “ My dear Friend, 
 
 “ My sentiments coincide entirely with yours upon this dis- 
 agreeable altercation with the Lord High Admiral. As he dines 
 with me on the next Tuesday (the 12th) I desire you will be with 
 me early on that day, in order that I may have some conversation 
 with you before I see my brother. 
 
 ‘ ‘ Ever your sincere Friend, 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 “P.S. — I will restore your papers to you when I shall see you 
 here.” 
 
 THE SAME. 
 
 “ Royal Lodge, August 11, 1828. 
 
 “ My dear Friend, 
 
 “I have read with the most careful attention your further 
 correspondence with the Lord High Admiral. 
 
 “ I will repeat to your grace the words that I used to my brother 
 when I had occasion to write to him on this painful subject, namely: 
 ‘ that he was in error from beginning to the end. ’ 
 
 ‘ ‘ I now desire distinctly to state, once for all, that I most entirely 
 approve of all that you, in the exercise of your bounden duty 
 towards me, as my First Minister, have communicated to the Lord 
 High Admiral on the subject now before me. When I appointed 
 my brother to the station of Lord High Admiral I had reasonably 
 hoped that I should have derived comfort, peace, and tranquillity 
 from such an appointment ; but from what has hitherto taken place, 
 it would seem as if the very reverse were to happen. 
 
 ‘ ‘ Can the Lord High Admiral suppose that the laws are to be 
 infringed, the rules of true discipline (which he knows so well how 
 to uphold) are to be broken in upon ? and that these things are to 
 pass without notice or remonstrance by the responsible advisers of 
 the Crown? Can the Lord High Admiral suppose that his best 
 friend and his sovereign is to have no feeling under the circum- 
 stances ? I am quite aware that I am drawing fast to the close 
 37 
 
866 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 of my life; it may be the will of the Almighty that a month, a 
 week, a day, may call the Lord High Admiral to be my successor. 
 I love my brother William; I have always done so to my heart’s 
 core ; and I will leave him the example of what the inherent duty of 
 a king of this country really is. The Lord High Admiral shall 
 strictly obey the laws enacted by Parliament, as attached to his 
 present station, or I desire immediately to receive his resignation. 
 
 “Such are my commands to your grace. 
 
 “ Ever your sincere Friend, 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 The Lord High Admiral had to resign. 
 
TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 867 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 1828—1829. 
 
 The election of Mr. O’Connell for Clare, in July, 1828, was of 
 course the evenc that forced on the settlement, and Lord Eldon and 
 other sagacious observers at once felt just forebodings that the 
 “duke intends next Session to emancipate the Catholics.” In fact, 
 early in August both he and Mr. Peel had taken their resolution, 
 though it is plain that the duke was determined not to allow his 
 hand to be forced by eager agitators on that side till the moment 
 arrived. It was to come in the form of a concession from opponents, 
 and not as the victory of a party. This may explain his behavior 
 to his own Lord Lieutenant, Lord Anglesey. The political in- 
 cidents have been often set out, and are familiar enough ; but, as 
 we have said, the management of the King, and the faction of 
 dukes and lords who had access to him, required the greatest 
 -delicacy. 
 
 THE KING TO THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. 
 
 “Royal Lodge, Friday night, twelve o’clock, July 12, 1828. 
 
 ‘ ‘ My dear Friend, 
 
 “I have this moment received your box, with your long, 
 most interesting, and important letter, and other annexations, con- 
 cerning which at this late hour I will say nothing, but reserve my 
 sentiments (which, by-the-bye, are entirely in unison with your 
 representations) for a personal interview, when I shall freely enter 
 with you into every part of the present matter, so (as I hope) not 
 only to settle this immediate question, but to put the extinguisher 
 upon all and every future attempt which might (otherwise and at 
 some most unexpected moment) hereafter arise, or rather recur, if 
 not now and immediately (but with good-humor and firmness) 
 stopped in limine. Your time I know in general is (and must be 
 most particularly so at the present moment) so cruelly occupied 
 with a variety of important matter and matters, that I can scarcely 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 bring myself to name any particular day or hour for your attend- 
 ance upon me, under the apprehension that it might possibly inter- 
 fere with the only moments of relaxation and comfort which so 
 sparingly fall to your share. However, as the Chancellor is to be 
 in attendance upon me between twelve and one o’clock on Sunday 
 next (the day after to-morrow), to converse over some matters of 
 importance, and to which you must be a primitive, but at any rate 
 a most essential party, perhaps you will deem it not inconvenient, 
 and more eligible, to come to the Lodge about the same hour, by 
 which all purposes may be at once and more easily answered than by 
 separate conferences. 
 
 “Believe me, always your most sincere Friend, 
 
 “G. R” 
 
 The first openipg of the matter to the King is shown in the fol 
 lowing: 
 
 THE KING TO THE DUKE OP WELLINGTON. 
 
 “Royal Lodge, August 3, 1828. 
 
 “My dear Friend, 
 
 “I have read with the most anxious attention your mem- 
 orandum respecting the present state of Ireland. I fear the 
 picture of that unhappy country is but too true. You have my full 
 permission to go into the question of Ireland with the Lord Chan- 
 cellor and Mr. Peel, and we have this settled understanding, that I 
 pledge myself to nothing with respect to the Cabinet, or any future 
 proceeding, until I am in possession of your plan. 
 
 “Always your sincere Friend, 
 
 “G. R” 
 
 This document had been judiciously prepared with a view of 
 leading the King’s mind to wlmt was to follow ; but he little knew 
 that only a few days later Mr. Peel had addressed a letter to his col- 
 league, the duke, declaring that the time had come for a change of 
 policy towards the Homan Catholics. While everything was going 
 on well, the whole had been nearly shipwrecked by the news of Mr. 
 Dawson’s awkwardly-timed speech at Derry, which aroused, not 
 unnaturally, the King’s quick suspicions. He shrewdly conceived 
 that it was connected with some change of view in the Cabinet. 
 The Chancellor was with him a long time, as Mr. Greville weU 
 recollected, trying to tranquillize him. He believed that the speech 
 
THE LIFE OF GEOROE IV. 
 
 was made in concert with Mr. Peel and the duke, to prepare the 
 way. This unpleasant contretemps increased their difficulties. 
 
 The day after the memorandum had been shown to the King, he 
 had interviews with Mr. Peel and the Duke of Wellington separately, 
 and found that both agreed in their views. To Mr. Peel he had 
 sent a sort of manifesto: 
 
 [extract.] 
 
 “The sentiments of the King upon Catholic Emancipation are 
 those of his revered and excellent father. From those sentiments 
 the King never can and never will deviate. ” 
 
 The duke assured him it was no longer an open question. The 
 King then invited the Cabinet to submit their views, without engag 
 ing himself to adopt them. He criticised Mr. Peel’s paper as “a 
 good one, though not an argumentative one. ” In the curious strug- 
 gle we are now entering on, a certain sympathy must be accorded 
 to the King, who fought the battle with extraordinary resolution, 
 though with little skill. There is no doubt his prejudices and con- 
 victions were engaged; for, like many men of loose life, he con- 
 ceived that exertion in the cause of religion to a fanatical degree 
 was as effectual as good moral conduct. Great allowance, too, 
 must be made for him, considering the exertions of selfish persons 
 about him — statesmen, bishops, and others — who encouraged him in 
 resistance. 
 
 So early as September the duke had informed Lord Anglesey 
 that he would lay the Bill for Emancipation before the King when 
 he got better. The King had taken a particular aversion to the 
 Lord-Lieutenant, and was eager to recall him. But though the latter 
 was acting with too much independence for a proconsul, the duke 
 advocated reserve, and it was not until the well-known incident of 
 the “ Curtis letter” that he was recalled. 
 
 His Majesty was indeed in a precarious way. The gout was 
 raging in his hands, which were so swelled that he could not sign 
 public documents — a serious labor when a number were to be per- 
 fected — and it was proposed to have a sort of stamp, to be affixed 
 with due formalities. However, in P a midst of his illness, he had 
 all the Anglesey documents read to him, though suffering acutely; 
 so eager and “intense” was he on this subject. By October he was 
 slowly “creeping out of his illness,” and, as though he scented the 
 danger, proposed that the venerable Eldon should be called into the 
 
870 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE TV, 
 
 Government as President of the Council. This ludicrous notion 
 the duke put aside, almost sarcastically telling his Majesty that 
 Lord Eldon was an inconvenient sort of colleague, for he was often 
 not disposed to take his share in the advocacy of measures for which 
 the Government were responsible. It would also, he added signifi- 
 cantly, be interpreted by the public as evidence of a change of 
 opinion. He then once more pressed on him the frightful state of 
 Ireland, and the possibility of finding no remedy unless the whole 
 state of the question — an elastic but very significant phrase — was 
 taken into consideration. 
 
 Early in November the duke sent the King his letter to Lord 
 Anglesey, which was of a severe character, and which gave his 
 Majesty, ill as he was, great delight. He fancied that this noble- 
 man was the embodiment of the pro-Catholic cause, and bis minis- 
 ter was, perhaps, not disinclined to let him direct his hostile feelings 
 in that direction. “His Majesty says,”, wrote Sir W. Knighton 
 “ (I use his own words), that it is quite a cordial to his feelings. 
 The King read your letter twice over; he says it has quite relieved 
 him.” Thus encouraged, the duke next despatched a long paper or 
 scheme of arrangement for the Catholics, which now fills some 
 twenty printed pages, and which he desired to submit to the Protes- 
 tant bishops. 
 
 THE KING TO THE DUKE OF WELDING TON. 
 
 “ Royal Lodge, November 17, 1828. 
 
 “My DEAR Friend, 
 
 “I am unable to use the pen myself; I can therefore only 
 dictate. 
 
 “ I have no objection to your sending the paper to the bishops; 
 but then, let it be under your own authority, and not from my 
 recommendation, as the only means of avoiding all comments with 
 respect to myself. 
 
 “ I also think that Mr. Peel should see the paper, as well as your 
 etter to me ; but all this must proceed from yourself. 
 
 “I consider your paper very able; but on the point in question I 
 need not tell you what my feelings are. 
 
 “Your sincere Friend, 
 
 “G. R” 
 
 Here are evident some uneasy forebodings. But the duke had sent 
 a severe rebuke to Lord Anglesey, in reply to a letter of that noble- 
 man. On which the King rallied, and gave vent to his “feelings” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 871 
 
 in one of his most characteristic, rambling, and strangely-qualified 
 letters. 
 
 THE KING TO THE DUKE OP WELLINGTON. 
 
 “ Royal Lodge, November 20, 1828. Half-past eleven a.m. 
 “My dear Friend, 
 
 “ Though it is still attended with much pain and difficulty, I 
 cannot return your interesting despatch of last night without its 
 being accompanied with a short line from my own poor enfeebled 
 hand. 
 
 “Your answer carries with it (as it appears to me) all that frank- 
 ness, point, and at the same time firmness, which it ought to do ; 
 whilst, on the other hand, the Lord-Lieutenant’s letter is nothing 
 but a proud and pompous farrago of the most outre bombast, of 
 eulogium upon himself, his political principles, and his government 
 of Ireland, without, at least materially, according to the best of my 
 recollection, answering or even alluding to any one of the very 
 essential points which you so properly and so necessarily pressed 
 upon him in your original letter, and which has called forth this 
 most curious document and specimen of pride in the shape of a 
 reply. 
 
 “ Consistency and firmness is, and must be, the only line for us 
 to pursue if he will not take and understand the very clear, and at 
 the same time liberal and gentlemanly hint in its tone, given to him 
 by you in your former leter; I and my Government must act for 
 ourselves, and he must be removed by us as shortly as possible, but 
 with all proper dignity on our part, accompanied by as much per- 
 sonal attention to himself as the nature of the case will admit; for 
 if it required anything more than I have already stated, I am sure 
 that it would betray the utmost folly and weakness in the Govern- 
 ment could they be supposed for one instant to fancy to themselves, 
 after being in possession of this most curious reply, and especially 
 from the tone in which it is written, that they either could or that 
 the writer himself would ever submit to be interfered with, or (much 
 less) to be guided by them in any essential measure which the state 
 of Ireland may, in our opinion, call for. At any rate, cordial sup- 
 port you never can nor must expect from the present Lord-Lieu- 
 tenant. Ever your sincere Friend, 
 
 “G. R 
 
 “P. S. — I must apologize for this scrawl, but I cannot hold the 
 pen any longer.” 
 
872 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 This letter and the Curtis incident brought matters to a crisis. 
 Lord Anglesey had indiscreetly and indecorously advised that the 
 agitation should not relax. This threw the King into a state of 
 blind fury. For three days, as the Duke of Wellington told Mr. 
 Greville’s mother, he inveighed against him, declaring that he was 
 setting up “as King of Ireland.” After so insubordinate a step, it 
 was impossible that he could remain, and on the 30th of December 
 he was recalled. Mr. Greville gives the following sketch of the 
 Windsor “interior” at this time, furnished to him by one who had 
 the best opportunities of observing: “ Lord Mount-Charles came to 
 me this morning (January 12) and consulted me about resigning his 
 seat at the Treasury. He told me that he verily believed the King 
 would go mad on the Catholic question, his violence was so great 
 about it. He is very angry with him and his father for voting as 
 they do, but they have agreed never to discuss the matter at all, 
 and his mother never talks to the King about it. Whenever he 
 does get on it there is no stopping him, Mount-Charles attributes 
 the King’s obstinacy to his recollections of his father and the Duke 
 of York, and to the influence of the Duke of Cumberland. He 
 says that ‘ his father would have laid his head on the block rather 
 than yield, and that he is equally ready to lay his head there in the 
 same cause.’ He is furious with Lord Anglesey, but he will be 
 very much afraid of him when he sees him. Mount-Charles was in 
 the room when Lord Anglesey took leave of the King on going to 
 Ireland, and the King said: ‘God bless you, Anglesey! I know 
 you are a true Protestant.’ Anglesey answered: ‘ Sir, I will not be 
 considered either Protestant or Catholic ; I go to Ireland determined 
 to act impartially between them, and without the least bias either 
 one way or the other.’ ” 
 
 These, however, were all hints and foreshadowings. It was not 
 until the new year began, and the meeting with Parliament im- 
 pended, that the serious difficulty had to be grappled with. The 
 plan had to be formally opened to the King, and his consent as 
 formally obtained; a matter of enormous difficulty, made more 
 difficult by the hesitation that had been used. Then set in a singu- 
 lar struggle, in which there were really dramatic elements — the 
 helpless, shifty, and dying monarch, contending vainly with the 
 two resolute intellects. Lord Ellenborough kept some memoranda 
 of the stages of the business,* which will be found interesting. 
 
 Given in the Duke of Wellington’s “ Desp. Cor. Mem.,” vol. v. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 873 
 
 On the 26th of January the duke undertook the task of belling 
 the royal cat, and of going out to see the King to state to him the 
 points agreed upon in the Cabinet. These were embodied in a sort 
 of general minute, which it was considered incumbent, for obvious 
 reasons, that the King should sign. In this the duke succeeded, 
 and it will be seen later how prudent was this precaution. 
 
 MINUTE SIGNED BY THE KING ON JANUARY 26, 1829. 
 
 “The King has considered the representations made to him by 
 such of the members of his Cabinet as have been generally adverse 
 to the concession of further political power to the King’s Roman 
 Catholic subjects. It has been earnestly pressed upon the King, as 
 a measure not merely expedient, but necessary, that the King’s 
 Cabinet should take into its immediate consideration the whole 
 state of Ireland, and particularly with the view of preparing 
 measures for the suppressing of the Roman Catholic Association, 
 of altering the law respecting the elective franchise in that part of 
 the kingdom, and of proposing such arrangements relative to the 
 existing disabilities of the King’s Roman Catholic subjects as may 
 lead to a final settlement of that difficult question. The King, 
 attending to the representations that have been so made to him, 
 and the reasoning by which they have been supported, acquiesces 
 in what has been thus strongly recommended; but without in any 
 degree pledging himself to the approval or adoption of the meas- 
 ures that may be proposed as the result of the deliberations of his 
 Cabinet. 
 
 “(Approved) “ G. R.” 
 
 It will be seen that even here they had not ventured to open 
 their whole programme; concession of “further” political power 
 might be reduced to some small act of indulgence, and his reserved 
 power of dissent seemed to him a certain resource. But he was 
 drawn on step by step. 
 
 On the 28th the duke reported that the King agreed to the words 
 for the speech, but seemed very reluctant. When the duke said 
 that the Catholics were to be excluded from judicial ofiices con- 
 nected with the Church, the King said: “What, do you mean a 
 Catholic to hold any judicial office? to be a Judge of the King’s 
 Bench?” When seats in Parliament were mentioned, he said: 
 
 “D n it, do you mean to let them into Parliament?” In the 
 
 37* 
 
874 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 interval before settling the words of the speech, the King had con- 
 trived to start a point, and in the Council on the 2nd of February, 
 when the speech was being read, at the paragraph, “ His Majesty 
 recommends,” etc., the King said: “The whole condition of Ire- 
 land includes the Catholic question, and I see no reason why that 
 part of the paragraph should not be omitted.” The duke said: 
 “ Your Majesty has Roman Catholic subjects in other parts of your 
 dominions besides Ireland.” The King acquiesced, and at the end 
 of the speech expressed himself quite satisfied with it. 
 
 Parliament now met, and the exciting Session began. On the 
 5th of February the King’s Speech announced to the world that it 
 was intended “to review the laws which imposed disabilities” on 
 the Roman Catholics. 
 
 THE KING TO THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. 
 
 “Windsor Castle, Sunday morning, February 8, 1829. 
 “My dear Friend, 
 
 “I return you the answer to the Address of the House of 
 Peers, with ray signature to the Address affixed to it. 
 
 I cannot have the smallest objection to your reading or referring 
 upon the present occasion (should you find it necessary to do so) to 
 any letter in which you may have made mention of my name in 
 your correspondence with Lord Anglesey, for I never for a moment 
 can entertain a doubt either of your prudence or of your caution 
 where I am concerned. ^ 
 
 “The Council, the nomination of the Sheriffs, the Recorder’s 
 Report, and the presentation of the Duke of Northumberland (ac- 
 cording to your desire), I shall hold myself in readiness to receive as 
 usual here on Wednesday next, the 11th, at two o’clock p.m. 
 
 ‘ ‘ Ever your sincere Friend, 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 It is not difficult, however, to see that he was looking to a chance 
 of failure, and that he was induced to yield thus much by the meas- 
 ures of apparent severity that were to precede it. A memorandum 
 in his handwriting, among the Duke of Wellington’s papers, sup- 
 ports this view: “The King in recommending, in the speech from 
 the throne, the putting down the illegal and rebellious assemblage 
 of his subjects in Ireland, under the name of the Catholic Associa- 
 tion, understood it to be an abstract measure, and one of positive 
 necessity, and connected with the existence of all good government, 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 875 
 
 The King always supposed that this was to be followed by the 
 repeal of the law that gave the right of voting to the forty-shilling 
 freeholders. Then, after these two measures, that it would be safe 
 to take into consideration the question of Catholic Disabilities.” 
 
 Lord Eldon, while complaining of the “mysterious concealment ” 
 of the Government plan till that moment, expressed his opinion that 
 the best course now for the beguiled ‘ ‘ Protestants ” was to obtain 
 the fullest statement of the details of the measure, and then “as 
 long an interval of delay as possible for and during the discussion. ” 
 No doubt his Majesty was encouraged by the arrival of that strange 
 character the Duke of Cumberland, who had flown from Berlin to 
 take part in the fray, dining with the Prime Minister the night after 
 his arrival, but presently to cause him infinite difficulties and annoy- 
 ance by his intrigues. This disastrous influence was presently to be 
 felt in new obstruction on the part of the King, in new shifts and 
 pretences, so that the matter seemed likely to come to shipwreck.* 
 He seems to have never relaxed an instant in his underground 
 
 * A good idea of this well-known personage’s character may he obtained 
 from his views on bishops, written to Lord Strangford in 1850, when he states 
 that “ the first change and shock in the ecclesiastical habits was the bishops 
 being allowed to lay aside their wigs, their purple coats, short cassocks, and 
 stocking, and cocked hats, when appearing in public ; for I can remember 
 when Bishop Heard of Worcester, Courtenay of Exeter, and Markham, Arch- 
 bishop of York, resided in Kew and ‘its vicinity, that, as a boy, I met them 
 frequently walking about dressed as I now tell you; and their male servants 
 appeared equally all dressed in purple, which was the custom. The late 
 Bishop of Oxford (Bagot) was the first who persuaded George IV. to allow 
 him to lay aside his wig, because his wife found him better looking without 
 it. I recollect full well that the Bishop of London, who succeeded Bishop 
 Porteous, coming to St. James’s to do homage to my father, when Lord Sid- 
 mouth was Secretary of State, and he came into the closet, where I was at the 
 time, and informed his majesty ‘ that the bishop was there, but that he had 
 refused to introduce him as he had not a wig.’ Upon which the King replied: 
 ‘You were perfectly right, my lord; and tell the bishop from me that until he 
 has shaven his head, and has provided himself with a wig suitable to his 
 garb, I shall not admit him into my presence.’ ” The King himself com- 
 plained that he had been disgusted by seeing the Bishop of London (Blom- 
 field) “ attend the committee-room in the House of Lords in a black Welling- 
 ton coat, with top-boots, and coming in with a hat like a butcher or 
 coachmaster.” King Ernest entertained a perfect detestation for the Bishop 
 of Exeter, never having forgiven him for voting for Sir Robert Peel at the 
 Oxford election in 1829. He alluded to him as “that ugly vagabond, Phil- 
 potts.” On Lord Truro being raised to the woolsack, he wrote: “What a 
 scandal I what a disgrace I to have raised that blackguard Wilde to the Lord 
 Chancellorship. ’ ’ 
 
876 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 intrigues, and, if we can trust Mr. Greville, was one of the most 
 odious beings that ever existed. So that we find the Duke of Wel- 
 lington writing to Sir W. Knighton to say that if the ‘ ‘ Duke of 
 Cumberland thought he could make a Government, he had better 
 give his advice to the King, and so end matters,” He himself would 
 seem to have been with the King on the 26th, when “a very dis- 
 agreeable conversation ” had taken place. For his Majesty, seriously 
 alarmed at the way he was being drawn on, appears to have deter 
 mined on resistance. ‘ ‘ The King begged he would not speak to 
 the Household, and seemed to intimate they were to vote against 
 the Government. The King’s conversation before mixed companies 
 and his servants has been most imprudent. The King seems to 
 have been very nervous at dinner and absent. He seems to have 
 intended to say more to the duke than he did, but, being interrupted 
 by the duke, perhaps regretted he had said so much.” It was set- 
 tled, however, that on the following day the duke should bring 
 matters to a point — no doubt by exerting his well-known mastery 
 over the King’s mind; and that night at eleven the Cabinet were 
 relieved to learn that their chief had had entire success. The inter- 
 view had lasted five hours. As was to be expected, the King had 
 not only yielded, but yielded abjectly, “ declaring himself more sat- 
 isfied with the Bill than anything he had seen.” He would even 
 order the Duke of Cumberland to quit England. He gave up on 
 the point of the Household. The duke confessed to his friends that 
 he had to use “ very peremptory language to him,” which made the 
 scene very painful, so that the King was thrown into great agitation, 
 and even spoke of abdicating. At the end he was kind and gracious, 
 and even kissed his visitor on leaving. 
 
 The Duke of Cumberland, ignorant of the sentence passed on 
 him, wrote to the Duke of Wellington, declaring that he meant to 
 call on him, but he should certainly tell his friends all that passed. 
 “ My character must stand clear before them.” He was disagree- 
 ably surprised by receiving a communication, brusque and haughty 
 to a degree. “I assure your royal highness that I have nothing 
 to talk to your royal highness upon respecting which I care 
 whether it is stated to the whole world. I have no business to 
 transact except his Majesty’s, and do not care who knows it.” He 
 further sent a formal complaint to the King of the underhand pro- 
 ceedings of the Duke of Cumberland, who was now opening com- 
 munications with Members of Parliament in the King’s name, and 
 sending circulars to the Household requiring their attendance. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 877 
 
 In one of the debates in the House of Lords, Mr. Greville tells, 
 there was an amusing, if not an unbecoming, spectacle. “The 
 three royal dukes, Clarence, Cumberland, and Sussex, got up one 
 after another, and attacked each other (that is, Clarence and Sus- 
 sex attacked Cumberland, and he them) very vehemently, and they 
 used towards each other language that nobody else could have 
 ventured to employ; so it was a very droll scene. The Duke of 
 Clarence said the attacks on the Duke [of Wellington] had been 
 infamous; the Duke of Cumberland took this to himself, but when 
 he began to answer it could not recollect the expression, which the 
 Duke of Clarence directly supplied: ‘I said “infamous.”’ The 
 Duke of Sussex said that the Duke of Clarence had not intended to 
 apply the word to the Duke of Cumberland, but if he chose to take 
 it to himself he might. Then the Duke of Clarence said that the 
 Duke of Cumberland had lived so long abroad that he had forgot- 
 ten there was such a thing as freedom of debate.” 
 
 Meanwhile, on the very day of the duke’s stormy interviev7 with 
 the King, Mr. Peel had been defeated at the Oxford election, which 
 at once renewed his Majesty’s hopes. He began to talk “of the 
 people standing by him,” and would not separate from his brother. 
 Madame de Lieven, who had a vehement dislike to the Duke of 
 Wellington, was secretly working on the Duke of Cumberland. 
 We are not therefore surprised to find on Sunday, the 1st of 
 March, the Chancellor with him, vainly urging him to direct the 
 Household, as he had promised, to vote for the bill. He was in 
 bed, and for three hours the minister was striving to bring him to 
 reason. He said he would abdicate — henceforth a favorite declar- 
 ation to all his visitors — he would send Lord Bexley to the House 
 of Lords with a letter to that effect. The Chancellor returned 
 without having effected any change, and the greatest alarm and ex- 
 citement prevailed in political circles, for it was idly believed that 
 he would be firm, and that ministers must resign. So serious was 
 the crisis that the Chancellor travelled all that night to the duke’s 
 country-seat, reaching it at three in the morning, and returning 
 to London before ten. But the Cabinet was not to be trifled with. 
 A council was instantly held, after which a letter was despatched 
 to the King, reminding him of his written agreement to this pro- 
 gramme, requiring his renewed assent, and enclosing a copy of his 
 signed approbation of the minute. 
 
878 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 THE KING TO THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. 
 
 “Windsor Castle, Tuesday, eleven o’clock a.m., 
 “ March 3, 1829, 
 
 “ My DEAN Friend, 
 
 “ I will answer your letter as soon as I can possibly collect 
 my thoughts sufficiently to put them upon paper. 
 
 “Ever your most sincere Friend, 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 THE SAME. 
 
 “My dear Friend, 
 
 “ I really wish to see you, the Chancellor, and Mr. Peel, to- 
 morrow. I shall be ready to receive you punctually at twelve 
 to-morrow, and all three together. I cannot tell you how much 
 your letter, received this morning, has embarrassed me. 
 
 “ Ever your sincere Friend, 
 
 “G. R. 
 
 “P.S. — Pray let the Chancellor and Mr. Peel know,” 
 
 This invitation masked a new design. The three ministers went 
 down. There are tw'o accounts of this interview, which were 
 dramatic from the feelings and interests engaged. “When we 
 arrived,” said Mr. Peel, “he received us cordially, but seemed 
 grave, and laboring under anxiety and weariness. He said that we 
 must be aware that it had caused him the greatest pain to give his 
 assent to the proposition made to him by his Cabinet, that they 
 should be at liberty to offer their collective advice on the Catholic 
 question, and still greater pain to feel that he had no alternative 
 but to act upon the advice which he had received. He added that 
 as the matter was to be brought forward in Parliament, he wished 
 to learn from ministers ‘ a more complete and detailed explanation 
 of the manner in which it was proposed to act.’ On this I explained 
 that the chief impediment, the oaths of supremacy, were to be re- 
 pealed. The King seemed much surprised, and said rapidly and 
 earnestly: ‘What is this? You surely do not mean to alter the 
 ancient oath of supremacy!’ He appealed to each on this point. 
 They again explained the reasons in detail. The King observed, 
 that be that as it might, he could not possibly consent to any alter- 
 ation of the ancient oath of supremacy; that he was exceedingly 
 sorry that there had been any misunderstanding on so essential a 
 point.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IK 
 
 879 
 
 Five hours were passed in hopeless attempts to convince him; 
 and at the close they informed him they must resign. He accepted 
 their resiguation, and sent, Mr. Greville says, to Lord Eldon, who 
 thought over a plan that would include the Duke of Richmond, but 
 soon found it was impracticable.* On the following day the duke 
 received his sovereign’s submission — a humiliating transaction. 
 
 THE KING TO THE DUKE OP WELLINGTON. 
 
 “ Windsor Castle, Wednesday evening, eight o’clock, 
 
 “March 5, 1829. 
 
 “ My dear Friend, 
 
 “As I find the country would be left without an Adminis- 
 tration, I V ive decided to yield my opinion to that which is con- 
 sidered by the Cabinet to be for the immediate interests of the 
 country. Under these circumstances you have my consent to pro- 
 ceed as you propose with the measure. God knows what pain it 
 costs me to write these words. 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 But this would not do. The duke answers at midnight. There 
 is a stern tone in the communication. 
 
 “Mr. Peel will proceed with the bills to-morrow, in the full con- 
 fidence and with the full understanding that your Majesty’s ser- 
 vants have your sanction and support, and that your Majesty will 
 go through with us. 
 
 “I entreat your Majesty to give your gracious approbation to my 
 letter of the 2nd instant, containing the minute of the Cabinet, or 
 to inform me if my understanding of your Majesty’s letter of this 
 afternoon is not correct.”! 
 
 The King could no longer wriggle off the hook, and wrote a com- 
 plete surrender. 
 
 * Peel, “ Memoir,” i. 343. There is no mention of Lord Eldon’s share in the 
 transaction in Mr. Twiss’s “ Biography.” 
 
 + The same doubt of craft and shiftiness occurred also to Mr. Peel, who 
 considers the King’s words “rather equivocal,” and “ reserving a veto.” He 
 suggested getting the King to write “ approved ” on the duke’s letter. 
 
880 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 THE KING TO THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. 
 
 “Windsor Castle, Thursday morning, quarter-past seven, 
 “from my bed, March 6, 1829. 
 
 “My dear Friend, 
 
 “I am awakened by the messenger with your letter, and as 
 I know that you are much pressed for time, I send him off again 
 immediately. You have put the right construction upon the mean- 
 ing of my letter of last evening; but at the same time I cannot dis- 
 guise from you that my feelings of distress in consequence are such 
 as I do scarcely know how to support myself under them. 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 Thus there was ever the same feeble protest — “his feelings” and 
 “God knows.” The weak mind thus ever fancies that words will 
 neutralize acts. 
 
 This may be said to have ended the contest, and the King, though 
 he indulged himself in theatrical protests and bursts of fanatical 
 grief, virtually gave little more trouble to his ministers. Some 
 strange frantic efforts, however, followed on the part of other 
 opponents. The Duke of Cumberland prepared petitions, which 
 were to be taken to Windsor and presented by imposing mobs. 
 These proceedings excited the indignant remonstrances of the 
 duke. The Irish archbishop and bishops came over with addresses. 
 There were interviews three hours in length with “Protestant” 
 lords. The duke contrived to keep all in check, and eyen went the 
 length of challenging and fighting Lord Winchelsea.* 
 
 THE KING TO LORD MACCLESFIELD. 
 
 “ Windsor Castle, March 27. 
 
 “My dear Macclesfield, 
 
 “ The long and sincere regard and friendship which has sub- 
 sisted between us for the last seven-and-forty years, renders it 
 unnecessary for me to make any comment upon the present occa- 
 sion. The state of your health at this moment precluding (as I 
 understand) all idea of personal audience without considerable 
 inconvenience and risk, I will acquaint you wherever it may best 
 suit me to receive you. Yours, etc., 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 * See Dr. Hame’s dramatic account, in the Duke of Wellington’s “Desp. 
 Cor. and Mem.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 881 
 
 THE KING TO THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. 
 
 “April 1, 1829, half -past three, p.m. 
 
 “ My dear Friend, 
 
 “I have not the smallest objection to your giving the neces- 
 sary directions for every accommodation to be made in the House 
 of Lords that can be effected for the convenience of the peers. 
 
 “ Your sincere friend, 
 
 “G. R” 
 
882 
 
 THE LIFE OF OEOROE IV, 
 
 CHAPTER XYI. 
 
 1829. 
 
 It is painful to find find ministers, till the matter was actually- 
 settled, declining to trust the King, The Duke of Wellington told 
 the Cabinet that from his suspicions “they ought to keep Supply 
 in hand.” The duke, in introducing the bills, told the House in 
 pointed language that “they had the sanction and approbation of 
 his Majesty,” though the old Eldon tried to argue that “ he was 
 pledged to nothing.” So skilfully did they deal with him, that he 
 saw that further struggling was hopeless, and when the Duke of 
 Cumberland came down to urge him to new efforts, he was reported 
 to have said: “My dear Ernest, do not talk to me any more about 
 it. I am committed, and must go through with it ” 
 
 On the 10th of April the bills were passed. The old Protestant 
 peers, however, had some faint hopes from their various interviews 
 with his Majesty, in which he expressed his feelings warmly, that 
 even yet he would interfere. Lord Eldon’s description of two of 
 these consolator}'- interviews is truly characteristic. They were, of 
 course, of many hours each. It will be seen what an uncandid account 
 the King gives of his share in the transaction, while not a little amuse- 
 ment will be caused by the naively expressed surprise of Lord Eldon 
 at the signed documents wdiich so completely destroyed the case 
 of his royal master. The King complained “ that at the time 
 the Administration was formed, no reason was given him to sup- 
 pose that any measures for the relief of the Roman Catholics 
 were intended or thought of by ministers: that he had frequently 
 himself suggested the absolute necessity of putting down the 
 Roman Catholic Association — of suspending the Habeas Corpus 
 Act, to destroy the power of the most seditious and rebellious pro- 
 ceedings of the members of it, and particularly at the time that Law'- 
 less made his march: that instead of following what he had so 
 strongly recommended, after some time, not a very long time before 
 the present Session, he was applied to to allow his ministers to pro- 
 
THE LIFE OF OEOROE IV. 
 
 883 
 
 pose to him, as a united Cabinet, the opening the Parliament by- 
 sending such a message as his speech contained: that, after much 
 struggling against it, and after the measure had been strongly- 
 pressed upon him as of absolute necessity, he had consented that 
 the Protestant members of his Cabinet, if they could so persuade 
 themselves to act, might join in such a representation to him, but 
 that he would not then, nor in his recommendation to Parliament, 
 pledge himself to anything. He repeatedly mentioned that he repre- 
 sented to his ministers the infinite pain it gave him to consent even 
 so far as that. 
 
 “ He complained that he had never seen the bills — that the con- 
 dition of Ireland had not been taken into consideration — that the 
 Association Bill had been passed through both Houses before he 
 had seen it — that it was a very inefficient measure compared to those 
 which he had in vain, himself, recommended — that the other pro- 
 posed measures gave him the greatest possible pain and uneasiness 
 — that he was in the state of a person with a pistol presented to his 
 breast — that he had nothing to fall back upon — that his ministers 
 had threatened (I think he said twice, at the time of my seeing him) 
 to resign, if the measures were not proceeded in, and that he had 
 said to them, ‘Go on,’ when he knew not how to relieve himself 
 from the state in which he was placed; and that in one of those 
 meetings, when resignation was threatened, he was urged to the sort 
 of consent he gave, by what passed in the interview between him 
 and his ministers, till the interview and the talk had brought him 
 into such a state, that he hardly knew what he was about when he, 
 after several hours, said, ‘Go on.’ He then repeatedly expressed 
 himself as in a state of the greatest misery, repeatedly saying: 
 ‘What can I do? I have nothing to fall back upon;’ and musing 
 for some time, and then again repeating the same expression. 
 
 “In this day’s audience his majesty did not show me many 
 papers that he showed me in the second. I collected, from what 
 passed in the second, that his consent to go on was in writings then 
 shown to me. After a great deal of time spent still in the first 
 interview), in which his majesty was sometimes silent — apparently 
 uneasy — occasionally stating his distress — the hard usage he had 
 received — his wish to extricate himself — that he had not what to 
 look to — what to fall back upon — that he was miserable beyond 
 what he could express — I asked him whether his majesty, so fre- 
 quently thus expressing himself, meant either to enjoin me, or to 
 forbid me, considering or trying whether anything could be found 
 
884 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 or arranged, upon which he could fall back. He said, ‘ I neither 
 enjoin you to do so, nor forbid you to do so; but, for God’s sake, 
 take care that I am not exposed to the humiliation of being again 
 placed in such circumstances, that I must submit again to pray of 
 my present ministers that they will remain with me.’ He appeared 
 to me to be exceedingly miserable, and intimated that he would see 
 me again. 
 
 “I was not sent for afterwards, but went on Thursday, the 9th 
 of April, with more addresses. In the second interview, which 
 began a little before two o’clock, the King repeatedly, and with 
 some minutes interposed between his such repeated declarations, 
 musing in silence in the interim, expressed his anguish, and pain, 
 and misery, that the measure had ever been thought of, and as often 
 declared that he had been most harshly and cruelly treated — that he 
 had been treated as a man whose consent had been asked with a 
 pistol pointed to his breast, or as obliged, if he did not give in, to 
 leap down from a five-pair-of-stairs window. What could he do? 
 What had he to fall back upon? 
 
 “This led to his mentioning again what he had to say as to his 
 assent. In the former interview it had been represented that, after 
 much conversation twice with his ministers, or such as had come 
 down, he had said, ‘Go on;’ and upon the latter of those two occa- 
 sions, after many hours’ fatigue and exhausted by the fatigue of 
 conversation, he had said, ‘ Go on.’ He now produced two papers, 
 which he represented as copies of what he had written to them, in 
 which he assents to their proceeding and going on with the bill, 
 adding certainly in each, as he read them, very strong expressions 
 of the pain and misery the proceedings gave him. It struck me at 
 the time that I should, if I had been in office, have felt considerable 
 difficulty about going on after reading such expressions; but what- 
 ever might be fair observation as to giving, or not, effect to those 
 expressions, I told his majesty it was impossible to maintain that 
 his assent had not been expressed, or to cure the evils which were 
 consequential — after the bill, in such circumstances, had been read 
 a second time, and in the Lords’ House with a majority of a hun- 
 dred and five. This led him to much conversation upon that fact, 
 that he had, he said, been deserted by an aristocracy that had sup- 
 ported his father — that, instead of forty-five against the measure, 
 there were twice that number of peers for it — that everything was 
 revolutionary — everything was tending to revolution — and the 
 peers and the aristocracy were giving way to it. They (he said 
 
TEE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 885 
 
 more than once or twice) supported his father; but see what they 
 have done to him. 
 
 “ He then began to talk about the coronation oath. On that I 
 could only repeat what I had before said, if his majesty meant me 
 to say anything upon the subject. Understanding that he did so 
 wish, I repeated that, as far as his oath was concerned, it was a 
 matter between him, God, and his conscience, whether giving his 
 royal assent to this measure was ‘ supporting, to the utmost of his 
 power, the Protestant Reformed religion.’ 
 
 “Little more passed — except occasional bursts of expression — 
 
 ‘ What can I do? What can I now fall back upon? What can I 
 fall back upon? I am miserable, wretched; my situation is dread- 
 ful; nobody about me to advise with. If I do give my assent. I’ll 
 go to the Baths abroad and from thence to Hanover: I’ll return no 
 more to England — I’ll make no Roman Catholic peers — I will not 
 do what this bill will enable me to do — I’ll return no more — let 
 them get a Catholic King in Clarence.’ I think he also mentioned 
 Sussex. ‘The people will see that I did not wish this.’ 
 
 “ There were the strongest appearances certainly of misery. He, 
 more than once, stopped my leaving him. When the time came 
 that I was to go, he threw his arms round my neck and expressed 
 great misery. I left him about twenty minutes or a quarter before 
 five.” 
 
 Not less characteristic was his reception of the Irish bishops, 
 “ which,” says Archbishop Magee, “ was warm, affecting, and cor- 
 dial. He declared the strongest attachment to Protestant principles, 
 expressed his astonishment at the suddenness of the change that 
 had taken place on the subject of the Roman Catholic demands, 
 spoke of the deep sufferings he had endured and was enduring upon 
 ihe subject, lamented the dearth of talent that was at present mani- 
 fested among public men, reckoned over some members of the Lords 
 on whom he could place full dependence (among whom were 
 Lords Eldon, Redesdale, Manners, and your Lordship), but having 
 done that, he professed himself totally incapable of naming any of 
 the Commons. One star, indeed, he said, had lately axisen (I un- 
 derstood him to mean Sadler), but the dearth was still lamentable. 
 He assured us of the warm interest he felt in our behalf ; and having 
 spoken in this strain (not however committing himself as to any 
 line he intended to take) for about half an hour, he dismissed us in 
 a manner the most cordial.” 
 
 Lord Londonderry, an old friend, also took the opportunity of 
 
886 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 calling, and received his confidences to a great length. This con- 
 versation is equally characteristic. “On entering,” writes Lord 
 Londonderry, “ the King was most kind and sympathizing. He 
 begged me to sit down, and said he was sure I was very unhappy, 
 as I appeared to be.” Lord Londonderry then said he wished to 
 speak to him on present circumstances. “What is it then you wish 
 to say to me?” replied the King, in rather a severe tone. After a 
 long preamble the visitor began to explain that he could not support 
 the new head of the Ministry. 
 
 “ ‘I see what you are going to say,’ said the King, ‘but let me 
 now have some conversation with you, and state how I have acted, 
 and how I have been placed by the late extraordinary events; and 
 let me show you that those who have now deserted, or are deserting 
 me, are alone the cause why the pernicious drug and bitter pill 
 which they forced upon me is now the cause of all the present con- 
 fusion. To those persons who pressed Mr. Canning on me against 
 my will, to those friends who now leave me in the lurch, may all 
 the mischief and perplexity which I feel be ascribed. When I lost 
 your incomparable brother, and my best friend, a friend and a min- 
 ister that can never be replaced, I will state to you what occurred 
 when I was on board ship, and Peel came to me with the news. 
 But first I must say that, of all men I ever saw, he was the most 
 clear and correct in all his views, and in nine hundred and ninety- 
 nine times he was ever perfect in every judgment he formed, but 
 in the thousandth he had an obstinacy arising from a conscientious 
 feeling of honor he never would be moved from.’ (Here the King 
 went into a very minute history of all my brother’s later feelings as 
 connected with persons and circumstances wholly irrelevant to the 
 present moment, and unnecessary and painful to put on paper.) 
 ‘Well, when Peel cam.e to me, it was arranged between us that, in 
 order to keep my mind quiet, no arrangement should be made till I 
 returned to London.’ He added that he wrote this to Lord Liver- 
 pool, stipulating that ‘no change whatever is to take place in the. 
 arrangements fixed for India. I parted with Peel, who went up by 
 land to town with Mrs. P., his eyes being bad and he wearing a low 
 green shade. I heard nothing more till I came to London. All 
 were silent until after some meetings at Walmer, and then Liver- 
 pool announced to me they could not go on without Canning, and 
 it ended, chiefly at the instigation of the Duke of Wellington, in my 
 consenting to that measure of his introduction into the Cabinet, 
 which was of all others the most disagreeable to me. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 ' 887 
 
 “ ‘I must, however, here do Mr. Canning the justice to say that 
 since he has served me, I have found him considerate, and behaving 
 w^ell to me in every respect. So things proceeded until after the 
 calamity of Liverpool, and what I formerly thought would have 
 been a desirable event has certainly turned out for me one of the 
 most unfoi’tunate. It is true, however, that Liverpool would not 
 have stayed in beyond the present session, and he declared to me if 
 he did not carry the Corn Bill he would not remain Minister; but, 
 had he gone out, he would have arranged matters so as not to have 
 placed me in the dilemma in which I now stand. Now, with 
 regard to the principles upon which my Government is to be 
 formed, I will tell you what passed between me and Londonderry 
 upon the Catholic question. That question w^as the thousandth, 
 from which nothing could move him; but I told him, after repeated 
 discussions, it was in vain to attempt to shake me, because what 
 Charles Fox could not accomplish, no other man could, but that as I 
 was about to take the coronation oath as King, I wished Casllereagh 
 to consider if he thought, by any act of the Legislature, it could be 
 so modified or arranged, previous to my taking it, as w^ould satisfy 
 my mind that I could, consistently wuth my oath, depart from those 
 jars which impede the Catholics from the privileges of their Protes- 
 tant brethren. After three weeks’ reflection, he came to me, and 
 told me he saw at present no mode of framing or proposing such a 
 course. I then said, ‘ Kemember, once I take this oath, I am for- 
 ever a Protestant king, a Protestant upholder, a Protestant ad- 
 herent, and no power on earth will shake me on that subject.’ 
 
 “I here observed, that I believed his majesty’s sentiments were 
 pretty well known on that head; but that I had never heard it so 
 distinctly as in confldence he w^as now pleased to state it to me. 
 
 “‘Not in confidence,’ resumed he quietly; ‘ I declare it to you 
 openly, broadly, distinctly. You are at liberty to state it every- 
 where; and the very act of the present men who desert me is to 
 throw me into the arms of the Catholics, or commit me tow'ards 
 them in a manner they should have saved me from. But yet the 
 resignation of Protestants I can in some degree understand. Peel, 
 for instance, is a man of the highest integrity and honor, and 
 respected by the whole country: rich in reputation, rich in 
 domestic happiness, rich in wealth, w^anting in nothing. He steers 
 himself above every petty consideration.’ 
 
 “ I said, ‘ No man more respected. I could not say the same of 
 the individual his majesty now confided in; and when his majesty's 
 
888 
 
 THE LIFE OF OEORGE IV. 
 
 words in 1821, as to that person, were deeply recorded in my breast; 
 when I knew and remembered how he had acted to my sovereign 
 and my brother, it was impossible, if I loved one or the other, that 
 I could forget it or support his rule.’ 
 
 “‘Well,’ replied his majesty, ‘you have strong feelings. But 
 why Lord Melville has taken the line he has I cannot understand ; 
 and none of them have estimated my difficulties, nor the course 
 honorable to them all that I pursued. When I got Lady Liverpool’s 
 answer on the Monday I had them down at the Lodge, and I saw 
 Wellington first; and here, if there ever was a man to whom I paid 
 every honor and devotion, it is he. I have bestowed on him every 
 gift of my crown : not that he does not deserve it, but I have done 
 as much on my part as he has done for me. Well, how could I 
 suppose that he would condescend after uniting the command of 
 two armies in his person on my brother’s death, that he would ever 
 leave that position to be minister ? ’ 
 
 “ I said, ‘ I suppose, sire, he never would have done such a thing 
 but at the wish of your majesty, and the belief that it was for the 
 real good of your service.’ 
 
 “ ‘ Well, I told him all the difficulties. I desired him to consult 
 with his colleagues, especially Mr. Canning and Mr. Peel, and en- 
 deavor to form an arrangement to conduct the Government as here- 
 tofore, and I told him that I would name any head that might in 
 common be agreed upon. I then saw Mr. Canning and stated pretty 
 much the same thing to him. He said there were innumer- 
 able difficulties, but still thought they might be got over. I then 
 saw Mr. Peel and had a similar conversation with him. At my 
 party at the Lodge I endeavored, by mixing all friends, to show no 
 partiality. In this state of things I arrived in town, having how- 
 ever seen the Duke of Newcastle, who conversed with me in a very 
 unbecoming manner; and I should also say I had seen the Duke of 
 Rutland and his brother: but he said nothing in any shape but 
 what was of the most conciliatory and respectful description, al- 
 though I told Wellington I had heard of persons in office combin- 
 ing their opinions as to what I should or should not do, in the 
 most unconstitutional and improper manner, which, however, he 
 (Wellington) had wisely arrested.’ 
 
 “ As I felt that at this the King looked at me, I immediately 
 replied, ‘ Sir, it is quite true there are various individuals who think 
 most unfavorably of Mr, Canning, as I do, from his speech in 
 Parliament, ’ 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 889 
 
 “‘lam not one of those,’ rejoined the King, with great bitter- 
 ness, ‘ who take up men’s words in the heat of debate, and bring 
 them out afterwards as palliations for any course of conduct I 
 adopt. If speeches were to be considered, I should allude to yours 
 in the House of Lords, when I was under all this embarrassment.’ 
 
 “ ‘ Sir,’ I said most respectfully, ‘ I felt myself in duty bound, in 
 respect to my brother’s principles, to show, in the interregnum that 
 prevailed, that I had every confidence in those men who acted with 
 him, while I reprobated the new system.’ 
 
 “ ‘Ay, but you forget that it was owing to a factious meeting of 
 Whig lords that Lord Liverpool was appointed minister.’ 
 
 “ ‘Sir, there was no faction on my part. My opinion of Mr. 
 Canning has been taken from your majesty’s lips, and I have seen 
 no cause to change it. ' 
 
 “Here the Duke of Clarence was announced, perhaps fortu- 
 nately ! 
 
 “His majesty then resumed: ‘Well, when I came to town, after 
 seeing Wellington, the Chancellor, and Canning and Peel, and find- 
 ing nothing done — and indeed nothing is done yet, although a good 
 deal of writing has passed — I found it was absolutely necessary to act. 
 The Chancellor, to do him justice, has acted rightly and consistently, 
 for he stayed in before, against the grain, at my positive entreaty, 
 and I can say nothing to him. But what can I say to those who 
 have left me so unexpectedly and wholly uncalled for? The Duke 
 of Wellington I cannot understand. Mr. Canning certainly in- 
 formed me that Mr. Peel had named a person under whom he 
 thought they could both act, and that was the Duke of Wellington. 
 But this, Mr. Canning said he did not think would answer, or be 
 consistent with his views of carrying on the Government. What 
 then had I to do? or what course had I to steer? No one would take 
 the responsibility of any arrangement but Mr. Canning, and this is 
 the predicament.’ 
 
 “I then urged against Canning the fact of losing seven col 
 leagues, and then placed his letter of resignation of the Duke of 
 Bedford in the King’s hands.” 
 
 The most cruel blow he experienced, however, was in the deser- 
 tion of the Sumners, the two bishops whom he had petted and 
 promoted. One of these he tried to persuade to absent himself, at 
 the least, but he declined, 
 
 3a 
 
890 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 THE KINQ TO THE BISHOP OF WINCHESTER (?). 
 
 “ Windsor Castle, March 10th, 1828. 
 
 My dear Bishop, 
 
 “I am sure that in all you do you are influenced by the best 
 and most honorable of motives. I shall therefore only add that I 
 am always your sincere friend, G. R”* 
 
 To others he declared that the Duke of Wellington was now King 
 of England, O’Connell King of Ireland, and he himself no more 
 than Dean of Windsor. To Lord Skelmersdale, who came with an 
 address, he said, “Put it down, take a chair, and let us have a 
 talk.” He then complained of his situation: that he had no knowl- 
 edge of what was intended until the speech for the opening of Par- 
 liament was discussed in his presence; that he had no resource; 
 that no other Administration could be formed. And he added that, 
 “ as he was recommended to go to some German baths for his legs, 
 then they might take his brother William (the Duke of Clarence), 
 who would make them a good Roman Catholic King. And then 
 they would only have to send for Dr. Murray and Dr. Doyle to edu- 
 cate the Princess Victoria, ” etc. This was a melancholy pitiful dis- 
 play, and it was no wonder that the bishops and the other Protestant 
 leaders, when they came to compare notes of his professions with 
 his acts, could recount many instances of his “dupery,” as they 
 called it. 
 
 A few days afterwards, the veteran peer Eldon, who had been to 
 a certain extent imposed upon by his grief, writes to his daughter: 
 “ The fatal Bills received the Royal Assent. After all I had heard 
 in my visits, not a day’s delay! God bless us and His Church!” 
 The duke himself sent down the Bill to the King with other papers, 
 as if it was an ordinary transaction. He did not go himself, in 
 order to avoid any discussion or distressing scene. 
 
 THE king to the LORD CHANCELLOR. 
 
 “ Windsor Castle, Monday morning, ten o’clock, 
 
 “ April 13. 1829. 
 
 “The King returns the Lord Chancellor the Bills which he has 
 forwarded for the King’s signature, which are now completed. As 
 
 * Lord Ellenborough also gives an account of this memorable struggle, 
 which will be found in the Duke of Wellington’s “ Despatches, Correspond- 
 ence, and Memoranda,” under the date. “The Diary of Ellenborough” 
 during the last two years of the reign is announced as the last sheets of this 
 account are passing through the press (February, 1881), so I have been unable 
 to use it. 
 
THE LIFE OF OEORGE IV. 
 
 891 
 
 the Chancellor has (very properly) conceived it to be his duty to 
 call the King’s attention particularly to the two Bills relative to 
 the Roman Catholics, the King cannot refrain from repeating to the 
 Lord Chancellor his unaltered sentiments and feelings with respect 
 to them, and observing that the King never before affixed his name 
 with pain or regret to any Act of the Legislature.” 
 
892 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIL 
 
 1829-1830. 
 
 These events naturally embroiled the duke with the Duke of 
 Cumberland. How indifferent the former was, and what his 
 opinion was of the King’s brother, is set down in a pleasant con- 
 versation the Duke of Wellington held with Mr. Greville at this 
 time. It offers to us a good appreciation of the King’s character. 
 
 “ ‘I make it a rule never to interrupt him,’ said the duke, ‘ and 
 when in this way he tries to get rid of a subject in the way of 
 business which he does not like, I let him talk himself out, and 
 then quietly put before him the matter in question, so that he 
 cannot escape from it. I remember when the Duke of Newcastle 
 was going to Windsor with a mob at his heels to present a petition 
 (during the late discussions), I went down to him and showed him 
 the petition, and told him that they ought to be prevented from 
 coming. He went off and talked upon every subject but that 
 which I had come about, for an hour and a half. I let him go on 
 till he was tired, and then I said; “ But the petition, sir; here it is, 
 and an answer must be sent. I had better write to the Duke of 
 Newcastle and tell him your Majesty will receive it through the 
 Secretary of State; and, if you please, I will write the letter before 
 I leave the house.” This I did, finished my business in five min- 
 utes, and went away with the letter in my pocket. I know him so 
 well that I can deal with him easily, but anybody who does not 
 know him, and who is afraid of him, would have the greatest dif- 
 ficulty in getting on with him. One extraordinary peculiarity 
 about him is, that the only thing he fears is ridicule. He is afraid 
 of nothing which is hazardous, perilous, or uncertain; on the 
 contrary, he is all for braving difficulties; but he dreads ridicule, 
 and this is the reason why the Duke of Cumberland, whose sar- 
 casms he dreads, has such power over him, and Lord Anglesey 
 likewise; both of them he hates in proportion as he fears them.’ I 
 said I was very much surprised to hear this, as neither of these men 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 893 
 
 were wits, or likely to make him ridiculous ; that if he had been 
 afraid of Sefton or Alvanley, it could have been understood. ‘ But,’ 
 rejoined the duke, ‘he never sees these men, and he does not mind 
 anybody he does not see; but the Duke of Cumberland and Lord 
 Anglesey he cannot avoid seeing, and the fear he has of what they 
 may say to him, as well as of him, keeps him in awe of them. No 
 man, however, knows the Duke of Cumberland better than he does; 
 indeed, all I know of the Duke of Cumberland I know from him, 
 and so I told him one day. I remember asking him why the Duke 
 of Cumberland was so unpopular, and he said, “Because there 
 never was a father well with his son, or husband with his wife, or 
 lover with his mistress, or a friend with his friend, that he did not 
 try to make mischief between them.” And yet he suffers this man 
 to have constant access to him, to say what he will to him, and 
 often acts under his influence.’ I said, ‘You and the Duke of 
 Cumberland speak now, don’t you?’ ‘Yes, we speak. The King 
 spoke to me about it, and wanted me to make him an apology. I 
 told him it was quite impossible. “Why,” said he, “you did not 
 mean to offend the Duke of Cumberland, I am sure,” “No, sir,” 
 said I; “I did not wish to offend him, but I did not say a word 
 that I did not mean. When we meet the royal family in society 
 they are our superiors, and we owe them all respect, and I should 
 readily apologize for anything I might have said offensive to the 
 duke; but in the House of Lords we are their peers, and for what 
 1 say there I am responsible to the House alone.” “ But,” said the 
 King, “he said you turned on him as if you meant to address 
 yourself to him personally.” “I did mean it, sir,” said I, “and I 
 did so because I knew that he had been here, that he heard things 
 from your Majesty which he had gone and misrepresented and mis- 
 stated in other quarters, and knowing that, I meant to show him 
 that I was aware of it. I am sorry that the duke is offended, but I 
 cannot help it, and I cannot make him an apology.” ’ ” 
 
 The duke was so afraid that the King would twist what he had 
 said into an apology, and report it to his brother, that he took care 
 to warn him, on going away. “Now, sir, remember that I will 
 not apologize to the duke; and I hope your Majesty will therefore 
 not convey any such an idea to his mind.” A strange tone — but 
 justified — to take to his sovereign! 
 
 At the levee, however, his Majesty could show his feelings 
 without restraint, receiving, to the delight of Lord Eldon, all his 
 opponents with studied discourtesy — notably the pro-Catholic pre- 
 
894 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 lates — while on Mr. O’Connell he turned his back, in as offensive a 
 manner as he could, muttering to his neighbor, “ D n the fel- 
 
 low! what does he come here for?” 
 
 We now find the King, relieved from political troubles, making 
 an earnest appeal for a favorite. 
 
 THE KING TO THE DUKE OP WELLINGTON. 
 
 “Royal Lodge, January 14, 1829. 
 
 “My dear Friend, 
 
 “ I now write to you upon a matter in which I feel very much 
 interested. The report of the Committee of the House of Commons 
 upon Mr. Nash’s business has been delivered in, and as I have been 
 informed by one of that committee (not one of those who had any 
 previous predilection towards him), ‘without the slightest stain or 
 imputation against his character.’ I do therefore desire that you 
 will direct his being gazetted by himself, on Tuesday next, the 16th 
 of this month, as a baronet, with the remainder at his death (as he, 
 Nash, has no family of his own) to his nephew, Mr. Edwards, a 
 gentleman of excellent character, large property, who sat in the last 
 Parliament, and who has proved himself a thorough supporter of 
 Government, and a most loyal man, besides being well known to 
 me personally. Mr. Nash has been most infamously used, and there 
 is but one opinion about it ; and therefore it is not only an act of 
 justice personally to him, but to my own dignity that this should 
 forthwith be done. For, if those who go through the furnace for 
 me, and for my service, are not protected, the favor of the sovereign 
 becomes worse than nugatory. 
 
 “ Your very sincere Friend, 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 The duke, however, was not inclined to comply with his wishes, 
 hinting plainly it was undesirable for the King’s interests, and 
 that, in conjunction with the unfinished works at the new palace, it 
 would lead to opening up the unpleasant business of outlay in the 
 House of Commons. “Before he can lay aside prudence,” he wrote 
 to Sir W. Knighton, very significantly, “he must give the Govern- 
 ment all the strength he can.” Indeed, in connection with this very 
 matter, the duke made bitter complaints to this confidant of the 
 treatment he was experiencing. “ Look at his society at the Lodge! 
 If a minister (except myself) goes to the neighborhood of Windsor 
 
THE LIFE OF OEORGE IV. 
 
 895 
 
 he dare not approach. Few dare go to the council ; they are ill- 
 received, and see their opponents honored with the greatest favor 
 and attention. What must the world think of this? the truth, 
 namely, that the King wishes to get rid of us all. This is the most 
 dignified course — to have at least a strong Government in his sup- 
 port.” 
 
 The Chancellor declared ‘ ‘ he was mad. ” He was greatly pleased, 
 Mr. Greville says, with the duke’s duel, declaring that he would 
 have called the duke’s attention to the matter. It was remarked: 
 “He will be wanting to fight a duel himself,” and the pleasant 
 Lord Sefton added sarcastically, “ He will be sure to think that he 
 has fought one.” 
 
 Indeed the state of his health and his mode of life were enough 
 to account for much of his extravagance, and certainly engendered 
 those strange humors, fancies, and even delusions which marked his 
 latter days. He seldom rose till about six in the evening, having 
 spent most of the day in bed dozing and reading newspapers. His 
 nights were wretched, and his unhappy valets were worn out attend- 
 ing ; as he required to be handed everything, even his watch if it 
 were lying beside him. The rooms were kept at the temperature of 
 a stove. He had also a fancy for drinking inordinate quantities 
 of cherry brandy, his favorite liqueur. And this habit, no doubt, 
 bemused and bemuddled his brain, and engendered those curious 
 dreams and delusions which were repeated at the time and caused 
 such amusement.* 
 
 * Mr. Greville condescended to question closely the King’s valet, in several 
 interviews, as to the private household details and scandal, and received 
 much information of the kind he desired. What a valet’s report and a valet’s 
 judgment are, and what he sees, has been characterized by Mr. Carlyle. Says 
 Greville: “ I sent for Batchelor, and had a long talk with him. He said the 
 King was well, but weak; his constitution very strong; no malady about him; 
 but irritation in the bladder which he could not get rid of. He thinks the hot 
 rooms and want of air and exercise do him harm, and that he is getting every 
 day more averse to exercise and more prone to retirement; which, besides 
 that it weakens his constitution, is a proof that he is beginning to break. 
 Batchelor thinks he is in no sort of danger; I think he will not live more than 
 two years. He says that his attendants are quite worn out with being always 
 about him, and living in such hot rooms (which obliges them to drink), and 
 seldom getting air and exercise. B. is at present well, but he sits up every 
 other night with the King, and never leaves him. The King told them the 
 
 other day that ‘ O’Reilly (the surgeon) was the d dest liar in the world, 
 
 and it seems he is often in the habit of discussing people in this way to his 
 valets de chambre. He reads a great deal, and every morning has his boxes 
 
896 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE lY, 
 
 He was now particularly annoyed by an incident in which all the 
 art of the duke was required to carry the point desired. Mr. Den- 
 man, a lawyer of eminence, had remained under a ban in his pro- 
 fession ever since the Queen’s trial, having worn “a stuff gown ” 
 now for two-and-twenty years. This ostracism he owed to the 
 King, often unforgiving and relentless where he had taken a dis- 
 like. This Denman, after vain attempts at redress, acquiesced in 
 believing that it was simply owing to the general share he had taken 
 in the trial. In 1828, however, he learned from the Chancellor that 
 the King’s • rancor was owing to the Greek quotations used in his 
 speech, and which the King took as scandalous personal imputa- 
 tions. The Duke of Wellington undertook the matter, saying: 
 “I’ll do it;” Denman, in a memorial, declaring that no such insin- 
 uation was ever in his mind, and that such would have been abhor- 
 rent to his feelings. After infinite trouble the duke prevailed, 
 declaring it was “ the toughest job he ever had,” and that the King 
 would receive his explanation and allow him to hold a patent of 
 precedence. But this tardy reparation was accompanied by a pen- 
 alt}^ The King stated his feelings in a declaration written on the 
 memorial itself, in which was rather cleverly embodied his own 
 vindication, with an insinuation of disbelief in what was submitted 
 to him.* * 
 
 “The King has read the statements as the annexed memorial: 
 
 “The King could not believe that the Greek quotation referred 
 to had occurred to the mind of the advocate in the eagerness and 
 heat of argument; nor that it was not intended; nor that it had 
 not been sought for and suggested for the purpose of applying to 
 the person of the sovereign a gross imputation. The King there- 
 fore considered it his duty to command the late Chancellor, Lord 
 Eldon, and the Lord Chancellor Lyndhurst, never to approach the 
 King with the name of the memorialist. 
 
 “Nevertheless, as the memorialist has distinctly denied, disowned, 
 and disclaimed all intention to apply the quotation to the person of 
 the sovereign, and has expressed his sorrow that the King should 
 have beheved he intended so to apply it, and has, moreover, in his 
 
 brought to him and reads their contents. They are brought up by Knighton 
 or Watson, both of whom have keys of all his boxes. He says there is not 
 one person about him whom he likes.” 
 
 * The text is said to have been the work of the Duke of Wellington, but 
 the points were certainly suggested by the King. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 897 
 
 memorial prayed his Majesty to believe that no such insinuation 
 was ever made by him, that the idea of it never entered his mind, 
 the King commands that he may have a patent of precedence from 
 the day of its date.” * 
 
 His Majesty, however, had not learned to be magnanimous; and 
 in November of this year, the Recorder, whose duty it was to pre- 
 sent the report on sentenced prisoners, having fallen ill, his duty 
 devolved upon Mr. Denman, who was Common Serjeant. This 
 produced the most extraordinary agitation at Windsor, the King 
 vehemently refusing to receive his enemy. 
 
 The duke having announced to him by letter this state of things, 
 the King replied, addressing him no longer as “My dear friend.” 
 
 THE KING TO THE DUKE OP WELLINGTON. 
 
 “Royal Lodge, November 9, 1829. 
 
 “My dear Duke, 
 
 “As it is impossible for me, on account of the state of my 
 eyes, to write a letter by candlelight, I am under the necessity of 
 having recourse to an amanuensis to convey to you my sentiments 
 upon the subject of your letter just received. 
 
 “I must express to you my extreme surprise, my dear duke, that 
 you should suggest to me that I should either decline to receive 
 the Recorder’s report to-morrow, or submit to the indignity of re- 
 ceiving the Common Sergeant to fulfil the duties of the Recorder 
 upon the occasion, when you cannot fail to know the insult I have 
 received from that individual ; and you ought to know the firmness 
 of my character in not bearing an insult from any human being 
 with impunity. 
 
 “A provision has long since been made for the fulfilment of the 
 Recorder’s duties in the event of his indisposition, in the appoint- 
 ment of Mr. Sergeant Arabin as Deputy Recorder for that express 
 purpose; and I desire that he should attend in that capacity to- 
 morrow rather than defer the report, he having already ofiBciated in 
 that character. 
 
 * It must be said, that but for the high character of Denman, it would be 
 almost impossible to accept the explanation given ; for it seems the passage 
 which is often in question was discovered by Dr. Parr, and supplied to the 
 counsel to be used in his speech. The allusion is of the most gross and 
 offensive kind, and certainly not recondite enough to have escaped a man of 
 education. It may have been unintentional, and the speaker have fancied it 
 was simply a general allusion to tyrants and slaves, and had not time to con- 
 sider the particular insinuation. 
 
 38 * 
 
898 
 
 THE LIFE OF OEORQE IV. 
 
 “I must express a hope that this will be the last time that I shall 
 be troubled relative to Mr. , as no consideration will ever in- 
 
 duce me to admit that individual to my presence. I remain, my 
 dear duke, Your sincere Friend, 
 
 “G. R. 
 
 “P.S. — Mr. Peel will accordingly announce to the Deputy Re- 
 corder that he will be required to officiate to-morrow.” 
 
 This was resolute and determined. But the duke proceeded to 
 deal with him in his own way.* He wrote him a firm letter, show- 
 ing him the difficulties of the situation he was putting himself in, 
 declaring that the Council must be put off, and that he himself 
 would go down and discuss the matter. The scene that followed 
 seems incredible. The duke pointed out to him that he was com- 
 mitted to receive Denman, having condoned the past ; on which his 
 Majesty declared that he had been forced into it, and, growing very 
 violent, swore that he would never see him; on which the duke 
 replied calmly it did “not signify one farthing” how long the exe- 
 cutions were put off. That it was better not to have a scandal or a 
 scene in the palace, etc. Then, in his usual way, letting the King 
 run on until he had exhausted himself, he brought him back to the 
 point, and it was agreed that the matter should be put off once 
 more. 
 
 However, in this particular difficulty a solution was discovered, 
 and pressure put on the ailing Recorder, who tried to get well as 
 speedily as he could. 
 
 It must be said that there seems something ungracious in forcing 
 a king to do what was so distasteful. But the duke seems to have 
 grown into a sort of dislike for him, joined with contempt. “ If I 
 had known,” he says of this distressing scene, “in January, 1828, 
 one tittle of what I do now, and of .what I discovered in one month 
 after I was in office, I should never have been the King’s minister, 
 and should have avoided loads of misery ! However, I trust that 
 Almighty God will soon determine that I have been sufficiently 
 punished for my sins, and will relieve me from the unhappy lot 
 which has befallen me.” 
 
 * All allowance may be made for the duke’s resentment at the King’s insin- 
 cere treatment of him; but it seems scarcely becoming that the Prime Minister 
 should have made a practice of showing the King’s letters indiscriminately 
 to friends, and of writing and uttering complaints of his sovereign, and of 
 using very intemperate language as to his behavior. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 1830. 
 
 There was another influence that had been exerted very actively, 
 at least during this period — that of the most adroit of intriguantes, 
 Madame de Lieven, the Russian ambassadress. She had a particu- 
 lar dislike to the Duke of Wellington, and exerted her arts in 
 inflaming the foolish bigotry of the Duke of Cumberland; and when 
 he had his baggage packed and was ready to depart, she was 
 believed to have persuaded him to remain. The duke accused her 
 and her husband of playing an English party game, instead of doing 
 the business of their sovereign: “ Since I have been in ofiice, I have 
 the best authority for asserting that both have been engaged (as 
 principals) in intrigues to deprive me and my colleagues of power, 
 since January, 1828. They have misrepresented our views to their 
 sovereign, and been the cause of a coolness between the countries.” 
 He had actually thought of having them recalled, but hesitated, 
 especially as he felt himself “ too strong for them.” The King took 
 pleasure in her lively society, and, as she gave out, in retailing his 
 grievances to her. For nineteen years this extraordinary woman 
 held her post, occupying a position such as no foreign envoy’s wife 
 has ever done before or since, holding an equally high position in 
 the fashionable as in the political world. Not till the year 1834 did 
 she return to Russia. 
 
 “The gentlemanlike manners and hospitality of the prince,” says 
 Mr. Raikes, “combined with the talents and grand air of the prin- 
 cess, rendered their house not only the resort of the most distin- 
 guished society, but the rival of our own most magnificent establish- 
 ments. She was deeply engaged in all the cabals with Mr. Canning 
 in the year 1827, which ended in the resignation of the duke, and 
 the short-lived Administration of the other. On his grace’s return 
 to ofiice in 1828, she was anxious to regain his friendship, but the 
 breach had been too flagrant ever to be entirely made up again. 
 That event and the death of the Empress-mother, with whom she 
 was living on the most intimate terms of correspondence, latterly 
 very much diminished her political importance in London. Prince 
 
900 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 Lieven was always very much supposed to act according to her sug- 
 gestions. She was a great favorite of George IV. , who much ad- 
 mired her musical talents, and in those days she was a constant vis- 
 itor at the cottage in Windsor Park.” 
 
 Not less annoyed was the duke by the various attempts of the 
 King to exercise patronage which belonged of right to the minister. 
 He was often “caught” in attempts of this kind. But the duke 
 held him in check with a cold stern authority. Thus, in August, he 
 conceived the idea of going over to Paris on a visit to Charles X., 
 and Sir W. Knighton was despatched to Walmer, to open the mat- 
 ter. The duke, as he said, “put an extinguisher on the foolish pro- 
 ject,” showing at once that as the French King was highly unpopu- 
 lar, it would be looked on as an attempt to give him support. He 
 sometimes met a mortifying rebuff even from those to whom he 
 wished to extend his bounty in an irregular way, as when he sent 
 for Lord Aberdeen to tell him that he intended sending a ribbon to 
 his brother. It is amusing to see the adroit caution with which the 
 Thane puts the offer aside, writing the while to the Prime 3Iinister : 
 “The King,” he says, “after giving me ‘Nugent’s History,’ men- 
 tioned my brother with great approbation; upon which I thanked 
 him for his gracious intentions towards him. He said that the rib- 
 bon should be sent out to him directly, and desired me to go to Nay- 
 lor, and have it done directly. I told him that I had already com- 
 municated to my brother his Majesty’s gracious intentions, which I 
 was sure would be quite satisfactory, and that he could very well 
 afford to wait. He pressed this two or three times, to which I al- 
 ways made the same answer; at last he said very abruptly : ‘Very 
 well, just as you please.’ I thought it would be rather too strong 
 to tell him, in direct words, that he ought to speak to you. He was 
 in very good humor, and appeared to be very well. As usual, he 
 talked a great deal about the Lievens. He abused Lord Grey, and 
 told me that, sitting with Madame de Lieven some time ago, and 
 talking about the French Government, she had said that Chateau- 
 briand was the most distinguished man in the country, and that 
 Charles X. ought to make him his minister. The King replied that 
 Charles X. was not fallen quite so low as that, and need not so dis- 
 grace himself ; adding that it would be almost as bad as if he were 
 to send for Lord Grey.” 
 
 Another conflict was even more mortifying for his Majesty. In 
 November, General Garth — associated with so many distressing 
 scenes in the illness of the late King — died, and the Commander-in- 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 901 
 
 Chief, Lord Hill, submitted two names for promotion; but the King 
 nominated two friends of his own. The duke, called in council, 
 seemed to shirk the matter, advising his friend, if the King per- 
 sisted, “ not to go on;” admonishing his friend that, “ if he does go 
 on, and gives way, there will be an end to his authority." Finally, 
 if the King does not yield, then “send for me.” “ Unless the King 
 gives way,” he added in his blunt fashion, “this affair cannot be 
 settled. We cannot allow the Duke of Cumberland to conduct the 
 military affairs of the country.” As a matter of course his Majesty 
 had to yield. 
 
 THE KING TO LORD HILL. 
 
 “ Royal Lodge, Nov. 22, 1829. 
 
 “My dear Lord, 
 
 “Subsequent to the receipt of your letter this day, your letter 
 of the 19th reached my hand ; and, with reference to the recom- 
 mendation therein preferred, I have to observe to you that I consider 
 it essential for the service that the Royal Dragoons sliould ever be 
 held by an officer of rank (notwithstanding the two successive prec- 
 edents to the contrary); and as Lieut, -General Vandaleur has al- 
 ready a regiment of equal emolument, I prefer that Lieut, -General 
 Lord Edward Somerset should be removed from the 17th Lancers 
 to the Royals. I readily accede to your recommendation of Major- 
 General Sir John Elley to succeed to the 17th Lancers; but in relin- 
 quishing in his favor my recommendation of Major-General Sir E. 
 Kerrison, I must express my desire that Major-General Kerrison be 
 selected for the next occurring vacancy ; and that in future you 
 should pursue the mode adopted by my late lamented brother, 
 namely, that of submitting for promotion three or four names to me 
 for my selection. 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 In the following instance the appointment was unexceptionable; 
 but the King probably guessed that he was only anticipating the 
 course of those in authority, and was eager to have the credit of 
 being the author of the suggestion. 
 
 THE KING TO THE DUKE OP WELLINGTON. 
 
 “ Royal Lodge, August 26. 
 
 ‘ ‘ My dear Friend, 
 
 “I have just written to Lord Hill, in consequence of the 
 unexpected and sudden death of poor Sir Henry Torrens being 
 
902 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 reported to me, to acquaint him of my intention that Sir Herbert 
 Taylor should be his successor. I am sure that neither you, nor 
 Lord Hill, nor myself, nor indeed the whole army, can have a dif- 
 ference of opinion as to the propriety of this appointment. His 
 long service as Secretary to the Commander-in-Chief (my late for- 
 ever-regretted brother), and in which place he succeeded the late 
 Sir Henry Torrens when he was appointed Adjutant-General, en- 
 titles him; while by the correctness of his conduct, as well as the 
 amiable tone of his manners to every one, he gained and insured to 
 him the affections, good-will, and respect of the army. One word 
 more : besides, it is a real pleasure to me to have him at the head of 
 my own staff. 
 
 “This appointment of Sir Herbert Taylor to be Adjutant-Gen- 
 eral will of course vacate the office of Surveyor-in-General to the 
 Ordnance, and I thought you would be glad to have the earliest 
 information of it. 
 
 “ Always your sincere Friend, 
 
 “G. R.” 
 
 In December, w'hen a political question of extreme delicacy 
 arose, the King allowed his own prejudices to influence him in a 
 most irregular interference. The question was that of the candi- 
 date for the throne of Greece, and Prince Leopold learned that the 
 Duke of Cumberland had been closeted hours with the King, and 
 had handed him a letter in favor of the Prince of Mecklenburg, 
 one of the candidates. The King told Lord Aberdeen that he 
 intended writing to the King of Prussia in his favor. The duke 
 determined that this interference should end, and declared to his 
 correspondent that “ either you or I” must have a discussion with 
 his Majesty. The latter gave way, engaging to make no further 
 answer but one of civility. The duke however ascertained from 
 the Prussian minister that the King had actually promised his sup- 
 port to the candidate. There was more behind this than at first 
 appeared. For there was here an unworthy dislike of long stand- 
 ing to one of the candidates — his son-in-law Prince Leopold — whom 
 he was trying to deprive of his annuity. The prince had appealed 
 indignantly to the duke: “The King should be made to feel that he 
 exposes himself in a manner unprecedented as a British king, in 
 acting upon a feeling of dislike, which, I can say with truth, I 
 have never given him cause for these fourteen years.” His Maj- 
 esty, liaving unavailingly shown his feelings, yielded the point. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 903 
 
 THE KING TO THE DUKE OP WELLINGTON. 
 
 “ [Memorandum.] 
 
 “Windsor Castle, January 19th, 1830. 
 
 “The King cannot but deeply regret the selection made by 
 France and Russia of Prince Leopold, as the prince to be placed at 
 the head of the Greek kingdom. 
 
 “Without entering into a detail of reasoning, the King considers 
 Prince Leopold not qualified for this peculiar station. 
 
 “Nevertheless, the two great Powers — France and Russia — having 
 conjointly named Prince Leopold to be placed at the head of the 
 Greek kingdom, the King, in deference to the desire of those two 
 great Powers, gives his assent. 
 
 “George R.” 
 
 Early in the following year the prince, having come to London, 
 submitted himself humbly to his Majesty’s pleasure, writing from 
 Marlborough House, Feb. 27 ; 
 
 “ Sire, 
 
 “I learn with the most profound grief from Lord Aber- 
 deen, that your Majesty is dissatisfied with my conduct. 
 
 “I never, during all the fifteen years since you sent forme to this 
 country, have been wanting in deference and respect, etc. For my 
 part, I have always determined never to enter on this new course 
 without the powerful protection and approbation of your Majesty. 
 I couldn’t give a more marked proof of this than by resigning into 
 your hand the position in which the negotiations have placed me. 
 
 “ I will conform to your wishes as to allowances.” 
 
 The Prince of Mecklenburg was a connection of the Duke of 
 Cumberland, which accounted for his persevering interest, which 
 he still exerted to the persistent thwarting of the duke’s plans. 
 The latter, in January, had once more to reprove his Majesty in 
 reference to this matter. “I do not complain of his personal 
 hostility, but I complain that his is not fair political opposition. I 
 complain of his reports of me personally at Windsor, and of his 
 using your Majesty’s name in communication with political char- 
 acters in this country, as well as abroad. From frequent long 
 interviews with your Majesty, he is supposed to speak your Maj 
 esty’s language, even when he does not use your Majesty’s name. 
 It exposes your Majesty to be misunderstood; that you keep min 
 
904 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 isters to whom you do not give your confidence. I supplicate your 
 Majesty’s attention to this subject. ” 
 
 Perhaps the last instance of unjustifiable interference took place 
 a few weeks before the King’s demise, in April. A person named 
 
 C , in the county of Clare, of the rank of a gentleman, had been 
 
 capitally convicted for setting fire to his house. A petition had 
 been sent to Windsor, where it had been supported by high influ- 
 ence, and urged upon the Home Secretary. The Lord-Lieutenant, 
 unaware of this interference, had refused to extend any mercy. 
 Meanwhile the King, eager to gratify those who were interested, 
 had addressed a letter to the Lord-Lieutenant. 
 
 THE KING TO THE DUKE OP NORTHUMBERLAND. 
 
 “Windsor Castle, 10th April, 1830. 
 
 “ My dear Duke, 
 
 “ Having received a petition from the respectable inhabitants 
 
 of the county of Clare in favor of P C , now under sentence 
 
 of death for burning his house, and there being some favorable 
 circumstances in his case, I am desirous of exercising the best 
 prerogative of the Crown, that of mercy, in saving his life; leaving 
 to your grace the commutation of punishment you may think fit. 
 
 ‘ ‘ My eyes being indifferent, I make use of an amanuensis. 
 
 “Your sincere Friend, 
 
 “George R" 
 
 The excitement in the Cabinet on this interference was great, the 
 Duke taking part with the Secretary. It was announced to be 
 “quite intolerable.” Letters were despatched down to Windsor of 
 the usual reproving character. After all, the offence did not appear 
 to be great. But the King at the time was on the eve of his last 
 sickness, and languidly gave up the point, being found “ready to 
 accept any suggestion about C .” 
 
 The strange idea of secluding himself, which had taken posses- 
 sion of him for some years, was in part owing to his consciousness 
 of the alteration in his figure and appearance, which had, alas! 
 grown bulky and bloated to a degree which no vanities or flatteries 
 could blind him to. Even the well-known picture by Sir Thomas 
 Lawrence, representing the King on a sofa, and in which this 
 painter had no doubt softened these blemishes as much as possible, 
 exhibits this corpulency to a remarkable degree.* The singular life 
 
 * This well-knoAvn portrait was lately sold for seventy pounds. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 905 
 
 he led at Windsor for some years seemed to give an idea of un- 
 settled mind. All the rides at Windsor were strictly guarded, no 
 one was admitted, while his outrider rode on before to see that no 
 one was spying. A favorite spot of the King’s was the sandpit, 
 near which his “menagerie” was maintained, and here he was fond 
 of partaking of his favorite cherry brandy, kept specially for his 
 majesty. Here he devised those strange whims and “fads” of the 
 hour: “a new dress for the Guards,” a new mode of folding the 
 envelope of a letter, in which form he required all papers to be sent 
 to him. This system led him to adopt a lazy languid life, very 
 prejudicial to his health. The picture of this closing scene of one 
 wKo had devoted his life to pleasure is not an agreeable one. No 
 doubt that life might have been prolonged, had he chosen to adopt 
 a more active course, instead of sinking into a sort of languid 
 state, as he so strangely did, shutting himself up at Windsor at his 
 Lodge, and with eccentricity worthy of the proprietor of Fonthill 
 Abbey. 
 
 In February, 1830, Mr. Greville, who had been at Windsor for a 
 Council, noted that he was very blind, mistaking the Chancellor 
 for Mr. Peel. At the same time Sir W. Knighton experienced his 
 irritability, “expressed in his manner, as well as in his frame.” 
 The Duke of Cumberland, solicitous about a contribution to the 
 enlargement of “our church” at Kew, which was at a standstill, 
 was gratified by a “noble and kingly donation” from his royal 
 brother, whom he found looking pale, and seeming to labor under 
 an oppression of his chest. The fact was, he was known from the 
 beginning to be suffering from dropsy, affection of the heart, and 
 other dangerous maladies, and his condition was serious; but, as 
 we have seen, both Halford and Knighton hoped that his good con. 
 stitution would help him through. 
 
 Now the strange lists of delusions under which he labored re- 
 ceived an' addition. Talking enthusiastically of the performances 
 of Fieur-de-Lys, who won the cup at Goodwood, he came at last to 
 think “he had ridden the horse himself.” His collection of clothes 
 sold by auction after his death might have filled a green-room ward- 
 robe. He hardly ever gave away anything, Mr. Greville heard 
 from his page, except his linen, which was distributed every year. 
 “These clothes are the perquisite of his pages, and will fetch a 
 pretty sum. There are all the coats he has ever had for fifty years, 
 three hundred whips, canes without number, every sort of uniform, 
 the costumes of all the orders in Europe, splendid furs, pelisses. 
 
906 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 hunting-coats and breeches, and among other things a dozen pair 
 of corduroy breeches he had made to hunt in when Don Miguel 
 was here. His profusion in these articles was unbounded, because 
 he never paid for them, and his memory was so accurate that he 
 recollected every article of dress, no matter how old, and that they 
 were always liable to be called on to produce some particular coat 
 or other article of apparel of years gone by.” 
 
 The Duke of Clarence, who had a real affection for him, kept 
 troubling the Duke of Wellington with strange letters. He says: 
 “The critical situation of the sovereign must make me think seri- 
 ously, and I consider it is a fortunate circumstance I see the true 
 objects contained in the last letter as your grace does; and I trust 
 during the continuance of his Majesty’s illness our sentiments will 
 agree, for I must look to your grace in that event, which would 
 involve me in particular, and the empire at large, in grief for the 
 loss of the best and most amiable of monarchs. But I am lament- 
 ably afraid of the worst, which God avert.” 
 
 He was particularly sensitive as to the visits of his family, which 
 he thought disturbed the King. 
 
 “I am afraid,” he wrote on May 11th, “the King will not be 
 found at all better, because this day he has appointed to see Princess 
 Augusta and the Duchess of Gloucester. These interviews produce 
 harm instead of good, and unfortunately my sisters have not the 
 power to restrain their feelings.” 
 
 It was now the beginning of May, and we find the Duke of Wel- 
 lington and Mr. Peel interchanging views in a businesslike way as 
 to the issue. “ Pray consider,” wrote the latter, “ as to summoning 
 the Council in case of the King’s death.” The duke feared that 
 the result was certain. Yet it was strange to find the moribund 
 King still planning his building improvements; a question of bring- 
 ing the estimate for the Windsor buildings offered great difficulties, 
 owing to the temper of the House; “ difficulties aggravated by his 
 tenacity on the subject of the passage from Carlton Gardens, which 
 it is impossible to remove or soften at present.” The duke saw him 
 on the 5th, the day before he had a serious seizure which lasted for 
 an hour, but he recovered by degrees and slept well. He eat with 
 an appetite and talked of himself in good spirits, expressing a hope 
 that “ he should soon get out.” He still preserved his looks. The 
 duke had ventured on an ominous but salutary step — the sending Dr. 
 Carr, the Bishop of Winchester, who was to remain at the Castle, 
 and with whom the King had “ two satisfactory conversations.” 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 907 
 
 So the days dragged on, the King now rallying, now going back ; 
 so that Sir W. Knighton began to think that he would recover; but 
 Halford and Tierney did not give him many days of life. Waller, 
 another doctor, thought the danger was from a sudden attack on 
 his chest. Yet he himself could not bear to think there was danger, 
 but was full of plans, and talked cheerfully of the coming Ascot 
 meeting. On the 23rd his symptoms became worse, and a few days 
 later Knighton was writing that he was gradually breaking down. 
 On that day he was persuaded to sign an appeal to Parliament for 
 the use of a stamp to be affixed in the presence of persons he 
 deputed for the purpose. Lord Farnborough was named, because 
 his society was agreeable to him; and the King refused to name 
 any one else as joint official, though pressed. Lord Farnborough, 
 being about seventy years old, accepted reluctantly. Sir W. 
 Knighton had placed on his Majesty’s table “ a quarto Bible of large 
 size, an attention which the King appreciated, and it was remarked 
 read in the volume a good deal.” At the beginning of the next 
 month a form of prayer was issued by the Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury in the usual form of such papers. 
 
 Dr. Carr afterwards related that he repeated this prayer on his 
 knees by the King’s bedside. At the close, his Majesty, having lis- 
 tened to it with his utmost attention, three times repeated “ Amen” 
 with the greatest fervor and devotion. He expressed himself highly 
 gratified with it, and begged that his thanks should be conveyed to 
 its author. On June the 8th the physicians told him of the proba- 
 ble result. To which he replied, exactly as his brother had done, 
 “ God’s will be done.” And on the 13th he received the sacrament 
 and “talked a good deal.” 
 
 Then came a rally. The disease, it was thought, was then ar- 
 rested, and it was thought he might go on for a long time, as his 
 appetite and digestion seemed to improve. But the weakness of 
 the heart might kill him at any moment. The truth was he never 
 could be got to submit to the treatment regularly or to take the 
 medicines. 
 
 In the course of Friday evening, the 25th, before nine o’clock, 
 the physicians intimated their inability to give him further relief, 
 and their opinion that his last moments were rapidly approaching. 
 To this communication his Majesty replied, “ God’s will be done;” 
 and in a few moments after he asked, “ Where is Chichester?” The 
 Bishop of Chichester was instantly summoned to the royal chamber, 
 and at his hands the dying sovereign received the sacrament. 
 
908 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 During the administration of this rite his Majesty was much less 
 troubled by the cough than he had previously been. 
 
 A simple and not undramatic account of the last scene was sent 
 to the Duke of Wellington by a correspondent who withheld his 
 signature. 
 
 “ At half-past eleven on Friday night, not finding himself worse 
 than he had been for some days, he dismissed Sir H. Halford, 
 who had attended him from seven in the morning. His Majesty 
 composed himself for the night, and the pages retired to the outer 
 room. The King soon fell asleep in the position to which he had 
 accustomed himself; leaning on a table, his forehead resting on one 
 hand, and the other in Sir Wathen Waller’s, who was sitting up 
 with him. He slept very quietly till a quarter to two, when he 
 awoke and asked for his medicine, and after it he had a little clove 
 tea. He then resumed his former position and slept again for an 
 hour, when he desired a page to be rung for, when he had a purga- 
 tive motion. He returned to his own armchair and ordered the 
 windows to be opened, according to his custom day and night. He 
 said he was a little faint, and asked for some sal volatile. This he 
 endeavored several times to drink, but could not. Sir H. Halford 
 was then called by his command. His Majesty then pressed the 
 hand of Sir Wathen Waller, which still remained in his, more 
 strongly than usual, and looking full at him, exclaimed: My hoy, 
 this is death!" and then closing his eyes, reclined back in his chair. 
 At this instant Sir H. Halford entered the room. His Majesty gave 
 him his hand, but never spoke afterwards; and with a very few 
 short breathings, expired exactly as the clock struck a quarter after 
 three o’clock, June 26th. Sir W. Knighton, Sir M. Tierney, Mr. 
 Brodie — whose room was much more distant — and Sir H. Halford 
 entered the room, and were present during his last moments. Sir 
 W. Knighton had sat up all Thursday night.”* 
 
 * His will was made in 1823 by Lord Eldon, and his executors were Lord 
 Gifford and Sir W. Knighton. On searching his cabinets and drawers (the 
 Duke of Wellington told Mr. Greville) when he died they found £10,000 in his 
 boxes, and money scattered about everywhere, a great deal of gold. There 
 were about 500 pocket-books, of different dates, and in every one money- 
 guineas, one-pound notes, one, two, or three in each. He had never given 
 away or parted with anything. There was a prodigious quantity of hair- 
 women’s hair— of all colors and lengths, some locks with the powder and 
 pomatum still sticking to them ; heaps of women’s gloves, gages d'amour 
 which he had got at balls, and with the perspiration still marked on the 
 fingers; notes, and letters. The whole were destroyed. Mr. Fitzgerald 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 909 
 
 There is something touching in this spectacle, and that pressure 
 of the hands of those he liked, at such a crisis, showed that his 
 affectionate temper was of a genuine cast. But the “ looking full” 
 at his friend, with the strange expression: “My boy, this is deathl” 
 has an awful and original ghastliness.* * 
 
 told Mr. Greville “ that the King had been annoying them as much as he 
 could, that he took pleasure in making his Government weak, that the 
 money matter (which the duke told me of before) had been settled by ‘ con- 
 trivances,’ or that they must have gone to Parliament for the amount; that 
 he has just ordered plate to the amount of £25,000.” The royal plate at 
 Windsor is said now to be worth £1,800,000. The gold service, ordered by 
 George TV., dines 140 persons, and he also added to the collection one of the 
 finest wine-coolers in the world, a shield formed of snuffboxes worth £9000, 
 and thirty dozen plates worth £10,000. There are also a variety of pieces 
 brought from abroad and from India ; the latter include a peacock of pre- 
 cious stones of every kind, worth £30,000, and Tippoo’s footstool, a tiger’s 
 head with crystal teeth, and a solid ingot of gold for his tongue. Whilst the 
 Catholic Bill was passing, it was said that he ordered plate almost daily to 
 annoy his ministers. His coronation cost £250,000. Indeed, during these last 
 days, the reign of extravagance may be gathered from the state of things in 
 the Lord Steward’s department. One who in the succeeding reign had to re- 
 form this Augean disorder thus describes the state of things: ” There was an 
 allowance of £500 a year to the lower servants in lieu of small beer. The his- 
 tory is that, when allowed small beer in kind, they were all allowed access 
 ad libitum to the cellar, and often would not take the trouble to turn the 
 cock after having drawn their quantity, but let hogsheads run off from very 
 wantonness. The then officers in power, instead of punishing them, thought 
 it right to turn the beer into money (the servants having ale and porter 
 besides fully sufficient); and hence this £500 a year compensation for not 
 being permitted to continue this wasteful extravagance. Every person seems 
 allowed to carry away as much provision as he can scramble for, after being 
 himself satisfied. If a bottle of wine or porter is opened for a glass, the rest 
 is carried off; the meat in a napkin, which seldom finds its way back again; 
 and, in addition to* this, scores of persons who have no connection with the 
 domestic establishment appear to run riot upon the unlimited allowance for 
 these tables.” 
 
 * There were several forms given out of this ejaculation. “OGod! I am 
 dying!” as if in despair. Mr. Raikes has it: “Watty! what is this? It is 
 death. They have deceived me!” This last expression must have been 
 uttered, and has often been repeated. In some admirable remarks, suggested 
 by this scene. Sir Henry Halford vindicates the course he pursued, and with 
 such good sense and feeling, as shows that he was eminently suited to have 
 been the confidential adviser of the royal family. “ If, in cases attended 
 with danger in private life, the physician has need of discretion and sound 
 sense to direct his conduct, the difficulty must doubtless be increased when 
 his patient is of so elevated a station that his safety becomes an object of 
 anxiety to the nation. In such circumstances, the physician has a duty to 
 perform, not only to the sick personage and his family, but also to the public, 
 
910 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEOROE IV. 
 
 During these painful scenes it is pleasant to find that the image 
 of the woman to whom he had given his affections and plighted his 
 troth, was not absent from his thoughts. A letter from Mrs. Fitz- 
 herbert was brought to him, in which that much-tried lady offered 
 to come to him, and watch over and soothe his last moments. She 
 was told afterwards that her remembrance was said to have given 
 him much comfort. She cherished the belief that he always wore 
 round his neck her miniature, and desired to have it buried with 
 him. 
 
 In the early days of their affection the Prince had given her a 
 jewel, which she had formed into two lockets, to hold their minia- 
 tures. On the first breach she returned his, but he did not hers, 
 which was, as the true woman seemed to think, a proof of affection, 
 reluctant to part with all. Lord Albemarle heard that he begged 
 the Duke of Wellington that he might be buried as he lay, without 
 his night-dress being disturbed ; and he adds that the Duke could 
 not resist looking to see the reason of this request, and found the 
 jewel round his neck, and “attached to a dirty piece of black 
 ribbon.” This the Duke told to Mrs. Darner. 
 
 who, in their extreme solicitude for his recovery, sometimes desire dis- 
 closures which are incompatible with it. These public documents may 
 become known to the royal sufferer himself. Is the physician, then, whilst 
 endeavoring to relieve the anxiety or satisfy the curiosity of the nation, to 
 endanger the safety of the patient; or, at least, his comfort? Surely not. 
 Meanwhile, the family of the monarch and the government have a claim to 
 fuller information than can, with propriety or even common humanity, be 
 imparted to the public at large. In the case of his late Majesty, the King’s 
 Government and the royal family were apprised as early as the 27th of April 
 that his Majesty’s disease was seated in his heart, and that an effusion of 
 water into the chest was soon to be expected. ' It was not, however, until the 
 latter end of May-— when his Majesty was so discouraged bv repeated attacks 
 in the embarrassment in his breathing, as to desire me to explain to him the 
 nature of his complaint, and to give him my candid opinion of its probable 
 termination— that the opportunity occurred of acknowledging to his Majesty 
 the extent of my fears for his safety. This communication was not necessary 
 to suggest to the King the proprietj' of religious offices, for his Majesty had 
 used them daily. But it determined him, perhaps, to appoint an early day to 
 receive the sacrament. He did receive it with every appearance of the most 
 fervent piety and devotion, and acknowledged to me repeatedly afterwards 
 that it had given him great consolation— true comfort. After this, when ‘ he 
 had set his house in order,’ I thought myself at liberty to interpret every new 
 symptom as it arose in as favorable a light as I could, for his Majesty’s satis- 
 faction ; and we were enabled thereby to rally his spirits in the intervals of 
 his frightful attacks, to maintain his confidence in his medical resources, and 
 to spare him the pain of contemplating approaching death, until a few minutes 
 before his Majesty expired.”— “Essays and Orations,” p. 89. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 911 
 
 The bishop who attended the King, Dr. Carr, assured Mr. Boden- 
 ham that he had noticed a portrait, but it had a silver chain. 
 
 When in 1825 Miss Seymour was married to Colonel Dawson 
 Darner, the King sent her a present of £2000 with an affectionate 
 letter, in which he begged of her “to be kind to her best friend, 
 Mrs. Fitzherbert. ” This showed that the old affection still burned 
 bright. After Mrs. Fitzherbert’s death, her ward one day displayed 
 to a visitor, Lady Morgan, a coffer containing all the relics of this 
 famous attachment. She describes its contents ; 
 
 ‘ ‘ There were two lockets of very curious description, minutely 
 small portraits of the Prince and the lady ; they were each covered 
 with a crystal, and this crystal was a diamond cut in two. They 
 were less than the size of a halfpenny, set in small brilliants. On 
 the death of George IV. she sent to William IV. to request back 
 some of her pictures, gems, and letters, left in the late King’s hands. 
 He- sent her everything that he could find in the cabinet of his 
 brother, and a beautiful picture in oil of Mrs. Fitzherbert; but the 
 diamond-enshrined miniature was not forthcoming. After some 
 time, however, she received a letter from the Duke of Wellington, 
 who wrote to say, having heard that such a locket had been inquired 
 for, he would be happy to place it in her hands, as it was in his pos- 
 session. He added, that in his quality of the King’s executor, he 
 had gone into his room immediately after his decease, and perceiv- 
 ing a red cord round his neck, under his shirt, discovered the locket 
 containing the miniature.” * 
 
 We may hope it was so, though not much turns upon it. After 
 his death the good-natured Sailor-King made her all amends. 
 
 “ Soon after his death,” as she told Lord Stourton, “she left town 
 for Brighton. There she a second time received the kindest mes- 
 sages from William the Fourth; but upon his inquiry why she did 
 not come to see him, she stated the peculiar difficulties of her situa- 
 tion, and a wish, if it was not asking too much from his condescen- 
 sion, that he would graciously honor her with a personal communi- 
 cation at her own house, previously to her visit to the Pavilion. The 
 King kindly complied with her request without delay, and she told 
 him that she could not, in her present circumstances, avail herself 
 of the honor of waiting upon his Majesty, without asking his per- 
 mission to place her papers before him, and requesting his advice 
 upon them. Upon her placing in his hands the documents which 
 have been preserved in justification of her character, and especially 
 
 * Lady Morgan, “ Memoirs,” ii. 425. 
 
912 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 the certificate of her marriage, and another interesting and most 
 affecting paper, this amiable sovereign was moved to tears by their 
 perusal, and expressed his surprise at so much forbearance with such 
 documents in her possession, and under the pressure of such, long 
 and severe trials. He asked her what amends he could make her, 
 and offered to make her a duchess. She replied that she did not 
 wish for any rank ; that she had borne through life the name of Mrs. 
 Fitzherbert; that she had never disgraced it, and did not wish to 
 change it; that, therefore, she hoped his Majesty would accept her 
 unfeigned gratitude for his gracious proposal, but that he would per- 
 mit her to retain her present name. 
 
 “ Well, then,’ said he, ‘ I shall insist upon you wearing my livery,’ 
 and ended by authorizing her to put on weeds for his royal brother. 
 He added : ‘ I must, however, soon see you at the Pavilion ; ’ and I 
 believe he proposed the following Sunday, a day on which his family 
 were more retired, for seeing her at dinner, and spending the even- 
 ing at the Pavilion. ‘ I shall introduce you myself to my family, ’ 
 said he, ‘ but you must send me word of your arrival. ’ 
 
 ‘ ‘ At the appointed hour, upon her reaching the Pavilion, the 
 condescending monarch came himself and handed her out of her 
 carriage, and introduced her to his family, one after the other, as 
 one of themselves. He ever after treated her in the same gracious 
 manner.” 
 
 Mr. Raikes corroborates this, her own story. 
 
 On her death, which took place in 1837, she enjoyed an annuity 
 of £6000, procured for her from the Prince, through the agency of 
 the late Queen, strange to say, and her best friend the Duke of 
 York. She was buried at Brighton, the scene of all joys and 
 troubles, living to be nearly eighty years old. 
 
 By arrangement between her friends and those of the royal 
 family, it was determined to destroy all papers, save such as were 
 necessary for the vindication of her character.* 
 
 * Those that fell under this category were: 
 
 “1. The Mortgage on the Palace at Brighton. 
 
 “ 2. The Certificate of the Marriage, dated Dec. 21st, 1785. 
 
 “ 3. Letter from the late King, relating to the Marriage, signed [George 
 the Fourth]. 
 
 “ 4. Will written by the late King [George the Fourth]. 
 
 “5. Memorandum written by Mrs. Fitzherbert, attached to a letter written 
 by the clergyman who performed the Marriage Ceremony.” 
 
 It will be seen that these papers, seen and sanctioned by men of such 
 character as the Duke of Wellington and Lord Albemarle, were convincing. 
 They lie now at Coutts’s Bank sealed up. 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 913 
 
 L’ENYOI. 
 
 After recounting the course of the long life of George IV., it is 
 hardly necessaiy to make a formal estimate of his character. Many 
 instances could be given of his kin_dly feeling and good heart. His 
 chaiities were oft en m aQ-nificent;, as in 1825, during the Spitaltields 
 distress, when he gave three donations of £1000 each; and when a 
 case of private suffering was reported to him, he sent £500, and 
 procured by subscription £1500. His name, too, is pleasingly asso- 
 ciated with that of Beethoven, for whose wants he contributed £200. 
 But th^recorded instances of this sort would fill many pages. At 
 the dismaFconferences with the Kecorder of London, when the 
 fates of prisoners were finally determined, the King was invariably 
 on the side of mercy, and would conscientiously and for hours in- 
 vestigate every case that seemed to have a claim to mercy. Tins 
 was an indulgence of his feelings, but a trouble some duty which he 
 always adhered to. He had, for a certain sort, a deep religious, or 
 rather devotional feeling: and even in his early days. Lady Harcourt 
 used to declare he was the only one of the royal brothers “ that had 
 any_ religion.” * 
 
 It is also evidence of his sound taste, that he should have begun 
 a collection of the Dutch and Flemish masters at a time when the 
 merits of the school were not acknowledged. But what gives him 
 a high claim to the title of a true patron, was the really splendid 
 project of having the portraits of the sovereigns, ministers, and 
 ambassadors painted for the Great Banqueting-room at Windsor. 
 
 * There is a well-known story of his having discharged a servant in a | 
 passion one Sunday morning, and of his being respectfully told by the Bishop 
 of Winchester, that he was not in a proper frame of mind to receive the 
 sacrament. He thanked his monitor, and restored the man to his place. On 
 another occasion he wept and went down on his knees to a bishop when 
 reproved for desecrating the Sabbath, 
 
914 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 The scheme involved the painting of thirty-eight full-length pictures, 
 of which no less than thirty-five are the work of Sir Thomas Law- 
 rence. This work was completed between the years 1815 and 1821, 
 and the artist has recorded the interesting progress of his travels 
 abroad as he attended on his royal sitters. One of these portraits 
 is justlj" considered the finest of modern times, and will bear just 
 comparison with the finest of ancient days, namely, that of Pope 
 Pius VII. His encouragement of the arts, and of projects of all 
 intellectual character, was also truly splendid. The best instance 
 is his patronage of Wilkie, from whom on his return from Spain he 
 secured his six works for £2800. 
 
 One good instance of his cleverness at repartee, or readiness in 
 conversation, is worth recording. The Rev. Sydney Smith was 
 beside him at a dinner, when an odd subject of discussion was 
 started: “ Who was the most wicked man that ever lived?” Mr. 
 Smith said, awkwardly enough, “The Regent Orleans — and he 
 was a Prince!” On which the English Regent said, “I should 
 give the preference to his tutor, the Abbe Dubois, and he was a 
 priest, Mr. Sydney.” 
 
 His patronage of the Royal Society of Literature, to which he 
 contributed £1000 a year; his many pensioners; his love of music 
 and of the stage — all this showed an instinct truly royal. Actors 
 he also patronized, and the more jovial sort — “Jack” Johnstone, 
 Matthews, and others, were often bidden to Carlton House. Re- 
 ports of his conversations with these performers show a rational 
 spirit, with a wish for gathering such information and entertain- 
 ment as they could furnish, and without any sacrifice of dignity. 
 
 A good specimen of his love of fun and frolic is furnished by 
 the stoiy of his present of the cream-colored Hanoverian horse to 
 Admiral Nagle, at Brighton; who, delighted at the gift, mounted 
 the animal in presence of the whole Court to “ try him.” Some 
 heavy showers washed off the paint which the Prince had had 
 applied in the stable, and the admiral, to his astonishment, pres- 
 ently found himself with a dark-bay horse. His royal master, after 
 due enjoyment of the joke, took care to present him with an ani- 
 mal of the true color and breed. 
 
 But it was in his relations with certain remarkable men of maik 
 and judgment that he really shone, and such he always impressed 
 in the most favorable manner. 
 
 It was thus that Walter Scott, when he came to town, became, a** 
 it were, quite fascinated by his advances, and it must be confessed 
 
THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV, 
 
 915 
 
 that his treatment of this new friend justified to some extent that 
 charm of manner which obtained for him tlie well-known sobriquet. 
 “Let me know,” said the Regent in 1815, “ when he comes, and 
 I’ll get up a snug little dinner that will suit him. And the more 
 Scotch the better,” he added. Such a little dinner was got up, the 
 Duke of York, Lord Yarmouth, Lord Melville, and others, being 
 of the company. “The Prince and Scott,” said Mr. Croker, “were 
 the two most brilliant story-tellers, in their several ways, 1 have 
 ever happened to meet. Both exerted themselves, and he could not 
 say which had shone the most. The Regent was enchanted w ith 
 Scott, and Scott with him. Afterward Scott told stories of Scotch 
 judges, which the Regent capped with some of his own judges.” 
 The description of the evening, it must be said, gives a very good 
 idea of the Prince’s powers of pleasing and readiness. At midnight 
 he called for a.bumper to the author of “ Waverley. ” Scott declared 
 the author should hear of the compliment; on which the Prince 
 drank to the author of “ Marmion,” quoting happily: “ Now, AVal- 
 ler, my man, I have checkmated you for ance.” The Prince sang 
 many songs in good style, and presented his friend with a magnifi- 
 cent snuffbox. And on his merits in society the poet passes this 
 judicious opinion, in which we may allow a little for partiality 
 “ He was the first gentleman he had seen, certainly the first English 
 gentleman of his day. As to his abilities, as distinct from his 
 charming manners, how could any one form a fair judgment of 
 that man who introduced what subject he cliose, discussed it just 
 as long as he chose, and dismissed it when he chose?” 
 
 He was particularly anxious to impress and attract men of worth 
 and character, whose good word would, of course, be valuable. If — ' 
 has been shown how eager he was to secure Romilly; but more 
 characteristic w\as his attempt to win that “good man eminent ’ 
 and “ saint,” Wilberforce. There is something almost amusing in 
 his account of the struggle between conscience and the bait of the 
 Court. “The Prince and Duke of Clarence very civil. Prince 
 showed he had read Cobbett. Spoke strongly of the blasphemy of 
 his late papers, and most justly. I was asked again last night, and 
 to-night; but declined, not being well.” This excuse, however, 
 would not long serve, and three days afterwards he was again at the 
 Pavilion. “The Prince came up tome and reminded me of my 
 singing at the Duchess of Devonshire’s ball in 1782, of the particu- 
 lar song, and of our then first knowing each other. ‘ We are both, 
 
 I trust, much altered since, sir,’ was his answer. ‘ Yes, the time 
 
916 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE IV. 
 
 which has gone by must have made a great alteration in us.’ 
 ‘Something better than that too, I trust, sir.’” 
 
 Jovial, epicurean, shifty, clever, and good-natured, he offers one 
 more disastrous spectacle of a life wrecked by self-indulgence and 
 an unbounded love of pleasure. 
 
 THE END. 
 
917 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 A 
 
 Addington, Henry (afterwards Lord Sid- 
 niouth), Speaker of the House of Com- 
 7i)ons, accused of romping with Caro- 
 line of Brunswick, 331, note 
 “ Almack’s,” 670, 671 
 
 Ajuateur Farming of the Prince of Wales 
 and Duke of York, 22, 23 
 Amateur Theatricals, rage for, 60, 339 
 Amelia, Princess, death of, 471 ; supposed 
 secret marriage of, 473, 474 ; verses 
 written by, 474 
 
 B 
 
 Bagshot, strange council at, 137 
 Barrymore, Honorable Henry, 65, 69 
 Barrymore, Lord (“ Hellgate”), family of, 
 65; freaks of, 66, 67; entertainments at 
 Wargrave of, 67 ; tragic death of, 68 
 Barrymore, Rev. Augustus, 65, 69 
 Barrymore, — , afterwards Lady Melfort, 
 65, 69 
 
 Beckford, William, author of “ Vathek,” 
 665 
 
 Beefsteak Club, 64 
 Bergami, 715 and note 
 “ Berners Street Hoax,” 666 
 Berwick’s Lord, strange masquerade at, 
 61 
 
 Blackheath, adventure at, 36 
 Blucher, General, decoration of, by the 
 Regent, .594 
 
 “ Bread or the Regent’s head,” 617 
 Brighton, frivolit.y at, 256, 516 ; effect of 
 Prince of Wales’s patronage, 128, 129 
 ** Brother Hiley and Brother Bragge,” ;>46 
 Brougham, Henry (afterwards Lord 
 Brougham), 686, 695-697, 712 and note, 
 717 
 
 Brummel, George, life of, 654-664 
 Bmnswick, Court life at, 291 
 
 Duchess of, 679 
 
 Buckingham, Duke of, correspondence 
 of, 838-842 
 
 Building mania of George IV., 51, 734-736 
 Burke, Edmund, assails Pitt in the House 
 1.54; attacks the ministry, 163; ridicules 
 Thurlow, 177 ; fury of, 178 ; indecorous 
 conduct of, 180; “ dagger scene,” 282 
 Burney, Doctor, amusing account of 
 Prince of Wales, 414-417 
 Byron, Lord, 334, 335, 613, 673 
 
 Calais, 675 
 
 Canning, Gleorge, 345 ; 708 and note, 709- 
 711, 721, 722,742, 743, 778, 797, 812, 818-820, 
 828, 834-8:17, 843, 847 
 
 Carlton Hou.se, 51, .56, 61, 282, .502-509 and 
 note, 510-512, 547, 548 
 
 Caroline of Brunswick, Princess of 
 Wales and Queen of England, descrip- 
 tion of, 290; anecdote of, 292; indiscre- 
 tion of, 293 ; letter of, 294 ; starts for 
 England, 297; arrival at Greenwich, 
 
 :102 ; meeting of, with Prince of Wales, 
 :102 ; early unpleasantness of, with 
 Prince of Wales, :103 ; marriage of, 304 ; 
 presented to the public, 306; treatment 
 of, by Queen, 307 ; jointure voted to, 
 311 ; strange miscarriage of lettei's of, 
 313 ; birth of a daughter to, 323 ; ill- 
 treatment of, after accouchement, 324 , 
 letter of, to Prince of Wales, 325, 326; 
 removes to Charlton, 328 ; scandals 
 about, 428 ; charges of Lady Douglas 
 against, 428-432 ; letter of, to Lord 
 Eldon, 433; vindication of, presented 
 to George III., 434 ; indictment of, 
 against Prince of Wales and other 
 accusers, 435-439; defence of, laid be- 
 fore the public, 439, 440 ; acquittal of, by 
 commissioners, 440, 441 ; meeting of, 
 with Prince of Wales, 441 ; want of pru 
 dence of, 453 ; attaches to her interest 
 Canning and Brougham, 455; denied 
 admission to her daughter, 570 ; appeals 
 to the public, 574 ; address voted to, by 
 City of London and others, 583 ; strange 
 meeting of, with Regent, 584; desired 
 not to attend (^een’s Drawing Rooms, 
 592; writes to Regent, 593; good sense 
 of, 606 : grant made to, on leaving Eng 
 land, 609; departure of, from England, 
 611 ; character of, 611 ; affection of, for 
 Lord Byron, 613 ; extraordinary life of, 
 on the Continent, 629-634, 6:36 and note, 
 688, 695 ; name struck off the Liturgy, 
 694; reception of, in England, 699; dis- 
 trust of, for Brougham, 710 ; resides at 
 Brandenburgh House, 710; arrival of 
 witnesses against, 712 and note; trial 
 of, begins, 713 and note ; appearance of, 
 in the House, 714 : evidence against, 
 716; Brougham’s defence of, 716, 717; 
 unfortunate quotations used dui-ing 
 trial of, 719 and note; “Regina,” 720; 
 accepts £50,000 a year, 724 ; claims to be 
 crowned with George IV., 727-731 ; de- 
 nied admission to coronation, 734; 
 death of, 747, 758 ; funeral of, 759-762 
 
 Castlereagh, Lord, .534 
 
 Catherine, Grand Duchess, dies, 591 
 
 Catholic Emancipation, leading mem- 
 bers in both Houses in favor of, 425; 
 agitation about, 513, 531-533; Duke of 
 York and, 805, 806; rejection of, in the 
 Lords, 807; minutes signed by George 
 IV., 873; want of candor of George IV. 
 with regard to, 882-885 ; receives royal 
 assent, 890 
 
 Cato Street conspiracy, 691 
 
 “ Celebrated Letter,” the, 540, 541, 544-546 
 
 Charles L, opening of coffin of, 588, 589 
 
 Charles X. 900 
 
 Charlotte, daughter of George IV., chris- 
 tening of, 323 ; governesses of, 329 ; edu- 
 cation of. 393; jnvenile will of, 394 and 
 note ; traits of character of, :395 ; Dowa- 
 ger Lady de Clifford appointed to 
 charge of, 410; letter of, to Mr. Con- 
 
918 
 
 JXUEX. 
 
 way, 458 , exeludetl from Repeiicy fete. 
 5(15; friendly Interest of, to 3Ir. Keppel, 
 5()9; espouses her mother’s cause, 569; 
 removed to Warwick House, 578 ; flir- 
 tations of, 579, 580; Prince of Orange 
 selected as a suiter for, 586 ; arrival of 
 envoys from Holland in England with 
 proposals for, 601 ; flirtation of. with 
 Prince Leopold, ; elopement of, 603, 
 604 ; returning home of, 605 ; Duke of 
 Sussex not allowed to visit, 607 ; returns 
 from Weymouth, 619; marriage of, to 
 Prince Leopold, 620 ; happy life of, at 
 Claremont House, 622; letters of, to 
 Lady Charlotte Lindsay, 637 ; accouche- 
 ment of, 638 ; death of, 6:39, 640 
 Charlotte, Princess Royal, 648 
 Charlotte, Queen of England (wife of 
 George III.)— see “ Queen” 
 
 Chartres, Duke, 37, 38 
 Chifney, Sam, the Prince of Wales’s 
 jockey, 266-270 
 
 City of London proposes to make Pitt a 
 present of £3,000 a year, 164 
 Clarence, Duke of, 646, 862-865, 906 
 Clarke scandal 460-463 and note, 465-469 
 Colchester, Lord, diary of, 413 
 Columbian envoy, 820 
 Comyn, Peter, case of, 904 
 Concannon, Mrs., 674, 675 
 Comely s, Mrs., 60, 61 
 
 Cornwall, Duchy of, disputes about 
 revenues of, 309, 310 
 
 Cornwallis, Lord, cold replies of, to 
 Prince of Wales’s letters, 259, 260 
 Crew, Mrs., 5.5, 119 
 Croley, Dr., anecdotes of, 418, 419 
 Ctimberland, Duke of, 27, 28, 36, 37, 473, 
 478, 645, 875 and note, 876, 892 
 
 D 
 
 Dances. 63, 671, 672 
 
 Dandies of the Regency period, 663-665 
 Denman, the lawyer, persecution of, by 
 George IV., 896-898 
 
 Devonshire, Georgina, Duchess of, 53 
 
 House, 57 
 
 Doctors, discord amongst the, 141 
 Drink, early taste of George IV. for, 27 
 Dudley, Henry Bate, 581 
 Duel between Duke of York and Colonel 
 Lenox, official account of, 209 ; King 
 and Queen hear of, 210 
 
 Colonel Lexon and Theophilus 
 
 Swift, 216 
 
 Pitt and Tierney, 342 
 
 Duelling, prevalence of, 342 
 Duncannon, Lady, 54 
 
 E 
 
 Economy of George III.’s household, 101 
 Edward, Prince, story of, 272, 273 
 Edward, Lord, Prince of Wales’s rude- 
 ness to, 151; friendship of, for Caroline, 
 4:33 ; retirement of, 844 
 Elizabeth, Princess, 352, 647 
 Elliott, Hugh, 77 
 
 Elliston, Robert William, the actor, at 
 Windsor. 338; anecdotes of, at Wey- 
 mouth, 338, .339 
 Epigram, taste for, 666, 667 
 Esterhazy, Prince, 821-823 
 Examiner, The, attack of, upon the 
 Regent, 551, .552 
 
 F 
 
 Faro, 204 
 
 Fitzgerald, Lord Edward, 333 
 
 Fitzherbert, 3Irs., first meets Prince of 
 Wales, 86; strange betrothal of, at 
 Carlton House, 87 ; leaves England, but 
 wearied out by Prince of Wales’s im- 
 portunities, agees to return, 88 ; Fox 
 implores Prince to beware of enter- 
 ing into matrimony with, 89, 90; wit- 
 nesses to marriage of, 92 ; clergyman 
 officiated at marriage of, 92 ; early 
 symptoms of unhappiness, 94; denial 
 by Fox of Prince’s marriage to, 106 ; 
 hears of Fox’s denial of her marriage, 
 108 ; secret consultation at residence 
 of, '248 ; general acceptation of fact of 
 marriage of, ‘249 ; mortification of, at 
 Prince of Wales’s marriage with Caro 
 line, :331 ; exclusion of, from Regency 
 fete, .506 ; at Lady Aylesbury’s ball, 615 ; 
 death of, 912 
 
 Fitzpatrick, R., letters of, to Lord Ossory, 
 43 
 
 Fitzroy, Captain, supposed secret mar- 
 riage of, to the Princess Amelia, 474 
 
 Foreign loans to Prince of Wales, scan- 
 dalous conduct with regard to, 247 and 
 • note 
 
 Fox, Charles James, personal appear- 
 ance, 38 ; George III.’s hatred of, :39 ; 
 letters exhibiting early friendship of 
 Prince of Wales for, 40, 41 ; letters of 
 Lord Loughborough to, 46 ; letters of 
 Prince of Wales to, 47; letters of, to 
 Lord Northington, 48 ; election of, for 
 Westminster, 55 ; warns Prince of 
 Wales about Mrs. Fitzherbert, 89, 90; 
 wife of, 90 and note; quarrels with 
 Prince, 109 ; returns to England, 143 ; 
 attempts to win over Thurlow, 146 ; 
 emaciated appearance of, 152 ; quarrels 
 with Pitt over Regency question, 153; 
 makes an indiscreet attack upon Pitt, 
 161 ; jealousies among his party, 182 ; 
 opinion of Prince of Wales’s military 
 ardor, :386; letter of, :391; opinion of rela- 
 tions between George III. and Prince of 
 Wales, 404 ; death of, 443 ; bust of. .500 
 
 Francis, Sir. Philip, letter of, to Prince 
 of Wales, 385, 386; correspondence of, 
 with Duchess of Devonshire, 386-388 ; 
 complaint of, 495 
 
 Frederick, Prince, sent to Connecticut, 
 31 ; romantic history of, 274-279 
 
 G 
 
 Gaming and gaming parties, 340 
 
 Gaming, ladies famed for, :340 
 
 Gaming Club, ball given by the, 356 
 
 Gell, Sir W., 629 
 
 George HI., early estrangement of, with 
 the Prince of Wales, 17 ; simple tastes 
 and manners of, ‘24 ; violent objection 
 to contemplated allowance, 43 ; refuses 
 to sanction an increase of Prince of 
 Wales’s income, 97, 98; rumors of ill- 
 ness of, 130; early symptoms of malady 
 of, 130, 131 ; health of, suddenly im 
 proves, 136 ; visit to, by the ministers 
 at Windsor, 147 ; removal of, to Kew, 
 150 ; state of health of, 170 ; custody of 
 person of, given to the Queen, 176 ; 
 entire recovery of, 187; meeting of, 
 with his sons, 192 ; receives keys of his 
 papers, etc., from his favorite son 
 Frederick, 196 ; extraordinary letter of, 
 to Prince of Wales, 213-216 ; letter of, 
 to Prince of Wales, 322, 32:3 ; endeavors 
 to reconcile Prince of Wales and Caro- 
 
INDEX. 
 
 919 
 
 line, 32T ; illness and recoveiTi 350 ; 
 encumbrances, 358 ; letters of, to Lord 
 Eldon, 397-399 ; intense dislike of, for 
 Prince of Wales, 401 ; meeting of, with 
 Prince of Wales, 401, 402 : letter of, to 
 Princess of Wales, 402; letter of, to Lord 
 Chancellor, 407, 408 ; letter of, to Lord 
 Eldon, 408, 409 ; death, 653 
 George IV., Prince of Wales, nurses, 9, 
 10; birth, 9; christening, 10; inocula- 
 tion, 11 ; numerous portraits taken, 12; 
 early education of, 13 ; tutors of, 14-16 ; 
 early symptoms of estrangement of, 
 from his father, 17 ; meeting with Dr. 
 Johnson, 20; removed to Kew, 22 ; be- 
 gins to rebel, 23, 24; celebration of 
 birthday of, 25; develops a taste for 
 clandestine amu.sements, 26 ; early in- 
 difference to truth, 26 ; drink, 27 ; influ- 
 ence of Duke of Cumberland, 27 ; in- 
 trigue with Mrs. Robinson, 28, 29; comes 
 to town during Gordon riots, 30, note ; 
 establishment for, 31, 32 ; appears at 
 Coui’t, 33 ; Mrs. Robinson’s description 
 of. 34 ; extravagance, 35 ; adventure at 
 Blackheath, 36; contracts friendship 
 with Duke of Chartres, 37; early friend- 
 H ship for Fox, 41, 42; majority at hand, 
 42 ; promises of the Shelburne party, 
 42 ; letters to Fox, 45-47 ; settlement 
 about allowance, 49 ; building mania, 
 51 ; majority. 51 ; attends debates in 
 the House of Commons, 52; unpopu- 
 » larity, 53; Thackeray’s estimate of 
 character discussed, .58; passion for 
 driving. .59 ; strange companions, 65-76 ; 
 turkey -and geese wager, 76; contem- 
 plates going abroad, 78 ; embarrass- 
 ments, 79-85 ; vehement declaration of 
 not marrying, 85 ; meets Mrs. Fitzher- 
 bert, 86 ; strange betrothal to Mrs. Fitz- 
 herbert, 87 ; marries Mrs. Fitzherbert, 
 91 ; taste for the turf, 94 ; fondness for 
 mesmerism, 95 ; attacked by illness, 96 ; 
 appeals for relief to his father, 97 ; 
 V)reaks up his establishment, 100 ; bor- 
 'rows from Duke of Orleans, 102 ; public 
 opinion in favor of the Prince, 103 ; 
 reconciliation with Pitt, 112 ; letters to 
 Fox, 109, 114 ; debts, 115; temporary re- 
 lief voted, 116 ; reconciliation with the 
 King, 116; meets Duke of York, 118; 
 organizes a new club, 121; riotous 
 gambling of, 122 and note; letter to 
 Lord Cornwallis, 123; discountenances 
 prize-fighting, 124 ; rudeness, 124, 125 ; 
 benevolence, 125, 126 ; diplomacy, 135 ; 
 ^ affection for Thurlow, 144 ; unfeeling 
 conduct, 144 ; quarrels with Queen 
 about Regency, 150, 151 ; seals up his 
 father’s papers, 167 : denies having had 
 interviews with Pitt, 168 ; consequence 
 of marriage, 179 ; reply to address from i 
 Ireland, 184-186 ; letters to Queen, 188, 
 189, 197-199 ; open hostility with Queen, 
 201, ‘202 ; extraordinary letter to the 
 King, 213-216 ; letter to Lord Lough- 
 borough, 218; letter to the King, 2*20, 
 221 ; memorial to the king, 22l-‘231 ; let- 
 ter to the King, 232-238 ; letter to Lord 
 Cornwallis, 239-241 ; serious embarrass- 
 • ments, 241 ; bond with John Cator, 242 
 and note; operations to relieve, 243, 
 244 ; seven Frenchmen executed for 
 lending money to the Prince, 245 ; 
 musical tastes, 2.52 ; good humor and 
 wit, 253 ; made a Freemason, 254 ; trav- | 
 els to Yorkshire, 256 ; reconciled to 
 
 King and Queen, 257 ; letters to Lord 
 Cornwallis, ‘2.58-‘259 ; horse-racing, 261; 
 hunting in Hampshire, ‘262 ; Newmar- 
 ket, ‘263; wins the Derby, 264 ; number 
 of races won from 1788 to 1792, 264 ; list 
 of successes on the turf, 265, note ; ter- 
 minates connection with Newmarket, 
 270 ; Lord Malmesbury taken into coun- 
 cil. 280; letter to Duchess of Devon- 
 shire, ‘284, ‘285 ; alienated from Mrs. 
 Fitzherbert, ‘288 ; letter to Lord Malmes- 
 bury, ‘295, :KXi, 301 ; motives for hurrying 
 marriage with Caroline, ‘296 ; marries 
 Caroline, 304 ; sympathy with Ireland, 
 314 ; memorial to Pitt, 314, 321 ; birth of 
 a daugnter, .‘1‘23 ; letter to Caroline, .325 ; 
 intercedes for Lord Edwai-d Fitzger- 
 ald, 3:34 ; letter to Lord Kenyon, 340, 
 341 ; letter to his father, 343, 344; clam- 
 ors for military command, 35.3, 3.54, 360- 
 378 ; harangues volunteers, 378 ; over- 
 tures to Pitt, 380 ; correspondence with 
 Queen, 396, 397 ; improvement of rela- 
 tions with Fox, 4(X) ; refuses to give up 
 custody of his daughter, 405 ; letter to 
 Lady de Clifford, 410, 411 ; memoran- 
 dum for education of Princess Char- 
 lotte, 412, 413 ; letter about Nelson’s 
 funeral, 419, 420 ; meets Nelson’s chap- 
 lain, 4‘20; change in political opinion.s, 
 4‘21 ; tour through England, 442, 443 ; let- 
 ter to Mr. Grey, 444-447 ; letter to Lord 
 Moria, 449-451 ; change in political opin- 
 ions, 451, 4.52; letters to Lady de Clifford, 
 4.56, 457 ; meeting of creditors, 458, 459 ; 
 Clarke scandal, 466-468, 469 ; letter to 
 Perceval, 478, 479; difficulties with 
 the minister*, 481-490; consults Mrs. 
 Fitzherbert and Lady Hertford, 493; 
 letter to Perceval, 494 
 
 George IV. Regent, swearing in, 499; 
 rudeness, .501 ; preparation of speech, 
 501 ; King’s jealousy, 501 ; fluctuations 
 of policy, 514, 515, 5‘23, 524; visits Brigh- 
 ton, 516, .517 ; meets Theodore Hook, 518; 
 extraordinary doses of laudanum, .585; 
 celebrated letter, 540, 541 ; unpopu- 
 larity, 549 ; conversation with Lord 
 Wellesley, 555, 556; irresolution, 556; 
 reconciled to Lord Moira, 556 ; recon- 
 ciled to Lord Grey, 557 ; schemes for 
 formation of ministry, 5.59-.566; letter 
 to Lord Eldon, 575; Wellington’s vic- 
 tories, 577 ; letter to Duke of Welling- 
 ton, .585 ; Belvoir Castle, 588 ; festivities 
 in honor of foreign sovereigns, 59.5-598 ; 
 letter to Lord Liverpool, 617 ; extrava- 
 gance, 617 and note ; serious illness, 623 ; 
 yachting, 626; letters to Lord Eldon, 
 6;34, 635, 685 
 
 George IV. King, accession, 681 ; letter to 
 the Sovereigns, 682 ; declaration, 682, 
 683 ; clearing off old debts, 683 ; troubles 
 with Caroline, 686, 690, 702-710, 723 ; coro- 
 nation, 726, 732; coronation banquet, 
 733 ; building mania, 7;44-736 ; dislike for 
 Canning, 737 ; letters to Lord Eldon, 
 685, 743, 744, 773, 783 ; letters to Knighton, 
 746, 747, 824, 825, 829, 831, 852 ; visits Ire- 
 land, 748, 751 and note, 751, 752; leaves 
 Ireland, 7.52; suffering at sea, 7.54, 755; 
 visits the Continent, 763, 764; religious 
 feelings, 765, 803; visits Scotland, 766- 
 770 ; letters to Lord Liverpool, 772, 77.3, 
 776, 777, 780-782, 794, 797-804, 830 ; letters 
 to Duke of Wellington, 775, 779, 794, 796, 
 808, 809, 827-829, 851, 852, 857-860, 864-868, 
 870, 871, 874, 878-881, 894, 897, 901, 903 , for- 
 
920 
 
 lynBX. 
 
 . eign ambassadors, 811, 812 ; secret mem- 
 orandum, 812-818 ; appeals to Welling- 
 ton, 846 ; letter to Canning, 847 ; fear of 
 Knighton, 855 ; social life, 861, 862 ; 
 Catholic emancipation, 869, 872 ; eccen- 
 tricities in old age, 895 ; letter to Lord 
 Hill, 9(11 ; letter to Duke of Noi-thum- 
 berlaud, 904 ; wardrobe, 905 ; last ill- 
 ness, 5HI6 ; death, 908 and note ; affection 
 to the last for Mrs. Fitzherbert, 910 
 Goderich, Lord, 850, 851 
 Gordon, Lord George, 110 
 Gordon, Duchess of, 171 
 Greece, candidates for the throne of, 
 <)02 
 
 “ Green Bag,” The, 700 
 Grenville, William Wyndham, Lord, 405, i 
 448, 481 , 484, 486, 539, 542-544 
 Grey, Charles, Lord, 481, 484, 486, 539, 542- 
 544 ! 
 
 Guards, dissatisfaction of the, 705, 706 i 
 and note 
 
 H 
 
 Halford, Sir H., 474, 491 1 
 
 Hamilton, Lady Anne, 612 
 Hanger, Hon. George (afterwards Lord ' 
 Coleraine), geese-and-turkey wager 
 with the Prince of Wales, 76 
 Harris, Sir J., conversations of, with 
 Prince of Wales, 80-85 
 Henry IX., curious prophecy with regard 
 to, 628, note 
 Herries, 849, 850 
 
 Hertford family, influence of, over 
 George IV., 424, 518, 546 
 Holland, Dr., the fashionable physician, ; 
 613, 614 
 
 “ Holy Alliance,” the, 598 
 Hook, Theodore, 518, 666 
 Hookham’s Library, Princes send their 
 ball tickets for sale to, 2(44 
 Hunting divines, anecdotes of, 262, 263 
 Hurd and -Markham, preceptors to the 
 royal children, 19 
 
 I 
 
 India Bill, 52 , 
 
 Ireland, excitement created in, at the 
 news of George IV. ’s visit, 745; George 
 IV. arrives in, 748 ; first public speech 
 of George IV. in, 749 ; deporture of 
 George IV. from, 752 j 
 
 “ Ireland” imposture, the, 335 I 
 
 Irish ambassadors in London, 184-186 , 
 
 ” Irish Avator,” 756 | 
 
 Irish Parliament invite Prince of Wales : 
 to accept Regency of Ireland, 183 
 
 J 
 
 Jeffereys the jeweller, 312 
 '• Jeremy Diddler,” the original, 74 
 Jersey, Lady, 287 
 
 Jewellers, Prince of Wales’s extraordi- 
 nary transactions with, 250,251, 312 and 
 note 
 
 John. Bull newspaper established, 711 
 and note I 
 
 Johnson, Dr. Samuel, 20 
 
 Kent, Duke of, grievances, 648 ; death of, 
 653 i 
 
 Knighton, Doctor, 547, 789, 793 and note I 
 
 L i 
 
 Lade, Sir John, 74 | 
 
 Lauderdale, Lord, 717, note 
 
 Leach, Sir J., 684 
 Leeds, Duke of, 172, 190, 283 
 Lenox, Colonel, letter of, 207, 208 ; chal- 
 lenges Duke of York. 208 
 Leopold, Prince, recollections of, 620, 621 
 Lieven, 3Iadame de, the Russian ambas- 
 sadress, 899 
 
 Lindsay, Lady Charlotte, 714 
 Litchfield, Bishop of, 18, 21 
 Liverpool, Lord, 552, 573, 617, 618, 833 
 
 Jlinistry, inauguration of, 567 
 
 Parliament, opening of, 572 
 
 London-on-the-Sea, 126 
 Londonderry, Lord, 771 and note, 886-889 
 Loughborough, Lord, 134, 139, 172, 190, 283 
 
 M 
 
 3Iac3Iahon, Sir John, 787-789 
 3Iajocchi, 715 
 
 3Ialniesbury, Lord, notes of, on his jonr- 
 ney to England with Caroline, 297-299 
 3Iarble Arch, the, 736 
 3Iary, Princess, letters of, 471, 472 
 3Iesmerism, 95 
 
 “ 3Iinistry of all the Talents ” collapses, 
 4:39 
 
 3Ioira, Lord, neglect of, by the ministry, 
 447 ; interposes in Clarke scandal case, 
 462 
 
 “ 3Ionk” Lewis, 454 
 
 Moore, Thomas, friendship of Prince of 
 Wales for, 3:36, 337 ; diary of, 487, note ; 
 song of “The New Costumes,” 522; 
 parody of “ Celebrated Letter,” 544-546 
 
 N 
 
 Nash, John, the architect, 582 
 New way to pay old debts, 308 
 Nicknames, prevalence of, 663 
 North, Lord, George III.’s abhorrence of, 
 44 
 
 North 3Iinistry, dismissal of, .38 
 
 O 
 
 O’Brien, the Irish cripple, 770, note 
 O’Connell, Daniel, rudeness of George 
 IV. to, 894 
 
 Oracle newspaper, secret correspond- 
 ence of editor of, 523, 525, note 
 Orleans, Duke of, arrives in London, 256 
 Otto, the French plenipotentiary, 355 
 Oxford, Bishop of, 525 
 
 P 
 
 Pavilion at Brighton, the, 128, 129 
 Payne, “ Jack,” 134, 443 and note 
 Peel, Robert, defeat of, at Oxford, 877 
 Pembroke, Lady, romance of George III. 
 
 about, 475, 476 and note 
 Perceval, Spencer, estimate of, 521 ; as- 
 sassination of. 550 
 
 Physicians to Oeorge III., expenses of, 
 195 
 
 Pitt, William, objection to scheme for 
 Prince of Wales’s allowance, 50 ; ar- 
 rangement with Prince of Wales, 114; 
 breaks do^^^l in the House after a de- 
 bauch, 119 ; fears a demonstration, 132 ; 
 accused of designs upon the Regency, 
 1.55; introduces resolutions about the 
 Regency into the House, 160 ; resolu- 
 tions carried, 162; “ restrictions,” 175 ; 
 retirement. ;346 ; contempt for Prince 
 of Wales, :390 ; death, 426 ; bust, 500 
 Princesses, characters of the, 198, 194 
 
INDEX. 
 
 921 
 
 Protest of male members of the Royal 
 Family against restricted Regency, 419, 
 480 
 
 Q 
 
 Quadrille, introduction of, into England, 
 671 
 
 Queen, The (Charlotte, wife of George 
 III.), quarrel with Prince of Wales, 151 ; 
 demand addressed to, by the Princes, 
 188, 189 ; affection for George III., 1!K) ; 
 endeavors to prevent reconciliation 
 between George III. and his sons, 191 ; 
 insensibility to Duke of York’s danger, 
 211, 212 ; indictment of, 219 ; indictment 
 resolved to be withdrawn, 219, 220 ; 
 hissed and hooted in public, 608 ; death 
 of, 650 ; distribution of property, 652 
 Queensberry, William, Duke of, “ Old Q,” 
 70; eccentricities, 70, 71 ; will disputed, 
 72,73 
 
 R 
 
 Regency, introduction of Bill into the 
 House, 178 ; excitement during struggle 
 about, 181 ; adjourned in consequence 
 of improvement in Geoge III.’s health, 
 18:1 ; again on the tapis, 347, 348 ; fete, 
 502-512; ladies of the period, 669-675; 
 eccentric characters, 664-669 and note 
 Regent, The— see George IV. 
 
 Regent’s Park and district contemplat- 
 ed, 519, 520 
 
 Robinson, Mrs., intrigue of the Prince of 
 Wales with, 28, 29 ; description of 
 Prince of Wales’s charms, :14, 35 
 Rolle’s certainty of Prince of Wales’s 
 marriage with Mrs. Fitzherbert, 106, 
 107 
 
 Romilly, Sir S., 421, 423 
 “ Royal Brothers,” the, .5:36, 537, 587, 641 
 Royal Household, 25, 101, :352 
 Royal taste for opera and theatre, 337 
 Rumors of war, 360 
 
 Russian Emperor arrives in England, 594, 
 
 S 
 
 Sandwich, Lord (“Jemmy Twitcher”), 
 251, 252 
 
 Seymour, Miss Mary, case of, 421-423 
 Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, “ says some- 
 thing” about Mrs. Fitzherbert, 113; 
 indiscreetness, 156 ; devotion to Prince 
 of Wales’s interests, :359 ; appointed 
 Receiver of Duchy of Cornwall, :383; 
 accused of lying and baseness, 482, 483 ; 
 vindication, 484 ; ridicule of the forms 
 of the address, 485; hoax plaj^ed on 
 “Romeo” Coates, 510; allowed to die 
 of poverty and neglect, 623, 624 
 Spa. 676 and note, 215 
 St. George's Hall, royal fete at, 203 
 St. James’s Palace, scandal at, 216 
 St. Paul’s, ceremony at, to return thanks 
 for George III.’s recoA'ery, 204 
 Sta^ltholder of Holland, 307 
 Stael, Madame de, 672 
 Sunmers, the, 7:38-?42, 889 
 Surrey, I.ord (aftervvards Duke of Nor- 
 folk), gross tastes and habits of, 73 
 
 T 
 
 Taylor, 3Iichael Angelo, 486, 487 
 Thackeray’s estimate of George IV. dis- 
 cussed, 58 
 
 Thistlewood conspiracy, the, 691, 692 
 Thurlow, Edward, Lord Chancellor, sus- 
 picious behavior, 133, 148 ; Loughbor- 
 ough’s opinion of, 149 ; hypocrisy, 157 ; 
 effect of his treachery, 158 ; at Windsoi-, 
 166 ; tears and treachery, 177 
 Ticknor, George, the people whom he 
 met, 614 
 
 Tiger, invention of the, by Hon. Henry 
 Barrymore, 69 
 
 Times newspaper prosecuted for libel, 
 250 
 
 “Tim-whiskeys,” 59 
 “Triumph of the whale,” 757 
 Truth, early indifference of Prince of 
 Wales to, 26, 27 
 Turkey-and-geese race, 76 
 Tutors of the Princes, 14-16 
 
 V 
 
 Vaucher, Charles, scandalous conduct 
 with regard to his bonds, 245 ; guillo- 
 tined, 246 
 
 Vers de Societe, 666, 667 
 Victoria, Queen, birth of, 653 
 Vimercati, 685 
 
 Volunteering, enthusiasm for, :342, 343 
 
 W 
 
 Waltz, introduction of the, 671, 672 
 Waterloo, news of victory at, received 
 at Ml-. Boehm’s ball, 615, 616 
 Watson, Bishop of Llandaff, 176 
 Wellesley, Richard Colley, Lord, 480, 
 522, 523, 525-529, .538, 554, 566, 567 
 Wellington, Duke of, 845, 846, 898, 900, 901 
 “ Weltjie’s” organized by the Prince of 
 Wales, 121, 122 
 
 Weymouth, Lord, double-dealing of, 45 
 Whitbread, suicide of, 625 
 White’s Club, ball given by, at the Pan- 
 theon, 204 
 
 Wilberforce, William, 703, 704 and note 
 William, Prince (afterwards King Wil- 
 liam IV.), 273, 911 
 Willis, Dr. John, 476 
 
 Wine, extraordinary prices paid for, 517 
 
 Y 
 
 Yachting, 626, 767 and note 
 York, Cardinal, pensioned by George 
 III., 627 ; papers and effects, 6'27 ; papers 
 seized by Papal authorities, 628 
 
 Duchess of, 645 
 
 Duke of, born, 12 ; returns to Eng- 
 land, 117 ; establishment formed at 
 Oatlands Park. 118 ; defends his broth- 
 er, 169 ; visits his father at Kew, 197 ; 
 quarrel with Col. Lenox, 206 ; marries 
 Princess Royal of Prussia, 272 ; expedi- 
 tion to the Netherlands, 285 ; Clark’s 
 1 scandal, 460-464 ; character, 613, 644 
 

 
 
 
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