1807
commenced with selfish men in office, who contrived selfish measures
for the continued purposes of corruption.
The king now became very imbecile; and the queen and the Prince of Wales
intimidated him from acting honourably towards the Princess of Wales, as
he had so committed himself by his fatal act of BIGAMY. As his mind
became proportionately depressed by the perplexities of his situation,
so did his conduct become more influenced as they desired it; until, at
length, he proved a mere automaton, to be moved at their pleasure!
In any case of vital importance to character, delay is dangerous;
because it causes suspicion, suspicion begets mistrust, and so on do
these injurious sentiments proceed, until, ere the time of trial
arrives, the injured party has suffered unjustly in a two-fold way. Thus
it was in the case of the unfortunate Caroline. To oblige the queen, his
majesty postponed seeing his daughter-in-law as long as it suited the
views of the designers against her happiness.
From the active part which Mr. Perceval had taken in defence of the
princess, especially in his book, which made much noise in the world at
this time, the queen thought it prudent to advise his being accommodated
with office. She made her will known to the prince, who was very happy
to concur in the suggestion, but only feared an obstacle in Mr.
Perceval's _rigid virtue_. This, however, was not insurmountable, and
Mr. Perceval was made "Chancellor of the Exchequer;" Mr. Canning,
"Secretary for Foreign Affairs;" and Lord Castlereagh, "Secretary for
the Department of War and the Colonies." Thus were two of the former
advocates of the Princess of Wales enlisted under the banners of her
most deadly enemies! As to the _honor_ they derived from their base
desertion of the cause of innocence, we leave our readers to judge.
The Prince of Wales, at this juncture, made no secret of his diabolical
intentions; for we well know that he has frequently raised the goblet to
his lips, and drank "TO THE SPEEDY DAMNATION OF THE PRINCESS." It was
very perceptible that the royal party were well aware of the injustice
practised towards the princess; but, charity being a virtue of little
worth in their ideas, they resolved to carry their plans into execution,
no matter at what cost.
The least the late _friends_ of the princess could do was, to remain
_silent_; but human beings can articulate sounds, and be oppositely
communicative with their optical faculties. An individual, who accepts
_place_ amongst those whom he formerly professed to despise, renders
himself an object of suspicion, if not of detestation.
For the present, we abstain from further remarks upon these two late
principal friends of the persecuted Princess of Wales.
Upon hearing of the Duke of Brunswick's death, the king could do no less
than solicit the duchess, his sister, to visit England. As the country
around her was in a deplorable state, and feeling desirous to see her
daughter, she determined to accept the invitation, and arrived at the
house of the Princess of Wales, at Blackheath, on the 7th of July, in
one of her royal highness' carriages.
The injured Caroline was so overpowered at this interview as to cause
the duchess much serious disquiet; for she plainly saw that her daughter
had great cause for sorrow, the particulars of which she was yet
ignorant. The princess afterwards appeared soothed; and this short
interview, cheered by a fond mother's presence, proved a solace to her
lacerated heart.
The king went from Windsor to see his sister, and the queen also from
St. James' Palace; the Princess Charlotte, and several other members of
the family, paid their respects to the duchess.
Thus, though common or decent attention was refused the daughter, while
mourning over her early misfortunes and recent losses, yet, when her
mother arrived, some little regard must be paid to _etiquette_, although
the daughter _was to receive the visiters_. But so it was. Poor Queen
Charlotte, how hard it was for her to vouchsafe or condescend to let
fall one smile upon Caroline!
After the opportunity this visit afforded the Princess Charlotte, the
mother and daughter were of necessity explicit, and they mourned over
the seeming hard destiny each was doomed to experience.
During the remainder of this year, the king became more and more
incapacitated for business of any sort; he could not even distinguish
any object by either its colour or size, and was led from one place to
another as if in the last stage of blindness. The long-continued
distractions of his mind, and the anxiety yet remaining, caused his
rational moments to be most gloomy. His favourite daughter was incurably
diseased with a scrofulous disorder, from which she suffered dreadfully,
and nature seemed fast declining. Throughout the whole of his family,
the poor monarch had but little gratification, as every individual
composing it was separately under her majesty's controul. To have
contradicted _her_ order or command would have been attended with no
very pleasant consequences. Her _look_ was sufficient to frighten every
one into obedience!