Chapter I

1830.

Illness of George IV.--His death--Sale of his clothes, etc.--The
new King--His character.

In the _Times_ of Friday, April 16, 1830, we have the following _Court Circular_:--

"His Majesty, we regret to state, has experienced, during the
last few days, an attack of indisposition. The King took an
airing for some time on Monday. During the night his Majesty
became indisposed; Sir Henry Halford, who was in attendance at
the Palace that evening, and who, according to his usual
practice, slept there, left the Palace on Tuesday morning and
came to town, but thought it advisable to return to Windsor in
the evening. Sir Henry came to town on Wednesday morning, and
again returned to the Palace; when, finding that the King's
attack of illness had increased, Sir Henry sent for Sir Matthew
Tierney at an early hour yesterday morning. Sir Matthew
immediately left town: on his arrival at the Palace, the two
medical gentlemen held a consultation on the state of the King,
and, afterwards, issued the following bulletin, a few minutes
before one o'clock:--

_Windsor Castle, April 15._

_We regret to state that the King has had a bilious attack,
accompanied by an embarrassment in breathing. His Majesty,
although free from fever, is languid and weak._

(_Signed_) HENRY HALFORD.
MATTHEW JOHN TIERNEY.

"No alteration taking place in the state of the King, Sir Henry
Halford, shortly after the issuing of the Bulletin, left the
Castle in his carriage and four, for London. Sir Matthew Tierney
remained in attendance on his Majesty during the whole of
yesterday afternoon and evening, and it was arranged would sleep
at the Palace. His Majesty remaining much in the same state
during the afternoon, Sir Henry was not sent for, but would, it
was expected, remain in Town during last night."

This was the first intimation, to the nation, of the serious condition of George the Fourth. He was paying the penalty for the irregularities of his life, by suffering from a complication of diseases; inflammation of the chest, gout in the stomach, dropsy, ossification of the heart, bile, and asthma. Latterly, he had retired to Virginia water, where he lived at the so-called "Cottage," solaced by the society of Lady Conyngham, and existing chiefly on brandy and curaçoa. His age (for he was in his sixty-eighth year) was against his recovery, and at 3.13 a.m. on the 26th of June, 1830, he expired. He was in bed when the stroke of death fell upon him. The page next him, instantly proceeded to raise his Majesty, according to the motion which he signified by his finger. The King was, at once, assisted into a chair at his bedside, and a great alteration struck the page, as overcasting the royal countenance; the King's eyes became fixed, his lips quivered, and he appeared to be sinking into a fainting fit. The physicians were instantly sent for, and the attendants at once assisted the King with sal volatile, eau de cologne, and such stimulants as were at hand on the table. At this moment his Majesty attempted to raise his hand to his breast, faintly ejaculating, "O God! I am dying;" and, after a pause of two or three seconds, he uttered the following words, which were his last: "This is death!"

So passed away George the Magnificent--and the Marchioness of Conyngham immediately began to pack up and hurry off, whither, no one exactly knew. What she took with her was never known; but, later on, she had to disgorge some very valuable jewels. Needless to say, there was a grand funeral; and then came the sale of his wardrobe and effects, of which Greville writes[1]:--

[Footnote 1: The "Greville Memoirs," edit. 1875, vol. ii. p. 23.]

"August 3, 1830.--I went, yesterday, to the sale of the late
King's wardrobe, which was numerous enough to fill Monmouth
Street, and sufficiently various and splendid for the wardrobe of
Drury Lane. He hardly ever gave anything away, except his linen,
which was distributed every year. These clothes are the
perquisites of his pages, and will fetch a pretty sum. There are
all the coats he has ever had for fifty years; three hundred
whips, canes without number, every sort of uniform, the costumes
of all the orders in Europe, splendid furs, pelisses,
hunting-coats and breeches, and, among other things, a dozen pair
of corduroy breeches he had made to hunt in, when Don Miguel was
here. His profusion in these articles was unbounded, because he
never paid for them, and his memory was so accurate, that one of
his pages told me he recollected every article of dress, no
matter how old, and that they were always liable to be called on
to produce some particular coat, or other article of apparel of
years gone by."

The _Times_ (August 18, 1830) says--

"The late King's wardrobe has been selling, for the last
fortnight, at the warehouse of Mr. Bailey, the King's Upholder,
in Mount Street, Grosvenor Square. The property was immense. It
was the perquisites of the Pages of the Back Stairs, six in
number; and we hear that the sale realized £15,000. The Earl of
Chesterfield gave 200 guineas for a sable pelisse, which has
since been valued at 600, and was a present from the Emperor
Alexander. The Marquis of Hertford was among the purchasers.
There were many pairs of boots and shoes, which were sold at
5_s._ per pair, one with the other, to a person in the trade.
There were numerous pairs of silk stockings. The cambric and silk
handkerchiefs produced a guinea each, although the pages said
they were not worth more than 7_s._ each. The cellar of snuff was
bought by Mr. Pontet, of Pall Mall, for £400."

This latter fact is scarcely correct. It was bought by Messrs. Freybourg and Treyer, of the Haymarket, who set apart a special room for its sale.

To finish up with the sale of the royal effects, we read in the _Gentleman's Magazine_, of June 9, 1831, that--

"A portion of his late Majesty's costly and splendid wardrobe,
destined for public sale, including the magnificent coronation
robes and other costumes, was sold by auction, by Mr. Phillips,
at his rooms in New Bond Street. There were 120 lots disposed of,
out of which we subjoin the principal, in the order in which they
were put up--

"No. 13. An elegant yellow and silver sash of the Royal
Hanoverian Guelphic Order, £3 8_s._--17. A pair of fine kid
trousers, of ample dimensions, and lined with white satin, was
sold for 12_s._--35. The Coronation ruff, formed of superb
Mechlin lace, £2.--50. The costly Highland costume, worn by our
late Sovereign at Dalkeith Palace, the seat of his Grace the Duke
of Buccleugh, in the summer of 1822, was knocked down at
£40.--52.[2] The sumptuous crimson velvet Coronation mantle, with
silver star, embroidered with gold, in appropriate devices, and
which cost, originally, according to the statement of the
auctioneer, upwards of £500, was knocked down at 47 guineas.--53.
A crimson coat to suit with the above, £14.--55. A magnificent
gold body dress and trousers, 26 guineas.--67. An extraordinary
large white aigrette plume, brought from Paris by the Earl of
Fife, in April, 1815, and presented by his lordship to the King,
was sold for £15.--87. A richly embroidered silver tissue
Coronation waistcoat and trunk hose, £13.--95. The splendid
purple velvet Coronation mantle, sumptuously embroidered with
gold, of which it was said to contain 200 ounces. It was knocked
down at £55, although it was stated to have cost his late Majesty
£300.--96. An elegant and costly green velvet mantle, lined with
ermine of the finest quality; presented by the Emperor Alexander
to his late Majesty, which cost upwards of 1000 guineas, was
knocked down at £125."

[Footnote 2: Now on exhibition at Madame Tussaud's Waxworks show.]

These prices do not show that the people cared much to possess relics of their late sovereign; indeed, he was speedily forgotten, and all eyes were turned to the rising sun. The newspapers teemed with anecdotes of him, from his childhood upwards (mostly very sorry stuff), and, oblivious of his errors, inanity, and frivolity, the people hailed William (why or wherefore?) as "The Patriot King." Until the death of the Duke of York, he had excited no more public interest than any of the other royal princes; but when that event took place, he was looked upon as heir to the throne, had an increased grant from Parliament, and lived a somewhat retired life at Bushey Park, with his wife, Amelia Adelaide, eldest child of George, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Meiningen, whom he married on July 18, 1818.

His life, previous to his accession to the throne, is not within the province of this book--it is sufficient to say that at no time was he remarkable for his intellect, tractability, or social manners. Hear what Greville,[3] an acute observer, even if he were somewhat of a cynic, says about him at his accession--

[Footnote 3: "The Greville Memoirs," vol. ii. edit. 1875.]

"London, July 16.--I returned here on the 6th of this month, and
have waited these ten days to look about me, and see and hear
what is passing. The present King and his proceedings occupy all
attention, and nobody thinks any more of the late King, than if
he had been dead fifty years, unless it be to abuse him and rake
up all his vices and misdeeds. Never was elevation like that of
William IV. His life has, hitherto, passed in obscurity and
neglect, in miserable poverty, surrounded by a numerous progeny
of bastards, without consideration or friends, and he was
ridiculous from his grotesque ways and little meddling curiosity.
Nobody ever invited them into their house, or thought it
necessary to honour him with any mark of attention or respect;
and so he went on for about forty years, till Canning brought him
into notice by making him Lord High Admiral at the time of his
grand ministerial schism. In that post he distinguished himself
by making absurd speeches, by a morbid official activity, and by
a general wildness which was thought to indicate incipient
insanity, till shortly after Canning's death and the Duke's[4]
accession, it is well known, the latter dismissed him. He then
dropped back into obscurity, but had become, by this time,
somewhat more of a personage than he was before. His brief
administration of the Navy, the death of the Duke of York, which
made him heir to the throne, his increased wealth and regular
habits, had procured him more consideration, though not a great
deal. Such was his position when George IV. broke all at once,
and after three months of expectation, William finds himself
King."

[Footnote 4: Wellington.]