was sent for the night before his Majesty set out for Italy, but could
not be found. The next morning he waited as usual upon the emperor,
who told him he was going to make a tour. He then walked down stairs,
and desired the general to get into the carriage that was standing at
the door. “Where is your Majesty going?” asked the general. “To
Italy,” replied the emperor. “But I have nothing ready.” “It does not
signify: a few shirts can be got anywhere.”—_Miss Knight’s Journal._
Footnote 32:
The Princess Croce was of a lively disposition. Being at St. Peter’s
on Good Friday, when the people were going up to kiss the relic of the
Cross, she said to the gentlemen who were with her, but loud enough to
be heard by the whole congregation, “This is _my_ fête, so you ought
to kiss me.”—_Miss Knight’s Journal._
Footnote 33:
An English lady remarked of Marchesi’s singing: “Cela est fort joli,
mais il ne va pas au cœur.” To which the emperor dryly replied: “Ces
choses doivent aller prémièrement à la tête, et ensuite au cœur,” and
turned on his heel and moved away.—_Miss Knight’s Journal._
Footnote 34:
A small copper coin worth about three-farthings.
Footnote 35:
Count Haga sees everything, and pays nothing.
Footnote 36:
“If he does not intone he will not get out of tune.”
Footnote 37:
“Do you stand here to eat your neighbour?”
Footnote 38:
“Because you catch the breath of all who come in.”
Footnote 39:
The original scene of a popular anecdote is laid by Miss Knight in
Florence. One of the miscellaneous entries in her journal for the year
1783 records how a Moorish ambassador was greatly fêted in that city,
but was chiefly pleased with a grand ball at which all the Florentine
nobility were present. It must have cost a great deal of money, he
said, to pay so many women for dancing.
Footnote 40:
The Princess Louisa Maximiliana of Stolberg-Gœdern married Charles
Edward Stuart, commonly called the Young Pretender. At his death, in
1788, she removed to Paris, accompanied by Count Alfieri, the famous
poet, to whom she is said to have been subsequently united by
marriage. Miss Knight takes a more favourable view of the countess’s
conduct and character than was altogether justified by the real facts
of the case.
Footnote 41:
Henry Benedict Maria Clement Stuart, brother of Prince Charles Edward,
born in 1725, was made a cardinal in 1747 by Pope Benedict XIV. His
valuable collection of paintings and antiques was plundered by the
French in 1788, and his property confiscated. He then removed to
Venice, where he endured considerable privations, until George III.,
hearing of his distress, generously bestowed upon him a pension of
4000_l._ a year. The cardinal returned to Rome in 1801, and continued
to reside there until his death in 1807. His learning, piety, and
virtues commanded the esteem of his contemporaries, with the
exception, apparently, of his sister-in-law and her immediate circle
of friends.
Footnote 42:
The Pretender himself told the Commander D’Olomieu that he was in
England in the year 1752, at the invitation of the minister, and that
he saw many people and was well received, though the person at whose
house he lodged knew not who he was. At Dover he went to the house of
a gentleman who belonged to the opposite party, but who treated him
with great respect and civility.—_Miss Knight’s Journal._
Footnote 43:
The Commander D’Olomieu told me, that when the Bailli de Suffren
brought over in his xebecque M. de Choiseul and his lady, the duke
being then appointed ambassador at the Court of Rome, the latter
presented him with a handsome snuff-box with the portrait of the
duchess. The bailli took a key out of his pocket, wrenched off the
portrait, which he kept, and returned the box to the ambassador.—_Miss
Knight’s Journal._
Footnote 44:
The King of Sweden appears to have been partial to this kind of
entertainment, if we may judge from an interesting letter, descriptive
of an ascent in his presence, dated from Naples February 19, which
appeared in the _European Magazine_ for April, 1784. Gustavus III. was
mortally wounded, March 16, 1792, at a masked ball, by Ankerstroem, an
officer dismissed from the Guards.
Footnote 45:
General Elliott was himself the most abstemious man in the garrison,
his diet being exclusively confined to vegetables, milk, puddings, and
farinaceous food.
Footnote 46:
This was not the only poetical effusion of the gallant general. He
also composed the following lines on a young lady who died in
consequence of dancing too much, and drinking too much lemonade, at a
ball:
“Do you know who’s gone away?
Do you know who’s gone away?
The masquerade and lemonade
Have done for Jenny Conaway.”
_Miss Knight, on the authority of Lieutenant Koehler._
Footnote 47:
“How can you expect that the son of the eternal father should give you
anything?”
Footnote 48:
“I rested afterwards at the house of a Monsieur Loriol. He was an old
man, with a white ribbon in his button-hole, and a good-humoured
countenance, which became ten times more beaming upon our informing
him, when he made the inquiry if I knew the Lady K., as he called her,
that I was acquainted with her. ‘Ah!’ said he, ‘she is an excellent
lady; she lived here eighteen months, and made drawings of all the
ruins in this neighbourhood. She had a very cross mother, but was
herself a most amiable person;’ and then he showed me two of Miss K.’s
gifts to himself, a pocket-book and snuff-box, of which, with some
Derbyshire spar, he seemed very proud.”—_Lady C. Campbell’s Diary
&c_., vol. ii.
Footnote 49:
At Savona, the birthplace of Christopher Columbus, Lady Knight and her
daughter received many civilities from the French consul—Signor
GARIBALDI, a Genoese.
Footnote 50:
“Oh! that is quite another thing. Here we spend money—there we make
it.”
Footnote 51:
It was during her residence at Genoa that Miss Knight published her
first work, “Dinarbas,” a continuation of “Rasselas.”
Footnote 52:
In the course of the preceding year Miss Knight brought out a work in
two volumes, entitled “Marcus Flaminius, or a View of the Life of the
Romans,” of which Miss Burney said: “I think it a work of great merit,
though wanting in variety, and not very attractive from much
interesting the feelings. But to Italian travellers, who are classy
readers, I imagine it must be extremely welcome, in reviving images of
all they have seen, well combined and contrasted with former times of
which they have read. The sentiments interspersed are so good, I wish
for more; and the principles that are meant to be recommended are both
pure and lofty. It is not a work which you will read quickly through,
or with ardour, but it is one, I think, of which you will not miss a
word.”—(_Madame d’Arblay’s Diary_, vol. v.) In 1805, Miss Knight
published also a quarto volume, entitled “A Description of Latium, or
La Campagna di Roma,” a work displaying a sound knowledge of classical
literature, together with a familiar acquaintance with the places she
describes.
Footnote 53:
Even the Protestantism of Dr. Johnson might have forgiven this as an
outburst of anti-republican zeal. See _antè_, Chapter I.
Footnote 54:
The late Duke of Sussex.
Footnote 55:
Sir William Hamilton, who was at that time sixty-eight years of age,
had been for nearly half that period British minister at the Court of
Naples. He had then been married to Lady Hamilton nearly seven years.
Footnote 56:
There was at that time a treaty between Naples and France, by which
the former bound herself not to admit more than two English ships of
war at a time into any Neapolitan or Sicilian port.
Footnote 57:
Maria Caroline, daughter of Maria Theresa of Austria. She was married,
in 1768, to Ferdinand IV., King of Naples, son of Charles III. of
Spain. A woman of great feminine beauty, but of a masculine
understanding, she has earned for herself an unhappy notoriety in
history as a princess of a cruel and ferocious nature, pitiless and
unscrupulous in the attainment of her ends. But it may be doubted
whether her vices have not been exaggerated both by English and French
historians. At all events, it should be borne in mind that she was
mated to a very weak prince, and that his feebleness rendered
necessary, in the troublous times in which their lot was cast, an
assertion of her masculine strength.
Footnote 58:
Afterwards Sir W. Hoste, K.C.B. His Memoirs and Correspondence were
published by Lady Hoste in 1833.
Footnote 59:
Afterwards Admiral the Honourable Sir Bladen Capel, K.C.B. Hoste and
Capel brought a letter of introduction from Nelson to Lady Hamilton,
in which he says: “I beg leave to introduce Captain Capel, who is
going home with my despatches, to your notice. He is a son of Lord
Essex, and a very good young man. And I also beg your notice of
Captain Hoste, who to the gentlest manners joins the most undaunted
courage. He was brought up by me, and I love him dearly.”
Footnote 60:
There is some error in these statements. Captain Capel, not Captain
Hoste, was appointed to the _Mutine_ on the promotion of Captain
Hardy. Hoste was appointed to her afterwards. The battle of the Nile
was fought on the 1st of August. The despatches were not received in
London till the 2nd of October.
Footnote 61:
Afterwards Admiral Sir Thomas Troubridge.
Footnote 62:
This is the Captain, afterwards Sir Alexander, Ball, of whom Coleridge
has given an interesting account in one of the numbers of the
_Friend_. There was an early coldness between him and Nelson, but the
great storm of the 20th of May, 1798, had brought them together, under
very interesting circumstances, and a close friendship was cemented
between them. Captain Ball was created a baronet in 1801, and was for
some time governor of Malta, where he died in 1809.
Footnote 63:
In Nelson’s published correspondence there is a letter to his wife
descriptive of his reception at Naples. The following passage will be
read with interest:—“I must endeavour to convey to you something of
what passed; but if it were so affecting to those who were only united
to me by bonds of friendship, what must it be to my dearest wife, my
friend, my everything which is most dear to me in this world? Sir
William and Lady Hamilton came out to sea, attended by numerous boats,
with emblems, &c. They, my most respectable friends, had nearly been
laid up and seriously ill; first from anxiety, then from joy. It was
imprudently told Lady Hamilton in a moment, and the effect was like a
shot; she fell apparently dead, and is not yet recovered from severe
bruises. Alongside came my honoured friends; the scene in the boat was
terribly affecting; up flew her ladyship, and exclaiming, ‘Oh, God! is
it possible?’ she fell into my arm more dead than alive. Tears,
however, soon set matters to rights, when alongside came the king. The
scene was, in its way, as interesting; he took me by the hand, called
me his deliverer, his preserver, with every other expression of
kindness. I hope some day to have the pleasure of introducing you to
Lady Hamilton; she is one of the very best women in the world; she is
an honour to her sex.” The hero was then drifting to his destiny. It
may be stated here that Nelson—then Captain Nelson—had first made the
acquaintance of the Hamiltons at Naples in 1793. He had made a strong
impression on them both. Sir William had predicted that, though only a
little fellow, and not very handsome, he would live to become the
greatest man that England had ever produced.
Footnote 64:
This was the unfortunate Prince Caraccioli, whose execution has thrown
so deep a shadow over the history of the connexion between Nelson,
Lady Hamilton, and the Queen of Naples.
Footnote 65:
Sir John Francis Edward Acton, Bart., of Aldenham, Salop, born 1736 or
1737, after a chequered and romantic career, became the favourite of
Queen Caroline of Naples, the prime minister, and commander-in-chief
of the naval and military forces of that kingdom. He bore an
implacable enmity to the French, which appears to have been cordially
reciprocated, for after the complete overthrow of the
Austro-Neapolitan army under General Mack, the French insisted upon
General Acton’s retirement from public affairs, and at a later period
(1803) he was compelled to withdraw into the island of Sicily. He died
at Palermo in the year 1811. All the biographical notices of this
remarkable man, being evidently derived from one common unauthentic
source, are equally full of errors and misstatements. His brother,
Joseph Edward, was also in the Neapolitan service, and was appointed
governor of Gaeta. It is said that he was originally in the French
army, and was present at the battle of Rosbach, but at the outbreak of
the Revolution emigrated to Naples. The Acton family were Roman
Catholics. The Neapolitan minister left two sons, the second of whom
became a cardinal. The widow of the younger brother (Baron Acton)
married the present Lord Granville.
Footnote 66:
Pius VI. was removed to Valence, notwithstanding his ill health and
advanced age, on the 14th July, 1798, and died there on the 29th
August, 1799, in his eighty-second year.
Footnote 67:
Miss Knight is somewhat unjust to the French general, Lespinasse,
whose portrait Angelica painted gratuitously. It was done by her own
desire, as an acknowledgment of the kind and courteous treatment she
had experienced at his hands, her house being specially exempted from
having soldiers billeted on it.
Footnote 68:
Sir Harris Nicolas says that this verse is attributed to a Mr.
Davenport. It was, in reality, written by Miss Knight herself.
Footnote 69:
Admiral Blanquet, whose flag was on the _Franklin_ (80), was taken
with his ship in the battle of the Nile. He was a brave and an honest
man, distinguished for his candour and ingenuousness.
Footnote 70:
The _Vanguard_, Nelson, had left Naples for Malta in October, but had
returned to the former place early in November. Miss Knight thus
records his arrival in her Journal:—“_November 5, 1798._—Appeared in
sight Admiral Nelson, in the _Vanguard_, with the _Minotaur_, Captain
Lewis, from Malta, and they were all day coming in; but the admiral
came on shore at four o’clock, and went immediately to Caserta, where
he was scarce arrived when the hereditary princess was brought to bed
of a daughter, and the bells were ringing, guns firing, &c. Next
morning the admiral presented to the king the French colours taken at
Gozo, telling his Majesty that he had sixteen thousand more subjects
than before.”
Footnote 71:
Killed very shortly afterwards at the defence of St. Jean d’Acre,
under Sir Sidney Smith.
Footnote 72:
“As there is but one inn in Palermo, we were obliged to agree to their
own terms (five ducats a day). We are but indifferently lodged;
however, it is the only inn we have yet seen in Sicily, and may be
said to be the only one in the island. It is kept by a noisy,
troublesome Frenchwoman, who, I find, will plague us.... She is as fat
as a pig, and as ugly as the devil, and lays on a quantity of paint
that looks like a great plaister of red morocco. Her picture is
hanging in the room where I am now writing, as well as that of her
husband, who, by-the-by, is a ninny: they are no less vile curiosities
than the originals. He is drawn with his snuff-box open in one hand,
and a dish of coffee in the other, and at the same time ‘fait
l’aimable à madame.’ I took notice of this triple occupation, which
seemed to imply something particular. She told me that the thought was
hers; that her husband was exceedingly fond of snuff and of coffee,
and wanted by this to show that he was still more occupied with her
than with either of them. I could not help applauding the ingenuity of
the conceit. Madame is painted with an immense bouquet in her breast,
and an orange in her right hand, emblematic of her sweetness and
purity, and has the prettiest little smirk on her face you can
imagine. She told me that she insisted on the painter drawing her
‘avec le souris sur le visage,’ but as he had not esprit enough to
make her smile ‘naturally’ she was obliged to force one ‘qui n’étoit
pas si joli que le naturel, mais qui vaudroit mieux que de paroître
sombre.’”—_Brydone’s Tour through Sicily and Malta._ Letter xxi.
Footnote 73:
“As for Sicilian airs, which are graceful and pathetic,” &c.—_History
of Music_, vol. iv.
Footnote 74:
Mrs. Cadogan was mother of Lady Hamilton. In one of the supplementary
chapters of Mr. Pettigrew’s Life of Nelson, it is stated that Lady
Hamilton, “by her connexion with Mr. Greville, is reputed to have had
three children, named Eliza, Anne, and Charles. She always passed for
their aunt, and took upon herself the name of Harte. In the splendid
misery in which she lived, she hastened to call to her her mother, to
whom she was through life most affectionate and attentive, _and she
passed by the name of Cadogan_.” There is a little confusion in this.
It does not appear very plainly whether Emma or her mother, at that
time, passed by the name of Cadogan. Mr. Cadogan and Alderman Smith
paid the last expenses ever incurred in the name of Lady Hamilton, and
the former gentleman brought Nelson’s daughter from Boulogne, and
handed her over to the motherly care of that hero’s sister, Mrs.
Matchan.
Footnote 75:
Among other statements was one to the effect that the queen was on
board, and witnessed the execution.
Footnote 76:
The Honourable George Keith Elphinstone, second son of Lord
Elphinstone, was created Lord Keith, for his services, in 1797, at the
Cape.
Footnote 77:
This stanza was written by Miss Knight, whom the officers of the fleet
called Nelson’s “charming poet-laureate.” Mr. Pettigrew, in his Life
of Nelson, says that it was written on the occasion of the capture of
the _Guillaume Tell_, the following having been previously written to
celebrate the capture of the _Généreux_:
“Lord, thou hast heard our vows!
Fresh laurels deck the brows
Of him we sing.
Nelson has laid full low
Once more the Gallic foe;
Come let our bumpers flow
To George our King.”
Footnote 78:
Mr. Pettigrew prints the first part of this stanza:
“While thus we chant his praise,
See what new _glories_ blaze,
New _trophies_ spring.”
Footnote 79:
The Queen of Naples was in despair about the supersession of Sir
William Hamilton, and used to write, at this time, about the “fatal
Paget,” the “inevitable Paget,” in terms of pitiable distress.
Footnote 80:
For an interesting sketch of the chequered career of this lady, and
for an able vindication of her character, see the Appendix to
Pettigrew’s Life of Nelson, and _Blackwood’s Magazine_ for April,
1859, No. dxxxiv.
Footnote 81:
Lord Nelson also kept in his cabin a coffin made out of the mainmast
of _L’Orient_, presented to him by Captain Hallowell, of the
_Swiftsure_. See Southey’s Life of Nelson.
Footnote 82:
The passion, in those days, for Delias and Celias was unconquerable,
else “Emma” would have been quite as metrical and much less pedantic.
Mr. Pettigrew has printed these lines with the substitution, or
perhaps restoration, of Emma for Delia, as “A Song addressed to Lady
Hamilton on her Birthday, April the 26th, 1800, on board the
_Foudroyant_, in a gale of wind.”
Footnote 83:
Nelson shifted his flag to the _Alexander_ on the 28th of June. On the
24th, Lord Keith, commander-in-chief, had arrived at Leghorn. He
thought that Nelson was too much disposed to employ his Majesty’s
ships in the service of the Queen of Naples, and the _Foudroyant_ was
ordered off to Minorca to be refitted. Lord Keith, however, authorised
Nelson to receive the Queen and her family on board the _Alexander_,
and to convey her to Palermo or any other desirable port. Her Majesty,
alarmed by the attitude of the populace of Leghorn, embarked on board
the _Alexander_ on the 9th of July, but landed again on the following
day, and started for Florence. Nelson, the Hamiltons, and Miss Knight
followed.
Footnote 84:
For a more detailed account of this journey, see a letter from Miss
Knight to Sir E. Berry, given in the Appendix. It is taken from the
fourth volume of the Nelson Despatches, edited by Sir Harris Nicolas.
Footnote 85:
Harrison, quoted by Sir H. Nicolas, says the 26th. It is stated, too,
that on the 29th (Nelson’s forty-second birthday) a grand fête was
given to him by the Archduke Charles. It is strange that it should not
have been recorded by Miss Knight if it actually occurred.
Footnote 86:
Baron de Breteuil returned to France in 1802, but never again took
part in public affairs.
Footnote 87:
This is an error. At the age of eighteen, young Dumouriez
distinguished himself at an affair of the advanced posts, under
Marshal d’Estrées, and in the following year he obtained a cornetcy of
horse.
Footnote 88:
Sister of the famous _émigré_, Count de Rivarol.
Footnote 89:
Southey tells this anecdote with more point. “A German pastor,” he
says, “between seventy and eighty years of age, travelled forty miles
with the Bible of his parish church, to request that Nelson would
write his name on the first leaf of it. He called him the Saviour of
the Christian world. The old man’s hope deceived him.”—_Southey’s Life
of Nelson_, chap. vi.
Footnote 90:
Klopstock lost his first wife, Margaret Müller, in 1758, and regretted
her loss until his own death, and his remains were laid in the same
tomb. His second wife, Madame de Winthem, whom he married in 1791, was
a lady of excellent character and rare merit: she was a widow at the
time of her marriage with Klopstock.
Footnote 91:
A German portrait-painter, patronised by the Empress Maria-Theresa. He
is best known, however, by his illustrations of Klopstock’s “Messiah.”
Footnote 92:
The Wrestlers’ Arms.
Footnote 93:
“The year 1800, though marked by no great political event, obtained a
disastrous celebrity as a year of scarcity. At the commencement of
harvest the rain descended in torrents, the lowlands were deluged with
water, the crops were spoiled, the price of wheat rose to more than
120s. a quarter, and people resorted to all sorts of devices to
economise the consumption of bread. Potatoes, potato flour, and rice,
were the ordinary substitutes, and an Act of Parliament forbade the
bakers to sell any but whole meal bread.”—_The Diaries and
Correspondence of the Right Hon. George Rose_, vol. i. p. 280.
Footnote 94:
Sister of Lord Moira, afterwards Marquis of Hastings. In the two
following chapters of this Memoir there is frequent notice of Lady
Aylesbury.
Footnote 95:
Mrs. Fitzherbert must, at that time, have been in her forty-fifth
year. She was about twenty-nine when she first attracted the attention
of the Prince of Wales, who was six years her junior. They were
married according to the rites of the Roman Catholic Church, on the
21st of December, 1785. When Miss Knight met Mrs. Fitzherbert on the
occasion referred to (1800-1), the prince had been married for some
time to Caroline of Brunswick. That ill-omened event took place on the
8th of April, 1795.
Footnote 96:
Daughter of the Earl of Dunmore. Lady Augusta was married to Prince
Augustus (Duke of Sussex) at Rome, according to the rites of the Roman
Catholic Church, and afterwards at St. George’s, Hanover-square. She
had two children by the prince, but after her marriage was declared
illegal, she refused to have further intercourse with him.
Footnote 97:
The Rev. William Nelson, who succeeded to the earldom on Nelson’s
death, but left no issue.
Footnote 98:
The preliminaries were signed in London on the 1st of October, 1801,
and in Paris on the 5th of the same month. The Treaty of Peace was
concluded at Amiens on the 27th of March, 1802, and war again declared
on the 18th of May, 1803.
Footnote 99:
Son of the Marquis of Aylesbury.
Footnote 100:
Correspondence of Henrietta Louisa Fermor, Countess of Pomfret, and
Frances, Countess of Hartford, afterwards Duchess of Somerset.—Three
vols. 8vo. London: 1805.
Footnote 101:
On the 31st of May the Duke of Cumberland returned to town from a
dinner at Greenwich, in order to be present at a concert for the
benefit of the Royal Society of Musicians. He retired to rest about
one o'clock, and awoke a little after two, in consequence, as he
thought, of a bat flying about the room. He had actually, however,
received a severe sword-cut on the head, which was quickly followed up
by a second. As his royal highness sprang out of bed the assassin cut
him across the arm, and, in all, inflicted some half-dozen wounds
before the duke could make his escape from the room. His cries quickly
brought an English valet (Neale) to the spot, when a sabre belonging
to the duke was found on the floor of the bedroom. Sellis, his
Corsican or Italian valet, was then discovered stretched on his bed,
partly undressed, and with his throat cut from ear to ear. The
circumstantial evidence in proof of his guilt was conclusive, though
many calumnious stories were afterwards circulated tending to
criminate the duke himself, who had stood godfather to Sellis's last
child. At the coroner's inquest the jury brought in a verdict of "felo
de se," and the body of the wretched man was accordingly buried in
"the high road" in Scotland-yard.
Footnote 102:
The Princess Amelia was born on the 7th of August, 1782, and died on
the 2nd of November, 1810. From her earliest infancy she was extremely
delicate, and perhaps for that reason was the especial favourite of
the king. His malady was greatly aggravated by the shock which he
sustained one day when he visited her during her last illness. The
princess slipped upon his finger a ring, containing a lock of her hair
under a crystal, and beneath the hair were inscribed her name and the
words “Remember me.”
Footnote 103:
Previously Princess Royal of England.
Footnote 104:
This would have been a gross breach of etiquette. In Madame d’Arblay’s
Memoirs there are some good-naturedly satirical directions given as to
the conduct to be observed in the presence of royalty. “You must not
upon any account stir either hand or foot. If, by chance, a black pin
runs into your head, you must not take it out. If the pain is very
great, you must be sure to bear it without wincing; if it brings the
tears into your eyes, you must not wipe them off; if they give you a
tingling by running down your cheeks, you must look as if nothing was
the matter,” &c. &c.—Vol. ii. p. 407.
Footnote 105:
Lady George Murray was widow of Lord George Murray, Bishop of St.
David’s. George the Third, proposing to appoint her preceptress to
Princess Charlotte in 1805, commanded Mr. Rose to state distinctly
what he knew about that lady. Mr. Rose then said, “that as a girl she
was remarkably amiable, and very innocent; that she had been married
when little more than a child to a young man under age; that she had
conducted herself most unexceptionably, to say the least, both as a
wife and mother; that he had never heard a syllable to her
disadvantage, but much in her commendation.”—_Diaries and
Correspondence of the Right Hon. George Rose_, vol. ii.
Footnote 106:
The pall was supported by the Viscountess Cranley, Lady E. Thynne, the
Countess of Ely, and Lady G. Murray. The chief mourner was the
Countess of Chesterfield, whose train was borne by Lady Halford, the
wife of the eminent physician, supported by the Countesses of
Macclesfield and Ilchester. The ladies attendant on the Queen and
Princesses who were present on this occasion were Lady Albinia
Cumberland, Miss Goldsworthy, Mrs. Williams, Hon. Mrs. Fielding, Hon.
Mrs. Egerton, Hon. Miss Townshend, Madame and Mademoiselle
Beckersdorff, Miss Knight, Mrs. Adams, Miss Montmollin, Miss Planta,
Miss Gaskin, Miss Byerley, Mrs. Davenport, and Mrs. Robinson. The
funeral took place in the evening of the 14th of November.
Footnote 107:
The words of the concluding verse of the sixteenth Psalm: “Thou wilt
shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy
right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”
Footnote 108:
The comet of 1811 was first discovered at Viviers by M. de
Flanguergues on the 25th March. It was seen at Marseilles by the
Messrs. Pons on the 11th April, and at Paris on the 20th May. It then
became invisible until some time in August, when it was first seen in
England. Its nearest approach to the earth was on the 24th of October,
on which the _Gentleman’s Magazine_ remarks: “We regret to say that
the awfully sublime stranger will not much longer appear to the same
advantage to our view.” The length of its tail was conjectured to be
between twenty and thirty millions of miles.
Footnote 109:
The Princess’s governesses were the Countess Elgin and Baroness de
Clifford. In 1809, Dr. Fisher, Bishop of Salisbury, was appointed her
Royal Highness’s preceptor, with Drs. Nott and Short as his
assistants.
Footnote 110:
Afterwards Lady Charlotte Bury, authoress of “A Diary Illustrative of
the Times of George the Fourth,” and of many now forgotten novels,
such as “The Disinherited,” “The Devoted,” “Flirtation,”
“Fortune-Hunting,” &c.
Footnote 111:
Lady Aylesbury died in Seymour-street, on the 8th of January, 1813.
Footnote 112:
Lady Aylesbury’s niece.
Footnote 113:
Daughter of Lord Keith; afterwards Baroness Keith (1823)—married in
1817 the Count de Flahault, the present (1860-61) French Ambassador at
our Court.
Footnote 114:
Lord Eldon’s grandfather, William Scott, of Sandgate, was “said to
have been clerk to a ‘fitter,’ and who, in the latter part of his
life, himself became the owner of several ‘keels’—a ‘fitter’ being the
person who buys and sells coals between the owner of the mine and the
shipper, and who conveys them in ‘keels,’ or barges, from the higher
parts of the Tyne to Newcastle or Shields, where they are loaded for
exportation.”—_Lord Campbell’s Life of Lord Eldon._
Lady Charlotte Campbell thus relates this scene at second-hand:
“Sunday, 17th (January), Lady de Clifford came and told the Princess
all the story of the Regent’s scolding Princess Charlotte over again,
and repeated what he had said in respect to her never having an
establishment till she married. He had also, she said, called her a
fool, and used other violent language. The Chancellor told the
Princess Charlotte that if she had been his daughter, and had written
him such a letter, he would have locked her up till she came to her
senses. ‘Rather violent language,’ said Lady de Clifford, ‘for a
coal-heaver’s son to the future Queen of England.’”—_Diary
Illustrative of the Times of George the Fourth_, vol. i.
Footnote 115:
Lord Moira’s wife, a Countess in her own right.
Footnote 116:
In Lady C. Campbell’s “Diary Illustrative of the Times of George the
Fourth” there occurs the following entry, under the date of the 24th
of January: “She (the Princess Charlotte) told her mother that there
had been a great battle at Windsor between the Queen and the Prince;
the former refusing to give up Miss Knight from her own person to
attend on Princess Charlotte as sub-governess; but the Prince Regent
had gone to Windsor himself, and insisted on her doing so, and the
‘old begum’ was forced to submit, but has been ill ever since, and Sir
Henry Halford declared it was a complete breaking up of the
constitution (to the great delight of the two Princesses who were
talking about the affair). Miss Knight was the very person they wished
to have; they think they can do as they like with her.” Upon this the
editor remarks in a footnote: “In this idea their Royal Highnesses
were much mistaken; for Miss Knight was a person of uncompromising
integrity and steady rectitude of conduct. A devoted royalist, but not
a sycophant, no one has proved more than she has the fallaciousness of
Court favour. The Queen Charlotte never forgave her for having left
her service to attend the young Princess Charlotte, and the Regent
afterwards dismissed her in an unjust manner from the post in which he
had himself placed her, and which every one who knows Miss Knight is
confident she never was unworthy of.”
Footnote 117:
Warwick House stood at the end of Warwick-street, which stretches from
Cockspur-street towards Carlton House-terrace, but terminates in a
cul-de-sac. The site of the house itself, between which and the
gardens of Carlton House there appears to have been a private
communication, is now occupied by some livery stables. Warwick House
was formerly the residence of Sir Philip Warwick, the well-known
Royalist writer, who was born there in 1609. The street, which was
built at a later date, was called after the Warwick family, and still
retains the name.
Footnote 118:
Sister of Colonel Goldsworthy, one of the royal equerries most
frequently mentioned in Madame D’Arblay’s Memoirs. She was very deaf,
and in the habit of falling asleep at the dinner-table.
Footnote 119:
Daughter of Thomas Anguish, Esq., a Master in Chancery.
Footnote 120:
Catherine Anne Sarah, daughter of fifth Duke of Leeds, born 1798;
married, in 1819, to J. Whyte-Melville, Esq., of Bennochy.
Footnote 121:
“He (Prince Regent) was indeed,” said the Duke (of Wellington), “the
most extraordinary compound of talent, wit, buffoonery, obstinacy, and
good feeling; in short, a medley of the most opposite qualities, with
a great preponderance of good, that I ever saw in any character in my
life.”—_Raikes’s Journal_, vol. i.
Footnote 122:
“Miss Knight is appointed sub-governess to the Princess Charlotte of
Wales in the room of Mrs. Udney, who retired with Lady de
Clifford.”—_Morning Chronicle_, January 30.
“Miss Knight, who succeeds Mrs. Udney as sub-governess to the Princess
Charlotte, is the daughter of the late admiral who died in the
Mediterranean, and who, when in Italy with her father, may be
remembered by her verses on the transactions then occurring there.
Since her return she has been in attendance on the Queen.”—_Morning
Chronicle_, February 1.
Footnote 123:
“Miss Knight is not appointed sub-governess to her Royal Highness the
Princess Charlotte. Miss Knight is one of the _ladies companions_ to
her Royal Highness, and is the daughter of the late Sir Joseph
Knight.”—_Morning Chronicle_, February 4.
This contradiction, however, did not remove the impression that Miss
Knight was the governess of the Princess. Sir Harris Nicolas, in his
edition of the “Correspondence of Lord Nelson,” speaks of her as
“preceptress” and “sub-governess,” and Lord Colchester, in his
journal, does the same.
Footnote 124:
Nephew of George the Third, and brother of Queen Caroline, afterwards
killed at Quatre-Bras.
Footnote 125:
The Duke of York’s country residence.
Footnote 126:
The Duke of Gloucester was first cousin of the Regent. He died on the
20th of November, 1834, at Bagshot, after a painful illness of fifteen
days, aged fifty-nine. He married in 1816 the Princess Mary, his
cousin, sister of the Regent. “He was not a man of talent, as may be
inferred from his nickname of _Silly Billy_, but he was a quiet,
inoffensive character, rather tenacious of the respect due to his
rank, and strongly attached to the ultra-Tory party. His father, the
late Duke, married Lady Waldegrave; thus he was uncle to Mrs.
Darner.”—_Raikes’s Journal_, vol. i.
Footnote 127:
Lord Eldon.
Footnote 128:
According to “The Mirror of Fashion,” Miss Knight wore on this
occasion “a dress of orange-coloured satin, with draperies of silver
gauze, tastefully separated with net silver rolio, forming a lacing
between each, through which the colour of the satin under-dress was
discovered; the whole trimmed with handsome silver cords and tassels;
robe, black velvet.”
Footnote 129:
Cambridge House, South Audley-street.
Footnote 130:
“The Mirror of Fashion” informs us that Miss Knight’s dress was “of
white net, spangled all over with gold, and ornamented with broad
borders, with wreaths of fancy flowers, over a rich white satin slip.”
Footnote 131:
Afterwards William the Fourth.
Footnote 132:
This letter occupied a column and a half of the _Morning Chronicle_ of
the 10th of February, and is dated from Montague House, January 14,
1813. On the 11th of February that journal gave the following account
of the mode by which the letter in question had come into its
possession: “It was transmitted on the 14th ult. to Lord Liverpool and
Lord Eldon, sealed by Lady Charlotte Campbell as lady in waiting for
the month, expressing her Royal Highness’s pleasure that it should be
presented to the Prince Regent; and there was an open copy for their
perusal. On the 15th, the Earl of Liverpool presented his compliments
to Lady Charlotte Campbell, and returned the letter unopened. On the
16th, it was returned by Lady Charlotte, intimating that as it
contained matter of importance to the state, she relied on their
laying it before his Royal Highness. It was again returned unopened,
with the Earl of Liverpool’s compliments to Lady Charlotte, saying
that the Prince saw no reason to depart from his determination. On the
17th, it was returned in the same way by command of her Royal
Highness, expressing her confidence that the two noble Lords would not
take upon themselves the responsibility of not communicating the
letter to his Royal Highness, and that she should not be the only
subject in the empire whose petition was not to be permitted to reach
the throne. To this an answer was given that the _contents_ of it had
been made known to the Prince. On the 19th, her Royal Highness
directed a letter to be addressed to the two noble Lords, desiring to
know whether it had been made known to his Royal Highness by being
read to him, and to know his pleasure thereon. No answer was given to
this letter, and therefore, on the 26th, she directed a letter to be
written expressing her surprise that no answer had been given to her
application for a whole week. To this an answer was received addressed
to the Princess, stating that in consequence of her Royal Highness’s
demand, her letter had been read to the Prince Regent on the 20th, but
that he had not been pleased to express his pleasure thereon. Here the
correspondence was closed, and some days after this copies of the
letter were in circulation, but we know not from what quarter they
originated.” The letter will be found in the Appendix.
Footnote 133:
The Princess of Wales then resided at Brandenburg House, at
Kensington.
Footnote 134:
Lord Liverpool was, at that time, Prime Minister. His premiership
commenced in 1812, and ended in 1827.
Footnote 135:
Major-General Sir John Douglass had declared that the Princess of
Wales was delivered of a child in 1802. This vile calumny was refuted
by the evidence adduced before Lords Grenville, Spencer, Erskine, and
Ellenborough, sitting in commission, in 1806. After Sir John’s revival
of this disproved slander, he was suspended from employment about the
Duke of Sussex, expelled from a masonic lodge, and spoken of with
contempt by Lord Castlereagh in the Upper House, and by Mr. Whitbread
in the House of Commons.
Footnote 136:
One of the sons of the Duke of Clarence (by Mrs. Jordan), and,
therefore, first cousin of the Princess. There is subsequent mention
of this calumny at page 226.
Footnote 137:
The report of the commission appointed to investigate the conduct of
the Princess of Wales is given in the Appendix.
Footnote 138:
Mother of the Princess of Wales. Her Royal Highness died at her
lodgings in Hanover-square.
Footnote 139:
The Princess of Wales had, at this time, taken up her residence in the
village of Charlton, near Blackheath.
Footnote 140:
Sir Henry Halford’s very interesting account of the opening of the
coffin of Charles the First is given in the Appendix.
Footnote 141:
Daughter of Dr. Roberts, Provost of Eton, then deceased some years.
Footnote 142:
Lady Charlotte Campbell says in her Diary: “Her (the Princess’s) legs
and feet are very pretty; her Royal Highness knows that they are so,
and wears extremely short petticoats. Her face would be pretty, too,
if the outline of her cheeks was not so full.”
Footnote 143:
The following is the letter referred to in the text. It is addressed
to the Duchess of Leeds:
“Jan. 16, 1813.
“MADAM,—Nothing can exceed my gratitude to the Prince Regent for
the confidence he has been pleased to place in me. It will be
imprinted deeply on my mind while I have life.
“My attachment to the Princess Charlotte is very great, and there
is nothing I would not do to prove it. I am also most sensible of
your Grace’s kindness; but, although her Majesty has been
graciously pleased to say that she leaves me unbiased as to my
decision, duty and gratitude oblige me to consider myself as
belonging to her, and therefore not at liberty to accept what
would have otherwise been my ambition.
“As this is _my only_ cause for declining the honour offered me, I
will entreat your Grace to communicate it to the Prince, and to
believe me, madam,” &c.
Footnote 144:
The following is the Prince’s letter:
“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 the 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
enthusiasm, while the whole universe will acknowledge those
valorous efforts which have so imperiously called for it. That
uninterrupted health, and still increasing laurels, may continue
to crown you through a glorious and long career of life, are the
never-ceasing and most ardent wishes of, my dear Lord,
“Your very sincere and
“Faithful friend
“G. P. R.
“The Marquis of Wellington.”
Footnote 145:
“July 1. At Warwick House, Mrs. Gagarin, many years an affectionate
and faithful attendant of the Princess Charlotte of Wales. Her last
moments were solaced by the condescending and unremitting attentions
of her Royal Highness, reflecting a lustre on the native goodness of
her heart, superior to all the appendages of her exalted rank.”—_Gent.
Mag._, August, 1813.
Footnote 146:
Chancellor of the Duchy of Cornwall.
Footnote 147:
The subjoined letter, from Lord St. Vincent to Miss Knight, relates to
this subject:
“MY DEAR MADAM,—Under the circumstances you were placed in,
nothing could be better judged than your letter; the reply wore
the finesse of a courtier; the means of applying an antidote to
the poison are difficult in a position surrounded by spies, prone
to put that construction upon actions which they think will be
most pleasing to the persons who listen to them, mixed with envy
and malice. Truth will in the long run prevail; in the mean while
you have a powerful shield in the correctness of your conduct
through life, and the integrity with which you have performed the
important duties of your present station. I dread the effect these
miserable subterfuges may have upon the young lady’s mind, happily
formed to resist attempts to make her a hypocrite; yet to have the
movement of her muscles watched, and a wrong interpretation put
upon all her actions, must produce an ill effect, in the practice
of concealment of thought at least, if not driven to carry it
farther. One should have expected that her openness of character
would have created confidence.
“I rejoice that your health does not suffer under these painful
restrictions and suspicions. You have the most ardent wishes for
the continuance of it and every other blessing, of
“Your truly affectionate,
“ST. VINCENT.
“Rochetts, Aug. 23, 1813.”
Footnote 148:
The Governor of the Military College, Sandhurst.
Footnote 149:
Afterwards first King of the Netherlands.
Footnote 150:
“The Duke of Brunswick is very-near being a handsome man; his figure
is light and graceful; and were it not that he carries his head ill,
he would be a noble-looking creature. His eyes are deep sunk in his
head, more so than I ever saw in any one, and his brows are remarkably
prominent, with shaggy eyebrows. This circumstance gives him a sombre
expression, and indeed the whole cast of his countenance is gloomy,
but his features are regular; and, when he smiles, there is a
transitory sweetness which is very striking, by the contrast to his
usual severity of expression. In manner he is very reserved—stiff and
Germanic. He remained some time conversing with his sister (Princess
of Wales) in German, eyeing the lady-in-waiting occasionally askance.
He seemed glad to take his leave.”—_Lady C. Campbell’s Diary_, vol. i.
Footnote 151:
“May 31, 1814. The latter (Princess Charlotte) told her mother, the
last time they met, that she was determined not to marry the Prince of
Orange; that ‘his being approved of by the Royal Family was quite
sufficient to make him disapproved of by her; for that she would marry
a man who would be at _her_ devotion, not theirs. Marry I will,’ said
she to the Princess of Wales, ‘and that directly, in order to enjoy my
liberty, but not the Prince of Orange. I think him so ugly that I am
sometimes obliged to turn my head away in disgust when he is speaking
to me.’
“‘But, my dear,’ replied her mother (at least so her Royal Highness
told me), ‘whoever you marry will become a king, and you will give him
a power over you.’
“‘A king! Pho, pho! _Never!_ He will only be _my first subject—never
my king!_’”—_Lady C. Campbell’s Diary_, vol. i.
Footnote 152:
There is apparently an error of a week in this—the date should be the
11th. See note, _infra_, page 268.
Footnote 153:
“Sunday, January 9.... There was hung in the apartment one portrait,
amongst others, that very much resembled the Duke of D. I asked Miss
Knight whom it represented; she said that was not known; it had been
supposed a likeness of the Pretender when young.”—_Lady C. Campbell’s
Diary_, vol. i.
Footnote 154:
There is evidently some confusion of dates in this narrative. It was
on the 14th December that the grand City banquet was given at the
London Tavern in honour of the hereditary Prince of Orange—the Duke of
Clarence in the chair. According to Lord Colchester (Diary), the young
Prince did not arrive from Spain before the 11th of December.
Footnote 155:
Purposely erased in the original journal.
Footnote 156:
“The frost was ushered in by a fog which, for its intensity and
duration, has seldom been equalled. This began about five in the
evening of Monday, December 27th.... The Prince Regent, intending to
pay a visit to the Marquis of Salisbury at Hatfield House, was obliged
to return back to Carlton House, after one of his out-riders had
fallen into a ditch on this side of Kentish Town, and which short
excursion occupied several hours. Mr. Croker, of the Admiralty, also
wishing to proceed on a visit northward, wandered in the dark several
hours without making more than three or four miles’ progress.... There
is nothing in the memory of man to equal the late fall of snow, which,
after several shorter intervals, continued incessantly for forty-eight
hours, and this, too, after the ground was covered with a
condensation, the result of nearly four weeks’ continued frost. Almost
the whole of the time the wind blew continually from the north and
north-east, and was intensely cold.”—_Universal Magazine_, January,
1814.
The thaw did not commence until the 6th of February, 1814, and a fair
was held on the Thames for several weeks. “Paths were formed,” says
the _Universal Magazine_ for March, “both direct and diagonal from
shore to shore; and frequent cautions were given to those heroines
whose curiosity induced them to venture on the glassy plane, to be
careful _not to slip off the kerb_. The votaries of Terpsichore amused
themselves with the mazy dance, in which they were accompanied
principally by Pandean pipes, while others diverted themselves with
skittles; and the well-known cry of ‘Up and win ’em’ resounded from
the voices of numerous vendors of savoury pies, gin, and gingerbread,
&c. Most of the booths were distinguished by appropriate signs; there
were the Watermen’s Arms, the Crown, the Magpye, the Eelpot, &c.; and
one wag had a notice appended to his tent that several feet adjoining
his premises _were to be let on a building lease_.”
Footnote 157:
The _Morning Chronicle_ of January 6th gives the following account of
the christening at Belvoir:
“The baptismal ceremony of the infant Marquis (who, to use the phrase
of a nurse, ‘is as fine a little fellow of four months old as ever was
seen’) took place at six o’clock in the evening (4th January, 1814).
The sponsors were—
H.R.H. the Prince Regent - in person,
H.R.H. the Duke of York - in person,
Her Grace the Duchess-Dowager of Rutland, proxy for H.M. the Queen.
His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury arrived at the Castle early in
the morning, and he performed the baptismal ceremony with solemnity
and graceful expression, assisted by the Rev. John Thornton, Chaplain
to his Grace the Duke of Rutland, who made the responses.... A
discharge of fifteen cannon from the Castle announced the event,” &c.
&c. There are long accounts in the papers of the time of the
festivities at Belvoir Castle. The Prince Regent’s subsequent illness
may be thence easily accounted for.”
Footnote 158:
“A singularly neat and very elegant landau will be launched in a few
days by H.R.H. the Princess Charlotte of Wales. It is built by Messrs.
Birch and Son, Great Queen-street, Lincoln’s Inn-fields. The carriage
is beautifully finished. The body is painted a fine light green,
emblazoned with arms, supporters, &c., with mantles on the panels. On
the side panels is a beautiful _à la Grecque_ border, enclosing the
cipher C. P. W., with a coronet above. The same ornaments are placed
on the door rails; very superb silver joints, lamps, and other
appropriate ornaments, extremely neat; the lining is a fine scarlet
cloth, with rich gold lace and fringe; the hammercloth is, agreeable
to royal etiquette, composed of scarlet cloth, very full, with a
purple velvet border, and trimmed with gold lace. Outside elbows are
introduced, but the projection is upon so moderate a scale that they
are scarcely perceptible. The carriage is a very light compass perch
painted yellow, picked out with maroon colour, hung upon whip springs,
two feet six inches from the ground; silver hoops to the wheels; an
upright coach-box, made in the usual style, but not fixed.”—_Morning
Chronicle_, February 3rd, 1814.
This statement was contradicted in the same paper on the following day
“by authority.”
Footnote 159:
“The Baron Van der Duyn Van Maasdam, Grand Master of the Household to
his Royal Highness the Prince Sovereign of the Netherlands, whose
presentation to the Prince Regent at a private audience on the 9th
inst (March), accompanied by M. Fagel, the regular ambassador, was
notified in the _Gazette_ of Saturday last, as having come on a
special mission from the Court of the Hague, has been sent over to
make a demand in form of the Princess Charlotte’s hand in marriage for
the hereditary Prince of Orange. The sanction of the previous consent
and approbation of the Prince Regent, the Princess herself, and of the
whole Court and Government, has already smoothed the way to the
arrangements of this important and auspicious union, which must,
however, according to the established etiquette among crowned heads,
be demanded by embassy after it has been agreed upon by the parties;
and the settlements and provisions resulting from the exalted
condition and prospective sovereign duties of the personages to be
married, must be reduced into a treaty by plenipotentiaries specially
appointed. M. Van Maasdam is charged with full powers for this purpose
on the part of the Prince Sovereign of the Netherlands.”—_Morning
Chronicle_, March 17, 1814.
Footnote 160:
It had been adjourned to that date.
Footnote 161:
See Lord Colchester’s Journal, under date February 28. “At Lord
Sidmouth’s office met Lord Liverpool; talked over the proceedings upon
the intended marriage of the Princess Charlotte to the hereditary
Prince of Orange, which is to be communicated to Parliament before
Easter.”
Footnote 162:
“May 21, 1814. The Prince of O——e, it is said, wishes his wife to go
with him to his own Dutch land, and so does the Prince Regent, who
does not like a rising sun in his own: but report also whispers that
the _rising sun_ is aware of this, and will not consent to the
marriage, unless she is allowed to shine in her own dominions.”—_Lady
C. Campbell’s Diary_, vol. i.
Footnote 163:
Subsequently married to the Crown Prince of Würtemberg.
Footnote 164:
Prince Nicolas Wasiliwitch Repnin, nephew of Count Panin, minister and
favourite of the Empress Catherine. As Russian Ambassador at the Court
of Stanislaus Poniatowski, he virtually governed Poland from 1764 till
1770, when he joined the army under Count Romanzoff, and greatly
distinguished himself in the campaign against the Turks. In after
years he gained more than one victory over that enemy, and also became
the successful rival of Prince Potemkin. He was raised to the rank of
Field Marshal by Paul I., and was sent to Berlin rather as a
negotiator than as an ambassador. He died at Moscow in 1801.
Footnote 165:
And in their persons, too. Lord Colchester speaks of them as “two ugly
old women.”
Footnote 166:
“The Duchess of Oldenburg is spoken of as a very clever woman, and I
am inclined to believe the truth of the report, by the observation she
seems to take, not only of our places of entertainment, but of
everything best worth seeing in this country. I understand she is a
great favourite of Princess Charlotte, and gives her (as it is
supposed) excellent advice about her conduct.”—_Lady C. Campbell’s
Diary_, vol. i.
Footnote 167:
On the 20th of April, 1814.
Footnote 168:
Count Woronzow died in England on the 18th June, 1832. His daughter
married the Earl of Pembroke, and was the mother of Lord Herbert of
Lea. The Count left one son, whose name, as Prince Woronzow, became
familiar to English ears during the Crimean war.
Footnote 169:
April 20th.
Footnote 170:
“Judge of the transport with which I seize my pen to apprise you that
my daughter has acted with the greatest firmness, promptitude, and
energy of character possible in the very intricate business concerning
her marriage. She has manœuvred and conquered the Regent so
completely, that there can be no more doubt that the marriage is broke
off. The Prince Hereditary of Orange was secretly sent for by the
Regent, and arrived under the feigned name of Captain St. George.
Under that same name he presented himself next day at Warwick House
early in the morning. She was in bed, and had not expected him in this
country; Miss Knight received him. She had afterwards a long
conversation with him, in which she showed him every letter that had
passed between her father and her upon that subject. She then declared
to him that she never would leave this country, except by an Act of
Parliament, and by her own especial desire. She then desired that he
might retire, and that she would not see him again till these matters
were settled. Two days after he came again and brought a message from
the Regent, in which he proposed to her that he would forgive and
forget everything, and that she should immediately come to him, and
that everything should be arranged in the most amicable manner. She
declared that she would not see her father, or any of the family, till
their consent to her remaining in this country had been obtained, or
that otherwise the marriage would be broke off. She has received no
answer since the course of a week from her father, and she supposes
that the papers have been sent to Holland, to make the family there
also a party concerned in a new political question for the future
happiness of England. It has, in my opinion, nothing at all to do with
the Dutch family. The Duchess of Oldenburg, I believe, is her chief
adviser, and as she is a clever woman, and knows the world and mankind
well, my daughter cannot be in better hands.”—_Extract of Letter from
the Princess of Wales in Lady C. Campbell’s Diary_, vol. i. See
Appendix.
Footnote 171:
“We are now fitting up the Duke of Cumberland’s house, to receive
Alexander (Emperor of Russia) in, because we have none of our own. And
in the mean time our future son-in-law lodges at his tailor’s! because
he has neither house nor hotel to put his head in; and though we drink
his health occasionally with three cheers, and twice as many speeches,
we do not love him well enough to give him a good bed
anywhere.”—_Extract of Letter from Lord Granville to the Marquis of
Buckingham, dated “Camelford House, May 9, 1814.” Memoirs of the
Regency_, vol. i.
Footnote 172:
There was precedent for this—see following extract from preamble of
the statute 1 Mary, sess. 3, chap. 2, relating to the proposed
marriage of Philip and Mary: “That the said Lord Prince shall not lead
away the foresaid most Noble Lady out of the borders of her Highness’s
realme, unless she herself desire it, nor carry the children that
shall be borne of his matrimony out of the same realme of England; but
to the hope of succession to come, shall there suffer them to be
nourished and brought up, unless it shall be otherwise thought good by
the consent and agreement of the nobilitie of England.”
Footnote 173:
“While every one in the three kingdoms was under the influence of
excitement, it was not to be expected that her Royal Highness the
Princess of Wales would remain unmoved. The Queen was about holding
two Drawing-rooms, and as the Prince Regent intended to be present,
his Royal Highness had requested her Majesty to intimate to the
Princess of Wales his determination not to meet her, either in public
or in private. The Queen was thus placed under the painful necessity
of intimating to her Royal Highness that she could not be received at
her Drawing-rooms. This was quite sufficient provocation for the
inflammable nature of the Princess, and the following day her Royal
Highness addressed the Queen at considerable length, apparently
acceding to the prohibition, but threatening to appeal to the public.
Her Majesty answered with characteristic dignity, which elicited a
rejoinder from her angry daughter-in-law, which produced only a simple
acknowledgment from the Queen. She then addressed herself to the
Prince Regent, referring, as usual, to the declaration of her entire
innocence by the Government in 1807, and giving him to understand that
they _must_ meet at the approaching marriage of their daughter, and at
their _coronation_; adding, that the prohibition was rendered
intolerable, in consequence of the distinguished visitors then
flocking into the country; one of whom, the illustrious heir of the
House of Orange, had ‘announced himself to me as my future
son-in-law.’”—_The Duke of Buckingham’s Memoirs of the Regency_ vol.
ii.
Mr. Methuen, on the 4th of June, proposed in the House of Commons
“that an humble address be presented to the Prince Regent, praying
that he would be graciously pleased to acquaint the House _by whose
advice he had been induced_ to form the unalterable resolution of
never meeting her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, on any
occasion, either in public or private.” After a brief and unimportant
discussion, the motion was withdrawn.
Footnote 174:
“Her Royal Highness the Princess Charlotte arrived a few minutes after
one o’clock, accompanied by Miss Knight, in an elegant and
particularly neat and light state carriage, with three footmen and the
coachman in new state liveries. She was received by the Duchess of
Leeds and the dresser, who had previously arrived in her plain
carriage, to attend her Royal Highness in dressing in a court dress
for the first time, yesterday being her Royal Highness’s first
appearance at a public Drawing-room. At the close of the Drawing-room,
on her Royal Highness leaving the Palace, the Prince of Orange handed
her Royal Highness to her carriage.”—_Morning Chronicle_, June 3,
1814.
Footnote 175:
Prince Alexander of Oldenburg was a child in the third year of his
age.
Footnote 176:
“June 17, 1814. Before the Princess (of Wales) dismissed Lady ——, Miss
——, or myself, she received a letter from Princess Charlotte, telling
her mother the match between herself and the Prince of Orange was
entirely off, and at the same time enclosing a copy of a letter she
had written to the Prince of Orange, in which she alludes to some
point of dispute which, it seems, remained unsettled between them; but
Princess Charlotte does not precisely name what that point was, and
chiefly rests her determination of not leaving this kingdom upon the
necessity of her remaining in England to support her mother. The whole
letter turns upon the Princess of Wales —it is extremely well
_written_, and very strong. I conclude the words are Miss Knight’s,
but the sentiments, for the _present_ moment, are Princess
Charlotte’s.... I know too much of all parties to believe that
Princess Charlotte, in her heart, quarrelled with her lover from any
motive of real tenderness towards her mother. I believe that what the
Princess of Wales told me some time ago is perfectly true, namely,
that her daughter did not at all admire the Prince of Orange, and only
wanted to be her own mistress; and now finding, I conclude, that that
end would not be answered by marrying him, she has determined to break
off the engagement.”—_Lady C. Campbell’s Diary_, vol. i.
Footnote 177:
Mr. Tierney.
Footnote 178:
“Widow of a Colonel Campbell, who went out governor to Bermuda, or
Bahama (I forget which), and died on his arrival there. Of this lady
he (George the Third) had received a most favourable account from an
authority he respected.”—_Diaries of the Right Hon. G. Rose._
Footnote 179:
“July 26, 1814. I received several letters from England to-day. Mrs.
—— says: ‘The Princess Charlotte went with a heavy heart, I hear,
yesterday to Cranford Lodge [Cranbourne Lodge] (I think that is the
name of the place), Windsor Park. She has, of all her friends, only
been allowed to see Miss Mercer. Miss Knight has not been suffered to
return to her. The courtiers say all is made up, but no one believes
them; how can they, while she is _a state prisoner_?’”—_Lady C.
Campbell’s Diary_, vol. ii.
Footnote 180:
“MY DEAR MADAM,—I cannot think the request in your note can be
inconsistent with my orders, and I will certainly communicate the
contents of your note to her Royal Highness the Princess Charlotte.
“I am, dear madam,
“Your obedient servant,
“CHARLOTTE ROSSLYN.”
Footnote 181:
It may be interesting to observe the manner in which these events were
recorded by the journals of the day. The following is from the
_Morning Chronicle_:
“An extraordinary sensation was yesterday produced by the report
of an event which took place on Tuesday evening.
“It is perfectly known that the intended marriage between the
Princess Charlotte of Wales and the Hereditary Prince of Orange
was broken off in consequence of the dread which her Royal
Highness felt of being taken out of the country at a time when
considerations of the highest importance demanded her continuance
in it. From the time of the breaking off this negotiation,
attempts have been incessantly made, if not to renew it, at least
to show the high offence which she had given; and her Royal
Highness has suffered the most cruel agitation, although her
health was so seriously affected as to demand the most lenient
attention, and particularly that her mind should be kept free from
all harassing disturbance. Her physicians had, some time ago,
given a written certificate that the complaint of her lameness
required sea bathing and sea air; and we have reason to believe
that this certificate was laid before the Prince Regent some days
ago.
“On Tuesday evening his Royal Highness the Prince Regent entered
Warwick House, and, without any previous notice, informed the
Princess Charlotte that Miss Knight and all her household, as well
as all the servants attending upon her, were dismissed, and that
her Royal Highness must forthwith take up her residence in Carlton
House, and from thence to Cranford Lodge [Cranbourne Lodge], where
the Countess-Dowager of Rosslyn, the Countess of Ilchester, the
two Miss Coates, and Mrs. Campbell, were actually in the next room
in readiness to wait upon her; and this intimation was made in
terms of unusual severity, as it was accompanied by a declaration
that she was to be under their sole superintendence, and that she
was neither to be permitted to receive visits or letters. In this
embarrassing situation, and under the agony of despair, she ran
out of Warwick House, threw herself into a hackney-coach, and
drove to Connaught-place, the residence of her mother. The
Princess of Wales was absent, but a groom was despatched to
Blackheath, to request her immediate return to town. The groom met
her Royal Highness on the way, and delivered the Princess
Charlotte’s note acquainting her with the event; upon which the
Princess of Wales drove to the Parliament House, and eagerly
inquired for Mr. Whitbread, who was absent, and for Earl Grey, who
had left town several days before. She then went on to her own
house at Connaught-place, where her daughter communicated the
particulars we have stated, and where Mr. Brougham, who had been
sent for to Mr. Michael Angelo Taylor’s, had arrived.
“The flight of the Princess from Warwick House was soon made known
to the Prince Regent, at the Duke of York’s, where a great party
were assembled. Notice of it was also sent to the Queen, who had a
card party, and which she instantly left. A council was called,
and Lord Ellenborough and Lord Eldon were consulted. Rumour says
that a habeas corpus was to be issued to bring back the person of
her Royal Highness to Carlton House. But the Duke of York and
three of the Prince Regent’s people went to Connaught House, and
stated to her Royal Highness her father’s commands to conduct her
back. Mr. Brougham had previously acquainted her Royal Highness
that, by the laws of the land, she must obey her father’s command;
and when the Duke of York gave her an assurance that she should
not be immured, nor treated with the severity which had been
threatened, she consented to return with him, and, accordingly, at
a little past three o’clock yesterday morning, her Royal Highness
was conveyed to Carlton House, where she now remains, all the
persons by whom she has been served being removed from attendance
on her person, except Mrs. Lewis, who had followed her to
Connaught House with her night-clothes, and who was permitted to
return with her in the carriage along with the Duke of
York.”—_Morning Chronicle_, July 14, 1814.
Footnote 182:
Mrs. Piozzi says: “He never read but one book, which he did not
consider as obligatory, through in his whole life; and Lady W.’s
Letters was the book.”—_Anecdotes of Johnson_, p. 259.
Footnote 183:
The Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas was prevented by
indisposition from attending during any part of these proceedings.
Footnote 184:
On the 19th of July the Duke of Sussex “put some most important
questions to the Ministers respecting Princess Charlotte, which they
refused to answer, and thus admitted the inferences to which the
questions point. It appears that his Royal Highness had concurred in
the advice given to the Princess Charlotte by Mr. Brougham respecting
her return to Carlton House. The first was, Whether the Princess
Charlotte had been allowed personal intercourse with her friends since
Tuesday last? Secondly, Whether she had been allowed to write and
receive letters, and whether she had been allowed the use of pen, ink,
and paper? Third, Whether she had been, and now was, under restraints
from which persons not in actual imprisonment are free? Fourth,
Whether the physicians of her Royal Highness had last year certified,
by a writing under their hands, as they have this year, that the sea
is necessary for her recovery from her complaints? Fifth, Her Royal
Highness being considerably past the age at which the Legislature has
repeatedly recognised the capacity of heirs to the Crown to exercise
its powers without assistance, whether any steps had been taken to
form an establishment for her Royal Highness suited to her exalted
rank in the State, and fitted to prepare her for the functions she
will one day be called on to exercise?”—_Morning Chronicle_, July 20.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
● Transcriber’s Notes:
○ All footnotes were gathered into one final section of the book. An
entry was added to the Table of Contents for it.
○ Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected.
○ Typographical errors were silently corrected.
○ Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only
when a predominant form was found in this book.
○ Text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_).