1804.
Caricatures of the Flotilla—Scarcity of money—Stamping Spanish
dollars—Illness of the King—His recovery—General Fast—Fall
of the Addington Ministry—Debate on the Abolition of the Slave
Trade—Beacons—Transport—Election for Middlesex—Reconciliation
between the King and the Prince of Wales.
THE YEAR 1804 opens with Britain still in arms, watching that flotilla
which dare not put out, and cannot be destroyed; but somehow, whether
familiarity had bred contempt, or whether it had come to be looked
upon as a “bugaboo”—terrible to the sight, but not so very bad when
you knew it—the patriotic handbills first cooled down, and then
disappeared, and the satirical artist imparted a lighter tone to his
pictures. Take one of Gillray’s (February 10, 1804): “The KING of
BROBDINGNAG and GULLIVER” (Plate 2). Scene—“Gulliver manœuvring with
his little boat in the cistern,” _vide Swift’s Gulliver_: “I often
used to row for my own diversion, as well as that of the Queen and
her ladies, who thought themselves well entertained with my skill and
agility. Sometimes I would put up my sail and show my art by steering
starboard and larboard. However, my attempts produced nothing else
besides a loud laughter, which all the respect due to His Majesty from
those about him, could not make them contain. This made me reflect how
vain an attempt it is for a man to endeavour to do himself honour among
those who are out of all degree of equality or comparison with him!!!”
The King and Queen look on with amusement at the pigmy’s vessel,
for the better sailing of which, the young princes are blowing; and
creating quite a gale.
Take another by West (March, 1804), which shows equally, that terror
is turning to derision. It is called “A French Alarmist, or, John Bull
looking out for the Grand Flotilla!” John Bull is guarding his coast,
sword on thigh, and attended by his faithful dog. Through his telescope
he scans the horizon, and is thus addressed by a Frenchman who is
behind him. “Ah, ah! Monsieur Bull, dere you see our Grande Flotilla,
de grande gon boats, ma foi—dere you see ‘em sailing for de grand
attack on your nation—dere you see de Bombs and de Cannons—dere you
see de Grande Consul himself at de head of his Legions? Dere you see—“
But John Bull, mindful of the old saying, anent the Spanish Armada,
replies, “Monsieur, all this I cannot see, because ’tis not in sight.”
Money was scarce in this year; and in spite of the all-but million
given the King not so long since to pay his debts, we find (_Morning
Herald_, April 26, 1804), “The Civil List is now paying up to the
Lady-day quarter, 1803.”
So scarce was money—_i.e._, bullion—that a means had to be found to
supplement the currency; and it so happened that a large quantity of
Spanish dollars were opportunely taken in prizes. In 1803 the idea of
utilizing these as current English coins was first mooted, and some
were stamped with the King’s head, the size of the ordinary goldsmith’s
mark; but in 1804 a much larger issue of them was made, and they were
stamped with a profile likeness of the King, in an octagon of about a
quarter of an inch square. They were made to pass for five shillings
each, which was about threepence-halfpenny over their value as bullion;
and this extra, and fictitious, value was imposed upon them in order
that they should not be melted down. They were also to be taken back
for a time at that price, and on the 12th of January, 1804, every
banking house received £1,000 worth of them from the Bank of England,
against the Bank’s paper. But, as currency, they did not last long,
the Bank refusing, as early as April the same year, to receive them
back again, on “various frivolous and ill-founded pretensions.” For
some reason, probably forgery, they were recalled, and on the 22nd of
May there was a notice in the _Gazette_ to the effect that a new issue
of them would be made, which would be stamped by the famous firm of
Boulton, Soho Mint, at Birmingham, whose series of tradesmen’s tokens
of George the Third’s reign is familiar to every numismatist. They
varied from those stamped at the Tower, by having on the obverse,
“Georgius III., Dei Gratiâ Rex,” and on the reverse, the figure of
Britannia, with the words—“Five shillings dollar, Bank of England,
1804,” but even these were soon forged.
On the 14th of February the King was taken ill so seriously that
bulletins had to be issued. His malady was stated to be “an _Hydrops
Pectoris_, or a water in the chest of the body;” to counteract which
they scarified his legs.[20] The probability is, that this treatment
was not the proper one, for I observe that the next day’s bulletin
is signed by four, instead of two doctors, who, however, on the
succeeding day, certify that their patient _could walk_. On the 26th,
which was Sunday, prayers were offered up in all churches and chapels
of the Metropolis, and a week later throughout England, for His
Majesty’s recovery. On the 27th of February, there was a long debate
in Parliament on the subject of His Majesty’s health; some members
holding that, looking at the gravity of our relations with France, the
people were not kept sufficiently informed as to the King’s illness.
Addington, then Prime Minister, contended that more information than
was made public would be injudicious, and prejudicial to the public
good; and after a long discussion, in which Pitt, Fox, Windham, and
Grenville took part, the subject dropped. Towards the end of March,
the King became quite convalescent, a fact which is thus quaintly
announced in the _Morning Herald_ of the 28th of March: “We have the
sincerest pleasure in stating that a certain personage is now perfectly
restored to all his domestic comforts. He saw the Queen for the first
time on Saturday (March 24th) afternoon. The interview, as may well be
conceived, was peculiarly affecting.”
Yet another Fast Day; this time on the 25th of May, and its cause—“for
humbling ourselves before Almighty God, in order to obtain pardon of
our sins, and in the most solemn manner to send up our prayers and
supplications to the Divine Majesty, for averting those heavy judgments
which our manifold provocations have most justly deserved; and for
imploring His blessing and assistance on our arms, for the restoration
of peace and prosperity to these dominions.” A contemporary account
tells how it was kept: “Yesterday, being the day appointed for the
observance of a solemn Fast, was duly observed in the Metropolis, at
least as far as outward show and decorum can go. Every shop was shut;
for those who on similar occasions, kept their windows open, have
probably learnt that, to offend against public example and decency, is
not the way to ensure either favour or credit. Most of the Volunteer
Corps attended at their several churches, where sermons suitable to the
day were preached.”
The Addington Ministry was on its last legs, and died on or about the
11th of May; and a very strong government was formed by Pitt, which
included the Duke of Portland, Lord Eldon, Lord Melville, the Earl of
Chatham, Dundas, Canning, Huskisson, and Spencer Perceval.
They were not very long in power before they stretched forth their long
arm after the notorious William Cobbett for the publication of certain
libels with intent to traduce His Majesty’s Government in Ireland, and
the persons employed in the administration thereof, particularly Lord
Hardwicke, Lord Redesdale, Mr. Marsden, and the Hon. Charles Osborne,
contained in certain letters signed Juverna. He was tried on the 24th
of May, and found guilty. On the 26th he had another action brought
against him for slandering Mr. Plunket, in his official capacity as
Solicitor-General for Ireland, and was cast in a verdict for £500.
On the 27th of June the Abolition of the Slave Trade was read a third
time in the Commons, and some curious facts came out in debate. One
member called attention to the fact that there were 7,000 French
prisoners on the Island of Barbadoes, besides a great number in
prison-ships, and feared they would foment discontent among the
negroes, who did not distinguish between the abolition of the slave
trade and immediate emancipation. He also pointed out that the Moravian
missionaries on the island were teaching, most forcibly, the fact that
all men were alike God’s creatures, and that the last should be first
and the first last.
An honourable member immediately replied in vindication of the
missionaries, and said that no fewer than 10,000 negroes had been
converted in the Island of Antigua, _and that their tempers and
dispositions had been, thereby, rendered so much better, that they were
entitled to an increased value of £10_.
Next day the Bill was taken up to the Lords and read for the
first time, during which debate the Duke of Clarence said: “Since
a very early period of his life, when he was in another line of
profession—which he knew not why he had no longer employment in—he
had ocular demonstration of the state of slavery, as it was called, in
the West Indies, and all that he had seen convinced him that it not
only was not deserving of the imputations that had been cast upon it,
but that the abolition of it would be productive of extreme danger and
mischief.”
Before the second reading he also presented two petitions against it,
and when the second reading did come on, on the 3rd of July, Lord
Hawkesbury moved that such reading should be on that day three months,
and this motion was carried without a division, so that the Bill was
lost for that year.
The Invasion Scare, although dying out, in this year was far from dead;
but, though people did not talk so much about it, the Government was
vigilant and watchful, as was shown by many little matters—notably the
signals. In the eastern district of England were 32,000 troops ready to
move at a moment’s notice; whilst the hoisting of a red flag at any of
the following stations would ensure the lighting of all the beacons,
wherever established:
Colchester. Mum’s Hedge.
Brightlingsea. White Notley.
Earls Colne. Ongar Park.
Gosfield. Messing.
Sewers End. Rettenden.
Littlebury. Danbury.
Thaxted. Langdon Hill.
Hatfield Broad Oak. Corne Green.
Transport seems to have been the weakest spot in the military
organizations, and a Committee sat both at the Mansion House, and
Thatched House Tavern, to stimulate the patriotic ardour of owners of
horses and carriages, in order that they might offer them for the use
of the Government. A large number of job-masters, too, offered to lend
their horses, provided their customers would send their coachmen and
two days’ forage with them.
There was in this year a very close election for Middlesex, between Sir
Francis Burdett and Mr. Mainwaring. The election lasted, as usual, a
fortnight, and Sir Francis claimed a majority of one. This so elated
his supporters that they formed a triumphal procession from Brentford,
the county town, to Piccadilly, composed as under:
A Banner, on orange ground, inscribed
VICTORY.
Horsemen, two and two.
Flags borne by Horsemen.
Persons on foot in files of six, singing “Rule, Britannia.”
Handbell Ringers.
Body of foot, as before.
Car with Band of Music.
Large Body of Horsemen.
SIR FRANCIS BURDETT
In his Chariot, accompanied by his Brother, and another
Gentleman covered with Laurels and drawn by
the Populace, with an allegorical painting of
Liberty _and_ Independence,
and surrounded with lighted flambeaux.
A second Car, with a Musical Band.
A Body of Horsemen.
Gentlemen’s and other Carriages in a long Cavalcade,
which closed the Procession.
Was it not a pity, after all this excitement, that on a scrutiny,
the famous majority of one was found to be fallacious, and that Mr.
Mainwaring had _a majority of five_? a fact of which he duly availed
himself, sitting for Middlesex at the next meeting of Parliament.
The close of the year is not particularly remarkable for any events
other than the arrival in England, on the 1st of November, of the
brother of Louis XVIII. (afterwards Charles X.), and the reconciliation
which took place between the Prince of Wales, and his royal father,
on the 12th of November, which was made the subject of a scathing
satirical print by Gillray (November 20th). It is called “THE
RECONCILIATION.” “And he arose and came to his Father, and his Father
saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his Neck and kissed
him.” The old King is in full Court costume, with brocaded Coat and
Ribbon of the Garter, and presents a striking contrast to the tattered
prodigal, whose rags show him to be in pitiable case, and who is
faintly murmuring, “_Against Heaven and before thee_.” The Queen, with
open arms, stands on the doorstep to welcome the lost one, whilst Pitt
and Lord Moira, as confidential advisers, respectively of the King and
the Prince, look on with a curious and puzzled air.
Consols were, January 56⅞; December 58⅝; having fallen as low as 54½ in
February. The quartern loaf began the year at 9½d. and left off at 1s.
4½d. Average price of wheat 74s.
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