William Henry, Duke of Clarence, Admiral of the Fleet, and third son of
George III, born August 21st, 1765, succeeded his brother George IV.
as King of England, on the 26th of June, 1830. The new King was then 65
years of age, and had been married, July 11th, 1818, to Adelaide Amelia
Louisa Teresa Caroline, Princess of Saxe-Meiningen. Mrs. Dorothy Jordan,
with whom William had lived, and who had borne him ten children, had
fled to France to avoid her creditors, and had there died, neglected by
the world, deserted by William, and in the greatest poverty. This Mrs.
Jordan was sold to William by one Richard Ford, her former lover, who,
amongst other rewards of virtue, was created a Knight, and made Police
Magistrate at Bow Street. Mrs. Jordan's children bore the name of
"Fitzclarence," and great dissatisfaction was expressed against the
King, who, too mean to maintain them out of his large income, contrived
to find them all posts at the public cost. At the date of William IV.'s
accession, the imperial taxation was about L47,000,000; to-day it has
increased at least L25,000,000.
The annual allowances to the junior branches of the Royal Family in
1830, formerly included in the Civil List, and now paid separately, were
as follows:--
The Duke of Cumberland L21,000. He had no increase on his marriage; the
House of Commons rejected a motion to that effect; but an allowance of
L6,000 a year for his son, Prince George, had been issued to him since
he became a resident in this country. This is the Duke of Cumberland,
who so loved his brother, William IV., that he intrigued with the
Orangemen to force William's abdication, and to get made King in his
stead.
The Duke of Sussex received L21,000.
The Duke of Cambridge, father of the present Duke, had L27,000. He
obtained an increase on his marriage of L6,000 a year. This Prince was
charged with the government of the family territory, the kingdom of
Hanover, and consequently resided but little in England.
Princess Augusta, L13,000.
The Princess Elizabeth of Hesse Homburg, L10,000.
Princess Sophia, L13,000.
The Duchess of Kent, including the allowance granted in 1831, for
her daughter, the Princess Victoria, heir-presumptive to the Throne,
L22,000.
The Duke of Gloucester, including L13,000 which he received as the
husband of the Princess Mary*, L27,000.
The Princess Sophia of Gloucester, his sister, L7,000.
Queen Adelaide had L100,000 a year, and the residence at Bushey granted
to her for life.
Mrs. Fitzherbert, as the widow of George IV., was in receipt of L6,000 a
year, and the ten Fitzclarences also enjoyed places and pensions.
The Duke of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel were the King's Ministers;
and, although there was some personal hostility between William and the
Iron Duke, they were at first his willing coadjutors in opposing either
reduction of expenditure, or any kind of political or social reform. The
quarrel between William as Duke of Clarence and the Duke of Wellington
had arisen when William was Lord High Admiral. William had given
improper orders to a military officer, named Cockburn, which the
latter had refused to obey. The Duke of Wellington refused to sacrifice
Cockburn, and ultimately the Duke of Clarence resigned his office as
Lord High Admiral, for which, says the Rev. Mr. Molesworth, "he was
ill-qualified, and in which he was doing great mischief."
In November, 1830, Earl Grey, Lord Brougham, Lord Melbourne, and Lord
Althorp came into office as leaders of the Whig party. With slight
exception, in 1806, the Whigs had not been before in office during the
present century, and very little indeed since 1762. The Whigs encouraged
the Radical Reformers so far as to insure their own accession to power;
but it is evident that the Whig Cabinet only considered how little they
could grant, and yet retain office. In finance, as well as reform, they
were disloyal to the mass of the people who pushed them into power.
The Duke of Wellington and his Ministry resigned office in November,
1830, because the House of Commons wished to appoint a Select Committee
to examine the Civil List. King William IV., according to the words of
a letter written by him to Earl Grey, on December 1st, 1830, felt
considerable "alarm and uneasiness" because Joseph Hume and other
Radical members wished to put some check on the growing and already
extravagant royal expenditure. He objects "most strenuously," and says,
referring in this especially to the Duchy of Lancaster: "Earl Grey
cannot be surprised that the King should view with jealousy any idea
of Parliamentary interference with the only remaining pittance of an
independent possession, which has been enjoyed by his ancestors, during
many centuries, as their _private and independent estate_, and has now,
as such, lawfully devolved upon him in right of succession. That he
should feel that any successful attempt to deprive the Sovereign of this
independent possession will be to lower and degrade him into the state
and condition of absolute and entire dependence, as a pensioner of
the House of Commons; to place him in the condition of an individual
violating or surrendering a trust which had been held sacred by his
ancestors, and which he is bound to transmit to his successors. The King
cannot indeed conceive upon what plea such a national invasion of the
_private_ rights, and such a seizure of the private estates, of the
Sovereign could be justified."
William IV. reminds Earl Grey, that the Chancellor of the Duchy is sworn
to do all things "for the weal and profit of the King's Highness. And
his Majesty has fair reason to expect that a pledge so solemnly taken
will be fulfilled, and that he will be supported in his assertion
of these _private_ rights, not only of himself, but of his heirs and
successors, as they have devolved upon him, _separate_ from all other
of his possessions _jure coronae_, and consequently, as his separate
personal and private estate, vested in his Majesty, by descent from
Henry VII. in his body _natural_, and not in his body _politic_ as
King."
Earl Grey naturally promised to prevent Radical financial reformers from
becoming too annoying to Royalty. The Whigs love to talk of economy out
of office, and to avoid it when in place.
Daniel O'Connell appears to have much troubled the King. Directly after
the Dublin meeting in December, 1830, Sir Henry Taylor says: "The King
observed, that he would have been better pleased if this assembly of
people had not dispersed quietly _at his bidding_, as the control
which he has successfully exercised upon various occasions in this way,
appears to his Majesty the most striking proof of the influence he has
acquired over a portion of the lower classes in Ireland."
It is pretended in the _Cabinet Register_ for 1831, and was stated
by Lord Althorp in Parliament, "that his Majesty most nobly and
patriotically declined to add to the burdens of his people by accepting
an outfit for his royal consort, though L54,000 had been granted by
Parliament to the Queen of George III., as an outfit to purchase jewels,
etc." This is so little true, that it appears from the correspondence
between the King and Earl Grey, that a grant for the Queen's outfit had
been agreed to by the outgoing Tories, and would have been proposed
by the new Whig Government, had not one of the Cabinet (probably Lord
Brougham) decidedly objected, on the ground "that proposing a grant for
this purpose would have a bad effect on the House of Commons, and on
public opinion;" and by a letter dated February 4th, 1831, from the
King, it is clear that he only abandoned the claim when he found he
could not get it. There is not a word about "the burdens of the
people," although many at that time were in a starving condition. On the
contrary, the secretary of the King says on the 6th of February, that
"the disinclination shown in the House of Commons" to grant the outfit
had "produced a very painful impression on his Majesty."
The King, afraid of the spread of Reform opinions, says that he "trusts
that the Lord-Lieutenants and Deputy-Lieutenants of counties will be
cautioned to scrutinize the ballots for the militia as far as possible,
so as to endeavor to exclude from its ranks men of dangerous and
designing character, whose influence might prove very pernicious upon
newly-established corps, and before they shall have acquired habits of
discipline and subordination." And to show his desire for Reform,
he urges the Ministers to check the public gatherings, saying, "I am
ignorant to what extent it may be in contemplation to increase the
military means, either by calling out the militia partially, or by any
addition to the regular force; but I am convinced that the latter would
be not only the most efficient, but the cheapest; and it would have the
advantage of being applicable to all purposes."
The Reformer King--for this pretence has been made--in another letter
says: "His Majesty is satisfied that he may rely upon Earl Grey's
strenuous support in his determination to resist all attempts which may
be made to sap the established rights of the Crown, and to destroy
those institutions under which this country has so long prospered, while
others have been suffering so severely from the effects of revolutionary
projects, and from the admission of what are called Radical remedies...
He is induced thus pointedly to notice the proposal of introducing
_Election by Ballot_, in order to declare that nothing should ever
induce him to yield to it, or to sanction a practice which would, in his
opinion, be a protection to concealment, would abolish the influence of
fear and shame, and would be inconsistent with the manly spirit and
the free avowal of opinion which distinguish the people of England. His
Majesty need scarcely add that his opposition to the introduction of
another, yet more objectionable, proposal, the adoption of _Universal
Suffrage_, one of the wild projects which have sprung from revolutionary
speculation, would have been still more decided."
How William IV. could ever have been suspected of being favorable to
Reform is difficult to comprehend. As Duke of Clarence he had spoken in
favor of the Slave Trade, and had declared that "its abolition should
meet with his most serious and most unqualified opposition." When the
Reform Bill actually became law, although William IV. did not dare to
veto it, he refused to give the royal assent in person.
In this chapter there is not space enough to go through the history of
the Reform agitation of 1832. In Moles-worth's "History of the Reform
Bill," and Roebuck's account of the "Whig Ministry," the reader will
find the story fully told. It is not enough to say here that the King
not only hindered Reform until Revolution was imminent, and the flames
of burning castles and mansions were rising in different parts of
England, but it may be stated that he condescended to deceive his
Ministers; that he allowed his children to canvass peers against the
bill, and would have resorted to force to crush the Birmingham Political
Union, if he could have thrown the responsibility of this tyranny upon
the Cabinet. In the King's eyes the people were "the rabble." We find
him "impatient" for the return of the Tories to power, and bitterly
discontented when the orderly character of popular demonstrations
rendered the employment of the military impossible.
The Earl of Munster, one of the King's ten children by Mrs. Jordan, and
who was Governor of Windsor Castle, Colonel in the Army, Aide-de-Camp
to the King, Lieutenant of the Tower, Tory and State prisoner, being
charged with having "unhandsomely intrigued against Earl Grey's
Government," made the curious defence "that for six months before and
for twenty-four hours after the resignation" of the Grey Government,
"it was from certain circumstances out of his power to act in the matter
imputed to him."
It is worthy of notice, as against Mr. Frederic Harrison's opinion,
that no English monarch could now really interfere with the course
of government in Great Britain, that in April, 1832, William IV. gave
written directions to Earl Grey, "that no instructions should be
sent" to foreign ambassadors until they had "obtained his previous
concurrence." And it is clear, from a letter of the King's private
secretary, that William gave these orders because he was afraid
there was a "disposition... to unite with France in support of the
introduction of liberal opinions and measures agreeably to the spirit of
the times." Although the newspapers praised William, he does not seem
to have been very grateful in private. In 1832, he declared to his
confidential secretary that he had "long ceased to consider the press
(the newspaper family) in any other light than as the vehicle of all
that is false and infamous."
In January, 1833, in a speech, not written for him, but made
extemporaneously after dinner, William IV. said, to compliment the
American Ambassador, "that it had always been a matter of serious regret
to him that he had not been born a free, independent American." We
regret that the whole family have not long since naturalized themselves
as American citizens. But such a sentiment from the son of George III.,
from one who in his youth had used the most extravagant phraseology in
denunciation of the American rebels!!
The family insanity, shown in the case of George II. by his persistence
in wearing his Dettingen old clothes; more notorious and less possible
of concealment in that of George III.; well known to all but the people
as to George IV., who actually tried to persuade the Duke of Wellington
that he (George) had led a regiment at Waterloo, was also marked in
William IV. In April, 1832, the King's own secretary admits "distressing
symptoms" and "nervous excitement," but says that the attack "is now
subsiding." Raikes, a Tory, and also a king-worshipper, in his, "Diary,"
under date May the 27th, 1834, says, after speaking of the King's
"excitement" and "rather extraordinary" conduct, that "at the levee a
considerable sensation was created the other day by his insisting that
an unfortunate wooden-legged lieutenant should kneel down." On June
11th, visiting the Royal Academy, the President showed the King, amongst
others, the portrait of Admiral Napier, and was astonished to hear his
Majesty at once cry out: "Captain Napier may be damned, sir, and you
may be damned, sir; and if the Queen was not here, sir, I would kick
you downstairs, sir." The King's brother, his Royal Highness the Duke of
Gloucester, died November 20th, 1834. Raikes says of him: "He was not
a man of talent, as may be inferred from his nickname of Silly Billy."
This is the Royal Family, the head of which, according to Mr. Disraeli,
was "physically and mentally incapable of performing the regal
functions," and which yet, according to the brilliant statesman, so
fitly represents the intelligence and honor of Great Britain!
In 1836, Sir William Knighton died. He had been made private secretary
to the late King, and had made his fortune by means of some papers which
Colonel Macmahon, confidant of George IV., had when dying, and which
came into Knighton's hands as medical attendant of the dying man. Sir
W. Knighton was made a "Grand Cross," not for his bravery in war, or
intelligence in the State, but for his adroit manipulation of secrets
relating to Lady Jersey, Mrs. Fitzherbert, and the Marchioness of
Conyngham. Sir William Knighton and the latter lady were supposed to
have made free with L300,000; but great larcenies win honor, and Sir W.
Knighton died respected.
In August, 1836, William--hearing that the Duke of Bedford had helped
O'Connell with money--ordered the Duke's bust, then in the Gallery at
Windsor, to be taken down, and thrown in the lime-kilns.
On June 20th, 1837, William IV. died. Ernest, Duke of Cumberland,
by William's death, became King of Hanover, and was on the same day
publicly hissed in the Green Park. Naturally, in this loving family
there was considerable disagreement for some time previous to the King's
death between his Majesty and the Duchess of Kent.
The _Edinburgh Review_, soon after the King's death, while admitting
that "his understanding may not have been of as high an order as his
good nature," says: "We have learned to forget the faults of the Duke
of Clarence in the merits of William IV." Where were these merits
shown? Was it in "brooding"--(to use the expression of his own private
secretary)--over questions of whether he could, during the commencement
of his reign, personally appropriate sums of money outside the Civil
List votes? Was it in desiring that Colonel Napier might be "struck
off the half-pay list," for having made a speech at Devizes in favor of
Parliamentary Reform? Was it when he tried to persuade Earl Grey to make
Parliament pay Rundell and Bridge's bill for plate--and this when the
masses were in a starving condition? Was it when he declared that he was
by "no means dissatisfied" that a proposed meeting was likely to be so
"violent, and in other respects so objectionable," as it would afford
the excuse for suppressing by force the orderly meetings which, says his
secretary, "the King orders me to say he cannot too often describe as
being, in his opinion, far more mischievous and dangerous" than those of
"a more avowed and violent character"?