Memoirs of the Court of George IV. 1820-1830.

by Duke of Buckingham and Chandos.

CHAPTER I.

A little before the decease of George III., the heir apparent was in a state of health that made his chance of succession problematical--of long possession of the crown more doubtful still. He was attended by Sir William Knighton, who was in his chamber when intelligence arrived from Windsor of his venerable parent's demise; and we are a.s.sured that "The fatal tidings were received by the Prince with a burst of grief that was very affecting."[1] He was quite unable to be present at the funeral, and the Duke of York acted as chief mourner.[2]

[1] Knighton's "Memoirs," p. 88. Edited by his Widow.

[2] Alison's "History of Europe, from the Fall of Napoleon,"

vol. ii. p. 421.

The skill and solicitude of George IV.'s confidential physician were rewarded, and the new Sovereign recovered sufficiently to apply himself to the business of government with his customary attention; but from that time Sir William so completely fixed himself in the affections of his patron, that the latter was uneasy if he remained away from the Palace, and was sure to send pressing messages for his return. A letter has been preserved,[3] which indicates that services were rendered by him that were not strictly professional. Indeed, he was often employed as an adviser in affairs of peculiar delicacy and importance, and his judgment and tact in their arrangement were invariably acknowledged and appreciated.

[3] Knighton's "Memoirs," p. 86.

This conclusion of the Regency, though for some time antic.i.p.ated as a mere matter of course, was accompanied by events of so startling a nature as to cause considerable disquietude in the minds of many good citizens and earnest politicians. A feverish excitement existed among the lower cla.s.ses, that continually threatened to break out in violent manifestations against the Government; but though the Ministers of the Crown were the princ.i.p.al objects of this ill feeling, it was directed with equal animosity against all wealth and influence; and there can be no doubt that, had the designs of their more enterprizing leaders been realized, a complete revolution little less violent than that which had swept over France more than thirty years before, would have overturned law, property, and order through the length and breadth of the land.

"The expectation and the fear of change" kept the public mind in a state of violent agitation; and a great political party was on the alert to take advantage of any popular movement this effervescence might create. It was well known to various influential partizans that events of unusual gravity were "looming in the distance,"[4] by which they hoped to be able to raise themselves to power. Rumours of a sinister import were in constant circulation; the more alarmed looked hourly for some mischievous demonstration, and the more reckless displayed increasing confidence and audacity. That reports should be circulated of an immediate change of Government, must have been only natural under such circ.u.mstances; the wide-spread discontent of the ma.s.ses of the population, swelling and surging like a storm-driven sea, had nothing else sufficiently prominent to direct itself against, but the authorities who appeared to them responsible for the evils under which they laboured; and those persons who feared, or pretended to fear, the threatened storm, caught at the idea of removing the unpopular Ministers as affording the only chance of re-establishing the public tranquillity. Such, however, had long before been the tactics of opposition, and such, we are afraid, they are likely to remain.

[4] "The Government," writes a Cabinet Minister to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, "is in a very strange and, I must acknowledge, in a precarious state."--Lord Sidmouth to Earl Talbot, Pellew's "Life of Lord Sidmouth," vol. iii. p. 310.

DR. PHILLIMORE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Whitehall, Feb. 15, 1820.

MY DEAR LORD,

As your Lordship desired me to write if there was any news of any description in circulation, I take up my pen merely to inform you that there is a report most generally disseminated both throughout the West-end of the town and the City, that the Ministers have resigned. Sir W. Scott [Lord Stowell] yesterday, in expressing his apprehension (to an acquaintance of mine) that such an event was in contemplation, said it would not be a partial change, "but a general sweep." Excuse haste.

Ever your obliged and faithful servant,

JOSEPH PHILLIMORE.

P.S.--The Cabinet sat thirteen hours on Sunday.

The sweeping change so confidently antic.i.p.ated did not take place; and probably when it became evident to some of the most daring of the political speculators of the time, that this was not so imminent as they desired, they resolved to expedite it in a fashion that should leave no necessity for a second experiment of the kind.

On the 23rd of February, the loyal citizens of the metropolis were startled by the intelligence of the timely discovery of a plot to a.s.sa.s.sinate his Majesty's Ministers while they were at dinner in the house of the Earl of Harrowby, Grosvenor Square, and of a sanguinary conflict of the police and military with the conspirators, when attempting to seize the latter at their place of rendezvous, in an obscure thoroughfare near Paddington, called Cato Street. The history of the Thistlewood Conspiracy,[5] as related in the criminal annals of the period, ill.u.s.trates in a remarkable manner the diseased state of political feeling then existing in England. It was a small copy of the Irish rebellion,--marked by the same cut-throat policy,--having in view a similar overwhelming revolution, with the same absurdly inadequate means. Fortunately for the United Kingdom, the chief actors in both succeeded only in bringing upon themselves the destruction with which they had menaced a powerful Government.

[5] A good account of it may be found in Pellew's "Life of Lord Sidmouth," vol. iii. p. 312.

Thistlewood proposed to slaughter the entire Cabinet at once, when a.s.sembled at Lord Harrowby's, which was a.s.sented to; "for," said he, "as there has not been a dinner for so long, there will no doubt be fourteen or sixteen there; and it will be a rare haul to murder them all together."[6]

[6] Thistlewood's Trial, p. 37. Alison's "Europe," vol. ii. p.

425.

The next communication refers to the same incident, as well as to the various rumours then in circulation:--

MARQUIS WELLESLEY TO MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Richmond, Tuesday, Feb. 29, 1820.

MY DEAR LORD,

Not having received any commands from you, and having nothing to communicate beyond the rumours of the day, without any authentic information, I have not lately troubled your Lordship with any letter.

It was unnecessary to state that the stories of my being summoned to the King, &c. &c., were all absolutely false. If I had received any such summons, your Lordship would have been fully acquainted with the whole transaction by express from me at the earliest moment.

I believe an attempt was made to confirm the rumours by the circ.u.mstance of his Majesty's gracious kindness in answering my inquiries at the moment of his greatest danger, by expresses from Carlton House. My carriage also was in town one day in the highest paroxysm of the supposed squabble; but I happened not to be in it, being confined at home by a cold.

I have not been in town, except to collect some account of the late horrible plot, on the day after the discovery (when I was in the House of Lords about half an hour), for a considerable time, the weather and a cold having concurred to keep me at home.

I know nothing authentic of the quarrel, so much the subject of rumour and noise, nor do I know more of the present designs or future plans. I am at all times at your Lordship's orders, to wait on you whenever you please; the weather is now so much improved, that I can attend you in London any morning that may suit you; but I really have nothing yet to state beyond the contents of my former letters.

Always, my dear Lord,

Yours most sincerely,

WELLESLEY.

In the spring of the year 1821, their Royal Highnesses the Duke and d.u.c.h.ess of Clarence lost their only child, the infant Princess Elizabeth. Of this long-forgotten branch of the Royal Family, one who was present at her birth says:--"She is christened by the name of Elizabeth Georgiana. I hope the bairn will live. It came a little too early, and is a very small one at present, but the doctors seem to think it will thrive; and to the ears of your humble servant it appears to be noisy enough to show it has great strength."[7] Her loss affected the King, between whom and the Duke the most lively affection existed; and he wrote to his confidential attendant in the following terms:--

[7] Twiss's "Life of Lord Eldon," vol. ii. p. 37.

THE KING TO SIR WILLIAM KNIGHTON.

Brighton, March 4, 1821.

MY DEAR FRIEND,

For G.o.d's sake come down to me to-morrow morning. The melancholy tidings of the almost sudden death of my poor little niece have just reached me, and have overset me beyond all I can express to you. Poor William's[8] letter, which is all affection, and especially towards you, refers me to you for all the particulars; therefore pray come to me with as little delay as possible. I have not time to add a word more about myself. You will be a great consolation to me.

Ever your most affectionate friend,

G. R.[9]

[8] The Duke of Clarence.

[9] Knighton's "Memoirs," p. 88.