Chapter II

On the 1st of June, Caroline of Brunswick arrived at St. Omer, intending to embark at Calais without delay for England. At once she showed her disposition to carry matters with a high hand. She wrote an imperious letter to the Earl of Liverpool, to prepare a palace in London for her reception; another to Lord Melville, to send a yacht to carry her across the Channel to Dover; and a third to the Duke of York, repeating both demands, and complaining of the treatment she had received. Two days later, Mr. Brougham, her chief legal adviser, arrived, and at the same time Lord Hutchinson, with a proposition from the King, offering her 50,000_l._ a year for life if she would remain on the Continent, and surrender the title of Queen of England. She was in no mood to listen to reason, and indignantly rejected the offer.

The rumour of the Queen's approach created extraordinary excitement among all classes in every part of the kingdom. The Lord Chancellor prophetically says, "If she can venture, she is the most courageous lady I ever heard of. The mischief, if she does come, will be infinite. At first, she will have extensive popularity with the multitude; in a few short months or weeks, she will be ruined in the opinion of all the world."[20] "One can't help admiring her spirit," observes the moral Wilberforce, "though I fear she has been very profligate."[21] From such a man there might have been expected a severer judgment on her immorality, and a more subdued appreciation of her daring; but this evidence of "spirit" was an appeal to the English people which many a grave father of a family found it impossible to resist. Mr. Wilberforce, however, much to his credit, was earnestly desirous of lessening the threatened scandal, and diminishing the public commotion it was likely to create. He writes in his Diary,--"When, therefore, Lord Castlereagh had made a motion to refer the papers to the consideration of a Secret Committee, I endeavoured to interpose a pause, during which the two parties might have an opportunity of contemplating coolly the prospect before them. Accordingly I sounded the House; my proposition was immediately adopted, and a pause was made, with a declaration that its purpose was to give opportunity for a private settlement."[22]

[20] Twiss's "Life of Lord Eldon," vol. ii. p. 3.

[21] "Wilberforce's Life," by his Sons, vol. v. p. 55.

[22] Ibid.

As no Royal yacht was likely to be at her disposal, Queen Caroline lost no time in embarking, crossed the sea safely, pursued her route to the metropolis through Canterbury, and, passing through vociferous crowds, on the 7th, in default of the palace she had ordered, took up her residence with a City alderman, who had placed himself among the foremost of her champions. From this time the agitation in the public mind hourly increased, till it began to assume a most threatening aspect. Nothing was left undone by the Queen to ingratiate herself with the people; and, as a natural result, she never appeared publicly without creating intense excitement. When in the streets, her horses were taken from her carriage, and she was drawn in triumph, by scores of shouting adherents, through a clamorous mob. Before the alderman's house in South Audley Street stood hour after hour a shouting myriad, excited to a pitch of frenzy to which no description can do justice, by the appearance on the balcony of a stout lady, in a large hat surmounted by a plume of feathers.

On the day of her arrival in town, the King sent a message to the Houses of Lords and Commons, to the effect that the step taken by the Queen had forced him to bring before the consideration of Parliament, certain papers detailing her conduct since her departure from England. The Queen, on the same day, sent a message by Mr. Brougham, in her usual high tone, expressing a desire for an open investigation. The friends of both parties were striving to spare the country the threatened exposure; and on the 9th, the Queen so far complied with the suggestions of her most sensible advisers as to write a moderate letter to Lord Liverpool, expressing her inclination to consider any proposition the Government were disposed to make in behalf of their Sovereign. Communications were exchanged; the Ministers repeated their liberal offer, and the Queen repeated her indignant refusal. How this sad business was felt at the period may be gathered from the letters that follow. But the first expresses a belief, then generally gaining ground, of a change in the Government in favour of the Grenville party. It would appear as if a proposal of the kind had been submitted to the head of the family, but the sensible advice here given must at once have put an end to such a negotiation:--

LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Dropmore, 12 at night, June 11.

We have both talked this thing over as fully as our materials
enabled us to do, and it is our decided opinion that the King has,
and can have in the present moment, only the alternative of putting
himself fairly and fully into the hands of one or other of the two
great parties; and that it would be deceiving him, and trifling
with a most awful state of things, if anybody undertook to be
useful to him on any other footing, or even gave rise to the delay
of an hour in deciding on that alternative by countenancing hopes
of any third arrangement.

The House of Commons is totally unmanageable in any such view. The
whole weight of the Ministers there, combining their aid as they
now do, is, as you see, hardly sufficient to carry on the ordinary
public business from day to day. I very much question whether all
the weight that the Opposition could unite for the same purpose, if
the task were committed into their hands, would be much, if at all,
more adequate to it. What hopes, then, could a third party
entertain of doing this in opposition to both?

I can easily see in what course your assistance and support might
be very useful indeed to strengthen his Government, into whatever
hands he may finally determine to commit it; and in the present
state of things I should, as far as my own wishes went, be most
anxious that, in whatever hands it shall be vested, it should
possess whatever of strength and efficiency it can receive. But as
for undertaking any principal or leading part in the formation of a
new Government, to the exclusion of the most considerable persons
in this, and of the whole of the other party (who will doubtless on
this occasion act with perfect union and concurrence among
themselves), I hold the success impossible, and the undertaking
much too desperate to be reconciled to any just sense of prudence
or duty. And if the fact be so, it is most important that he should
be as speedily, and as distinctly as possible, apprized that so it
is. And you and Charles would much injure your own reputation and
weight by appearing to tamper with a case in which you cannot be of
any real use.

I do not wonder that he feels hurt at Canning's speech, such as it
is reported; but this is not the first occasion, nor will it be the
last, in which the Sovereign of this country must suppress such
feelings, and bear with the faults of those who, on the whole,
taking all things together, can serve him most usefully; and the
manner in which the Opposition have of late years, most
unfortunately for themselves and for the country, been drawn on to
mix themselves up with projects of reform, and with the countenance
and defence of reformers of the wildest description, seems to me, I
regret to say it, to throw that balance at this time wholly on the
side of their opponents.

I do not know that I can add more. My brother returns to town early
to-morrow morning; and you will not wonder, knowing my feelings,
that all that is now passing is with me a decisive reason for not
coming near it unless commanded so to do, and then it would only be
for the purpose of expressing these opinions.

Paris at this period, it is evident, was scarcely in a less excitable state than London:--

HON. COLONEL STANHOPE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Hotel Meurice, June 11, 1820.

MY DEAR LORD BUCKINGHAM,

Paris is in a strange state,--more resembling a town in a state of
siege than the most gadding capital; but, as far as the exterior
appearance can be the guide, I cannot see why the Government should
have assembled nearly 25,000 troops round Paris, the riots having
been confined to the students of the _ecoles_ and the _gardes de
corps_, the people, _proprement dit_, taking no part and showing no
interest. The violence of the Chambers is sufficiently seen in the
papers, and their whole time is occupied in hearing different
members relate their own adventures on the preceding day. The
ultra-Ultras have returned to their foolish language, which ruined
them in '14 and '15, about having a general tax to reimburse them
for their lost property. They might as well think of dividing
France. The other party, of course, keep pace. Two days ago, some
French ladies on the Boulevards were obliged, by a body of men
looking like _le bourgeoisie_, to get out of their carriages and
cry "_Vive l'egalite_." One of the worst circumstances is the
distinction which has been made between _Le Roi et la Charte_,
which last year was the watchword of the Royalists, and is now
divided into the _mots de ralliement_ of the two parties; and when
the one cries _A bas la Charte_, others have been found rash enough
to answer _A bas les Bourbons_. The Royalists are universally
anxious for the double electoral colleges; their opponents will not
give up the direct election; and the amendment which was carried
the other day is a sort of _mezzo termine_, as the 170 new members
are to be elected by the double colleges, and the _remplacants_
by the old law. There was a considerable riot on Friday night, in
which Oudinot was rode over, and several people badly wounded; one
only killed. The troops have shown the greatest steadiness, and
evince rather an anxiety than an unwillingness to act. The Jacobins
are, I am told, as much depressed by this as the Ultras are elated.
Madame de Flahaut is here, acting the French Lady J----; and to you
I need say no more.

I am in a great fright about the Queen. What could make the
Government employ Lord H----, who seems to have committed himself
and employers most lamentably? She will, I fear, have a tremendous
party of many well-disposed, good, moral men, as well as of all
those who hate the King and the Government. If you have leisure, I
should be very grateful for a word or two on this.

Ever affectionately yours,

J. W. STANHOPE.

The negotiation between the King's Ministers and the Queen's legal advisers was not rendered fruitless by any fault of the former. Wilberforce acknowledges that "The concessions made by the King's servants, as Mr. Brougham afterwards declared in the House of Commons, were various and great. The name and rights of a Queen were granted to her Majesty without reserve--any recognition of which had formerly been carefully avoided. A Royal yacht, a frigate, &c., were offered. It was agreed that her name and rank should be notified at the Court either of Rome or Milan, the capitals of the countries in which she had expressed her intention to reside; and that an address should be presented to the Queen, no less than another to the King, to thank her Majesty for having acceded to the wish of the House of Commons."[23]

[23] "Life," vol. v. p. 56.

Wilberforce was very earnest, sending his son with a letter to the King, in which he entreated him to restore the Queen's name to the Liturgy,[24] and venturing to prophesy something very like a civil war should this concession be refused. On this point, however, his Majesty was intractable, and the negotiator met with anything but cordial co-operation from his own party, of whom he says: "Opposition seem all disposed to take up the Queen's cause on party principles. Alas!"[25] Subsequently he implies where he met with obstacles; "Tierney, &c., ill-natured, yet Castlereagh gave way."

[24] The Queen perpetrated one of her characteristic jests when
this question was being furiously debated: "The praying," she
observed, "makes me very hungry, and when I am in the Liturgy I
shall be famished."

[25] Ibid. p. 58.

In a discussion on the subject in the House of Commons, he thus refers to the principal speakers: "Burdett, violent and bitter, but very able; Tierney, mischievous; Denman, strong and straightforward; Brougham, able; Canning, clever, but not letting himself out."

A deputation, of which Wilberforce was the head, proceeded from the House of Commons to the Queen, dressed in full Court costume; but her Majesty's turbulent admirers did not appreciate their good intentions, and they were roughly greeted by the mob. The reception they met with from the Queen was not much more courteous. Her answer was a refusal. "Her manner was extremely dignified," observes the principal negotiator, "but very stern and haughty." In a letter which he wrote at the time, he gives all the details of the question,[26] from which it is clear that the members of Government had agreed to resign their offices if the restoration of the Queen's name to the Liturgy was carried against them in the House of Commons; and that, seeing the improbability of obtaining this demand, the Queen would have accepted an equivalent proposed by the Government, had not some sinister influence been exercised which brought about her refusal. Mr. Wilberforce shared the general fate of peace-makers in getting terribly abused; but he evidently had the authority of the Queen's most able counsellor for the steps he took. "She will accede to your address," he wrote on the 22nd of June, "I pledge myself."[27]

[26] Letter to Samuel Roberts, Esq., "Life," vol. v. p. 62.

[27] Letter to Samuel Roberts, Esq., "Life," vol. v. p. 65.

Cobbett published a letter addressed to Mr. Wilberforce, made up of declamation and invective, in the style that then took the public taste. This composition is described as "very clever, but very mischievous, and full of falsehoods." He was attacked so frequently, and with such violence, by the Queen's partisans, that it forced him to exclaim, "What a lesson it is to a man not to set his heart on low popularity, when, after forty years' disinterested public service, I am believed to be a perfect rascal!"[28]

[28] "Wilberforce's Life," vol. v. p. 68.

He complained bitterly of the conduct of the leaders of Opposition. Their language to the Queen, especially that of Lord Grey, Mr. Tierney, and Sir Francis Burdett, was, "Oh! you may be sure you never can be prosecuted,"--thereby, as he acknowledges, "taking away what must doubtless have most powerfully enforced her consent. Then no sooner had she refused, and the prosecution goes forward, than they say, Government never should have admitted a compromise at all, but have prosecuted without hesitation."[29]

[29] Ibid. p. 69.

"She seems," writes Lord Dudley, "to have been advised by persons that are resolved to play the deepest possible game, and care little to what risk they expose her, provided they have a chance of turning out the Government, or perhaps of over-throwing the monarchy. I do not think that it is Brougham's doing."[30] "The people," confesses Cobbett, "as far as related to the question of guilt or innocence, did not care a straw."[31] Their leaders cared still less:

"Careless of fate, they took their way,
Scarce caring who might win the day;
Their booty was secure."

[30] "Letters," p. 255.

[31] "Life of George IV.," p. 425.

"If her innocence were proved," observes a popular historian, "they would gain a triumph over the King, force upon him a wife whom he could not endure, overturn his Ministers, and perhaps shake the monarchy; if her guilt, they would gain the best possible ground for declaiming on the corruption which prevailed in high places, and the monstrous nature of those institutions which gave persons of such character the lead in society."[32]

[32] Alison's "Europe," vol. ii. p. 549.

The excitement increased as the arrangements for the Queen's trial became known. Lord John Russell published a letter addressed to Mr. Wilberforce, on the subject, urging him again to attempt an arrangement; but he had had enough of interfering in such a business, and declined to take the post assigned him, though the writer expressed his opinion that in his hands was perhaps the fate of the country. He was as anxious as ever to do good, but did not see how it could be done. His opinion of the Queen did not improve, in consequence of the "spirit" she continued to display, which he now felt inclined to describe in more appropriate language:--"I feel deeply the evil," he writes in his Diary, "that so bad a woman as I fear she is, should carry the victory by sheer impudence (if she is guilty), and assume the part of a person deeply injured."[33]

[33] "Life," vol. v. p. 77.

Other well-meaning persons were equally anxious for an interposition; indeed, the King was obliged to send a message to one who desired an audience, with this object in view, "that he never talked on political subjects with any but his Ministers."[34]

[34] Ibid. p. 78.

Another cotemporary Diarist goes to the root of the evil:--"Had some conversation with Tierney, who looked serious and down. He said everything was worse and worse out of doors, and he saw no remedy. I observed, the only remedy, the only possibility of things returning to their former state was a rebellion, and the troops standing by us, and quelling it with a high hand. He replied, that was the disease. I said, neither he nor I should live to see society where it had been and ought to be; to which he assented. I have no doubt he is sincere, yet he and his party are the real authors of the spirit we deplore."[35]

[35] Phipps's "Memoirs of R. P. Ward," vol. ii. p. 61.

"Alas!" writes Wilberforce in his Diary, "surely we never were in such a scrape. The bulk of the people, I grant, are run mad; but then it was a species of insanity on which we might have reckoned, because we know their prejudices against foreigners; their being easily led away by appeals to their generous feelings; and then the doses with which they are plied, are enough to intoxicate much stronger heads than most of theirs."[36]

[36] "Life," vol. v. p. 78.

"The middling as well as the higher orders," says another observer, "are pretty well acquainted with her present Majesty's conduct in foreign countries; but I am told that the common people are still in the dark, and disposed to espouse her cause; more, however, out of hatred to the King than out of regard for her."[37]

[37] Lord Dudley's "Letters," p 242.

Attempts were made to gain over the military, which were not entirely unsuccessful; one of the regiments of Foot Guards, quartered in the Mews Barracks, Charing Cross, exhibited such decided symptoms of having been tampered with, that the Duke of Wellington was sent for, and he at once ordered them off to Portsmouth. "The night before the last division marched," says a respectable authority, "a formidable mob assembled round the barracks at Charing Cross, calling the soldiers within to come out and join them."[38] They were only subsequently dispersed by a troop of the 2nd Life Guards.

[38] "Sidmouth's Life," by Pellew, vol. iii. p. 330. Alison's
"Europe," vol. ii. p. 461.

Some of the more respectable leaders of Opposition, though, they supported the Queen, had no heart in the cause.

"Lord ----" (we learn from another authority), "whom I always look upon as a most honest man, said it was rather hard upon him to have to present her petitions, but he could not refuse, being so intimate with Brougham. But they were brought to him at a minute's notice, and he knew nothing about, consequently could not support them. In the present instance, he thought she was taken in, in pressing for trial within four-and-twenty hours. She thought we would not take her at her word, and might bully, as she had done before; that she was a bold, dangerous, impudent woman, as full of revenge as careless of crime, and that if we did not take care, might play the part of Catherine the Second, who, by means of the Guards, murdered her husband and usurped the throne."[39]

[39] Phipps's "Memoirs of Robert Plumer Ward," vol. ii. p. 56.

The nobleman whose opinions have here been preserved was most probably Lord Dacre, who, in his place in the House of Lords, presented more than one petition from the Queen. One also was presented by Lord Auckland. Another of the Queen's partisans in the other House appears to have entertained similar sentiments:--"Walked with Sir ---- ----. He said he had no doubt that the Queen was guilty, but would never vote for the Bill, as unconstitutional; at the same time, ready to admit that Ministers had proved such a case as perfectly justified them in bringing it forward."[40]

[40] Phipps's "Memoirs of Robert Plumer Ward," vol. ii. p. 58.

A description of the sort of satellites that followed the Queen's movements when she went abroad, or surrounded her dwelling while she remained at home, is preserved in the postscript of a letter from Mr. Wilberforce to Hannah More, repeating the observations of a friend who had ventured to approach the Queen's residence. He describes her retainers as "a most shabby assemblage of quite the lowest of the people, about fifty in number, who every now and then kept calling out 'Queen, Queen!' and several times, once in about a quarter of an hour, she came out of one window of a balcony and Alderman Wood at the other, and she bowed to them; her obeisance, of course, being met by augmented acclamations. My friend," adds Mr. Wilberforce, "entered into conversation with a person present who argued for the natural equality of man, and that any other of the people present had as good right to be King as George the Fourth."[41]

[41] "Life," vol. v. p. 72.

The Duke of Wellington at this period took an anxious share in the proceedings against the Queen. "We fell upon the general situation of things," relates a confidential friend of his Grace, "which the Duke allowed was almost as bad as could be; nor could he see the remedy, if the upper and middle ranks would not stir. But all," he continued, with some sadness as well as indignation, "seem struck with panic--ourselves and all; and if the country is lost, it will be through our own cowardice. Everything," said he--"audacity and insolence on one side, and tameness on ours. We go to the House seemingly on purpose to be insulted; the Opposition know it, and act accordingly." I said, "I feared it was particularly so in the House of Commons, where the Ministerial bench, with the exception of Lord Castlereagh, seemed like victims."[42]

[42] Phipps's "Memoirs of Ward," vol. ii. p. 63.

The principal Ministers went in daily danger of their lives. Lord Sidmouth never drove out without a case of loaded pistols on the seat of the carriage, ready for instant use;[43] and when either of them was recognised in the public streets, he was sure to be greeted by groans and hisses, and sometimes with more formidable missiles.

[43] "Life," by Dean Pellew, vol. iii. p. 330.

The attempt to induce the Queen to adopt a more rational course, is here referred to:--

SIR BENJAMIN BLOOMFIELD TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Carlton House, June 20, 1820.

MY DEAR LORD,

As yet there is no certain information of the precise course to be
taken by Mr. Wilberforce. I, however, collect that he has no
intention to weaken the position of the Government, nor the basis,
on the part of the King, upon which the late negotiation has broken
off. The object, therefore, is to maintain that basis which was
considered as the only safeguard to the preservation of all that's
dear to man. To attain this there seems, under the present state of
the public mind, no alternative but investigation, with as much
publicity as the House can be induced to give to the question.

I need not reiterate to your Lordship the sense which is
entertained of the affectionate attachment manifested by your
Lordship in this most painful transaction.

With great respect, I have the honour to be,

My dear Lord,

Your Lordship's obliged and obedient humble Servant,

B. BLOOMFIELD.

But Caroline of Brunswick would not have been Caroline of Brunswick had she suffered this well-meant intervention to influence her purpose. The sad business, therefore, proceeded in the saddest possible way:--

LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

June 27, 1820.

All speculation is at fault in attempting to follow these daily
changes of plans and operations.

Certainly, it is far more convenient and more becoming to let this
matter be first investigated in the House of Lords. But how this is
to be reconciled to the present state of the business in the House
of Commons, it seems difficult to imagine; but by this time that
difficulty will have been solved in one way or another, and I need
not trouble myself about it.

As to popular impressions, the only way by which they can now be
counteracted, is by bringing the matter as soon as possible into
some regular form of proceeding.

What is to result from all this, it is impossible to conjecture;
but he must be sanguine indeed who can hope that it will turn to
good.

RIGHT HON. THOMAS GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Dropmore, June 28, 1820.

MY DEAR LORD B----,

When I came here I found an entire concurrence of opinion as to the
extreme folly of Ministers pressing on the Secret Committee in the
House of Lords, after they had pledged themselves in the House of
Commons to bring forward a charge upon their own responsibility; I
was therefore much gratified to see in your letter, just received,
that if there was a question upon that subject, you should vote
against the Secret Committee, though if the Committee were
appointed, you might in that case continue your name upon it. The
proceeding is become so odious and unpopular, that the general
prejudice against it is in itself great ground of objection to it;
and as the Ministers have already taken the charge upon their own
responsibility, it seems now likely to answer no other end than
that of furnishing to their adversaries a fund of clamour and of
invective, on a topic by which, while Ministers gain nothing, they
must lose much. But by this time the question must be already
decided, and therefore it is useless to pursue it If the Committee
is appointed, and if you do attend it, I am sure you will in that
case feel the absolute necessity of your declining any confidential
communication, either on foot or on horseback, with any person not
upon that Commission, in reference to the business of it. Even the
conversation of the table, and the ears of those who sit at it with
you, must on every account be most cautiously guarded upon this
peculiar topic. You must not start at these suggestions; you know
the affectionate motives that prompt them; and nothing but the
extreme importance of the nicest attention to them, under your
particular position, could have called for them both from Lord
G---- and me.

I would not unnecessarily prolong this letter, because you have
enough to think of; but I feel confident that the more you reflect
upon your own position, the more you must be confirmed in the
persuasion that while, on the one hand, you have thought it
necessary to withdraw from the Opposition, on the other hand, you
will most effectually be enabled to support the constitutional
principles of the Monarchy by maintaining an absolute independence,
and by taking care not to put yourself within the reach of the
imputation of favouritism, which, once established against you,
will render your means of real and effectual assistance useless, by
discrediting your station in the country, and by depriving it of
its best recommendation, its absolute independence.

It will be seen from the foregoing communication how extremely anxious were Lord Buckingham's uncles, at this crisis, that he should act with the utmost circumspection on every possible contingency.

THE MARQUIS WELLESLEY TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

MY DEAR LORD,

Many thanks for your note by Lord Cassilis; I do not credit any of
the rumours to which you refer. I believe that all is now quiet in
those quarters. I understand that the Secret Committee is to meet
in our House on Wednesday, and on its Report a Bill is to be
introduced; in the Commons, a delay of ten days is to be proposed,
for the purpose of waiting for our Bill. You have heard of the
proceedings in our House to-night: a petition from the Queen,
praying against a Secret Committee, and for a delay of any
proceedings, in order to enable her to collect her witnesses;
Brougham and Denman called in and heard in support of the petition,
and the House adjourned until to-morrow, when Lord Grey is to make
his motion for rescinding the order respecting the Secret
Committee. When this motion is disposed of, Lord Liverpool will
move that the Secret Committee shall meet on Wednesday. I cannot
ascertain the temper of the House positively, but I perceive no
alteration in it of any description.

Yours, my dear Lord, sincerely,

W.

LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Dropmore, July 2, 1820.

I am glad you are so near the end of your labours, though that end
is to be the beginning of a fresh and very painful scene. I am
clear, however, that in the state to which the matter is now
brought, the course at last adopted was the only one which affords
any hope of concluding it without the most alarming consequences.
And if the House of Lords manifests, as I trust it will, a
temperate and truly judicial spirit in the conduct of the trial, I
am sanguine enough to believe that much lost ground may still be
recovered.

I am utterly at variance with Charles's notion, that such
proceedings ought to commence in the House of Commons; and I am
sure in this case it was of unspeakable importance that the matter
should first undergo a judicial investigation, before it was
brought any more under the cognizance of a body so liable to act on
momentary impressions, in place of the settled rules and permanent
principles of legal proceeding.

RIGHT HON. THOMAS GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Dropmore, July 5, 1820.

MY DEAR LORD B----,

I cannot help writing a line to say how well satisfied I am with
the result which this post has brought us, and how glad I am that
no secondary matter has been tacked on to that which is of primary
interest. We neither of us can as yet collect by what precise
course the matter is to be so charged as to give the proper notice
so as to enable the party concerned to provide a reply. I should,
of course, suppose that by this time the whole march of all the
proceedings is foreseen and determined upon, if there was not such
frequent occasion to remark that foresight and decision are much
more frequently to be desired than to be found.

I should suppose that the Bill must contain specific charges, or
that those charges must be communicated by a resolution of the
House. What is most to be apprehended is that dexterous advocates
may awaken new questions in so novel a proceeding, and may thereby
prolong the discussion to a most inconvenient and dangerous length,
by which this state of hazardous agitation of the public mind will
be continued, and a feeling of commiseration will be excited by the
length of the proceeding, although the prolongation of it will be
owing more to the accused than to the accusers. You see every hour
of every day that "the mountain" is dragging all that side of the
house into an avowed party-protection, to be afforded before trial;
that the answers to addresses are so many appeals made to the
"soldiers and sailors;" and that the hypocritical lamentations over
the ill-judged time of the Coronation, are indulged in for the
obvious purpose of exciting the tumults which they affect to
deprecate. All this is very disgusting, and not without real
danger. I suppose your Committee, being now dissolved by its
Report, you have nothing more to do in these odious abominations,
which the Vice-Chancellor will probably have to manage.

LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Dropmore, July 5, 1820.

I see nothing _prima facie_ to object to in the Report, and I am
very glad that the _doubt_ was decided negatively.

I imagine, however, that there may still be some difficulty in the
course of the proceeding, if she requires, as I suppose she will be
advised to do, that the facts of both descriptions should be more
precisely specified as to time and place, before she is called upon
to answer them in any judicial form.

MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Stanhope Street, July 19, 1820.

MY DEAR LORD,

I am passing through town in my way to E. Green, and find it not
only greatly thinned, but those remaining in a much more melancholy
mood than when I left it. The language even of the Government is
most croaking, and you may be assured the Queen's party is far from
diminishing. The City is completely with her,--not the Common
Council, but the shopkeepers and merchants,--and I have great
doubts if the troops are not infected. The press is paid for her
abundantly, and there are some ale-houses open where the soldiers
may go and drink and eat for nothing, provided they will drink
"Prosperity and health to the Queen." The K---- grows daily more
unpopular, and is the only individual in the kingdom insensible to
it. He sees Lady C---- daily, and had a party of his family at
dinner this week, she the only exception. You may think, perhaps,
this letter gloomy; but I assure you I write much less desponding
than the general language and feeling would authorize me.

The peerages are eight, and hourly expected:--Lord Conyngham,
Roden, Sir W. Scott, Forester, Cholmondeley, Liddel, W. Pole, Lord
James Murray.

I don't hear a word of the Dukedoms. The King reviews the Guards
on Friday, and then goes to the cottage at Windsor, to meet the
Conynghams. Boats are gone from Chatham and Staines for the
Virginia Lake, where he is to have water-parties. Probably or
possibly we shall participate in these. If so, you shall hear from
me.--It is said the Lords meet the 17th; begin immediately the
witnesses for the prosecutor: finish this in a fortnight; then the
Queen asks for two months (at least) before she commences her
defence, _if she makes any_. But there is a strong report she means
to make none in the Lords, but reserve herself for the Commons; if
so, it is no great compliment to us, who examine not on oath.
These, however, are only the rumours of the day.--Lushington got a
most handsome and proper dressing from Castlereagh, who, I am told,
did it remarkably well.

Ever truly yours,

W. H. F.

RIGHT HON. THOMAS GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Cleveland Square, July 22, 1820.

MY DEAR LORD B----,

Lord G---- wrote to me last night, and tells me that he must,
however reluctantly, attend on the 17th, the Chancellor being, as
it is said, determined to go all lengths to enforce attendance. He
is, in my mind, quite right in doing so. You will be much rejoiced
to hear that on the 20th Lord G---- received a letter from Lord
Liverpool, offering through him, in the K----'s name and in his,
and in the most flattering terms from both, the situation of Regius
Professor of Divinity at Oxford, with the Canonship of Christ
Church, to Dr. Hodgson, as a thing proper in itself, and also as
what was wished to be done on account of his connexion with Lord
G----.

Nothing could be more gratifying to Lord G----, who has always felt
mortified at observing that hitherto his connexion with Hodgson had
been rather prejudicial than serviceable to him.--I write this the
rather because my brother adds that the post being in the moment of
going, he has not time to write you word of it then.

St. Paul's is given to Llandaff. The dandy Pelham is gone sulkily
down to look at Bugden, and to see whether he will condescend to
take that after his disappointment, at which there seems to be a
very general feeling of satisfaction.

Vague reports of negotiation with the Queen through Lady
Cholmondeley; but I do not hear them from any sort of authority,
and therefore I know not how to believe them. I hope you observe
the _Morning Chronicle's_ congratulations on the Naples revolution
without loss of life, "in consequence of its being achieved by the
_soldiery_, since wherever they raise their voice, it is
imperative." And this is the Whig and Opposition printer!!! The
K---- was prevented by gout from attending the cavalry review.

RIGHT HON. THOMAS GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Cleveland Square, July 26, 1820.

MY DEAR LORD B----,

The little that I hear is not worth sending you, either in quality
or in quantity. The rumours about the military increase daily and
frightfully. How much of these rumours is true, and how much is
invented, and how much is exaggerated, I have no means to judge;
but the prevalence of that topic of conversation, while it shews
the generality of the apprehension, is itself but too much
calculated to bring on the evil of which it treats. Tierney
yesterday told us he had heard Wood say the day before that the
Q---- had irrevocably determined to come down every day to the
trial in her "coach-and-six _in a high style;_" if so, she
will very likely be attended by all the idle populace between
Hammersmith and London, besides a host of radicals, who will not
let go by such an auspicious opportunity. How the peace of the
metropolis or the safety of the Parliament is to be secured under
all these circumstances, might puzzle wiser heads than those whose
business it will be to decide upon it. T---- admits himself to be
considerably alarmed, and describes the appearance of the Ministers
in these latter days as betraying more anxiety and apprehension
than vigour or decision. He said that the Attorney-General, in his
speech yesterday in the House of Commons, was almost in tears, and
used the expression that "there was no doubt that a revolution was
in contemplation." Whether it is prudent to use such an expression
in order to excite sufficient means of resistance, or dangerous
from awakening such a topic may be a question; but of the extent of
alarm which he must have felt to have led him to that expression,
there can be no doubt.

One of the rumours is, that the D---- of W---- was earnest for
disbanding one of the regiments of Guards, but that the D---- of
Y---- would not consent; another is, that the D---- of G----,
apprised some time back of the state of his regiment, forbid his
Adjutant to communicate it to the D---- of Y----. But these are
only rumours.

Reports continue of doubts about the Household Troops; probably
some mere inventions, and others exaggerated; but the mischief of
these reports is incalculable, because they promote distrust and
suspicion on the one side, and agitation and restlessness on the
other; and if one wished to create the evil, there could be no
readier way than by the unremitted discussions which prevail
everywhere upon this subject.

The 71st and 85th Light Infantry regiments, now under Sir J. Byng,
are ordered up to Uxbridge and to the neighbourhood of London; I
trust, therefore, and indeed I hear, that in Byng's district things
are tolerably quiet; but if the Q---- goes to Manchester, as she
threatens, the two regiments will perhaps have to march back again.

What you hear about Canning is true. He attends no Cabinets, and is
going to Italy.

The Q---- is sending what she calls her _Commissioners_ to
Milan. There are among them, as I hear, two respectable lawyers.

The Attorney-General said two days ago that the prosecutor's case
would take a month.

I am glad to hear you have good accounts from every part of the
Bucks Yeomanry. Everything looks too fearful to allow me the
expression of anything but the most heartfelt regret, that on a
question which in three weeks may decide upon the fate of the
country, there should be a single Grenville found among those whom
we may have to fear and (dreadful to think) to resist! I shall
return with you to town, for if there is danger where my brother
and you are, there will I be.

LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Malvern Wells, July 24, 1820.

You will, perhaps, have heard from my brother, to whom I wrote the
day I knew it, of the very handsome and kind manner in which the
Divinity Professorship at Oxford has been offered to Hodgson
through me, and I am sure it will have given you pleasure both on
his account and mine.

Lord Liverpool could hardly have found a more delicate or a more
effectual way of gratifying me, and I must say he has done so very
much indeed.

The appointment is, in all other respects, one that must do him
credit, and I trust it may lead to still further prospects for
Hodgson. It has long been a matter of deep mortification to me to
think how much Hodgson's universally acknowledged merits had been
put by on the account of the part he had taken in my support, and I
delight now in thinking that he will ultimately not be a loser by
that circumstance.

We shall, of course, meet on the 17th, if indeed that day is
adhered to; but, after so many delays, one hardly knows how to
reckon on any fixed time for this unpleasant business.

The revolution at Naples was wholly unexpected. Had it been looked
for, there was the ready resource of Austrian troops, which I still
hope may be effective in preserving tranquillity in the rest of
Italy.

DR. PHILLIMORE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Whitehall, July 26, 1820.

MY DEAR LORD,

I have to return your Lordship many thanks for the proxy, though,
owing to my bad writing, it took such a circuit that it would have
been too late here for any good purpose had proxies been called
for, which they were not. Lord Ellenborough, to propitiate the
Chancellor, materially altered the form of the Bill, which enabled
that _wily_ adversary to throw it out altogether, which I doubt
very much whether he could have done had the alterations made in it
not given a fair pretext of want of more time to consider them. A
great point was, however, gained by the discussion, for Lord
Liverpool admitted that a considerable alteration must be made in
the existing law, and guarded his vote by this statement. Ministers
certainly appear low, and I have no doubt are under great alarm.
Dr. Lushington has given Lord Liverpool formal notice that the
Queen will attend all the discussions on the Bill in the House of
Lords. It is said she is daily to come from Barnes in a
coach-and-six. This must all be for stage effect, or rather for
intimidation; and really it is impossible to look forward to the
result without apprehension, especially knowing, as we do, that the
Ministers delight in half measures, and never take any decided line
if they can avoid it. In the House of Commons their authority is
decidedly at a low ebb. Canning has not been in the House for some
time. It is said he is going to join his family in Italy; and
people now contrast his conduct with that of the Chancellor who
co-operated with him in 1808 to whitewash the Queen, much to the
disadvantage of the latter (_i.e._, the Chancellor).

One idea very prevalent is, that the Queen will address the House
of Lords in a speech at the opening of the proceedings against her.

If any occurrence likely to interest you comes to my knowledge, you
may depend upon hearing from me; but I am thinking of making my
escape somewhere to the sea-side in the course of the next week,
for a short time at least.

Believe me, my dear Lord,

Your Lordship's obliged and faithful,

J. PHILLIMORE.

MR. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Barmouth, July 27, 1820.

MY DEAR B----,

During the interval which elapsed between the time of your leaving
town and my setting off for Wales, not a single event took
place--not even a fresh report was circulated--which might afford
me the materials for a letter. My newspaper now speaks of a fresh
attempt at a compromise, accompanied with a proposal for restoring
the Queen's name to the Liturgy, which has been refused on her
part. Surely, notwithstanding all the absurdity and mismanagement
which we have seen, this must be impossible. The only way of
accounting for it would be some panic of personal alarm; but even
then, lowly as I think of his advisers, I cannot conceive that they
could consent to a measure of such inevitable and wholly useless
disgrace.

The eagerness of popular feeling, even in this Tory tranquil part
of the country--where there has not, since the extinction of
Jacobitism, been an opinion ever expressed on general politics, but
that all measures adopted by the King must be right--is
inconceivable. I was stopped in this little village the first day
of my arrival, by the master of a fishing-boat, to ask me whether I
thought the House of Commons would take care that justice was done
to the Queen. My wife, also, has met with two or three equally
strong proofs of the interest taken in this question. Pray tell me
what you hear of the disposition of the army. I have seen some
allusions to fresh discontents among the Guards on the subject of
some stoppage for breakfasts. The cause does not signify a pin, for
if the spirit once exists, occasions for manifesting it will never
be wanting.

Henry writes me word that he heard of scarcely anything at Milan,
or in the neighbourhood of the Lake of Como, but the Queen's
conduct, of which everybody seemed ready to give evidence. The
witnesses had all been placed on an allowance of thirty francs per
diem, which seems as good a device to invalidate their evidence as
could have been adopted, and many are supposed to have come forward
only _per chiappar il denaro_. The most material are said to be
some bricklayers, who must have peeped, he concludes, through the
windows.

Ever most affectionately yours,

C. W. W.

In the manner indicated in the preceding portion of this correspondence, the great contest was carried on. The Queen had evidently not miscalculated her power of dangerously exciting public opinion; she had moved from the Alderman's house to the residence of one of the ladies of her suite, and from thence had gone to a more Queen-like abode, at a convenient distance from town, known as Brandenburg House, Hammersmith; but wherever she went, the popular hopes and wishes went with her,--and knowing the excitement she produced, she redoubled her efforts to increase it, and direct it to the advancement of her interests. The moderation of the Government she regarded with studied contempt, and every indication they put forth of a desire to treat her with as much respect as was consistent with their duty to their Royal master, produced a more violent display of her resolve to ride down all opposition. There is little doubt that the King was now as much alarmed as annoyed; was often dissatisfied with his Ministers, and quite ready to accept the services of any set of men capable of relieving him from this serious embarrassment; but the task was full of danger, and prudent statesmen like Lord Grenville and his brother were not to be tempted into accepting it. The Coronation was postponed, and the Court participated in their Sovereign's fears and anxieties.

MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

E. Green, Friday, August 11, 1820.

MY DEAR LORD,

The K---- has been in this neighbourhood for the last fortnight,
living in the greatest retirement; his party consisting of very
few--the principal object of course the Lady C----, who is here.
They ride every day, or go on the water, or drive in a barouche;
the K---- and her always together, separated from the rest, and in
the evening sitting alone apart. I have heard of the Esterhazys
(who called on a friend here, and said the evenings were _triste
a mourir_), no cards, no books, no amusement or employment of
any kind; Sir Benjamin and Lady Bloomfield, Lord C----, Nagle,
Thornton, Keppel, and one or two more; I believe the Warwicks, for
two days; the Duke of Dorset. The secrecy that is preserved as to
their pursuits is beyond all idea; no servant is permitted to say
who is there; no one of the party calls on anybody, or goes near
Windsor; and when they ride, a groom is in advance, ordering
everybody to retire, for "the K---- is coming." The private rides
are of course avoided by the neighbours, so that in fact you know
almost as much of what is going on as I do, excepting that the
excess of his attentions and _enjouement_ is beyond belief.

The public are full of nothing but a communication between the
King and the Ministers, opened by a letter from her. I have not
the least idea it can possibly lead to accommodation, though it
is hoped so. I think Lord John Russell's letter most calculated
indeed for mischief, and for nothing else, for the idea of the
interference proposed is quite absurd; if it were to take place at
all, it must be through Parliament. The prospect of the opening and
of the result is tremendous, and enough to appal the stoutest
heart; however, we have weathered many storms, and I hope we shall
do so in this case. The Duchess of York wrote a very affecting
letter to the Duke just previous to her death. His Majesty has not
bestowed a _length_ of outward grief in the mourning. She is
certainly to be buried at Weybridge.

Ever, my dear Lord, most truly yours,

W. H. FREMANTLE.

P.S.--Lord Bulkeley has excused himself for the trial; he has been
very severely ill indeed, and I doubt much if he will have strength
to rally, though he is gradually, but very slowly, mending. There
are messengers going from and coming to the Cottage hourly almost
for the last two days.

CHAPTER III.

[1820.]

EVIDENCE AGAINST QUEEN CAROLINE. DIVIDED OPINIONS RESPECTING HER IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS. DECLARATION OF LORD GRENVILLE. THE BILL OF PAINS AND PENALTIES ABANDONED. THE KING DISSATISFIED WITH HIS MINISTERS. CONVERSATION OF LORD GRENVILLE WITH THE KING. MINISTERIAL MANAGEMENT OF THE QUEEN'S CASE. HER CONDUCT AFTER THE CONCLUSION OF PROCEEDINGS AGAINST HER. REACTION IN THE PUBLIC MIND. THE QUEEN LOSES GROUND IN POPULAR ESTIMATION. RETURNING POPULARITY OF THE KING.