George IV died soon after the passage of the new Police Bill (1830).
Of him it may well be said, though in a very different sense from that
in which the expression was originally used, that "nothing in his life
became him like the leaving of it." During his ten years' reign he had
squandered enormous sums of money in gambling and dissipation, and had
done his utmost to block the wheels of political progress.
How far this son of an insane father (S567) was responsible, it may
not be for us to judge. Walter Scott, who had a kind word for almost
every one, and especially for any one of the Tory party (S479), did
not fail to say something in praise of the generous good nature of his
friend George IV. The sad thing is that his voice seems to have been
the only one. In a whole nation the rest were silent; or, if they
spoke, it was neither to commend nor to defend, but to condemn.