was considered somewhat indecent eagerness to have the King declared
irrecoverably insane, and on more than one occasion the Queen refused to
allow either of these Royal Princes access to the King's person, on the
ground that their violent conduct retarded his recovery. The Prince
of Wales and Duke of York protested in writing against the Queen's
hostility to them, and published the protest. Happy family, these
Brunswicks! Dr. Doran declares: "There was assuredly no decency in the
conduct of the Heir-apparent, or of his next brother. They were gaily
flying from club to club, party to party, and did not take the trouble
even to assume the sentiment which they could not feel. 'If we were
together,' says Lord Granville, in a letter inserted in his Memoirs, 'I
would tell you some particulars of the Prince of Wales's behavior to the
King and Queen, within these few days, that would make your blood run
cold.' It was said that if the King could only recover and learn what
had been said and done during his illness, he would hear enough to drive
him again into insanity. The conduct of his eldest sons was marked
by its savage inhumanity." Jesse says: "The fact is a painful one to
relate, that on the 4th December--the day on which Parliament assembled,
and when the King's malady was at its worst--the graceless youth (the
Duke of York) not only held a meeting of the opposition at his own
house, but afterwards proceeded to the House of Lords, in order to
hear the depositions of the royal physicians read, and to listen to the
painful details of his father's lunacy. Moreover the same evening we
track both the brothers (the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York)
to Brooks's, where in a circle of boon companions, as irreverent as
themselves, they are said to have been in the habit of indulging in
the most shocking indecencies, of which the King's derangement was the
topic. On such occasions, we are told, not only did they turn their
parents into ridicule, and blab the secrets of the chamber of sickness
at Windsor, but the Prince even went to such unnatural lengths as to
employ his talents for mimicry, in which he was surpassed by few of his
contemporaries, in imitating the ravings and gestures of his stricken
father. As for the Duke of York, we are assured that 'the brutality of
the stupid sot disgusted even the most profligate of his associates.'"
Even after the King's return to reason had been vouched by the
physicians, William Grenville, writing to Lord Buckingham, says that the
two princes "amused themselves with spreading the report that the King
was still out of his mind." When the great thanksgiving for the King's
recovery took place at Saint Paul's, the conduct of the Prince of Wales
and the Duke of York, in the Cathedral itself, is described "as having
been in the highest degree irreverent, if not indecent." Sir William
Young writes to Lord Buckingham, "The day will come when Englishmen will
bring these Princes to their senses." Alas for England, the day has not
yet come!
In 1789, a great outcry was raised against the Duke of York on account
of his licentiousness. In 1790, the printer of the _Times_ newspaper
was fined L100 for libelling the Prince of Wales, and a second L100
for libelling the Duke of York. It was in this year that the Prince
of Wales, and the Dukes of York and Clarence, issued joint and several
bonds to an enormous amount--it is said, L1,000,000 sterling, and
bearing 6 per cent, interest. These bonds were taken up chiefly abroad;
and some Frenchmen who subscribed, being unable to obtain either
principal or interest, applied to the Court of Chancery, in order to
charge the revenues of the Duchy of Cornwall. Others of the foreign
holders of bonds had recourse to other proceedings to enforce their
claims. In nearly every case the claimants were arrested by the
Secretary of State's order, and sent out of England under the Alien Act,
and when landed in their own country were again arrested for treasonable
communication with the enemy, and perished on the scaffold. MM. De
Baume, Chaudot, Mette, Aubert, Vaucher, and others, all creditors of the
Prince, were thus arrested under the Duke of Portland's warrant, and
on their deportation rearrested for treason, and guillotined. Thus were
some of the debts of the Royal Family of Brunswick settled, if not paid.
Honest family, these Brunswicks!
George, Prince of Wales, and the Duke of York were constant patrons
of prize fights, races, and gambling tables, largely betting, and not
always paying their wagers when they lost. In the autumn of 1791 a
charge was made against the Prince of Wales that he allowed his horse
Escape to run badly on the 20th of October, and when heavily betted
against caused the same horse to be ridden to win. A brother of Lord
Lake, who was friendly to the Prince, and who managed some of his racing
affairs, evidently believed there was foul play, and so did the Jockey
Club, who declared that if the Prince permitted the same jockey, Samuel
Chiffney, to ride again, no gentleman would start against him. A writer
employed by George, Prince of Wales, to defend his character, says: "It
may be asked, why did not the Prince of Wales declare upon his honor,
that no foul play had been used with respect to Escape's first race?
Such a declaration would at once have solved all difficulties, and put
an end to all embarrassments. But was it proper for the Prince of Wales
to have condescended to such a submission? Are there not sometimes
suspicions of so disgraceful a nature afloat, and at the same time
so improbable withal, that if the person, who is the object of them,
condescends to reply to them, he degrades himself? Was it to be expected
of the Prince of Wales that he should purge himself by oath, like his
domestic? Or, was it to be looked for, that the first subject in the
realm, the personage whose simple word should have commanded deference,
respect, and belief, was to submit himself to the examination of the
Jockey Club, and answer such questions as they might have thought proper
to have proposed to him?"
This, coming from a family like the Brunswicks, and from one of
four brothers who, like their highnesses of Wales, York, Kent, and
Cumberland, had each in turn declared himself upon honor not guilty
of some misdemeanor or felony, is worthy a note of admiration. George,
Prince of Wales, declared himself not guilty of bigamy; the Duke of York
declared himself not guilty of selling promotion in the army. Both these
Princes publicly declared themselves not guilty of the charge of trying
to hinder their royal father's restoration to sanity. The Duke of Kent,
the Queen's father, declared that he was no party to the subornation of
witnesses against his own brother. The Duke of Cumberland pledged his
oath that he had never been guilty of sodomy and murder.
In September, 1791, the Duke of York was married to the Princess
Frederica, daughter of the King of Prussia, with whom he lived most
unhappily for a few years. The only effect of this marriage on the
nation was that L18,000 a year was voted as an extra allowance to his
Royal Highness, the Duke of York. This was in addition to 100,000 crowns
given out of the Civil List as a marriage portion to the Princess.
Dr. Doran says of the Duchess of York: "For six years she bore with
treatment from the 'Commander-in-Chief' such as no trooper under him
would have inflicted on a wife equally deserving. At the end of that
time the ill-matched pair separated." Kind husbands, these Brunswicks!
In a print published on the 24th May, 1792, entitled "Vices Overlooked
in the New Proclamation," _Avarice_ is represented by King George
and Queen Charlotte, hugging their hoarded millions with extreme
satisfaction, a book of interest tables lying at hand. This print
is divided into four compartments, representing: 1. Avarice; 2.
Drunkenness, exemplified in the person of the Prince of Wales; 3.
Gambling, the favorite amusement of the Duke of York; and 4. Debauchery,
the Duke of Clarence and Mrs. Jordan--as the four notable vices of the
Royal family of Great Britain. If the print had to be re-issued to-day,
it would require no very vivid imagination to provide materials from the
living members of the Royal Family to refill the four compartments.
Among various other remarkable trials occurring in 1792, those of Daniel
Holt and William Winterbottom are here worthy of notice, as illustrating
the fashion in which the rule of the Brunswick monarchy has trenched
on our political liberties. The former, a printer of Nottingham, was
convicted and sentenced to two years' imprisonment for re-publishing,
verbatim, a political tract, originally circulated without prosecution
by the Thatched House Tavern Association, of which Mr. Pitt and the
Duke of Richmond had been members. The other, a dissenting minister at
Plymouth, of virtuous and highly respectable character, was convicted
of sedition, and sentenced to four years' imprisonment in the jail of
Newgate, for two sermons preached in commemoration of the revolution of
1688. The indictment charged him with affirming, "That his Majesty was
placed upon the throne on condition of keeping certain laws and rules,
and if he does not observe them, he has no more right to the crown than
the Stuarts had." All the Whigs in the kingdom might, doubtless, have
been comprehended in a similar indictment. And if the doctrine affirmed
by the Rev. Mr. Winterbottom be denied, the monstrous reverse of the
proposition follows, that the King is bound by no conditions or laws;
and that, though resistance to the tyranny of the Stuarts might be
justifiable, resistance under the same circumstances to the House of
Brunswick is not. This trial, for the cruelty and infamy attending it,
has been justly compared to the celebrated one of Rosewell in the latter
years of Charles II., to the events of which those of 1792 exhibit, in
various respects, a striking and alarming parallel.
Before his election to the National Convention, Thomas Paine published
the second part of his "Rights of Man," in which he boldly promulgated
principles which, though fiercely condemned at the date of their issue,
are now being gradually accepted by the great mass of the people.
Paine's work was spread through the kingdom with extraordinary industry,
and was greedily sought for by people of all classes. Despite the great
risk of fine and imprisonment, some of the most effective parts were
printed on pieces of paper, which were used by Republican tradesmen
as wrappers for their commodities. Proceedings were immediately taken
against Thomas Paine as author of the obnoxious book, which was treated
as a libel against the government and constitution, and on trial Paine
was found guilty. He was defended with great ability by Erskine,
who, when he left the court, was cheered by a crowd of people who had
collected without, some of whom took his horses from his carriage, and
dragged him home to his house in Serjeant's Inn. The name and opinions
of Thomas Pain were at this moment gaining influence, in spite of the
exertions made to put them down. From this time for several years it is
almost impossible to read a weekly journal without finding some instance
of persecution for publishing Mr. Paine's political views.
The trial of Thomas Paine was the commencement of a series of State
prosecutions, not for political offences, but for political designs. The
name of Paine had caused much apprehension, but many even amongst
the Conservatives dreaded the extension of the practice of making the
publication of a man's abstract opinions criminal, when unaccompanied
with any direct or open attempt to put them into effect. In the
beginning of 1793 followed prosecutions in Edinburgh, where the
ministerial influence was great, against men who had associated to do
little more than call for reform in Parliament; and five persons, whose
alleged crimes consisted chiefly in having read Paine's "Rights of Man,"
and in having expressed either a partial approbation of his doctrines,
or a strong declaration in favor of Parliamentary reform, were
transported severally: Joseph Gerrald, William Skirving, and Thomas Muir
for fourteen, and Thomas Fyshe Palmer and Maurice Margarot for seven
years! These men had been active in the political societies, and it was
imagined that, by an exemplary injustice of this kind, these societies
would be intimidated. Such, however, was not the case, for, from this
moment, the clubs in Edinburgh became more active than ever, and they
certainly took a more dangerous character; so that, before the end
of the year, there was actually a "British Convention" sitting in the
Scottish capital. This was dissolved by force at the beginning of 1794,
and two of its members were added to the convicts already destined for
transportation. Their severe sentences provoked warm discussions in
the English Parliament, but the ministers were inexorable in their
resolution to put them in execution.
The extreme severity of the sentences passed on the Scottish political
martyrs, even as judged by those admitting the legality and justice
of their conviction, was so shameful as to rouse general interest.
Barbarous as the law of Scotland appeared to be, it became a matter of
doubt whether the Court of Justiciary had not exceeded its power, in
substituting the punishment of transportation for that of banishment,
imposed by the Act of Queen Anne, for the offence charged on those men.
In 1794, the debts of the Prince of Wales then amounting to about
L650,000, not including the amounts due on the foreign bonds, a marriage
was suggested in order to give an excuse for going to Parliament for
a vote. This was at a time when the Prince was living with Mrs.
Fitzherbert as his wife, and when Lady Jersey was his most prominent
mistress. The bride selected was Caroline of Brunswick. A poor woman
for a wife, if Lord Malmesbury's picture is a true one, certainly in
no sense a bad woman. But her husband our Prince! When she arrived in
London, George was not sober. His first words, after greeting her, were
to Lord Malmesbury, "Get me a glass of brandy." Tipsy this Brunswicker
went to the altar on the 8th of April, 1794; so tipsy that he got up
from his knees too soon, and the King had to whisper him down, the
Archbishop having halted in amaze in the ceremony. Here there is no
possibility of mistake. The two Dukes who were his best men at the
wedding had their work to keep him from falling; and to one, the Duke
of Bedford, he admitted that he had had several glasses of brandy before
coming to the chapel.
Thackeray says, "What could be expected from a wedding which had such a
beginning--from such a bridegroom and such a bride? Malmesbury gives us
the beginning of the marriage story--how the prince reeled into chapel
to be married; how he hiccupped out his vows of fidelity--you know how
he kept them; how he pursued the woman whom he had married; to what a
state he brought her; with what blows he struck her; with what malignity
he pursued her; what his treatment of his daughter was; and what his own
life. _He_, the first gentleman of Europe!"
The Parliament not only paid the Prince of Wales's debts, but gave him
L28,000 for jewels and plate, and L26,000 for the furnishing of Carlton
House.
On the 12th of May, Mr. Henry Dundas brought down on behalf of the
government, a second message from the King, importing that seditious
practices had been carried on by certain societies in London, in
correspondence with other societies; that they had lately been pursued
with increasing activity and boldness, and had been avowedly directed
to the assembling of a pretended National Convention, in contempt and
defiance of the authority of Parliament, on principles subversive of the
existing laws and the constitution, and tending to introduce that system
of anarchy prevailing in France; that his Majesty had given orders for
seizing the books and papers of those societies, which were to be
laid before the House, to whom it was recommended to pursue measures
necessary to counteract their pernicious tendency. A large collection
of books and papers was, in consequence, brought down to the House; and,
after an address had been voted, a resolution was agreed to, that those
papers should be referred to a committee of secrecy. A few days after
the King's message was delivered, the following persons were committed
to the Tower on a charge of high treason: Mr. Thomas Hardy, a shoemaker
in Piccadilly, who officiated as secretary to the London Corresponding
Society; Mr. Daniel Adams, secretary to the Society for Constitutional
Information; Mr. John Home Tooke; Mr. Stewart Kyd; Mr. Jeremiah Joyce,
preceptor to Lord Mahon, eldest son of the Earl of Stanhope; and Mr.
John Thelwall, who had for some time delivered lectures on political
subjects in London.
Under the influence of excitement resulting from the Government
statement of the discovery of a plot to assassinate the King, and which
plot never existed outside the brains of the Government spies, a Special
Commission of Oyer and Terminer was issued on the 10th of September,
1794, for the trial of the State prisoners confined in the Tower on a
charge of high treason. On the 2d of October, the Commission was opened
at the Sessions House, by Lord Chief Justice Eyre, in an
elaborate charge to the grand jury. Bills were then found against all
who had been taken up in May, except Daniel Adams. Hardy was first
put on his trial at the Old Bailey. The trial commenced on the 28th
of October, and continued with short adjournments until the 5th of
November. Mr. Erskine was counsel for Hardy, and employed his great
talents and brilliant eloquence with the most complete success. After
consulting together for three hours, the jury, who, though the
avowed friends of the then administration, were men of impartiality,
intelligence, and of highly respectable characters, returned a verdict
of Not Guilty. There has seldom been a verdict given in a British court
of justice which afforded more general satisfaction. It is doubtful
whether there has been a verdict more important in its consequences to
the liberties of the English people. On the 17th of November, John Horne
Tooke was put on his trial. The Duke of Richmond, Earl Camden, Mr. Pitt,
and Mr. Beaufoy, were subpoenaed by the prisoner; and the examination
of William Pitt by Mr. Tooke and his counsel formed the most important
feature in the trial, as the evidence of the Prime Minister tended to
prove that, from the year 1780 to 1782, he himself had been actively
engaged with Mr. Tooke and many others in measures of agitation to
procure a Parliamentary reform, although he now not only deemed the
attempt dangerous and improper, but sought to condemn it as treasonable,
or at least as seditious. Mr. Erskine, who was counsel for Mr. Tooke
also, in a most eloquent and powerful manner contended that the conduct
of his client was directed only to the same object as that previously
sought by Pitt himself, and that the measures resorted to, so far from
being criminal, were perfectly constitutional. Mr. Pitt was extremely
guarded in his replies, and professed very little recollection of what
passed at the meetings which he attended. A letter he had written to Mr.
Tooke at that time on the subject was handed to him, which he pretended
he could scarcely recognize, and which the judge would not permit to
be read. Mr. Sheridan, who was likewise engaged in the agitation for
political reform, and subpoenaed by Mr. Tooke, gave unqualified evidence
in favor of Mr. Tooke respecting the proceedings at those meetings. The
trial continued till the Saturday following, when the jury were out of
court only six minutes, and returned a verdict of Not Guilty!
The opening of Parliament was looked forward to with great anxiety, on
account of the extreme distress under which the country was laboring. As
the time approached, popular meetings were held in the metropolis, and
preparations were made for an imposing demonstration. During the morning
of the 29th of October, the day on which the King was to open the
session in person, crowds of men continued pouring into the town from
the various open spaces outside, where simultaneous meetings had
been called by placards and advertisements; and before the King left
Buckingham House, on his way to St. James's, the number of people
collected on the ground over which he had to pass is admitted in the
papers of the day to have been not less than two hundred thousand. At
first the state carriage was allowed to move on through this dense
mass in sullen silence, no hats being taken off, nor any other mark of
respect being shown. This was followed by a general outburst of hisses
and groans, mingled with shouts of "Give us peace and bread!" "No war!"
"No King!" "Down with him! down with George!" and the like; and this
tumult continued unabated until the King reached the House of Lords,
the Guards with much difficulty keeping the mob from closing on the
carriage. As it passed through Margaret Street the populace seemed
determined to attack it, and when opposite the Ordnance Office a stone
passed through the glass of the carriage window. A verse published the
following day says:--
"Folks say it was lucky the stone missed the head,
When lately at Caesar 'twas thrown;
I think very different from thousands indeed,--
'Twas a lucky escape for the stone."
The demonstration was, if anything, more fierce on the King's return,
and he had some difficulty in reaching St. James's Palace without
injury; for the mob threw stones at the state carriage and damaged it
considerably. After remaining a short time at St. James's, he proceeded
in his private coach to Buckingham House, but the carriage was stopped
in the Park by the populace, who pressed round it, shouting, "Bread,
bread! Peace, peace!" until the King was rescued from this unpleasant
situation by a strong body of the Guards.
Treason and sedition Acts were hurried through Parliament to repress the
cries of the hungry for bread, whilst additional taxes were imposed to
make the poor poorer.
That the terrible French war--of which it is impossible to give any
account in the limits of this essay, a war which cost Great Britain at
least L1,000,000,000 in hard cash, without reckoning the hundreds of
thousands of killed, wounded, and pauperized, and which Buckle calls
"the most hateful, the most unjust, and the most atrocious war England
has ever waged against any country"--directly resulted from our
government under the Brunswick family is a point on which it is
impossible for any one who has examined the facts to have a serious
doubt. Sir Archibald Alison tells us that, early in 1791, "The King of
England took a vivid interest in the misfortunes of the Royal Family of
France, promising, as Elector of Hanover, to concur in any measure which
might be deemed necessary to extricate them from their embarrassments;
and he sent Lord Elgin to Leopold, who was then travelling in Italy, to
concert measures for the common object." It was as Elector of Hanover
also that his grandfather, George IT., had sacrificed English honor and
welfare to the personal interest and family connections of these
wretched Brunswicks.
It is certain too, that, after years of terrible war, on one of the
occasions of negotiation for peace, hindrances arose because our
Government insisted on describing George III, in the preliminaries, as
"King of France." The French naturally said, first, your King George
never has been King of any part of France at any time; and next, we,
having just declared France a Republic, cannot in a solemn treaty
recognize the continued existence of a claim to Monarchy over us.
The following table, which we insert at this stage to save the need
for further reference, shows how the labor of the British nation was
burdened for generations to come, by the insane affection of the House
of Brunswick for the House of Bourbon:--
Years.
Taxes.
1793
L17,656,418
1794
17,170,400
1795
17,308,411
1796
17,858,454
1797
18,737,760
1798
20,654,650
1799
80,202,915
1800
85,229,968
1801
33,896,464
1802
85,415,296
1803
87,240,213
1804
87,677,063
1805
45,859,442
1806
49,659,281
1807
53,304,254
1808
58,390,255
1809
61,538,207
1810
63,405,294
1811
66,681,366
29,244,711
1812
64,763,870
40,743,031
1818
63,160,845
54,780,324
1814
66,925,835
63,645,930
1815
69,684,192
70,888,402
Total
L981,929,853
L768,858,934
After making some deductions on account of the operations of the
_loyalty loan_, and the transfer of annuities, the total debt contracted
from 1793 to 1815 amounts to L762,537,445. If to this sum be added the
increase in the unfunded debt during that period, and the additional
sums raised by taxes in consequence of hostilities, we shall have the
total expenditure, owing to the French war, as follows:--
Debt contracted from 1793 to 1815 L762,537,445
Increase in the Unfunded Debt 50,194,060
War Taxes 614,488,459
Total 1,427,219,964
Deduct "sum paid to the Commissioners
for reduction of the National Debt" 173,309,383
Total cost of the French war L1,253,910,581
Lord Fife, in the House of Lords, said that "in this horrid war had he
first witnessed the blood and treasure of the nation expended in the
extravagant folly of secret expeditions, which had invariably proved
either abortive or unsuccessful. Grievous and heavy taxes had been laid
on the people, and wasted in expensive embassies, and in subsidizing
proud, treacherous, and useless foreign princes."
In 1795 King George and his advisers tried by statute to put a stop
forever in this country to all political or religious discussion. No
meeting was to be held, except on five days' duly advertised notice, to
be signed by householders; and if for lectures or debates, on special
license by a magistrate. Power was given to any magistrate to put an end
in his discretion ta any meeting, and to use military force in the event
of twelve persons remaining one hour after notice. If a man lent books,
newspapers, or pamphlets without license, he might be fined twenty
pounds for every offence. If he permitted lectures or debates on any
subject whatever, he might be fined one hundred pounds a day. And yet
people dare to tell us that we owe our liberties to these Brunswicks!
On the 1st of June, 1795, Gillray, in a caricature entitled "John Bull
Ground Down," had represented Pitt grinding John Bull into money, which
was flowing out in an immense stream beneath the mill. The Prince of
Wales is drawing off a large portion, to pay the debts incurred by
his extravagance; while Dundas, Burke, and Loughborough, as the
representatives of ministerial pensioners, are scrambling for the rest.
King George encourages Pitt to grind without mercy. Another caricature
by Gillray, published on the 4th of June, represents Pitt as Death on
the White Horse (the horse of Hanover), riding over a drove of pigs, the
representatives of what Burke had termed the "swinish multitude."
On the 7th of January, 1796, the Princess Charlotte of Wales was born,
and on the 30th of April, George, Prince of Wales, wrote to the Princess
Caroline, stating that he did not intend to live with her any more.
The Prince had some time previously sent by Lord Cholmondeley a verbal
message to the same effect, which, however, the Princess had refused to
accept. The mistress reigning over the Prince of Wales at this time was
Lady Jersey.
No impeachment of the House of Brunswick would be even tolerably
supported which did not contain some reference to the terrible
misgovernment of Ireland under the rule of this obstinate and vicious
family; and yet these few pages afford but little space in which to show
how beneficent the authority of King George III. has proved to our Irish
brethren.
During the war, when there were no troops in Ireland, and when, under
Flood and Grattan, the volunteers were in arms, some concessions had
been made to the Irish people. A few obnoxious laws had been repealed,
and promises had been held out of some relaxation of the fearfully
oppressive laws against the Catholics. From the correspondence of Earl
Temple, it is clear that in 1782 not only was the King against any
further concession whatever, but that his Majesty and Lord Shelburne
actually manoeuvred to render the steps already taken as fruitless as
possible. We find W. W. Grenville admitting, on the 15th December, 1782,
"that the [Irish] people are really miserable and oppressed to a
degree I had not at all conceived." The Government acted dishonestly to
Ireland. The consequence was, continued misery and disaffection; and
I assert, without fear of contradiction, that this state of things is
directly traceable to the King's wilfulness on Irish affairs. As an
illustration of the character of the Government, it is worth notice that
Lord Temple, when Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, wrote to his brother
in cipher, because his letters were opened in the Post Office by Lord
Shelburne. The Parliament of Ireland was in great part owned by absentee
peers, and each change of Lord-Lieutenancy was marked by heavy addition
to the Pension List. The continuance of the Catholic disabilities
rendered permanent quiet impossible. Three-fourths of the nation were
legally and socially almost outlawed. The national discontent was
excited by the arbitrary conduct of the authorities, and hopes of
successful revolution were encouraged, after 1789, by the progress of
the Revolution in France.
About 1790, the "United Irishmen" first began to be heard of. Their
object was "a complete reform in the legislature, founded on the
principles of civil, political and religious liberty." The clubs
soon became secret associations, and were naturally soon betrayed.
Prosecutions for sedition in 1793 were soon followed by military
repression.
Lord Moira, in the House of Lords in 1797, in a powerful speech, which
has remained without any refutation, described the Government of Ireland
as "the most absurd, as well as the most disgusting, tyranny that any
nation ever groaned under." He said: "If such a tyranny be persevered
in, the consequence must inevitably be the deepest and most universal
discontent, and even hatred to the English name. I have seen in that
country a marked distinction made between the English and Irish. I
have seen troops that have been sent full of this prejudice--that every
inhabitant in that kingdom is a rebel to the British. Government. I
have seen the most wanton insults practised upon men of all ranks and
conditions. I have seen the most grievous oppressions exercised, in
consequence of a presumption that the person who was the unfortunate
object of such oppression was in hostility to the Government; and yet
that has been done in a part of the country as quiet and as free from
disturbance as the city of London." His lordship then observed that,
"from education and early habits, the _curfew_ was ever considered by
Britons as a badge of slavery and oppression. It was then practised in
Ireland with brutal rigor. He had known instances where the master of a
house had in vain pleaded to be allowed the use of a candle, to enable
the mother to administer relief to her daughter struggling in convulsive
fits. In former times, it had been the custom for Englishmen to hold
the infamous proceedings of the Inquisition in detestation. One of
the greatest horrors with which it was attended was that the person,
ignorant of the crime laid to his charge, or of his accuser, was
torn from his family, immured in a prison, and kept in the most cruel
uncertainty as to the period of his confinement, or the fate which
awaited him. To this injustice, abhorred by Protestants in the practice
of the Inquisition, were the people of Ireland exposed. All confidence,
all security, were taken away. When a man was taken up on suspicion, he
was put to the torture; nay, if he were merely accused of concealing the
guilt of another. The rack, indeed, was not at hand; but the punishment
of picqucting was in practice, which had been for some years abolished
as too inhuman, even in the dragoon service. He had known a man, in
order to extort a confession of a supposed crime, or of that of some of
his neighbors, picqueted till he actually fainted--picqueted a second
time till he fainted again, and as soon as he came to himself, picqueted
a third time till he once more fainted; and all upon mere suspicion!
Nor was this the only species of torture. Men had been taken and hung up
till they were half dead, and then threatened with a repetition of the
cruel treatment, unless they made confession of the imputed guilt. These
were not particular acts of cruelty, exercised by men abusing the
power committed to them, but they formed part of our system. They were
notorious, and no person could say who would be the next victim of this
oppression and cruelty, which he saw others endure. This, however,
was not all: their lordships, no doubt, would recollect the famous
proclamation issued by a military commander in Ireland, requiring the
people to give up their arms. It never was denied that this proclamation
was illegal, though defended on some supposed necessity; but it was not
surprising that some reluctance had been shown to comply with it by men
who conceived the Constitution gave them a right to keep arms in their
houses for their own defence; and they could not but feel indignation in
being called upon to give up their right, In the execution of the order
the greatest cruelties had been committed. If any one was suspected to
have concealed weapons of defence, his house, his furniture, and all his
property were burnt; but this was not all. If it were supposed that any
district had not surrendered all the arms which it contained, a party
was sent out to collect the number at which it was rated; and, in
execution of this order, thirty houses were sometimes burnt down in a
single night. Officers took upon themselves to decide discretionally
the quantity of arms; and upon their opinions the fatal consequences
followed. These facts were well-known in Ireland, but they could not
be made public through the channel of the newspapers, for fear of
that summary mode of punishment which had been practised towards the
_Northern Star_, when a party of troops in open day, and in a town where
the General's head-quarters were, went and destroyed all the offices
and property belonging to that paper. It was thus authenticated accounts
were suppressed."
Can any one wonder that the ineffectual attempt at revolution of 1798
followed such a state of things? And when, in the _London Chronicle_ and
_Cambridge Intelligencer_, and other journals by no means favorable to
Ireland or its people, we read the horrid stories of women ravished, men
tortured, and farms pillaged, all in the name of law and order, and this
by King George's soldiers, not more than seventy years ago, can we feel
astonishment that the Wexford peasants have grown up to hate the Saxon
oppressor? And this we owe to a family of kings who used their pretended
Protestantism as a cloak for the ill-treatment of our Catholic brethren
in Ireland. In impeaching the Brunswicks, we remind the people of
proclamations officially issued in the King's name, threatening to burn
and devastate whole parishes, and we allege that the disaffection
in Ireland at the present moment is the natural fruit of the utter
regardlessness, on the part of these Guelphs, for human liberty, or
happiness, or life. The grossest excesses were perpetrated in Ireland
by King George III.'s foreign auxiliaries. The troops from Hesse Cassel,
from Hesse Darmstadt, and from Hanover, earned an unenviable notoriety
by their cruelty, rapacity, and licentiousness. And these we owe
entirely to the Brunswicks.
A letter from the War Office, dated April 11th, 1798, shows how
foreigners were specially selected for the regiments sent over to
Ireland. Sir Ralph Abercromby publicly rebuked the King's army, of which
he was the Commander-in-Chief, for their disgraceful irregularities
and licentiousness. Even Lieutenant-General Lake admits that "the
determination of the troops to destroy every one they think a rebel is
beyond description, and needs correction."
In 1801, it was announced that King George III. was suffering from
severe cold and sore throat, and could not therefore go out in public.
His disease, however, was more mental than bodily. Her present Majesty
has also suffered from severe cold and sore throat, but no allegation is
ventured that her mental condition is such as to unfit her for her Royal
duties.
On March 29, 1802, the sum of L990,053 was voted for payment of the
King's debts.
In 1803, the Prince of Wales being again in debt, a further vote was
passed of L60,000 a year for three years and a half. Endeavors were made
to increase this grant, but, marvellous to relate, the House of Commons
actually acted as if it had some slight interest in the welfare of the
people, and rejected a motion of Mr. Calcraft for a further vote of
money to enable his Royal Highness to maintain his state and dignity.
The real effect of the vote actually carried, was to provide for
L800,649 of the Prince's debts, including the vote of 1794.
On July 21,1763, L60,000 cash, and a pension of L16,000 a year, were
voted to the Prince of Orange.
In 1804, King George was very mad, but Mr. Addington explained to
Parliament, that there was nothing in his Majesty's indisposition to
prevent his discharging the Royal functions. Mr. Gladstone also recently
explained to Parliament, that there would be no delay in the prorogation
of Parliament in consequence of her gracious Majesty's indisposition and
absence.
In 1805, the House of Commons directed the criminal prosecution of Lord
Melville, for corrupt conduct and embezzlement of public money, as first
Lord of the Admiralty. For this, however, impeachment was substituted,
and, on his trial before the House of Peers, he was acquitted, as out
of 136 peers, only 59 said that they thought him guilty, although he had
admitted the misapplication of L10,000.
On the 29th of March, 1806, a warrant was signed by King George III.,
directed to Lord Chancellor Erskine, to Lord Grenville, the Prime
Minister, to Lord Ellenborough, then Lord Chief Justice of England,
and to Earl Spencer, commanding them to inquire into the conduct of Her
Royal Highness the Princess of Wales. Before these Lords, Charlotte Lady
Douglas swore that she had visited the Princess, who confessed to having
committed adultery, saying "that she got a bedfellow whenever she could,
that nothing was more wholesome." Lady Douglas further swore to the
Princess's pregnancy, and evidence was given to prove that she had been
delivered of a male child. The whole of this evidence was found to be
perjury, and Lady Douglas was recommended for prosecution. The only
person to be benefited was George Prince of Wales, who desired to
be divorced from his wife, and it is alleged that he suborned these
witnesses to commit perjury against her. At this time the Prince of
Wales himself had just added Lady Hertfort to the almost interminable
muster-roll of his loves, and was mixed up in a still more strange and
disgraceful transaction, in which he used his personal influence to
canvass Peers--sitting as the highest law court in the realm--in order
to induce them to vote the guardianship of Miss Seymour, a niece of
Lady Hertfort, to Mrs. Fitz-herbert. Spencer Percival, who acted for the
Princess of Wales, being about to publish the whole of the proceedings
of the Royal Commissioners, with the evidence and their verdict, his
book was quietly suppressed, and he received a reward--a post in
the Cabinet. It is said that George III. directed the report of the
Commissioners to be destroyed, and every trace of the whole affair to be
buried in oblivion.
For some years rumors had been current of corruption in the
administration of military promotion under the Duke of York, just as for
some time past rumors have been current of abuse of patronage under his
Royal Highness the present Duke of Cambridge, A Major Hogan, in 1808,
published a declaration that he lost his promotion because he had
refused to give the sum of L600 to the Duke of York's "Venus."
On the 27th January, 1809, Colonel Wardle--who is said to have been
prompted to the course by his Royal Highness the Duke of Kent--rose
in his place in the House of Commons, and formally charged his Royal
Highness Frederick Duke of York with corruption in the administration of
army patronage.
It is difficult to determine how far credit should be given to the
statements of Mrs. Clarke, who positively alleges that she was bribed to
betray the Duke of York by his brother, the Duke of Kent, the father of
her present Majesty. It is quite certain that Major Dodd, the private
secretary of the Duke of Kent, was most active in collecting and
marshalling the evidence in support of the various charges made in the
Commons against the Duke of York. The Duke of Kent, however, after the
whole business was over, formally and officially denied that he was
directly or indirectly mixed up in the business. It is clear that much
bitter feeling had for some time existed between the Dukes of York and
Kent. In a pamphlet published about that time, we find the following
remarkable passages relating to the Duke of Kent's removal from his
military command at Gibraltar:--"It is, however, certain that the
creatures whom we could name, and who are most in his [the Duke of
York's] confidence, were, to a man, instructed and industriously
employed in traducing the character and well-merited fame of the Duke
of Kent, by misrepresenting his conduct with all the baseness of
well-trained sycophants. Moreover, we need not hesitate in saying that
this efficient Commander-in-Chief, contrary to the real sentiments of
his Majesty, made use of his truly dangerous and undue influence with
the confidential servants of the Crown to got his brother recalled from
the Government of Gibraltar, under a disingenuous pretext, and at a risk
of promoting sedition in the army."
In another pamphlet, dated 1808, apparently printed on behalf of the
Duke of Kent, we find it suggested that the Duke of York had used Sir
Hew Dalrymple as a spy on his brother the Duke of Kent at Gibraltar.
Whether the Duke of York slandered the Duke of Kent, and whether the
Queen's father revenged himself by getting up the case for Colonel
Wardle, others must decide. The following extracts from this gentleman's
address to the House of Commons are sufficient to put the material
points before our readers:--
"In the year 1803, his Royal Highness the Commander-in-Chief took a
handsome house, set up a full retinue of servants and horses, and also
a lady of the name of Clarke. Captain Tonyn, of the 48th Regiment, was
introduced by Captain Sandon, of the Royal Wagon Train, to this Mrs.
Clarke, and it was agreed that, upon his being promoted to the majority
of the 31st Regiment, he should pay her L500. The L500 lodged with
Mr. Donovan by Captain Sandon, was paid by him to Mrs. Clarke. The
difference between a company and a majority is L1,100; this lady
received only L500, while the half-pay fund lost the whole sum, for the
purpose of putting L500 into the pocket of Mrs. Clarke. This L500 was
paid by Mrs. Clarke to Mr. Perkins, a silversmith, in part payment for
a service of plate; that the Commander-in-Chief made good the remainder,
and that the goods were sent to his house in Gloucester Place. From
this I infer, first, that Mrs. Clarke possesses the power of military
promotion; secondly, that she received a pecuniary consideration for
such promotion; and thirdly, that the Commander-in-Chief was a partaker
in the benefit arising from such transactions. In this case, there are
no less than five different persons as witnesses, viz., Major Tonyn,
Mrs. Clarke, Mr. Donovan, Captain Sandon, and the executor of Mr.
Perkins, the silversmith.
"The next instance is of Lieutenant Colebrook, of the 56th Regiment.
It was agreed that Mrs. Clarke should receive L200 upon Lieutenant
Colebrook's name appearing in the _Gazette_, for promotion. At that
moment, this lady was anxious to go on an excursion into the country,
and she stated to his Royal Highness that she had an opportunity of
getting L200 to defray the expenses of it, without applying to him.
This was stated upon a Thursday, and on the Saturday following, this
officer's name appeared in the _Gazette_, and he was accordingly
promoted; upon which Mr. Tuck waited on the lady and paid her the money.
To this transaction the witnesses are Lieutenant Colebrook, Mr. Tuck,
and Mrs. Clarke."
After instancing further cases, Colonel Wardle stated that:--
"At this very hour there is a public office in the city where
commissions are still offered at the reduced prices which Mrs. Clarke
chooses to exact for them. The agents there have declared to me that
they are now employed by the present favorite, Mrs. Carey. They have not
only declared this as relative to military commissions, but they have
carried it much farther; for, in addition to commissions in the army,
places of all descriptions, both in Church and State, are transacted at
their office; and these agents do not hesitate to give it under their
own hands, that they are employed by many of the first officers in his
Majesty's service."
On the examination of witnesses, and general inquiry, which lasted
seven weeks, the evidence was overwhelming; but the Duke of York, having
written a letter, pledged his honor as a Prince that he was innocent,
was acquitted, although at least one hundred and twelve members of
Parliament voted for a verdict of condemnation. In the course of the
debate Lord Temple said that "he found the Duke of York deeply criminal
in allowing this woman to interfere in his official duties. The evidence
brought forward by accident furnished convincing proofs of this crime.
It was evident in French's levy. It was evident in the case of Dr.
O'Meara, this minister of purity, this mirror of virtue, who, professing
a call from God, could so far debase himself, so far abuse his sacred
vocation, as to solicit a recommendation from such a person as Mrs.
Clarke, by which, with an eye to a bishopric, he obtained an opportunity
of preaching before the King. What could be said in justification of
his Royal Highness for allowing this hypocrite to come down to Weymouth
under a patronage, unbecoming his duty, rank, and situation?"
Mr. Tierney--in reply to a taunt of the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
that Colonel Wardle had been tutored by "cooler heads"--said: "He would
state that the Duke of York had got his letter drawn up by weaker heads;
he would, indeed, add something worse, if it were not unparliamentary
to express it. The Duke of York was, he was persuaded, too manly to
subscribe that letter, if he were aware of the base, unworthy, and mean
purposes to which it was to be applied. It was easy to conceive that his
Royal Highness would have been prompt to declare his innocence upon a
vital point; but why declare it upon the 'honor of a Prince,' for the
thing had no meaning?"
Mr. Lyttleton declared that "if it were in the power of the House to
send down to posterity the character of the Duke of York unsullied--if
their proceedings did not extend beyond their journals, he should be
almost inclined to concur in the vote of acquittal, even in opposition
to his sense of duty. But though the House should acquit his Royal
Highness, the proofs would still remain, and the public opinion would
be guided by them, and not by the decision of the House. It was in
the power of the House to save its own character, but not that of the
Commander-in-Chief."
It is alleged that the Queen herself by no means stood with clean hands;
that in connection with Lady Jersey and a Doctor Randolph, her Majesty
realized an enormous sum by the sale of cadetships for the East Indies.
On the 31st May, 1810, London was startled by the narrative of
a terrible tragedy. His Royal Highness Ernest Augustus, Duke of
Cumberland, afterwards King of Hanover, and who, while King of Hanover,
drew L24,000 a year from the pockets of English taxpayers, was wounded
in his own room in the dead of night, by some man whom he did not see,
although the room was lighted by a lamp, and although his Royal Highness
saw "a letter" which lay on a night table, and which letter was "covered
with blood." The wounds are said to have been sword wounds inflicted
with an intent to assassinate, by Joseph Sellis, a valet of the Duke,
who is also said to have immediately afterwards committed suicide by
cutting his own throat. General Sir B. Stephenson, who saw the body of
Sellis, but who was not examined at the inquest, swore that "the head
was nearly severed from the body." Sellis's cravat had been cut through
and taken off his neck. Sir Everard Home and Sir Henry Halford were the
physicians present at St. James's Palace the day of this tragedy, and
two surgeons were present at the inquest, but no medical or surgical
evidence was taken as to whether or not the death of Sellis was the
result of suicide or murder; but a cheesemonger was called to prove
that twelve years before he had heard Sellis say, "Damn the King and
the Royal Family;" and a maid servant was called to prove that fourteen
years before Sellis had said, "Damn the Almighty." Despite this
conclusive evidence, many horrible rumors were current, which, at the
time, were left uncontradicted; but on the 17th April, 1832, his Royal
Highness the Duke of Cumberland made an affidavit in which he swore that
he had not murdered Sellis himself, and that "in case the said person
named Sellis did not die by his own hands," then that he, the Duke, "was
not any way, in any manner, privy or accessory to his death." His Royal
Highness also swore that "he never did commit, nor had any intention
of committing, the detestable crime," which it had pretended Sellis had
discovered the Duke in the act of committing. This of course entirely
clears the Queen's uncle from all suspicion. Daniel O'Connell, indeed,
described him as "the mighty great liar;" but with the general character
for truthfulness of the family, it would be in the highest degree
improper to suggest even the semblance of a doubt. It was proved upon
the inquest that Sellis was a sober, quiet man, in the habit of daily
shaving the Duke, and that he had never exhibited any suicidal or
homicidal tendencies. It therefore appears that he tried to wound or
kill his Royal Highness without any motive, and under circumstances in
which he knew discovery was inevitable, and that he then killed himself
with a razor, cutting his head almost off his body, severing it to the
bone. When Matthew Henry Graslin first saw the body, he "told them
all that Sellis had been murdered," and although he was called on the
inquest he does not say one word as to the condition of Sellis's body,
or as to whether or not he believes it to have been a suicide. Of all
the persons who saw the body of Sellis, and they appear to be many, only
one, a sergeant in the Coldstreams, gave the slightest evidence as to
the state in which the body was found, and no description whatever was
given, on the inquest, of the nature of the fearful wound which had
nearly severed Sellis's head from his body; nor, although it was
afterwards proved by sworn evidence that Sellis's cravat "was cut
through the whole of the folds, and the inside fold was tinged with
blood," was any evidence offered as to this on the inquest, although it
shows that Sellis must have first tried to cut his throat through his
cravat and that having partially but ineffectively cut his throat, he
then took off his cravat and gave himself with tremendous force the
gash which caused his death. It is said that the razor with which Sellis
killed himself was found two feet from the bed, and on the left-hand
side; but although it was stated that Sellis was a left-handed man,
no evidence was offered of this, and on the contrary, the bloody hand
marks, said to have been made by Sellis on the doors, were all on the
right hand. It is a great nuisance when people you are mixed up with
commit suicide. Undoubtedly, Sellis must have killed himself. The
journals tell us how Lord Graves killed himself long years afterward.
The Duke of Cumberland and Lady Graves, the widow, rode out together
very shortly after the suicide.
In the Rev. Erskine Neale's Life of the Duke of Kent it is stated that
a surgeon of note, who saw Sellis after his death, declared that there
were several wounds on the back of the neck which it was physically
impossible Sellis could have self-inflicted. In a lecture to his pupils
the surgeon repeated this in strong language, declaring that "no man can
behead himself."
The madness of George III. having become too violent and too continual
to permit it to be any longer hidden from the people, the Prince of
Wales was, in 1811, declared Regent, with limited powers, and L70,000
a year additional was voted for the Regent's expenses, and a further
L10,000 a year also granted to the Queen as custodian of her husband.
The grant to the Queen was the more outrageous, as her great wealth and
miserly conduct were well known. When the Regent was first appointed, he
authorized the Chancellor of the Exchequer to declare officially to the
House of Commons, that he would not add to the burdens of the nation;
and yet, in 1812, the allowance voted was made retrospective, so as to
include every hour of his office.
In the discussion in Parliament on the proposed Regency, it appeared
that the people had been for a considerable period utterly deceived on
the subject of the King's illness; and that, although his Majesty
had been for some time blind, deaf, and delirious, the Ministry,
representing the King to be competent, had dared to carry on the
Government whilst Greorge III. was in every sense incapacitated. It is
worthy of notice that the Right Honorable Benjamin Disraeli, the leader
of the great Conservative party in this country, publicly declared on
September 26th, 1871, that her present Majesty, Queen Victoria,
was both "physically and morally" incapable of performing her regal
functions. One advantage of having the telegraph wires in the hands
of Government is shown by the fact that all the telegraphic summaries
omitted the most momentous words of Mr. Disraeli's speech. During the
debate in the session of 1811, it was shown that when the King was mad
in the month of March, 1804, he had on the 4th been represented by Lord
Eldon as if he had given his assent to a bill granting certain lands to
the Duke of York, and on the 9th as if he had signed a commission.
Earl Grey stated that it was notorious that on two occasions the Great
Seal had been employed as if by his Majesty's command, while he was
insane. The noble earl also declared that, in 1801, the King was mad for
some weeks, and yet during that time councils were held, members sworn
to it, and acts done requiring the King's sanction. Sir Francis Burdett
said, "that to have a person at the head of affairs who had long been
incapable of signing his name to a document without some one to guide
his hand; a person long incapable of receiving petitions, of even
holding a levee, or discharging the most ordinary functions of
his office, and now afflicted with this mental malady, was a most
mischievous example to the people of this country, while it had a
tendency to expose the Government to the contempt of foreign nations."
One of the earliest acts of the Prince Regent was to reappoint his
brother, the Duke of York, to the office of Commander-in-Chief. A motion
was proposed by Lord Milton, in the House of Commons, declaring this
appointment to be "highly improper and indecorous." The Ministry were,
however, sufficiently powerful to negative this resolution by a large
majority. Though His Royal Highness had resigned his high office when
assailed with charges of the grossest corruption, he was permitted
to resume the command of the army without even a protest, save from a
minority of the House of Commons, and from a few of the unrepresented
masses. The chief mistress of the Prince Regent at this time was
the Marchioness of Hertford; and the _Courier_, then the ministerial
journal, had the cool impudence to speak of her as 'Britain's guardian
angel,' because her influence had been used to hinder the carrying
any measure for the relief of the Irish Catholics. Amongst the early
measures under the Regency, was the issue in Ireland of a circular
letter addressed to the Sheriffs and Lord Lieutenants of the counties,
forbidding the meetings of Catholics, and threatening all Catholic
committees with arrest and imprisonment. This, however, was so grossly
illegal, that it had shortly after to be abandoned, a Protestant jury
having refused to convict the first prisoners brought to trial. It is
curious to read the arguments against Catholic Emancipation pleaded in
the _Courier_, one being that during the whole of his reign, George
III. "is known to have felt the most conscientious and irrevocable
objections" to any such measure of justice to his unfortunate Irish
subjects.
In 1812 we had much poverty in England; and though this was not dealt
with by Parliament, L100,000 was granted to Lord Wellington, and
L200,000 voted for Russian sufferers by the French war. We had a few
months previously voted L100,000 for the relief of the Portuguese
against the French. On a message from the Prince Regent, annuities
of L9,000 each were also granted to the four Princesses, exclusive of
L4,000 from the Civil List. The message from the Prince Regent for
the relief of the "Russian sufferers" was brought down on the 17th of
December; and it is a curious fact that while Lord Castlereagh and Lord
Liverpool were eulogizing the Russians for their "heroic patriotism"
in burning Moscow, the Russians themselves were declaring in the _St.
Petersburgk Gazette_ that the deed was actually committed by "the
impious French," on whose heads the _Gazette_ invoked the vengeance of
God.
In 1812, the Prince Regent gave a sinecure office, that of Paymaster of
Widows' Pensions, to his "confidential servant," Colonel Macmahon. The
nature of the sort of private services which had been for some years
performed by this gallant colonel for this virtuous Prince may be better
guessed than described. Mr. Henry Brougham declared the appointment to
be an insult to Parliament. It was vigorously attacked indoors and out
of doors, and, in obedience to the voice of popular opinion, the Commons
voted the immediate abolition of the office. To recompense Colonel
Macmahon for the loss of his place, he was immediately appointed Keeper
of the Privy Purse and Private Secretary to the Prince Regent. This
appointment was also severely criticised; and although the Government
were sufficiently powerful to defeat the attack in the Commons, they
were yet compelled, by the strong protest made by the public against
such an improper appointment, to nominally transfer the salary to the
Regent's privy purse. The transfer was not real, as, the Civil List
being always in debt, the nation had in fact ultimately to pay the
money.
In 1813, foreign subsidies to the amount of L11,000,000, and 100,000
stand of arms, were voted by the English Parliament. Out of the above,
Portugal received L2,000,000, Sicily, L400,000, Spain, L2,000,000,
Sweden, L1,000,000, Russia and Prussia, L3,000,000, Austria, L1,000,000,
besides stores sent to Germany to the amount of L2,000,000 more.
This year his Royal Highness the Prince Regent went to Ascot races,
where he was publicly dunned by a Mr. Vaux-hall Clarke for a betting
debt incurred some years before, and left unpaid.
Great excitement was created in and out of Parliament by the complaint
of the Princess of Wales that she was not allowed to see her daughter,
the Princess Charlotte. The Prince Regent formally declared, through
the Speaker of the House of Commons, that he would not meet, on any
occasion, public or private, the Princess of Wales (whom it was urged
that "he had been forced to marry "); while the Princess of Wales wrote
a formal letter to Parliament complaining that her character had
been "traduced by suborned perjury." Princess Charlotte refused to
be presented at Court except by her mother, who was not allowed to
go there. In the House of Commons, Mr. Whitbread charged the Lords
Commissioners with unduly straining the evidence by leading questions;
and Lord Ellenborough, in his place in the House of Peers, declared that
the accusation was "as false as hell." Ultimately, it was admitted that
the grave charges against the Princess of Wales were groundless, and
L35,000 a year was voted to her, she agreeing to travel abroad. Mr.
Bathurst, a sinecurist pensioner, pleading on behalf of the Prince
Regent that the House of Commons ought not to interfere, urged that it
was no unusual thing to have dissensions in the Royal Family, and that
they had been frequent in the reigns of George I. and George II. Mr.
Stuart Wortley, in the course of a severe speech in reply to Lord
Castlereagh, declared that "we had a Royal Family which took no warning
from what was said or thought about them, and seemed to be the only
persons in the country who were wholly regardless of their own welfare
and respectability."
The Princess Charlotte of Wales was at this time residing in Warwick
House, and some curiosity was aroused by the dismissal, by order of the
Prince Regent, of all her servants. This was immediately followed by the
flight of the Princess from the custody of her father to the residence
of her mother, the Princess of Wales. Persuaded to return to the Prince
Regent by her mother, Lord Eldon, and others, she appears to have been
really detained as a sort of prisoner, for we find the Duke of Sussex
soon after complaining in the House of Lords that he was unable to
obtain access to the Princess, and asking by whose authority she was
kept in durance. Happy family, these Bruns-wicks!
In 1814, L100,000 further was devoted to the Duke of Wellington,
together with an annuity of L10,000 a year, to be at any time commuted
for L300,000. The income of the Duke of Wellington, from places,
pensions, and grants, amounted to an enormous sum. At present we pay his
heir L4,000 a year for having inherited his father's riches.
During the year 1814, L118,857 was voted for payment of the Civil List
debts.
The Emperor of Russia and King of Prussia, after the restoration of
Louis XVIII., visited the Prince Regent in this country, when the
following squib was published:--
"There be princes three,
Two of them come from a far countrie,
And for valor and prudence their names shall be
Enrolled in the annals of glorie.
The third is said at a bottle to be
More than a match for his whole armie,
And fonder of fur caps and fripperie
Than any recorded in storie.
Those, from the North great warriors be,
And warriors have in their companie,
But he of the South must stare to see
Himself in such goodly companie.
For to say what his usual consorts be,
Would make but a pitiful storie."
On the 12th of August, 1814, the Princess of Wales quitted England, and
it is alleged that, on the evening prior to her departure, the Prince
Regent, having as usual drank much wine, proposed a toast, "To the
Princess of Wales' damnation, and may she never return to England."
Whether this story, which Dr. Doran repeats, be true or false, it
is certain that the Prince Regent hated his wife with a thoroughly
merciless hatred. When the death of Napoleon was known in England, a
gentleman, thinking to gain favor with George IV. said, "Your Majesty's
bitterest enemy is dead." The "first gentleman of Europe" thought only
of his wife, and replied, "Is she, by God!"
The highly esteemed and virtuous Duke of Cumberland was married at
Berlin to the Princess of Salms, a widow who had been twice married,
once betrothed, and once divorced. The lady was niece to the Queen
of England, who refused to receive her publicly or privately. On this
refusal being known, a letter was published in the newspapers,
written and signed by the Queen herself, to her brother the Duke of
Mecklenburgh-Strelitz, the father of the bride, in which letter the
Queen gave assurances of a kind reception to the bride on her arrival
in England. The Queen's friends replied that the Queen's letter was
only written to be shown to the German Courts on the condition that the
Duchess should not come to England. Curious notions of truth and honor
seem current among these Brunswicks!
On the 27th of June, the Lords, on a message from the Prince Regent,
voted an additional allowance of L6,000 a year to the Duke of Cumberland
in consequence of the marriage. In the House of Commons, after a series
of very warm debates, in which Lord Castlereagh objected to answer
"any interrogatories tending to vilify the Royal Family," the House
ultimately refused to grant the allowance by 126 votes against 125.
One historian says: "The demeanor of the Duchess of Cumberland in this
country has been, to say the least, unobtrusive and unimpeached; but it
must be confessed that a disastrous fatality--something inauspicious and
indescribable--attaches to the Prince, her husband."
This year L200,000 further was voted to the Duke of Wellington, for
the purchase of an estate, although it appeared from one Member of
Parliament's speech that the vote should rather have been to the Prince
Regent. "Who," he asked, "had rendered the army efficient? The Prince
Regent--by restoring the Duke of York to the Horse Guards. Who had
gained the Battle of Waterloo? The Prince Regent--by giving the command
of the army to the Duke of Wellington!!" The Prince Regent himself had
even a stronger opinion on the matter. Thackeray says: "I believe it is
certain about George IV. that he had heard so much of the war, knighted
so many people, and worn, such a prodigious quantity of marshal's
uniforms, cocked hats, cocks' feathers, scarlet and bullion in general,
that he actually fancied he had been present at some campaigns, and
under the name of General Brock led a tremendous charge of the German
legion at Waterloo."
In 1816, Prince Leopold of Coburg Saalfeld, a very petty German Prince,
without estate or position, married the Princess Charlotte of Wales, as
if he were a Protestant, although he most certainly on other occasions
acted as if he belonged to the Catholic Church. A grant of L60,000 a
year was made to the royal couple; L60,000 was given for the wedding
outfit, and L50,000 secured to Prince Leopold for life, in the event
of his surviving the Princess. And although this was done, it was well
known to the Prince Regent and the members of the Government, that on
the 2d January of the previous year, a marriage ceremony, according to
the rites of the Roman Catholic Church, had been performed, by which the
Prince Leopold was united to the Countess of Cohaky. Bigamy appears to
be a fashionable vice, and one to which these Brunswicks never raise any
objection.
On the 9th December, the City of London presented an address to the
Prince Regent, in which they complained of "immense subsidies to foreign
powers to defend their own territories, or to commit aggressions on
those of their neighbors, of an unconstitutional and unprecedented
military force in time of peace, of the unexampled and increasing
magnitude of the Civil List, of the enormous sums paid for unmerited
pensions and sinecures, and of a long course of the most lavish and
improvident expenditure of the public money throughout every branch of
the Government." This address appears to have deeply wounded the Regent,
and the expressions of stern rebuke he used in replying, coupled with
a rude sulkiness of manner, were ungracious and unwarrantable. He
emphasized his answer with pauses and frowns, and turned on his heel
as soon as he had delivered it. And yet at this moment hundreds of
thousands in England were starving. Kind monarchs these Brunswicks!
Early in 1817, the general distress experienced in all parts of England,
and which had been for some time on the increase, was of a most severe
character. Meetings in London and the provinces grew frequent, and
were most numerously attended, and on February 3d, in consequence of a
message from the Prince Regent, Committees of Secrecy were appointed
by the Lords and Commons, to inquire into the character of the various
movements. The Government was weak and corrupt, but the people lacked
large-minded leaders, and the wide-spread discontent of the masses of
the population rendered some of their number easy victims to the police
spies who manufactured political plots.
On the 6th of November, 1817, Princess Charlotte of Wales died.
Complaints were raised that the Princess had not been fairly treated,
and some excitement was created by the fact that Sir Richard Croft,
the doctor who attended her, soon after committed suicide, and that the
public and the reporters were not allowed to be present at the inquest.
No notice whatever of the Princess's death was forwarded to her mother,
the Princess of Wales. In a letter to the Duke of Buckingham, Mr. Wynn
speaks of this as "the most brutal omission I ever remember, and one
which would attach disgrace in private life." At this very time a large
sum of money was being wasted in the employment of persons to watch the
Princess of Wales on her foreign travels. In her correspondence we find
the Princess complaining that her letters were opened and read, and
that she was surrounded with spies. From the moment that George III. was
declared incurable, and his death approaching, there seems little doubt
that desperate means were resorted to to manufacture evidence against
the Princess to warrant a divorce.
On July 13th, 1818, his Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence married
Adelaide, Princess of Saxe Meiningen, and his Royal Highness the Duke
of Kent married her Serene Highness Victoria, Princess of Leiningen. The
Duke of Clarence, of course, had voted to him an additional allowance
of L6,000 a year on entering the married state, although he was already
receiving from the country more than L21,000 a year in cash, and a house
rent free. It is highly edifying to read that during the debates
in Parliament, and when some objection was raised to the extra sums
proposed to be voted to one of the Royal Dukes, Mr. Canning pleaded, as
a reason for the payment, that his Royal Highness was not marrying "for
his own private gratification, but because he had been advised to do
so for the political purposes of providing succession to the throne."
Pleasant this for the lady, and glorious for the country--Royal breeding
machines! The Duke of Kent, who had the same additional vote, had about
L25,000 a year, besides a grant of L20,000 towards the payment of his
debts, and a loan of L6,000 advanced in 1806, of which up to the time of
his marriage only L1,000 had been repaid.
Of Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent, father of her present Majesty, it is
only necessary to say a few words. The fourth son of George III. was
somewhat better than his brothers, and perhaps for this very reason
he seems always to have been disliked, and kept at a distance by his
father, mother, and brothers. Nor was the Duke of Kent less disliked
amongst the army, which he afterwards commanded. Very few of the
officers loved him, and the bulk of the privates seem to have regarded
him with the most hostile feelings. Kept very short of money by his
miserly father and mother, he had, even before his majority, incurred
considerable debts; and coming to England in 1790, in order to try and
induce the King to make him some sufficient allowance, he was ordered
to quit England in ten days. While allowances were made to all the other
sons of George, the Duke of Kent had no Parlimentary vote until he
was thirty-three years of age. In 1802 he was appointed Governor of
Gibraltar, where a mutiny took place, and the Duke had a narrow escape
of his life. The Duke of Kent's friends allege that this mutiny was
encouraged by officers of the highest rank, secretly sustained by the
Duke of York. The Duke of York's friends, on the contrary, maintain that
the overbearing conduct of the Duke of Kent, his severity in details,
and general harshness in command, alone produced the result. The Duke of
Kent was recalled from the Government of Gibraltar, and for some months
the pamphleteers were busy on behalf of the two Dukes, each seeking to
prove that the royal brother of his royal client was a dishonorable man.
Pleasant people, these Brunswicks! If either side wrote the truth, one
of the Dukes was a rascal. If neither side wrote the truth, both were.
The following extract from a pamphlet by Mary Anne Clarke, mistress of
the Duke of York, will serve to show the nature of the publications I
refer to: "I believe there is scarcely a military man in the kingdom who
was at Gibraltar during the Duke of Kent's command of that fortress but
is satisfied that the Duke of York's refusal of a court martial to his
royal brother _afforded an incontestible proof of his regard_ for the
_military_ character and honor of the Duke of Kent; for if a court
martial had been granted to the Governor of Gibraltar, I always
understood there was but _one_ opinion as to what would have been the
_result_; and _then_ the Duke of Kent would have lost several thousands
a year, and incurred such public reflections that would, most probably,
have been painful to his _honorable and acute_ feelings. It was,
however, this _act of affection for_ the Duke of Kent that laid the
foundation of that _hatred_ which has followed the Commander-in-Chief
up to the present moment; and to this _unnatural feeling_ he is solely
indebted for all the misfortunes and disgrace to which he has been
introduced. In one of the many conversations which I had with Majors
Dodd and Glennie, upon the meditated ruin of the Duke of York, they
informed me that their royal friend had made every endeavor in his power
to poison the King's ear against the Commander-in-Chief, but as Colonel
Taylor was so much about the person of his Majesty, all his efforts had
proved ineffectual; and to have spoken his sentiments before Colonel
Taylor would have been very injudicious, as he would immediately have
communicated them to the Commander-in-Chief, who, though he knew this
time ( said these confidential and worthy patriots) that the Duke
of Kent was supporting persons to write against him, and that some
parliamentary proceedings were upon the eve of bursting upon the public
attention, yet deported himself towards his royal brother as if they
lived but for each other's honor and happiness; and the Duke of Kent, to
keep up appearances, was more particular in his attentions to the Duke
of York than he had ever been before."
Despite the Duke of Kent's recall, he continued to receive salary
and allowances as Governor. After the celebration of the marriage, he
resided abroad, and was on such unfriendly terms with his family that
when he returned from Amorbach to England, it was against the express
orders of the Prince Regent, who, shortly after meeting his brother at
the Spanish Ambassador's, took not the slightest notice of him.
On the 17th November, 1818, the Queen died, and the custody of the body
of the mad, deaf, and blind monarch of England was nominally transferred
to the Duke of York, who was voted an extra L10,000 a year for
performing the duty of visiting his royal father twice a week. Objection
was ineffectually raised that his Royal Highness had also his income
as Commander-in-Chief and General Officer, and it might have also been
added, his pensions and his income as Prince Bishop of Osnaburg. Mr.
Curwen said: "Considering how complete the revenue of his Royal Highness
was from public emoluments, he could not consent to grant him one
shilling upon the present occasion."
In 1819, the Duke of Kent tried to get up a lottery for the sale of
his Castlebar estate, in order to pay his debts, which were then about
L70,000, but the project, being opposed by the Prince Regent, fell to
the ground.
On the 24th of May, 1819, her present Majesty was born; and on the 23d
of January, 1820, the Duke of Kent, her father, died.
On the 29th of January, 1820, after a sixty years' reign--in which debt,
dishonor, and disgrace accrued to the nation he reigned over--George
III. died. The National Debt at the date of his accession to the throne
was about L150,000,000; at his death it was about L900,000,000.
Phillimore asks: "Had it not been for the unlimited power of borrowing,
how many unjust and capricious wars would have been avoided! How
different would be our condition, and the condition of our posterity!
If half the sum lavished to prevent any one bearing the name of Napoleon
from residing in France, for replacing the Bourbons on the thrones of
France and Naples, for giving Belgium to Holland, Norway to Sweden,
Finland to Russia, Venice and Lombardy to Austria, had been employed by
individual enterprise, what would now be the resources of England?"
An extract, giving Lord Brougham's summary of George III's life and
character, may, we think, fairly serve to close this chapter: "Of a
narrow understanding, which no culture had enlarged; of an obstinate
disposition, which no education perhaps could have humanized; of strong
feelings in ordinary things, and a resolute attachment to all his own
opinions and predilections, George III. possessed much of the firmness
of purpose which, being exhibited by men of contracted mind without any
discrimination, and as pertinaciously when they are in the wrong as
when they are in the right, lends to their characters an appearance of
inflexible consistency, which is often mistaken for greatness of mind,
and not seldom received as a substitute for honesty. In all that related
to his kingly office he was the slave of deep-rooted selfishness; and no
feeling of a kindly nature ever was allowed access to his bosom whenever
his power was concerned."