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 DIARY '^ 
 
 ILIUSTRATIVE OF 
 
 THE TIMES 
 
 OF 
 
 GEOEG^ THE FOURTH, 
 
 INTERSPERSED WITH 
 
 ORIGINAL LETTERS 
 
 FHOJI THE LATE 
 
 QUEEN CAROLINE, 
 
 AND FROM 
 
 VARIOUS OTHER DISTINGUISHED PERSONS. 
 
 Tot ou tard, tout se scait.— Maintenox. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 CAREY, LEA AND BLANCHARD. 
 
 1838. 
 
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 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 The aiitheiiliicity of the following Diary and 
 Letters is too apparent to be questioned. The 
 reader, however, cannot fail to notice certain 
 discrepancies which occur in the work, and 
 more particularly in the earlier portions of it, 
 by which it would appear to have been the in- 
 tention of the editor who first undertook to 
 prepare it for the press, to disguise — by as- 
 suming the masculine style in the Journal, and 
 substituting the feigned for the real sex of the 
 personage addressed in the Letters — the evi- 
 dent fact of the former having been written by 
 a female, and of the latter being communica- 
 tions to one of the same sex. 
 
 The reader, by being made aware of this cir- 
 cumstance, will be the less surprised at the 
 other discrepancies w^hich occur, with regard 
 to dates ; some of the Letters being brought in 
 at periods quite at variance with the dates of 
 the Journal.
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Courts are strange, mysterious places; those who pretend 
 most to despise them covet being within their precincts — 
 those who once obtain an entrance there generally lament 
 their hie, and yet, somehow or other, they cannot break 
 their chains. I believe, nevertheless, that it is all one whe- 
 ther these circles of society, which stand apart from the 
 rest of the world, exist under one form of government, or 
 under another; whether under Emperors, Kings, Protectors 
 or Consuls; they may vary as to modes and designations, 
 but courts are courts still, from the earliest times even to 
 these days. Intrigues, jealousies, heart-burnings, lies, dis- 
 simulation, tinnve in them as mushrooms in a hot-bed. Not- 
 withstanding, they are necessary evils, and they afford a 
 great school both for the heart and head. It is utterly im- 
 possible, so long as the world exists, that similar societies 
 should not exist also; and one may as well declaim against 
 every other defect attendant upon humanity, and endea- 
 vour to extirpate crime from the world, as pretend to put 
 down courts and their concomitant evils. 
 
 December, 1810.— Lady M C called upon me 
 
 by appointment; we went together to Her Royal Highness 
 
 the Duchess of T5 k. She thought more of me than she 
 
 had ever done before, because I was on the road to royal 
 favour, she herself being in her own estimation an engrafted 
 
 1*
 
 6 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 sprig of royalty.* We rumbled in her old tub all the way 
 to New-street, Spring Gardens, much to tlie discomfiture 
 of my bones; for if ever the vehicle had springs, time had 
 stift'encd their joints as completely as it has done those of 
 
 its soi-disant royal mistress. Lady M C was 
 
 grandly !j;racious, and gave me dissertations on etiquette, 
 such as it existed in her young days, till we reached our 
 destination. We were ushered into the dirtiest room I 
 ever beheld, empty, and devoid of comfort. A few filthy 
 lamps, stood on a sideboard — common chairs were placed 
 around very dingy walls — and in the middle of this empty- 
 space, sat the old Duchess, a melancholy specimen of de- 
 cayed royalty. There is much goodness in Iier countenance, 
 and a candour and sincerity in her manner, and even in 
 her abrupt and rou^h conversation, whicli is invaluable in a 
 person of lier rank, whose life must necessarily have been 
 passed in the society of those whose very essence is deceit. 
 Her former friendship, for friends very dear to me, of whom 
 she spoke in tern^.s of respect and love, gave iin interest to 
 the visit which it could not otherwise have had. 1 sat, 
 
 therefore, patiently listening to Lady M C and ' 
 
 Her Royal Higliiiess, wlio talked of lords and ladies of tlie 
 last century, and wondered at those of the present, and 
 passed trippingly over the peccadillos of their own contem- 
 poraries, to vent all their moral indignation upon those of 
 mine. 
 
 Old Mr. L net was announced: poor man, what did 
 
 he get by his attendance on royalty.^ the ill will of all par- 
 ties. He knows many things whicli, if told, would set Lon- 
 don on fire. Soon after his entrance, Ijady M C 
 
 arose, and, kicking lu-r train behind her, backed out of (he 
 room in capital style. How the lieart dilates or closes in 
 the presence of different persons! It must surely be very 
 
 • If Lady M C means Lady Mary Coke, it is well known 
 
 she supposed herself to be tiie widow of tlie antecedent Duke of 
 York; for when her mother one da}- found tlie Duke in her apart- 
 ment, and rated her for the iniprojiiiety of lier conduct, she drew 
 herself up with ineffable dignity, and replied, "Madam, do you know 
 whom you are talking- to? You are talking to the Duchess of York." 
 — Kn. 
 
 f If these initials designate Mr. Livingstone, the tutor of some of 
 the Princes, he was a good dull man, not likely to be intrusted with 
 state secrets.— Fd.
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 7 
 
 unwholesome to be with those in whose society the latter is 
 the case. 
 
 Went to Kensington — a great ball — every body of the 
 highest fashion — Dukes of Portland and Beaufort, Earl 
 Harrowby,* &c. &c. As I always wished the royal hostess 
 well, I was glad to observe that the company then frequent- 
 ing the palace were of the best. I sat down by some old 
 friends, and felt that to be near them was a comfort, sur- 
 rounded as I was by persons for whom I cared not, and 
 who cared not for mej but the Princess beckoned to me, 
 and taking my arm, leant upon it, parading me around the 
 apartments. The inner room was set out with refresh- 
 ments, and a profusion of gold plate — which, by the way, 
 in after times [ never saw: was it taken away, or was it 
 otherwise disposed of.'* I know not. Sofas were placed 
 around the tables, and the whole thing was well managed. 
 
 Her Royal Highness wished the company to come into 
 this banquetting room; but, either out of respect, and not 
 knowing whether they ought to do so or not, or because 
 they preferred the outer room, no one would come in, ex- 
 cept Lady — d, Lord H. Fitzgerald, and Lord G — r, who 
 was forcibly seized upon by Lady O — d. Altogether, in my 
 quality of looker-on, I could not but think that lady was no 
 honour to society; and it was only surprising to remark in 
 her instance, as well as in that of many others, how well 
 impudence succeeds, even with the mild and the noble, 
 who are often subdued by its arrogant assumption of com- 
 mand. 
 
 The Princess complained of the weight of some jewels 
 she wore in her head, and said they gave her the head-ache; 
 then turning to a person wlio was evidently a favourite, 
 asked, " May I not take them off now that the first parade 
 is over?" He replied in his own doucereux voice, " Your 
 Royal Highness is the best judge; but, now that you have 
 shown off the magnificence of the ornament, I think it would 
 be cruel that you should condemn yourself to suffer by 
 wearing it longer. In my opinion you will be just as hand- 
 some wiliiout it." 
 
 * These noblemen and tlicir wives continued lo visit Her Royal 
 Highness tlie J'linccss of Wales till llic King- was declared too ill to 
 reig-n, and the Prince became in fact Regent; then those ladies disap- 
 peared that moment from Kensington, and were never seen tiiere 
 more. It was the besom of expediency, which swept them all away.
 
 8 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 I was convinced from the manner in which these words 
 were spoken, that that man loved her. Poor soul! of all 
 those on whom slie conferred benefits, I think he was the 
 only man or woman who could be said to have loved her, — 
 and he ought not to have done so. 
 
 I dined again at Kensington. There were assembled a 
 company of the very first persons of the realm. I was glad 
 to see that what had been told me of low company, was not 
 true. 
 
 Wednesday, 9th, 1810".— This day, I found Her Royal 
 Highness sitting for her picture. She received me with 
 her usual graciousness of manner, and desired me to " come 
 and sit," — her phrase for feeling comfortable and at one's 
 ease. She informed me that Mr. S , the painter, en- 
 gaged upon the picture, was only altering the costume of a 
 portrait taken many years back, which she said was by no 
 means doing his talent justice. Certainly the picture was 
 frightful, and I Iiave often regretted that I never saw a 
 tolerable likeness painted of lier. Although during the last 
 years of her life she was bloated and disfigured by sorrow, 
 and by the life she led, the Princess was in her early youth 
 a pretty woman; fine light iiair — very delicately formed 
 features, and a fine complexion — quick, glancing, pene- 
 trating eyes, long cut, and rather sunk in the head, which 
 gave them much expression — and a remarkably delicately 
 formed mouth; but her head was always too large for her 
 body, and her neck too short; and latterly, her whole figure 
 was like a ball, and lier countenance became hardened, 
 and an expression of defiance and boldness took possession 
 of it, that was very unpleasant. Nevertheless, when she 
 chose to assume it, she had a very noble air, and I have 
 seen her on more than one occasion, put on a dignified car- 
 riage, which became her nuicli more than the affectation of 
 girlisliness whicli she generally preferred. 
 
 To-day, I received the following letter from my friend 
 
 "Matt Lewis:"* 
 
   
 
 • Matt Lewis, known to the public as " Monk Lewis." He was 
 one of the most original characters I ever knew ; lie possessed gene- 
 rous and noble feelings, and talents of a very high description ; but 
 the whole was marred by conceit, wliicii frequenlly rendered him 
 ridiculous : nevertheless, his friends, who profited by his good quali- 
 ties, and enjoyed the amiisement which no one could at tiroes better
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. y 
 
 (Dated) " Holland House, 
 
 " December 9th, 1810. 
 
 " The only news which is likely to be very interesting 
 to you is, that I have got a violent cold; and that, too, can 
 scarcely be called news, for 1 have now had it about a week. 
 Perhaps you may think this a subject of much interest 
 to myself, but of very little to you; but I can assure you 
 that you are likely to feel the bad effects of it, for it makes 
 me so cross and so stupid, that you must not expect to find 
 in this letter the slightest scrap of good nature or the faint- 
 est spark of entertainment. 
 
 " Since you left town, I have been to Brocket Hall, and 
 passed ten very pleasant days there eii trio with William* 
 and Lady Caroline Lamb. I was at Kensington, both 
 Saturda'y'and Sunday last, and dine there again to-mor- 
 row. The Princess was quite well — very anxious about 
 the dear Good King; talked a great deal about you, and 
 expressed much impatience for a letter from you, giving an 
 account of the wedding, and its antecedents and conse- 
 quences. Nothing is talked of, but the fluctuations in the 
 King's health, and the probable consequences, till I am 
 wearied to death of the eternal discussion. Sometimes he 
 is said to be so much better that Parliament is to be imme- 
 diately prorogued; then he is considerably worse, and the 
 Prince is to be appointed Regent, with full powers, the next 
 day. The King's situation is so doubtful that Perceval is 
 resolved to protract measures as much as possible, and the 
 regal power is at present to be confided to a commission of 
 Lords Justices; then again, the Prince, and the King and 
 the Lords Justices, are all to be laid on the shelf together, 
 and the regency is to be vested in Her Majesty Queen 
 Charlotte. 
 
 "All these projects in their turns are sifted, and sup- 
 ported, and contradicted, and laid down again, leaving 
 one, at the end of the discussion, just as ignorant and as 
 confused as at the beginning. So that I grow quite wea- 
 ried and impatient witli the subject, and am in the precise 
 situation of Sir Philip Francis, when the Prince was telling 
 
 supply to society than himself, will not like to see even this shade 
 thrown upon his character. — Ed. 
 * Now Lord Melbourne.
 
 10 WEMOIUS OF THE 
 
 him a long prosing story, which still went on and went on, 
 without coming to a conclusion: 'Well, Sir? well Sir?' 
 cried Sir Philip, out of all patience — ' Well, Sir, well! and 
 what then, Sir? what then?' At last the Prince said, 
 ' Why, what's the matter with you, Sir Francis? what do 
 you want?' ' Want, >ir, want? What's the matter with 
 me? Sir, I want a result.^ And this is precisely the only 
 thing now which I want to hear about the Regency. More- 
 over, it is at least certain that latterly the King's general 
 health is worse than it was; in particular, he has lately had 
 an internal complaint, which in its peculiar circumstances 
 is said frequently to be tlie forerunner of idiotcy. 
 
 *' For tny own part, T am for having the Queen at the 
 head of the government; it is certain, that having a 
 man there, has as yet produced but little good against 
 Bonaparte, and therefore I should like to try a woman. 
 Who knows, but the Queen may be the very woman men- 
 tioned in the Revelation, who is destined to be crowned 
 Avith glory, and conquer the beastj and therefore, as soon 
 us she is appointed regent, I would immediately have her 
 send a challenge to Bonaparte; decide the whole dispute 
 by single combat; and if she will but follow the example 
 of that illustrious ^eioine, the Princess Rusty Fusty, in 
 setting her back against a tree, and defending herself with 
 her fan and her scissors, I make no doubt she will have 
 the same success, and lay the holy Roman Emperor dead 
 at her feet. 
 
 " In the midst of all these political speculations, Lord 
 Grey has made the disputants a low bow, and has gone 
 back to Norlhumberland, to remain there till the middle of 
 January. I asked Lord Lauderdale, if Lord Grey's friends 
 did not find fault with his being out of the way at such a 
 moment, ' By no means,' answered he, with great gravity, 
 ' Lady Grey is to be confined very soon, and he sacrifices 
 every thing to the consideration of Iiis wife. He was quite 
 in the right. I always do the same thing.'* 
 
 "London is very full, and the Duchess of Gordon has 
 had some good assen^blies. The Princess of Wales lives 
 quietly; never has above four or five people at dinner, and 
 has quite given up going to the play, though she owns, she 
 
 • This is rather a strang-e affirmation for the man vt-ho is surnamed 
 " The Father of Divorces."
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 11 
 
 ■considers this is a very great privation. I have been teased 
 into promising to put together some showy spectacle for 
 Covent Gardenj and the Princess insists on its not being 
 produced before Easter Monday, as she says, that till then 
 she has no hopes of being allowed to visit the theatre. 
 
 "I am quite impatient for your return to town, not only 
 because I shall be very glad to see you again, but for your 
 own sake, that you may see La Perouse. I am certain you 
 will be pleased with it out of all measure. I saw it the other 
 night, and was quite delighted: and I promise myself great 
 pleasure in seeing the pleasure wliich it will give you. 
 There is besides a n^w actress, a Miss Booth, who promises 
 to be the greatest acquisition that the stage has made for 
 many years. She plays Mrs. Jordan's characters with great 
 sprightliness; a very pretty little figure (but not a very 
 pretty face, at least, to wj?/ taste;) great intelligence, mucli 
 appearance of sensibility and naivete, and above all, a voice 
 very sweet, touching, and so articulate, that it can be heard 
 all over the house, even in a whisper. She dances, too, re- 
 markably well, and is very good in pantomime. The only 
 thing in which she fails, is her singing, which is abominable; 
 but I trust, (as she is to set herself to the study of music 
 immediately, with all her might and main,) perhaps, she 
 may mend this deficiency. 
 
 " How do you like Thalaba? There are always so many 
 nothings to be done in London daily, that I have not read 
 ten lines for the last ten weeks, till I came to Holland 
 House, where I have galloped through two volumes of 
 Madame Du Deftand's Letters, and with much 'amusement, 
 though the anecdotes are in themselves of no great value; 
 still, being written on the spot, and at the moment, they 
 have a vivacity and interest which make one read letter 
 after letter without weariness. The extracts from Lord 
 Orford's letters contain frequently excellent things; and, 
 indeed, in Madame Du Deftand's own general observations, 
 there is much good sense and plain truth; but that sense 
 and truth, being generally grounded upon knowledge of the 
 world, and experience of its inhabitants, it unfortunately 
 follows, of course, that the information which it conveys, 
 must be of a disagreeable and humiliating complexion; but 
 what puts me out of all patience, and seems to me quite 
 hard-hearted, is Lord Orford's perpetually torturing the 
 poor old blind woman upon her vanity and her indiscretion,
 
 12 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 and producing- all her defects before her in terrible array, 
 and tliat too, in tiie most unqualified language. Could he 
 expect, that at eighty, she would cure herself of her faults, 
 or that if time had not rendered her discreet, his lectures 
 would ! — and if being indiscreet, contributed to her amuse- 
 ment, in the name of Heaven, why (situated as she was) 
 should she not be so. I really think that this plain dealing 
 with a poor old blind woman, wlio had passed her eighty long 
 years in frivolity, vanity and dissipation, something bar- 
 barous; and I cannot see any purpose which this opening 
 her eyes to her imperfections could possibly answer, except 
 that of vexing and mortifying her; for, as to correcting 
 her, she must have been long past that, and the idea was 
 ridiculous, though, to be sure, the poor old soul frequently 
 promises to set about the amendment of her faults, as if 
 she was a little school girl, which is, in truth, almost as 
 ridiculous as the advice. 
 
 " Have you read these letters? You know, of course, 
 that they were edited by your friend, Miss Berry, who has 
 also written the Preface, the Life, and the Notes, all of 
 which are most outrageously abused by many persons, 
 though, in my opinion, without any just grounds.* 
 " Believe me ever yours truly, 
 
 (Signed) "M.G.LEWIS." 
 
 To day, I was invited to dine at Kensington. It was a 
 private dinner party; the table lighted from above, and 
 there were dumb waiters. 
 
 Thursday, December. — This was the Princess's birth- 
 day. I went to pay my respects. 
 
 * It would be difficult to account for this " outrageous abuse," 
 were it not an established fact, that all women who meddle with li- 
 terature, especially those in the higlier ranks of life, place themselves 
 in a pillory, at which every impertinent idler conceives he has a 
 right to throw his rotten eggs. Miss Berry, has, however, estab- 
 lished her reputation as an authoress, in spite of all detraction. Her 
 comparative veiw of social life, in England and France, is assuredly 
 one of the best written, and most comprehensive views of the subject, 
 which can issue from tiie press, and combines all the tact of woman's 
 feeling, with the strength and tej-seness ascribed to male intellect 
 alone. This work, so superior to the ephemeral fictions of the day, 
 has obtained for her the sober and lasting suffrage of the public. 
 The affection and admiration of a wide circle of friends, (a dearer
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 13 
 
 Her Royal Highness was very injudiciously attired, — 
 
 wrapped in a pink dressing-gown. Lady C n was 
 
 with herj she seemed dead tired of tiie latter, who in truth 
 appears to be a dull woman, and there is an expression in 
 her features of something very like deceit, and a sneer, 
 which makes me grave in despite of myself. Shortly after 
 her departure, came the Duke of Brunswick. He paid his 
 sister a set compliment, and gave her a ring of no value. — 
 (N. B. All princes and princesses give shabby presents.) 
 
 The Duke of Brunswick is very near being a handsome 
 manj his figure is light and graceful; and were it not that 
 he carries his head ill, he would be a noble looking creature. 
 His eyes are deep»sunk in his head, more so than I ever 
 saw in any one, and his brows are remarkably prominent, 
 with shaggy eyebrows. This circumstance gives him a 
 sombre expression, and indeed, the whole cast of his coun- 
 tenance is gloomy, but his features are regular; and when 
 he smiles, there is a transitory sweetness which is very- 
 striking, by the contrast to his usual severity of expression. 
 In manner he is very reserved, — stiiF and Germanic. He 
 remained some time conversing with his sister in German, 
 eyeing the lady in waiting occasionally askance. He 
 seemed glad to take his leave. 
 
 Her Royal Highness, the old Duchess of Brunswick, 
 next arrived, and still I was desired to remain. I thought 
 this conference would never end; and yet it seemed not to 
 delight either party. What a factitious life! The Duchess 
 appears kind-hearted; the tears rolled down her cheeks as 
 she said the poor Princess Amelia cannot live: she seemed 
 really affected. I take her to be a kind hearted upright 
 woman, but not in the least clever, very slow in her speech 
 and in her comprehension, whereas her daughter is precisely 
 the reverse, and has no patience with the repetition of phra- 
 ses, and the lengthiness of histories, for which, in fact, she 
 feels no interest. 
 
 To-day, 1 had the honour of meeting tlie Princess Char- 
 lotte, at her grandmother's. She is very clever, but has at 
 present the manners of a hoyden school girl; she talked all 
 sorts of nonsense to me; she is a fine piece of flesh and 
 
 boon still, to one whose heart, like hers, rests its happiness on them,) 
 is tli.-^t which it has ever been her privilege to call her own, and 
 their pride to bestow. — Ed, 
 
 VOL. I. 2
 
 14 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 blootl, but can put on tlignity when she chooses, though it 
 seems to sit uneasily upon her. What will be her late? 
 It is impossible not to feel an interest in any human being, 
 upon whom such a weight of responsibility is placed. 
 
 There is no company at the Duchess of Brunswick's, but 
 old women of the last century, and naturally the Princess 
 calls this a duUiJicalion. It is unwise for the old to forget 
 that they were once young; this it is which always put the 
 Princess out of humour, when she is there, and she yawns 
 and chews it- 
 There was a Count Munster who sat next to me at din- 
 ner, who seems quite ill placed in a court; for he appears 
 to me to be a delightful and a particularly sincere person. 
 He expresses himself on many subjects with great enthu- 
 siasm, and has all the sentiment of a German. He said 
 Italy was a country in which one should not live too long. 
 I asked him, " Why?" His reply was, " It is too de- 
 lightful." The Princess of Wales told him that whatever 
 little good she had in her, she owed it to his mother, who 
 had been her governess. 
 
 One day, Her Royal Highness said to me, " If I lived 
 always with ray cousins, the royal familyj and if they were 
 kind to me, I should like them, and care for them; but I 
 cannot say, treating me as they do, that I feel that affec- 
 tion for them I should otherwise feel, except indeed for my 
 dear old uncle; and he, poor dear, is lost to me now: so I 
 confess, all I am afraid of is, lest the Princess Amelia should 
 die, because I could not then get out to amuse myself." 
 There was a levity in this confession, certainly, but yet 
 there was a sincerity in it, which made me auger well of 
 the ingenuousness of her character. 
 
 The royal family had sent her presents on h^r birth-day^ 
 the Queen, a very handsome aigrette, which the young 
 Princess Charlotte observed was really pretty well, consi- 
 dering who sent it. She then laughed heartily, her own 
 peculiar loud but musical laugh. 
 
 " To-day, 1 received the following letter from her Royal 
 Highness the Princess of Wales. 
 
 '« Monday, December 10, 1810. 
 
 •'I am just on the point of setting out for the Priory, 
 my dear Lord , where I don't expect to be much en- 
 livened, but go partly from civility, and partly from curio- 
 sity, to make the acquaintance with the ' Ida of Athens,'
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 15 
 
 which I trust will gratify my search for knowledge, or my 
 taste for quizzing. 
 
 "There is noiliing new liere under the sun, since you 
 left the metropolis, and I lead literally the life of a recluse, 
 for still public amusements are prohibited for the present. 
 Thanks to heaven, no Lord Chamberlain has been appointed 
 yet, otherwise the dear operas would have begun by this 
 time, and I should have felt myself oblis;ed to renounce 
 this great amusement. The parties in Hanover Square, 
 are not more lively than they were last winter in Spring 
 Gardens, except we miss the galanti show, which w^as ex- 
 hibited, of all the 'old fograms, since the reign of George 
 the First,' which, Fsuppose, was intended to show the dif- 
 ference that existed between them and the beauties of 
 Charles the Second, painted by Sir Peter Lely; but I am 
 afraid his pencil, as that of Titian, or of Marc Angelo,* 
 would never have succeeded in making them rivals of that 
 happy centuryj — their beauty was much more valued and 
 praised, except there is one precedent, which will remain 
 on record in the Argyle family.t Your letter arrived most 
 welcomely, as there had been various reports about a sus- 
 pension d'armes, an armistice, or a retreat, resembling that 
 of Massena; but all tliis puff" must have been merely raised 
 by envy, love of gossip, and newsmongers. 
 
 " I intend to go to Blackheath, before Christmas, to take 
 in an additional stock of health, and strength, and spirits for 
 the winter campaign, which I suspect will be rather longer 
 than usual, parliament having met so early. Blackheath 
 will be called Le Palais des .... i, as the sleep will be 
 the most predominant amusement and relaxation, other- 
 wise I would feel myself dans I'ordre de la Trappe, be- 
 ing with my lay sister,§ Mrs. Lisle, who has taken her 
 resemblance from the springing skeleton. If any body 
 would take the pains to write my biography, they would in- 
 form the public, that for some secret and dreadful crime this 
 penance was inflicted upon her. This is the way one may 
 vouch for the historian's veracity; but as I flatter myself, 
 that this wonderful production of epistolary punning will 
 
 • It would appear that Her Royal Highness was not very learned 
 in vertVi, or very correct in nomenclature. 
 
 f 1 suppose Her Royal Highness alluded to Lady Charlotte Camp- 
 bell, tlie beauty of tlie Argyle family, of that day. 
 
 i This word is illegible in the original letter. 
 
 ^ Rather a confusion here of similes, and metaphors, and persons.
 
 16 - MEMOIllS OF THE 
 
 remain in the archives of the illustrious family of the , 
 
 that upon record, matter of fact reasons of my absence 
 from Kensington will be known. 
 
 " Believe me, for ever, 
 
 " Your most sincere 
 
 (Signed) "C. P." 
 
 "P. S. — As much as you may admire eccentricity, I 
 
 defy any person of taste and tact to admire Miss O ; 
 
 she' is just what Moliere describes so well in one of his 
 plays, of the Precieuses Ridicules, very plain, and has an 
 unpleasing expiession in her countenance; her figure is the 
 most diminutive I ever saw, both in height and breadth, 
 without manners and witliout grace; she sings, what every 
 other person would call, like a crow, and plays the harp, 
 like a young school miss: in short, I trust that we shall 
 not meet again.* And 1 can easily imagine, that all men, 
 except the Marquis, hold her in abhorrence." 
 
 The above letter may convey to posterity an idea of the 
 kind of ill-assorted matter, which filled the mind of this 
 unfortunate Princess; but something must be attributed to 
 her want of knowledge of the English Lmguage, and much 
 indulgence may be extended to a person in Her Royal 
 Highness's situation, who was constantly goaded publicly 
 and privately, to irritation — a fact, which she was too proud 
 to acknowledge, but which made her take refuge in an affect- 
 ed jocularity, and a pretence to wit. 
 
 Mr. Ward is certainly a clever man. He is frequently 
 one of the Kensington guests: indeed, there is a great and 
 laudable wish on the part of the Princess to attract extra- 
 ordinary persons around her; this desire properly directed 
 might turn to her own advantage, and that of those who be- 
 long to her; but it evaporates in vanity, and produces no 
 effectual improvement in her society. Mr. Wardf is a 
 
 * This abuse is, and will be thought by most readers to be unjust 
 
 and false, and seems dictated by some private pique. Did Miss O 
 
 ever offend Her Royal Highness, who was in general a good hu- 
 moured person? Miss O , now Lady M , was far removed 
 
 above the reacli of such squibs; and her decided superiority of ta- 
 lent ranks her amongst those wiio depend not on royal favour for 
 success. — Eu. 
 
 •j- Afterwards Lord Dudley, who promised much, performed little, 
 and died mad.
 
 TIMES OF GEORE THE FOURTH. 17 
 
 man concerning whom great expectations are formed, and 
 various parties look at him as a card which, in their own 
 hands, they might like to play; but there is something un- 
 certain and wayward about him, which, just as one is going 
 to like him, prevents one's doing so — though I was very 
 near the mark the other night in favour of what he said of 
 the moon.* The Princess calls Mr. Forbest Mr. Fobb. — 
 There is something ludicrously appropriate in this mispro- 
 nunciation, I cannot tell why. 
 
 Again, I received a note from Her Royal Highness; the 
 following is a curious extract from it: — 
 
 " The only astonishing news I can offer you is, that the 
 Regent is dangerously ill; still I am not sanguine enough 
 to flatter myself that the period to all my troubles and mis- 
 fortunes is yet come — yet one must hope for the best. — Ever 
 yours, " C. P." 
 
 This day, dined at Kensington, en petit comite: no ser- 
 vants, but dumb waiters. These dinners are peculiarly 
 agreeably — nothing to impede the flow of soul, whatever 
 there may be of the feast of reason. The Princess gave a 
 long detailed account of her marriage, and the circum- 
 stances which brought it about. " I, — you know, was the 
 victim of mammon; the Prince of Wales's debts must be 
 paid, and poor little I's person was the pretence. Parlia- 
 ment would vote supplies for the Heir-Apparent's marriage; 
 the King would help iiis little help. A Protestant Princess 
 must be found — they fixed upon the Prince's cousin. To 
 tell you God's truth, []a favourite expression,] I always 
 hated it; but to oblige my father, any thing. But the first 
 
 moment I saw my futur and Lady J y together, I knew 
 
 how it all was, and I said to myself, 'Oh, very well!' I 
 took my partie — and so it would have been, if — but. Oh, 
 mine GodP'' she added, throwing up her head, " I could be 
 the slave of a man I love; but to one whom I loved not, 
 and who did not love me, — impossible — c'est autre chose, 
 
 "One of the civil things His Royal Highness did just at 
 first, was to find fault with my shoes; and as I was very 
 
 • Madame de Stacl said of him, he was the only man of sentiment 
 she had met with in England! 
 
 ■(• Now Minister at Dresden, a remarkably clever, agreeable per- 
 son. — Ed. 
 
 2*
 
 i'8 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 young and lively in those days, 1 told him to make me a 
 better pair, and bring them to me. 1 brought letters from 
 all the Princes and Princesses to him from all the petty 
 courts, and I tossed them to him, and said, •' There — that's 
 to prove I'm not an im|)ostor.' " 
 
 Lady Oxford observed, "Well, Madam, it is the most 
 surprising thing in the world; that the Prince was not des- 
 perately in love with your Royal Higliness." "Not at 
 all," she replied: "in the first place, very few husbands 
 love their wives; and 1 confess, the moment one is obliged 
 to marry any person, it is enou<>;h to render them hateful; 
 Had 1 come over here as a Princess with my father on a 
 visit, as Mr. Pitt once wanted my father to have done, 
 things might have been very different: but what is done 
 cannot be undone." 
 
 "What a delightful court we should have now," said 
 one of the party, "if Her Royal Highness was Queen I" 
 " I never wish to be Queen," replied the Princess; "the 
 Queen's mother is enough for me." 
 
 Lord Abercorn was, at this time, a great friend of the 
 Princess's; he frequently wrote to her, and was very cu- 
 rious to know how she got on with a new peison who had 
 lately come to her court. This lady had once been in his 
 society, but had not seen hiui for years: "I will not satisfy 
 his curiosity," said the Princess; " let him come and see;"' 
 but he came not. 
 
 To-day, the Princess v.'as in one of her most communi- 
 cative humours. Poor thing! she was always looking about 
 for some one to pour out her heart to, and never found one. 
 Some dared not listen to her, others would not, and others, 
 again, did so only to answer their own purposes; but as she 
 was quick at reading characters, she often set the latter 
 upon a wrong scent, which was amusing enough. In ge- 
 neral, when 1 had the honour of being invited to Kensing- 
 ton, I avoided all cjuestions, and endeavoured neither to 
 deceive nor be deceived; but sometimes it was next to im- 
 possible not to ask a question, or make an observation, 
 which the next moment was repented of. For instance, 
 when she inveighed against England and the British court, 
 I asked her if she liad left Brunswick with regret: "Not at 
 all; I was sick, tired of it; but I was sorry to leave my fa- 
 ther. I loved my father dearly, better nor any oder per- 
 son;" and the tears poured over her face. " I will tell 
 you," slxe went on to say, and she mastered lier emotion —
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 
 
 1'9 
 
 " I will tell you, there is none affection more powerful than 
 dat we feel for a good fader; but dere were some unlucky- 
 tings in our court, which made my position difficult. My 
 fader was most entirely attached to a lady for tliirty years, , 
 who in fact was his mistress; she was the beautifuUest crea- 
 ture, and the cleverest; but, though my father continued 
 to pay my moder all possible respect, my poor moder could 
 not suffer this attachment, and de consequence was, 1 did 
 not know what to do between them; when 1 was civil to 
 the one, I was scolded by the other, and was very tired of 
 being shuttlecock between them."* 
 
 The Princess had a custom, when she drove out, of never 
 giving an order, but pointing to the quarter to which she 
 wished to be driven. The postillion watched her eye, 
 and with wonderful quickness took the direction which it 
 (and it alone, very often) designated. I have wondered 
 sometimes, what this dumb-show mystery meant; I can only 
 account for it by believing that royal persons divert them- 
 selves with veiy puerile devices, and that they play at se- 
 crets, as children do at hide-and-seek. 
 
 The Princess sometimes goes to see the Duke of Bruns- 
 wick's two boys.f She climbs to the very top of a house 
 at Vauxhall, where they are living, and having talked for 
 some time to them, goes away again. These visits do not 
 seem to afford either party much pleasure. She complains 
 that they are frightful to look upon. 
 
 The Princess often does the most extraordinary things, 
 apparently for no otiier purpose than to make her attend- 
 ants stare. Very frequently, she will take one of her ladies 
 along with her, to walk in Kensington Gardens — who are ac- 
 cordingly dressed — [it may be] in a costume very unsuited 
 to the public highway; and, all of a sudden, she will bolt 
 out at one of the smaller gates, and walk all over Bays- 
 v.ater, and along the Paddington Canal, at the risk of being 
 insulted, or, if known, mobbed, — enjoying the terror of 
 the unfortunate attendant who may be destined to walk 
 after her. One day, Her Royal Highness inquired at all 
 the doors of Bayswater and its neighbourhood, if there were 
 any houses to be l«t, and went into many of them, till at 
 last she came to one, where some children of a friend of 
 
   111 this fact tliere is the seed sown, wliich broug'ht forth the 
 rankest weeds. — Ed. 
 
 f One of these is the ex-Duke of Brunswick, who went up the otlier 
 day in a balloon, and is not a little eccentric. — Eu.
 
 20 MEMOIUS OF THE 
 
 hers (Lord H. F.) were placed for change of air, and she 
 was quite enchanted to be known by them, and to boast of 
 her extraordinary mode of walking over the country. 
 
 Sometimes the Princess philosophizes; here is a sample 
 of her philosophy. She said one day, " Suspense is very 
 great bore, but we live only de poor beings of de hour— 
 and we ought always to try to make us happy so long we 
 do live. To tell you God's truth," — her favourite expres- 
 sion, not always used appropriately, — "To tell you God's 
 truth, I have had as many vexations as most people; but 
 we must make up vons mind to enjoy de good, spite of de 
 bad; and I mind now de last no more dan dat," snapping 
 her fingers. 
 
 Princess Charlotte came pretty frequently to K n at 
 
 this epoch. Lady De Clifford was then her governess — 
 that is to say, so named, for the Princess is her own gover- 
 ness. 
 
 The Princess of Wales speaks highly of Mrs. Fitzher- 
 bert; she always says, " that is the Prince's true wife; she 
 is an excellent woman; it is a great pity for him he ever 
 broke vid her. Do you know i know de man who was 
 present at his marriage, the late Lord B d.* He de- 
 clared to a friend of mine, that when he went to inform 
 Mrs. Fitzheibert that the Prince had married me, she 
 would not believe it, for she knew she was herself marHed 
 to him." 
 
 The Princess took great pleasure in explaining the state 
 of politics and parties. She thought she had it all at her 
 fingers' ends, because she had lived with Canning and Mr. 
 Perceval; but she saw every thing through the mist of her 
 own passions and prejudices; and consequently, saw every 
 thing falsely. She used to say, "the nation will go safe 
 enough, whoever are de ministers, so long as de King lives;, 
 but when he dies every ting will be overturned. You will 
 see, mark my words. The House of Commons do now 
 busy themselves with trifles, which they had better let 
 alone. 'Mais il faut etre juste.' Ministers would never 
 
 have brought in tlie Duke of Y 's business had he not 
 
 misled them. Had he told them the truth, confided in 
 them, and said, I have committed a folly, save me from ex- 
 posure, I will do so no more, he would have been saved, 
 and de constitution too, perhaps, for the business would? 
 
 • Probably o B n, that was.
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 21 
 
 have been hushed up; — but no, his friends believed that he 
 was intact; (our friends do more iiarm tiian enemies some- 
 times:) they said tlie more the matter is investigated, the 
 more it will be to his honour. You saw how de matter 
 turnout," — and she shrugged lier shouUlers. "I do as- 
 sure you — to tell you God's truth, — had those letters been 
 published, which were brought up, they might have pro- 
 duced a revolution; for they not only told all that is true, 
 but a great deal that is not true." 
 
 The Princess was in the habit of saying jocularly, I have 
 nine children. And when her hearers lauglied at the joke 
 as such she would s»y, " It is true, upon lionour; dat is to 
 say, I take care of eight boys* and one girl; the girl I took 
 by a very romantic accident. In the time of the «!isturban- 
 ces in Ireland, a man and woman, apparently of the better 
 class, left a female infant with a poor old peasant woman, 
 who lives at Blackhealh, and with the infant, a sum of 
 money sufficient to support it a certain time; but the time 
 elapsed, the money was spent, and no one came to supply 
 the old woman with means for the babe's future exigencies; 
 so she came to me and told her story, and asked what she 
 should do. At first I thought of putting the child to the 
 parish, but somehow I could not bear that, so it ended in 
 my taking charge of the infant entiiely at my own expense. 
 She is now at school at Rath, under the care of a Mrs. 
 Twiss, sister of Mrs. Siddons. 1 have not seen the child 
 for five years, and do not mean to see her till she is grown 
 up: she is now twelve years old."t 
 
 It appears to me, said the Princess one day, that jealousy 
 
 and politics are untying the knot of Lord A 
 
 H 's love for Lady O d; it is said that Lady 
 
 d visits Mr. O'Connell and Sir F B tj 
 
 every day, and Lord A d does not approve; but the 
 
 greater reason still, is, that the Lady prefers Lord G r.§ 
 
 • " De boys shall serve de King.— My good friend, Sir J. B., will 
 take care of some." 
 
 f Aftcrwaids the Princess took diis cliild, tlien grown up, abroad 
 with her. She married, but 1 never heard wliat became of her. 
 
 + Sir F B 1, if it be he who is meant,— in 1813 and 1833, 
 
 is a very different person. — En. 
 
 § If ever Lord G r was in sucli ignoble tin-all it could not hold 
 
 him long. He was too iiigh, too noble, too much above the coarse- 
 ness of manner and mind of that lady to become for any lengtli of 
 time ensnared — Ed.
 
 22 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 The Princess's villa at Blackheatli, is an incongruous 
 piece of patcli-workj it may dazzle for a moment when 
 lighted up at night, butit is all glitter and glare, and trick, 
 every thing is tinsel and trumpery about itj it is altogether 
 like a bad tiream. 
 
 One day, the Princess showed me a large book, in which 
 she had written, characters of a great many of the leading 
 persons in Englamf; she read me some of them; they were 
 drawn with spirit, but I could not form any opinion of their 
 justice — first, because a mere outline, iiowever boldly 
 sketched, cannot convey a faithful portraiture of character; 
 and secondly, because many of the persons mentioned 
 therein were unknov/n to me. Upon the whole, these cha- 
 racters impressed me with a high opinion of her discern- 
 ment and power of expression — not that it was good Eng- 
 lish, but that it was strong sense — hut how dangerous! If 
 that book exists, it would form a curious episode in the me- 
 moirs of those times. 
 
 The Princess told one of her friends one day, who re- 
 peated it to me, that her life had been an eventful one 
 from her earliest years — that at one period, she was to have 
 been married to the uncle of the Queen of Prussia — at ano- 
 ther, to the Prince of Orange — at another, to this Queen's 
 brother; the latter she said was a most agreeable man, not 
 at all ugly, and very pleasant in his manners — that she had 
 liked him very much as a friend, but nothing more. — Prince 
 George of Darmstadt '(I think tiiat was the name she gave 
 the Queen of Prussia's uncle) was a very handsome man, 
 tall, light, yet not too thin. " He turned all de women's 
 heads except mine. I liked him very much, but he was 
 very perfide to me — a false perfidious friend. It was he 
 who was the lover of the late Queen of France, and he was 
 the real father of the last Daupliin. Just before I came to 
 this country I was very unhappy. My father said to me, 
 if I would marry on the continent, he never wished to get 
 rid of me, or to send meaway; but if I was determined not 
 to marry, that this situation which presented itself seemed 
 sent by Providence to my advantage, and he would not 
 sufter me to slight it. So, as a drowning wretch catches at 
 a straw, I caught at this crown and sceptre; but if I had 
 not been miraculously supported, I could not have out- 
 lived all T have done: there are moments when one is su- 
 pernaturally iieiped. '' The Princess became very grave 
 after this conversation, and soon retired.
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 23 
 
 The Princess of Wales is not what I think a female cha- 
 racter should be, but she has a bold and independent mind, 
 which is a principal ingredient in the formation of a great 
 queen or an illustrious woman. 
 
 The Princess Charlotte always dines with her mother OB 
 Saturdays; this day Her Royal Highness came with Lady 
 De Clifford and the Duke of Brunswick. As soon as she 
 grows intimate with any one, she gives way to her natural 
 feelings, and there is an openness and candour in her con- 
 versation which is very captivating. I pity her that she is 
 born to be a queen — she would be a much happier being if 
 she were a private individual. I cannot make out what 
 the Duke of Brunswrtk's character really is. The Princess 
 of Wales seems fond of him, yet as she never speaks open- 
 ly of him, I conceive there is something about him which 
 
 does not please her. A son of Lovd H. F d dined 
 
 at K n, a boy of about fourteen years of age, who ap- 
 peared uncommonly clever and very agreeable. He is 
 being educated at Westminister; I asked him many ques- 
 tions about the school, which he answered most intelli- 
 gently; but from all I can learn, the Etonians are more 
 polished; perhaps 1 am partial to the school at which I was 
 myself educated. 
 
 Lady De Clift'ord seems to be a good-natured, common- 
 place person, and the young Princess appears attached to 
 her, which is a good indicati(»n of her ladyship's temper. 
 
 The dinner over, which always weighs heavy on the Prin- 
 cess, when composed of a family party only. Her Royal 
 Highness recovered her natural gaiety, as soon as she re- 
 turned to the drawing-room, and began talking eagerly to 
 Lady De Cliftbrd en tete-a-tete. The Princess Charlotte 
 ran from one end of tiie room to tlie other to fetch herself 
 a ciiair. I rose and said how shocked 1 was, that her Royal 
 Hip-hness had not commanded me to do her bidding. " Oh !" 
 said her mother, " I assure you she likes it; it is an amuse- 
 ment for her; she is kept so very strict, it is like feeling 
 herself at liberty to fly about, — is it not. Lady De Clil- 
 ford?" To which the latter replied sharply, "I assure 
 your Royal Highness, the Princess Charlotte has liberty 
 enough with me." This retort again produced a stiffness, 
 and the time seemed to draa; on heavily until the Princess 
 Charlotte and the Duke of Brunswick withdrew, when we 
 
 went to the Opera. Mr. Ward, Mr. H. F d, Mr. 
 
 L He, Mr. Lewis, Mr. North, and Mr. Macdonald
 
 24 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 came to pay their respects in her box.* Mr. Lewis the au- 
 thor of " The Monk," was not, however, a very suitable 
 attendant upon royalty. Mr. Wan! was clever and plea- 
 sing; but her Royal Highness was not, upon the whole, 
 icuch flattered by her visiters, neither had she much cause 
 to be so. 
 
 Sunday. — There was, as is customary on this day, a 
 large party at Kensington — but it was not so pleasant a 
 
 dinner as usual, for the Duchess of R d and her 
 
 dauglilcr with Lady S y and her daughter, also, 
 
 rendered it rather formal — and it troubled the Princess to 
 make herself agreeable to them. 
 
 After dinner, there was an addition of Mrs. Poole, f Mrs. 
 Lock,:)^ Lady Diinmore, &c., and professional singers — 
 Pucitta, his wife, Naldi, and Tremazotti. The music was 
 procured only for the Siikeof makinga noise — as it is merely 
 an affair of custom with the Princess to have musicians, in 
 order that it may be said she has had a concert; cats would 
 
 do just as well. Lord A d H n was in a bad 
 
 humour with Lady d; consequently, vi^ith every- 
 body else. She is only seeking an excuse to break with 
 
 him, in order to pursue a new intrigue witli Lord G r. 
 
 The latter is much too good for her. — These worldly in- 
 trigues are melancholy proofs of depravity — long attach- 
 ments, even when not sanctioned by morality, excite com- 
 passion ; but the ephemeral fires of passion, intrigue, in- 
 terest and pleasure, are loathsome. 
 
 The Princess (lined with her mother the Duchess of Bruns- 
 wick. The Duchess of R- d, her two daughters, and the 
 
 Princess Charlotte formed the principal part of the company; 
 the Duke of Brunswick and myself \j'ere the only gentlemen. 
 He is very silent, and appears to be somewhat of a misan- 
 thrope. 
 
 The Princess went to the play, a resource slie always re- 
 serves to herself, to escape from a dull dinner. She was 
 accompanied by Lord Fitz — d, her lady in waiting, and 
 
 • If Mr. L He means Mr. Luttrell, that man so famed for wit 
 
 and for eating, lie was a kind and constant adherent to her Royal 
 Highness, and proved his attachment by accepting frequent invita- 
 tions to very Isad food and worse wine. — En. 
 
 •j- Now Lady Maryborough. 
 
 4 The once beautiful Mrs. Lock, La belle Jennings de soai temps.
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 25 
 
 myself. After the play, I was invited to sup with her 
 Royal Highness — as usual, she talked of her own situation, 
 and her previous life. "Judge," said she, " what it was 
 to have a drunken husband on one's wedding-day, and one 
 who passed the greatest part of his bridal night under the 
 ^grate where he fell, and where 1 left him. If any body 
 say to me at dis moment will you pass your life over again, 
 or be killed, I would choose death, for you know, a little 
 sooner or later, we must all die; but to live a life of wretch- 
 edness twice over, — oh! mine God, no. Well time went 
 on, and de case was, I began to be wid child, and all de 
 wise people said so; but I pitied dem, for I no more be- 
 lieved it dan any ting for longtime — at last, Cimrlotte was 
 born. Well, after 1 lay in, — je vous jure 'tis true; upon 
 my honour, upon my soul, 'tis true, — I received a message, 
 through Lord Cholmondeley, to tell me I never was to 
 have de great honour of inhabiting de same room wid my 
 husband again. I said very well — but, as my memory was 
 short, I begged to have dis polite message in writing from 
 him. I had it — and vas free — I leit Carlton House, and 
 went to Charlton. Oh! hov/ happy I was — everybody 
 blamed me, but I never repented me of dis step. Oli! mine 
 God, what I have suftered — luckily, 1 had a spirit, or I 
 never should have outlived it." She said more, but I can 
 never remember a// she says. Poor Princess! she was an 
 ill-treated woman, but a very wrong-headed one. Had 
 she remained fjuietly at Carlton House and conducted her- 
 self with silent dignity, how different uiight have been her 
 lot. It is true, as her Pi ivy Purse, Miss H — -n once 
 told a person of my acquaintance, she was so insulted 
 whilst tliere, that every bit of furniture was taken out of 
 the room she dined in, except two shabby chairs; and the 
 pearl -bracelets, which had been given her by the Prince, 
 
 were taken from her to decorate the arms of Lady J y. 
 
 Still, had the Princess had the courage which arises from 
 principle, and not that which is merely the offspring of i]. 
 daring spirit, she would have sat out the storm, and wea- 
 thered it. 
 
 The Princess, in one of her confidential humours, de- 
 clared she believed that " Lady H d was a woman of 
 
 intact virtue — it is only a liaison of vanity on her part with 
 my better half, but it will not last long, she is too formal 
 for him."* I dined with tbe Princess and Lady Charlotte 
 
 • These words were quickly verified in another attachment to a 
 Vol. I. 3
 
 26 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 Lindsay, the latter a most amiable and delightful person'.' 
 but she is so witty and so very brilliant, so full of repartee, 
 that her society dazzles my duller sensesj and, instead of 
 being exhilarated by it, I become lowered.* I often say to 
 myself in society, " Oh! trouverai-je ma placep"" — Total 
 retirement, secondary intellect, secondary rank does not 
 suit me — yet the world and tiie first circles, and the wit- 
 tiest and the prettiest suit me not either — 'tis not affecta- 
 tion, 'tis a melancholy truth. 
 
 In speaking of Mr. Ward one day, the Princess said, " I 
 will tell you what Mr. Ward is. He is a man all of vanity 
 — he would marry for money or Parliamentary interest, or 
 to a very fashionable woman, who would make a fool of 
 him; but though il joue h sentiment, sometimes," she said, 
 shaking her head, " I do not believe he has one grain of it 
 in his composition — did you ever observe how he eats.? just 
 
 like a hog with his snout sucking in a trough." 
 
 * ***** 
 
 Along lapse in my journal. My own life during this 
 time, has been far more interesting to me than wlien in the 
 busy scenes of court life, for I have spent the hours with 
 
 . She left town to-day; so I had nothing to do but 
 
 to take to m}' books and my violin et je me suisfait raison; 
 but it is a hard work, and an ugly manufacture. Lord 
 
 G — bie paid me a visit, and announced Lord G d's 
 
 marriage with Miss B. — I don't know why, but 1 felt sorry; 
 what business has that old drunken man to marry so late 
 in the day.'' I received Her Royal Highness's commands 
 to dine with her. She had been very ill with an attaqiie 
 de bile, as she called it, and was lying on her sola. After 
 some attempts at conversation, which I had no spirits to 
 keep up, I asked leave to read to Her Royal Highness, and 
 1 began Les JMulheurs de V Inconstancc, and at seven, din- 
 ner was announced; the lady in waiting and myself, were 
 the only company, for every person who had been invited, 
 sent an excuse, except Mr, W., who neither sent nor came 
 — how rude; these indignities were, however, in a great 
 measure brought down upon herself by her ovvn conduct. 
 
 younger and more beautiful woman, but one not calculated to be so 
 judicious or true a friend. 
 
 • Wliat bad taste!! if ever there was wit wlilch could exhilarate 
 witliout wounding, or inspire gaiety witliout tliorns, Lady C. Lind- 
 say's was of that peculiar quality, and it was difficult to decide whe- 
 ther her powers of amusing, or her qualities to command esteem and 
 love, were most pre-eminent. — Ed.
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 27" 
 
 How true it is, that vulgar familiarity breeds contempt. 
 The Princess was very ill during dinner-time; neverthe- 
 less, she would go to the play for the sake of her little pro- 
 tege Willikin, as she called him, whose birth-day it was. 
 There was nobody at the play in her box, but Lord H. 
 
 F d. 3Iy nobody is, however, somebody's every body. 
 
 What is it makes me find the hours and days so long.^ 
 Hours and days are coloured by our fancy, not by the sun 
 or by the shade of nature. 
 
 The next day, I again dined at Kensington. Sir Harry 
 
 Englefield, Mr. Gell*, Lady O d were the only 
 
 guests. I was tired to death; oh, yes, to the death of all 
 pleasure. 
 
 One day, the Princess set out to walk, accompanied by 
 myself and one of her ladies, round Kensington Gardens. 
 At last, being wearied, Her Roj'al Highness sat down on a 
 bench occupied by two old persons, and she conversed with 
 tliem, to my infinite amusement, they being perfectly ig- 
 norant wiio she was. She asked them all manner of ques- 
 tions about herself, to which they replied favourably; but 
 her lady, I observed, was considerably alarmed, and was 
 obliged to draw her veil over her face to prevent betraying 
 herself, and every moment I was myself afraid that some- 
 thing not se favourable might be expressed by these good 
 people; fortunately, this was not the case, and Her Royal 
 Highness walked away undiscovered, having informed them 
 that if they would be at such a door at such an hour at the 
 palace on any day, they would meet with the Princess of 
 Wales, to see whom they expressed the strongest desire. 
 This Haroun Al-Raschid expedition passed oft" happily, 
 but I own I dreaded its repetition. It is said that listeners 
 hear no good of themselves. That evening, as the carriage 
 drove up to the door to take the Princess to the Opera, the 
 box on which the coachman sat, broke, fell upon the horses, 
 frightened them, and threw oft' the unfortunate man, who, 
 in the fall, broke his leg. The Princess was shocked, but 
 not sufficiently to prevent her from going to the Opera. 
 Royal nerves are made of tough materials. 
 
 Sunday. — As usual to-day, there was a large dinner 
 party. After myself. Lord Rivers was the first arrival; 
 and the Princess, not being yet dressed, we had a Ute-a- 
 
 * Afterwards Sir William Gell — well known in the scientific and 
 literary world — and best liked by those who knew him most: simplef 
 JEuinded, kind-hearted and true. — Ep.
 
 28 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 tele. He is a pleasant and an elegant man — one of the last 
 of that race of persons, who weie the dandies of a former 
 century, and liow much preferable were they to tiiose of the 
 present day. In the evening, tlie family of the C — gs 
 came. I know not why, but there is something not altoge- 
 ther pleasant about them, thougli their talents command a 
 sort of admiration, but too much is done for display. Miss 
 
 C sings scientifically, still iiervoice is notai;oceJijyef/o, 
 
 not a delicious breatliing of sentiment, which goes to the 
 soul — it is studied — made out — acquired — not, in short, 
 the Canto die ncl anima si senfe. I tliink the young man 
 is better, though prim and pragmatical; but his verses on 
 the dying Gladiator are full of spirit, and seem the dictates 
 of a natural gift,* 
 
 I am half inclined to like Mr. Brougham, yet I feel 
 afraid of him — a mind tliat accustoms itself always to look 
 at every thing in a ludicrous point of view — every thing 
 especially, that has to do with feelingf — cannot have 
 one cliord in unison with mine. 
 
 Mr. Ward I positively dislike — in the ignoble necessity 
 of eating and drinking, as the Princess observed, he renders 
 himself an unpleasant companion at table — then his per- 
 son looks so dirty, and he has such a sneer in his laugh, 
 and is so impious as well as grossly indecent in his con- 
 versation, that 1 cannot like this clever man. The night 
 dragged on heavily, but as the Princess was not well, she 
 soon dismissed her company. 
 
 Tuesday. — The Princess went to see a ship launched, 
 the Queen Charlotte. We were too late for tiie actual 
 ceremony, but what we did see was one of the finest sights 
 as a moving picture that I ever beheld. Innumerable ves- 
 sels gliding about, or ratiier driving one against another, 
 filled with people gaily dressed — all appearing pleased with 
 
 • These persons have been the victims of such shafts of fortune, 
 that there is something painful in seeing- their names tlius harshly 
 dealt witli. — Ed. 
 
 •j- Mr. Brougham — now Lord Brougham. If sucli was his habitual 
 frame of mind with regard to others, how many persons since have 
 viewed him in a similar liglit ; — wliat public character lias ever af- 
 forded more scope for satire, not only with but at him? And yet he 
 is an extraordinarily clever man — even his enemies do not deny it. 
 
 The late Lord A said he was the cleverest man of his time, only 
 
 he wondered what could make a person of his great abilities choose 
 his line in politics. — Ed.
 
 TIMES Oi- GEORGE THE FOURTH. 29 
 
 the show; but how false the appearance was in many in- 
 stances, I myself can testify. Nevertheless, the pageant 
 had a temporary eflfect in drawing oiF attention from indi- 
 vidual sorrows. 
 
 The Princess went on board the Commissioner's yacht, 
 where luncheon was prepared for her Royal Highness and 
 her party, which consisted of Lord Aberdeen, Lord H. 
 
 F d, myself, and her ladies. Lord Aberdeen is said to 
 
 be very wise, but he does not condescend to display his 
 stores. 
 
 After spending two or three hours on board the yacht, 
 the Princess said she' must take us to see Charlton, where 
 she had passed the happiest moments of her life, and the 
 tears rolled down her face as she spoke; — those tears were 
 genuine. We walked accordingly to Charlton; it is a very 
 fine situation, only looking over the low county of Essex,. 
 gives one idea of marshy land, which makes one suspect 
 it must be unhealthy. 
 
 When we returned to dinner at Biackheath, we found 
 
 Lady d, Mr. Gell, Loul A. H n, and Lady 
 
 Jane Harley,* Sir H. Englefield, Miss Berry, Lord R 
 
 Lady G d; the latter is a most curious-looking woman^ 
 
 but I think she has sense and originality. I like Mr. Gell 
 more and more every time I see him. He is so good-hu- 
 moured, so unobtrusive, so ready to oblige, that with his 
 talents and temper one overlooks a slight degree of vul- 
 garity in his manners. Lord R is less informed, 
 
 less amiable; but in him there is a native elegance, and his 
 voice in singing is most melodious: what a charm there is 
 in perfect high breeding!! 
 
 To-day, Mr. P , an old friend, came to see me, 
 
 and painfully awoke feelings that had long lain dormant. 
 How seldom after an absence do we meet with any person 
 whose heart makes response to our own— either they are 
 colder, or their manners, at least, are different from what 
 they were when we parted with them, which makes them 
 appear changed to us, whether they are so in reality or not. 
 I thought nine years had sadly altered him, and obliterated 
 all remembrance of the past, — but nine years effaces many 
 things; it is the melancholy fate of every one who lives 
 any time in the world to prove this truth. After he was 
 
 *.Now Lady Langdale. 
 
 f Higli breeding- — llie term is nearly obsolete, it requires a long- 
 and learned note, — and then would not be understood. — Ed. 
 
 3*
 
 JO MEMOIRS OF TttE 
 
 gone, I accompanied her Royal Higliness, together with 
 Mr. Craven, Mr. Mercer, and Mr. Gell, and the Princess's 
 ladies, to tiie British Museum. " Now," said the Princess, 
 as she was getting into her carriage, " toss up a guinea, to 
 know which shall be tiie happy two who are to come with 
 me:" but we had not a guinea amongst us, and we resigned 
 the honour to Mr. Mercer and Mr. Craven. I cared not 
 for it, but Mr. Gell, I saw, had rather hav" been one of them, 
 for he blushed. Away we went, I was in crested in walk- 
 ing through the magnilicent library, and i . looking at the 
 statues — yet whenever I view these collections my mind 
 is depressed. 1 devoured with gree ly eyes the outside of 
 the volumes, and wished — oh I how vaiidy — that their con- 
 tents were stored in ni}' brain. The wnole life of a learned 
 and laborious man would not suffice for that; what chance 
 have I then, in the middle of my days, of accomplishing 
 such a wish? — Tlien those beautiful statues, which, even 
 in their mutilated state, testify the glorious conceptions of 
 the minds that lurmed them! Yes, they breathe the 
 spirit of departed genius, and will continue to do so, to 
 ages yet unborn; but I — I — shall leave nothing to excite 
 one emulative sigh when I am gone! 1 shall die, and no- 
 thing will tell of my existence! But happier far are those 
 who have never indulged a wish for fame; if a few who 
 have loved us in life mourn us when dead, that is the only 
 tribute to our memories which is, in fact, worth seeking 
 for. Down, then, proud thouglit, of living in after ages — 
 be that which you are destined to be — fulfil the course 
 which is pointed out by Providence, and be content. I 
 have often wondercil whether to a youthful mind it were 
 an advantage or otherwise, to be led to view the highest 
 works of art or literature at once, without previous pre- 
 paration. If persons have great sensibility, I think it 
 might rathur be a discouragement — like the eye from 
 which a cataract has been removed, and which cannot en- 
 dure the broad beam of day, so a very young and tender 
 mind should be gradually led on as its own powers de- 
 velope themselves, to the contemplation of the most sub- 
 lime objects, not as it were made blind with light. 
 
 I was informed that two of Lord H F d's chih 
 
 dren were dying. The Princess went to see him, — poor 
 
 Lord H F was in a state of despair, such as the 
 
 fondest father can only feel. I like him, he is very amia- 
 ble: but 1 regretted that her Royal Highness should have 
 exposed herself and liim by forcing her presence upon him
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 31 
 
 at such a time — the world failed not to laj hold of the cir- 
 cumstance and turned it to her disadvantage. 
 
 The next day, the Princess commanded me to accompany 
 
 her to Lord A 's, at the Priory. I had not been at that 
 
 place for many years. What a change those years had 
 wrought in that family; all the younger branches were 
 grown up, some of them become mothers — and there was 
 
 another Lady A n! The present one is reckoned 
 
 agreeable and clever, but how unlike her predecessor in 
 beauty and charm I Lord A n alone appeared un- 
 changed, though all was changed around him; he sang, 
 stalked about the ro5m, and in short was toiijoiirs lid. He 
 never will allow, i am told, any person to mention the chil- 
 dren he has had the misfortune to lose. Alas! poor man, 
 lie does not foresee that soon another will drop into the 
 grave. This wilful blindness to God's will is very awful. 
 
 Lady M * alone, of all the family, seems blooming 
 
 and'healthy, I hope she at least will live.. Altogether 
 this visit was not very pleasing to me, I felt too much like 
 St. Leon. The trees even had grown out of all proportion 
 to my remembrance of them; but that remembrance was 
 perfectly clear, and distinct, it had been stamped into my 
 very being, and only gave a more strange etVect to my pre- 
 sent sensations, contrasted as they were with the actual 
 scene. 
 
 July 27. — Slept restlessly and ill. The past and the 
 present floated in a turbid stream of thought, and the cur- 
 rent glided so rapidly along, that I could not distinguish 
 the objects it bore upon its surface. My impression was 
 that of standing in the midst of a chafing, boiling current, 
 against which 1 was vainly endeavouring to stand upright. 
 The effect of this sort of waking dream was intensely pain- 
 (dl, 'Tis such nights that unfit us for the days which are 
 
 to follow. Mr. T again visited me — but I sought in 
 
 vain for (hose traces of feelin"-, or any reference to the p:ist, 
 which I fancied he would evince — 1 did not meet with one. 
 Paid a dull vi^it — what a pity it is when truth is not ac- 
 companied by any charms. Miss Smith, 1 think it is, who 
 has said, that to be dull and disagreeable is high treason 
 
 against virtue. To-day, saw Mrs. L looking like a rose, 
 
 and her husband like' a sensitive plant sitting near her — 
 
 * How soon the blight fell upon her also! What a rapid decay in 
 a family! A sad, but salutary lesson!
 
 32 MEMOIR^ OF THE 
 
 from the Basse Coiir to the garden was a delicious change. 
 
 There is something very interesting in Mr. L , but I 
 
 believe it is because he takes no interest in any thing — not 
 that he is devoid of affection for his wife and children, but 
 the finer particles of his nature, those evanescent emana- 
 tions of spirit which are only cognizable to the very few, 
 and which thrive not, unless uncler the influence of conge- 
 nial feelings, are dried up and withered within himself; and 
 I should think can iiardly be called to life again by any 
 living object — perhaps the very woman whom he first truly 
 loved could no longer exercise that power over him which she 
 once possessed, even were there no barriers to their reunion 
 — the fair illusion which presented her all perfect to his 
 fancy existed only, it may be, in his imagination: — when 
 time witiidrew that heavenly veil in which he had clothed 
 her, here ended the romance, but not the longing after that 
 which he was destined never to find. It is to be lamented 
 that no wholesome resolve has sprung up in its place to re- 
 cover the waste of life, the listless hours — the effeminacy 
 — which too often succeeds to excitement; there are always 
 honourable pursuits open to an aspiring mind, and there 
 are realities in life which are worthy of the most noble and 
 generous natures. 
 
 SECTION 11. 
 
 February 10th, 1811. — Of the many tinges in which I 
 have commenced writing a journal, some reason or other 
 has prevented its continuance, or at least thrown upon it 
 that check, which diminishes the pleasure of writing, and 
 renders the matter less interesting. If nobody is ever to 
 read what one writes, there is no satisfaction in wiiting; 
 and if any body does see it, mischief ensues. So 1 will not 
 write a journal, but brief notes of such things as I conceive 
 may be amusing, without incurring danger to myself or 
 others. 
 
 I am sorry to observe that the poor Princess is losing 
 ground every day in the opinion of the public. There is 
 a strong and a bitter party against her; and she is always 
 irritating some one or other of these persons, and drawing 
 down upon herself an excuse for their malevolence by her 
 impru Jence, — it is to be lamented that she has no mental 
 pursuits; that is the only safeguard against a love of in-
 
 TIMES OF GEOKGE THE FOURTH. 33 
 
 trigue. People must do something to amuse themselves, 
 and when thev are not employed in any work worthy of 
 the dignity of" human nature, they will do mischief out of 
 mere idleness. 
 
 The Princess often read aloud. It was difficult to un- 
 derstand her Germanised French, and still more, her com- 
 posite English. She was particularly amused at the Mar- 
 gravine de Bareith's Memoirs; this lady was sister of Fre- 
 derick the Great— Devil. In truth they were amusing, as 
 all memoirs are that merely relate facts. Her Royal High- 
 ness told me that if slie were to die, her papers would be 
 all examined; for which reason she had burned a great 
 many, and that the fest— particularly the letters she had 
 received from the Prince, either from* himself or written by 
 his orders, previous to her having left Carlton House— were 
 in safe custody. 
 
 To-day, I had a letter from the most entertaining of all 
 correspondents. Lord Orford's is a joke to this epistolary 
 phenomenon. 
 
 Christ Church, Oxford, 15th March, I'Sll. 
 
 Dear Lord • , 
 
 It vexes me extremely to think that I must have appear- 
 ed so ungrateful to your Lordship (provided that you did^ 
 me the honour to remember that there was such a person 
 in existence) by not sooner performing my promise respect- 
 ing the drawing which you were so good as to desire, and 
 
 my gleanings which regard the family of ; but the 
 
 truth is, that what with bad eyes, indifferent health, and a 
 perpetual motion from one set of lodgings to another, I have 
 scarcely been able to wield a pen, or open a book since I 
 left London. Even now, my eyes feel as those of Juno's 
 cow-boy must have done, when fixed upon her peacock's 
 tail: and my eyelids resemble in comfort a couple of hedge- 
 hog skins inverted. Your Lordship must have seen a pair 
 of dice in red leather dice-boxes — my optics exhibit exact- 
 ly such a spectacle: then my head aches as if I were with 
 child of Minerva every other day, though, alas! there is but 
 little of the goddess in that quarter. When I last arrived 
 in Oxford, 1 found that my rooms had been demolished in 
 my absence, and discovered all my articles of furniture 
 and study in the most chaotic conlusion: so I looked out 
 for a new abode, carrying with much pain and labour, my 
 debris about with me. But here, the sitting-room was too 
 small, there, too large; in this place the chimney smoked,
 
 S4 MEMOIRS OF THfi 
 
 in that, tlie house-maid was slovenly, and the cat in love. 
 I could settle with comfort no where. My luggage, how- 
 ever, like ^Esop's basket, became lighter by degrees, as I 
 left half-a-dozen things behind me at every lodging which 
 I relinquished, and I never could hear tidings of them after. 
 In fine, I am at last fixed — laid by for a while, like a poor 
 slipper that hatli been hunted tiirough many unseemly 
 places. 1 now send you the first fruits of my repose — a 
 representation of Titania, with that little boy in her arms, 
 concerning whom she hath a feud with her spouse in The 
 Midsummer Night's Dream. It is a wretched performance, 
 but the best that my slender capacity can furnish; there- 
 fore I beseech you to cast an eye of compassion on its beast- 
 liness. 
 
 * * * * - * * 
 
 Talking of books, we have lately had a literary Sun shine 
 forth upon us heie, before whom our former luminaries 
 must hide their diminished heads — a Mr. Shelley, of Uni- 
 versity College, who lives upon arsenic, aqua-fortis, half- 
 an-hour's sleep in the niglit. and is desperately in love with 
 the memory of Margaret Nicholson. He hath published 
 what he terms the Posthumous Poems, printed for the be- 
 nefit of Mr, Peter Finnerty, which I am grieved to say, 
 though stuffed full of treason, is extremely dull, but the 
 Author is a great genius, and if he be not clapped up in 
 Bedlam or hanged, will certainly prove one of the sweetest 
 swans on the tuneful margin of the Charwell. Our Col- 
 lege of Christ Church is so full of noblemen at present, that 
 one's eyes require green spectacles to preserve them from 
 the glare of the golden tufts among these peers. The Dukes 
 of Leinster and Dorset are pre-eminent, are both very good 
 men, though the one will never head an Irish rebellion, nor 
 the other write a poem quite so pretty as " To all you 
 ladies now on land." The Irish Duke is much cried 
 up for his beauty, but he does not strike me as being re- 
 markably handsome, because his nose is fashioned like a 
 monkey, and he hath got what in Ireland is called " clober 
 heels." As to Dorset, he is exactly like a sick Canary bird 
 in a hard frost; all the milliners in the place admire Lord 
 Herbert, while the wives of the Dean and Canons affect to 
 admire Lord Apsley, he is so monstrous genteel and sickly. 
 — Shelley's style is much like that of Moore burlesqued, 
 for Frank is a very foul-mouthed fellow, and Charlotte, 
 one of the most impudent brides that I ever met with in a 
 book. Our Apollo next came out with a prose pamphlet
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 35 
 
 in praise of atheism, which I have not as yet seen, and there 
 appeared a monstrous romance in one volume, called St. 
 Ircojne, or the Rosicrucian. — Here is another pearl of 
 price! all the heroes are confirmed robbers and causeless 
 murderers, while the heroines glide en chemise through the 
 streets of Geneva, tap at the palazzo doors of their sweet- 
 hearts, and on being denied admittance leave no cards, but 
 run home to their warm beds, and kill themselves. If 
 your lordship would like to see this treasure I will send it. 
 Shelley's last exhibition is a Poem on the State of Public 
 Affairs. I fear, my dear Lord, you will be quite disgusted 
 with alLthis stuff", so I shall discreetly make an end, re- 
 questing you to beliete me your lordship's faithful servant, 
 
 C. R. 
 
 1811. — The tide of time bears in its flux and reflux: 
 many things away, and brings in others to supply their 
 place. Thus, as we glide down the current, this life some- 
 times resembles a bleak and dreary shore, at others, the 
 beautiful margin of some bounded sea, fringed with wood, 
 and clothed with luxurious vegetation — but still 'tis but a 
 shore whose varying aspect, as we drift along, reminds us, 
 that it is no fixed abode. But there is a land of promise 
 beyond tlie horizon of time, where time itself will be as 
 though it ne'er had been. As years fly swiftly away never 
 to be recalled, it is impossible but that at the return of the 
 epoch which marks their flight, every thinking being should 
 not pause, and reflect: and standing as it were upon the 
 isthmus whicli separates the past from the future — trace 
 out tlie path they have trod, and with inquiringglance look 
 on to that which t^jey are yet to tiead. Regret, disappoint- 
 ment, misfortune, error — strew the track of most earthly 
 pilgrimages — happy are those whose thorns and briers have 
 not been self-planted, and who can, amongst their griefs 
 and sorrows, retain in memory's store the faithful linea- 
 ments of some pure happiness. To dwell long upon the 
 irrevocable past, is vain — repentance sliould be deep and 
 sincere — by its fruits the tree is known — so should its truth 
 be proved, but to sink beneath the overwhelming nature of 
 a gloomy self-reproach, to heap difliculties in our onward 
 road, is to mar its best uses. 
 
 I draw the veil of private life upon one year; I have lit- 
 tle to dwell upon duiing its progress tliat does not bring 
 pain along with it. Since the month of June last, my days 
 have passed in one uniform tenor, but not thus has my mind
 
 56 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 rested in abeyance. No! it has pondered deeply, and I 
 find the result of these meditations to be, that religion and 
 a future life are all that is really worth thinking about. 
 The heart that acknowledges within it a hopeless vacuum 
 — whicli has been disappointed in all its expectations, has 
 burnt out its affections to the very ashes, and from nourish- 
 ing every feeling to excess is forced to subside in the fixed 
 calmness of inditii'erence, and be content with common life, 
 — must surely perish from inanition, if it aspires not to the 
 life to come — "■ heureusement, quand les mystSres de ce 
 monde finissent, ceiix de la mort commencent." I hence- 
 forth determine to live mentally to myself. My outward 
 life will probably be a busy one; the worldly characters and 
 worldly vices, and strange stories that 1 may hear shall be 
 set down on paper without many remarks of my own, for 
 which I may neither have time nor inclination. La vie 
 interieure is another thing. 
 
 Saturday, the 4th of , 1811.-,.Saw Sir Walter Far- 
 
 quhar.* He had been dining with the Regent, as he had 
 been obliged to do for a week past. He would not say all 
 he coidd have said, but from what I gathered, it is evident 
 he thinks as all those must think who have access to know 
 the truth; namely, that a long course of indulgence has 
 at last undermined his Royal Highness's constitution, 
 both mentally and physically speaking. It is given out 
 that the Regent has got spasms in his arms, owing to his 
 having leaned on his elbows at the time he sprained his arm, 
 to save himself from pressing on his ancle! What egre- 
 gious nonsense! But the sa\ne sort of stuff has been al- 
 v/ays said concerning Princes, whenev^-r they were to be 
 sick or well to suit public or private concerns. Unfortu- 
 nately for myself, I have bought experience at too dear a 
 rate, not to know, by seeing the Regent, what is his malady, 
 and what is the cause; — a course of excessive and habitual 
 drinking is invarial>ly followed by debility, and will end in 
 bringing most persons to a premature grave. The Minis- 
 ters now in power are in fact the Regent. The Regent 
 dares not say nay, even when he secretly disagrees with 
 them, and all the sense he has left is, to know that if the 
 
 * Sir Walter Favqiihar, a man whose memory is scarcely done jus- 
 tice to, though he was souglit after, trusted, and courted in life. If 
 ever there was an Israelite without guile — one who had the wisdom 
 of the serpent and the liarmlessness of the dove — that man was Sir 
 Walter Farquhar.
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. o7 
 
 limitation placed by them were taken off, he would be ut- 
 terly overwhelmed by the host of persons to whom he has 
 made promises, that he neither can nor will fulfil; — for this 
 reason, whenever the Regent has been called upon to come 
 forward and act, the public papers have always made the 
 unfortunate Monarch better, in order that there might be a 
 plausible pretext in bringing forward filial duty, as virtuous 
 forbearance and making excuses for deferring that which he 
 himself dreads; — namely, the possession of the power to 
 fulfil promises he has no longer tlie inclination to keep. I 
 think the party who have looked up so long to him cannot 
 continue to be thus gulled without showing their teeth; — in 
 fact, the throne totters, and the country, which has hitherto 
 supported it, is not steady. In the language of Scripture, 
 it *' reels to and fro and staggers like a drunken man."* 
 
 To-day, I was again one of the guests at Kensington. 
 The Princess Charlotte was there. She is grown exces- 
 sively, and has all the fulness of a person of five-and-twen- 
 ty. She is neither graceful nor elegant, yet she has a pe- 
 culiar air et tous les prestiges de la royaute et du pouvoir. 
 In spite of the higher powers of reason and of justice, these 
 always cast a dazzling lustre, through which it is difficult 
 to see the individuals as they really are. The Princess 
 Charlotte is above the middle height, extremely spread for 
 her age; her bosom full, but finely shaped; her shoulders 
 large, and her whole person voluptuous; but of a nature to 
 become soon spoiled, and without much care and exercise 
 she will shortly lose all beauty in fat and clumsiness. Her 
 skin is white, but not a transparent white — little or no 
 shade in her face — but her features are very fine. Their 
 expression, together with that of her general demeanour is 
 noble. Her feet are rather small, and her hands and arms 
 are finely moulded. She has a hesitation in her speech, 
 amounting almost to a stammer, an additional proof, if any 
 were wanting, of her being her father's own child ; but in eve- 
 ry thing, she is his very prototype. Her voice is flexible, its 
 tones dulcet, except when she laughs, then it becomes too 
 
 * There is notliing new in this conduct of the Kegent; all Princes 
 who scorn their futlier's ministers and measures during their minority, 
 generally adopt both, when they come to reign. The likeness, so 
 often drawn between the Regent in his youth to the Hal of Shak- 
 speare, and the similar change of conduct witli that Prince, when he 
 came to the throne, and which is made an excuse for every caprice of 
 humour and every cliange of system, has told the tale long ago of an 
 lieir apparent and a crowned monarch. 
 
 VOL. I. 4
 
 38 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 loud, but is never unmusical. She seems to wish to be ad- 
 mired more as a lovely woman than a Queen. Yet she has 
 lost quickness both of fancy and penetration, and would 
 fain reign despotically, or I am much mistaken. I fear that 
 she is capricious, self-wilk-d, and obstinate. I think she 
 is kind-hearted, clever, and enthusiastic. Her f^iults have 
 evidently never been checked, nor her virtues fostered. 
 The "generous purpose" may have risen in her breast, 
 but it has never been fixed there. How much does every 
 day's experience convince me, that from the crowned head 
 to the labouring peasant, no fine qualities are truly valua- 
 ble without a fixed principle to bind them together and 
 give them stability. 
 
 The Princess Charlotte was excessively gracious to me; 
 the wind blew my way "' wooingly,'''' but that was all. 
 Never was a truer word spoken by man, than that Princes 
 are a race a part. 
 
 T cannot conceive why the Princess of Wales should dis- 
 like that any friend of hei s should become intimate with 
 her mother's lady, Madame de Haeckle. I met the latter 
 this day, but found that this short visit was all the commu- 
 nication I ever was to have with her, if I desired to retain 
 the favour of Her Royal Higliness: I conclude, therefore, 
 
 she knows more than is wished. Lord L has been 
 
 paying Her Royal Highness great court lately. I fear 
 perhaps that when she broke with her former counsellor she 
 made a confidant of this man, and so she has fallen into 
 his power, and he is making a tool of her. I see by the 
 great fuss she has made, and the curiosity she has evinced 
 
 about the Duke of D- , that Lord L has been 
 
 schooling Her Royal Highness respecting his Grace, but 
 
 what a weak man Lord L was to suppose that he will 
 
 ever marry histlaughter to the Duke through her means. 
 The Princess naturally wishes it: first, for the amusement 
 of having something to occupy her; and secondly, thinking, 
 I suppose, to gain in her turn, through Lord L 's in- 
 terest, a powerful friend and supporter in the Duke of 
 
 D , should he become the Prince's son-in-law. How 
 
 little do all these people know of the matter they are fight- 
 ing about. I know not much, but I think better of him than 
 to suppose he would be the tool of such machinations. The 
 more I see of courts and of the v.orid, the more I Avish to 
 escape their polluting influence. The spirit of intrigue 
 which reigns around, the petty passions and debasing con- 
 trivances which take place in them, are apt to deaden the
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 39 
 
 finer qualities both of heart and head. The danger is, lest 
 thej should become wholly crushed and withered. 
 
 Her Royal Highness talked a great deal of the D s as a 
 
 family knowing nothing at all about them. She abused and 
 
 denigred the ladies, and repeated all that Mr. G had 
 
 once told her of their being false friends. This gossip she re- 
 lated in her favourite way, saying — A person once told her, 
 that another person, a gentleman, a friend of bofh parties, told 
 him, that one of the ladies had spoken very ill of a lady she 
 pretends to like. If this is true, it is a pity, and I have other 
 reasons for thinking there may be some truth in the storyj 
 but wlio can aver tRat they have not themselves been oc- 
 casionally guilty of saying unkind or pettish things of a 
 friend? If every thing v\as repeated, what would become 
 of society? Le pulais de la verite \vQa\d beahell upon earth. 
 The Princess farther went on to say, that she had been 
 credibly informed, " I tell you God's truth," (her favour- 
 ite expression) when the second Duchess of D. was at 
 
 C k, she spent about twelve hundred pounds in five 
 
 weeks, and on the Duke's man of business representing 
 that measures should be taken to regulate the household, 
 the Duchess took offence and immediately went away — 
 that was the only way of settling tlft business; but what 
 is very odd, continued the Piincess, is, that in arranging 
 her future furniture, &c., the family diamonds were not 
 
 appointed to any one. Sir S R gave it as his 
 
 opinion, that they, in consequence, became the Duchess's, 
 being considered as a part of her paraphernalia: .but the 
 comical part of all the story is, that she wrote a letter to 
 
 the D , saying, for his sake, l)is sister's and all their sakes, 
 
 she should take the diamonds, but that if he ever married, 
 her Grace would return them to his wife; vat did she mean? 
 — tell me dat riddle. — Every budy laughed at the Princess's 
 amusing way of telling a story. 
 
 Mrs. A and Mr. Davy dined with Her Royal High- 
 ness. I also was of the party. I had never yet become ac- 
 quainted with this celebrated man, so I took his superior 
 abilities upon (rust. His superior ugliness I know by 
 
 ocular demonstration. — Mrs. A seems tinctured with 
 
 something like love. I wonder if he will analyze the 
 sentiment.*^ In the evening, the Princess went to the 
 
 • Afterwards Sir llumphiy Davy, and wlio married Mrs. A . 
 
 He was a very delijjlitful man, and she a still more delightful woman; 
 but neither of them the least suited to each other.
 
 40 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 Duchess of Brunswick's. I am not permitted to talk 
 to Madame de Haeckle, or I should be very much amused. 
 But no, — that is forbidden ground; and whenever we at- 
 tempt conversation, the Royalties interfere, and there is an 
 end of it. If ever I might converse with the old Duchess 
 of Brunswick freely, there is such a pleasure in pleasing, 
 and it is so easy to please an old person, that from that 
 source also I could derive interest. But I must not. Oh! 
 it is a hard thing to be placed amongst many women, (the 
 devil among the tailors is a joke to it,) and bound to be 
 civil and make the agreeable to allj but there is a hard- 
 ness of manner in the Princess towards her mother, unlike 
 her general demeanour to others, which sometimes re- 
 volts me. 
 
 Her Royal Highness once read through the whole of 
 Candide to one of her ladies, who told me her opifiion of it, 
 which does her honour. She said, — "its character as a 
 work of extreme cleverness has been so long established, 
 that to venture in the least to detract from it, is to en- 
 counter the ridicule of a multitude. I must say, however, 
 that the persiflage which reigns throughout, and in which 
 its whole essence consists, is not consonant to my taste or 
 understanding. Vicious subjects ought not to be treated 
 lightly; they merit tRe coarsest clothing, and ought to be 
 arrayed in language which would create abhorrence and 
 disgust. But the whole work seems designed to turn vice 
 into virtue. Either it has no aim or end, or it has one 
 which should be loathed. It must be confessed, however, 
 that the tripping levity of its self-assurance, and the sar- 
 castic drollery of its phrase, excite laughter; but it is a 
 poor prerogative after all, to be the mental buffoon of 
 ages." 
 
 Though I, perhaps, have more indulgence for Voltaire, in 
 consideration of his vast talents, than my fair friend, yet I 
 admired the woman who thought and spoke thus; and her 
 Royal Highness is fortunate in having such a friend. But 
 1 fear princes and princesses do not suffer those who are in- 
 clined to be their true friends to be so long. 
 
 To-day I was admitted to the Duchess of Brunswick, to 
 pay my respects in a morning visit, and had a tete-d-tete 
 interview. I found her sitting, as usual, in the middle 
 of her empty dull room. It is wonderful how little 
 power locale has over some persons, and how much it affects 
 others. She made my heart ache for her, poor old soul, 
 when she said, " I have nothing to love; no one loves
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 41 
 
 me}«— Alas! — what a picture of human wretchedness did 
 that short sentence comprise. 1 have had too nuich rea- 
 son to know since, that she spoke the truth. The heart 
 that thus seeks in vain for some reciprocal affection, must 
 either break or become callous. 1 know not which is the 
 preferable alternative. 
 
 About this time, her Royal Highness the Princess of 
 Wales was intioduced, by a very injudicious friend of hers, 
 to a set of low persons, totally unfitting her private so- 
 ciety: — viz. three singers, the lather, mother, and son; 
 and also a number of people belonging to a school, whom 
 her Royal Highness allowed and encouraged to treat her 
 very disrespectfully. This at first originated in her love 
 of case and indolence, which is iivdu'ged by living with per- 
 sons of inferior rank; but in after-times I much Tear there 
 were other reasons for submitting to such an unworthy set 
 of people. 
 
 The Princess sent for me to execute a commission, of 
 selling two enormous unset diamonds. I did not like the 
 office, and cannot understand what could induce Iier Royal 
 Highness to part with them, or why she should be in diffi- 
 culty for any sum of n^oney which she can reasonably 
 want. Is she then drained by the old music master, ami 
 will her eyes never be opened to his rapaciousness? or is 
 there a worse reason.^ 
 
 I went yesterday to Mrs. N , paid a long visit, and 
 
 asked to see her children, and admired them by words, but 
 cared not two-pence for them, — poor little ugly things! 
 AVhat duplicity does the^ civilization of mankind naturally 
 impose! So I sometimes think, and tuin from myself and 
 others equally disgusted; but as there must be dc la petite 
 monrmie — base coin though it be, — this currency of dross 
 is only received as it is given: — and besides, as long as we 
 do not do any thing base or wicked in order to please, it i3 
 amiable to please even at the expense of sincerity. — I took 
 the diamonds with which I hud been intrusted to several 
 jewellers; one man otfcrcd oidy a hundred and fifty pounds 
 for them. I knew this was ridiculous, and so I restored 
 ihem to her Royal Highness: — what became of them I 
 know not, but tliis I do know, that one of the jewellers, by 
 referring to his books, declared that they were jewels be- 
 lonuiin"; to the Crown. 
 
 Received an invitation from her Royal Hiirhness to ffo to 
 Brandcnburgh House, When I arrived I fiund her walk- 
 ing in her garden with Lord L . Shortly after, he went 
 
 4*
 
 42 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 away, and her Royal Highness talked over the present 
 state of politics and royal feuds. She was low, but not 
 subdued in spirit; wounded, but not malignant. She re- 
 lated with great spirit and drollery the visit of the Queen 
 to the Duchess of Brunswick, and told me that when she, 
 the Princess of Wales, was at her mother's the other day, 
 the old lady* said in her blunt way, " Madame de Haeckle, 
 you may have a day to yourself on Wednesday next, for 
 the Prince ha§ invited me to dine at Carlton House, and 
 he will not suffer any lady-attendants to go there; and as 
 my son accompanies me, I shall not want you." This 
 speech astonished all present save her daughter, who had 
 been apprised by the Duke of Kent that such an invitation 
 would take place. It was so unfeeling to announce this 
 with an air of triumph to the Princess of Wales, that but 
 for the poor Duchess being very weak and easily gulled, 
 one must have conceived her to be devoid of all heart. This 
 speech was followed by a general cessation of all conver- 
 sation, Madame de Hacckie only looking dismayed. The 
 Duchess of Brunswick first broke silence by turning sud- 
 denly to her (laughter and saying, " Do you think I should 
 be carried upstairs on my cushion?" To which the Prin- 
 cess, with a curious presenceof mind, replied coolly, "There 
 is no upstairs, I believe; — the apartments aie all on one 
 floor." " Oh, charming, that is delightful i" rejoined the 
 Duchess; and with a few more queries, to which the Pi in- 
 cess always replied witli the gi-eatest self-possession and 
 sang froid, as though she was not in the least hurt, this 
 strange royal farce ended. 
 
 The Duke of Biunswick, however, came to the Princess 
 his sister, and said, " This must not be. You must not 
 
 suffer her to think of going." Accordingly, Lady G   
 
 was despatched the next morning with a long letter written 
 by the Princess to her mother, explaining to her that if she 
 went to Carlton House, her presence there wouUl seem 
 like a tacit acknowledgment that she was satisfied v\itii 
 the Prince's conduct to her daughter; that he was in the 
 right; that she, the Princess, merited the treatment he 
 gave her. Lady G — — read the letter to the Duchess, 
 then by word of mouth confirmed the contents, and further 
 commented thereon; but the Duchess was immoveable in 
 
 * It is difficult to understand how a mother could like to aflTiont 
 her own child; but such are the lumatural discrepancies in the hu- 
 man character, in that of princes particularly; for on the whole the 
 Duchess of'B. was a kind hearted woman.
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 43 
 
 her intention, and persisted in going. "No," said she, 
 " I see the business quite in another point of view from 
 what you do; I love my daughter above all things, and 
 would do any thing in the world for her, but I must go to 
 Carlton House." Lady G continued in earnest con- 
 verse and entreaty witli her for two hours, but nothing ap- 
 peared to move the old lady from her determination; when 
 weary and worn, the ambassadress was about to depart, 
 the Duchess cried out — "No, no; tell her 1 love her of all 
 things, but give her no hopes upon this subject. The Prin- 
 cess has a jewel in' you;* you have done your embassy 
 well; but give her no hopes." 
 
 " Eh bien.'^^ said the Princess, continuing her narration 
 of this curious scene, and drawing lier breath as she usual- 
 ly does when she is angry, " I gave the matter up, and 
 thought, like many other things, it could not be helped; 
 when the next day 1 received a letter from my mother, 
 saying, ' Far be it from me to do any thing contrary to your 
 interests; and hearing that there is a doubt upon the sub- 
 ject, I shall not go to Carlton House.' This resolve 
 astonished me as much as my mother's previous determina- 
 tion, and I immediately wrote to say how grateful I was to 
 her; hi proof of which I begged to dine with her the next 
 day, and added that I should take no notice of what had 
 passed." " Accordingly," she continued, "nothing was 
 said upon the subject, and there the business ended; but 
 was there ever such an idea entered a mother's head!" 
 added the Princess. " It was so evidently a trap, that was 
 set to inveigle the poor old Duchess into a tacit condemna- 
 tion of ??ie.''' 
 
 Tiie one half of human life is generally passed in giving 
 
 oneself wounds, the other in healing them. Lady M , 
 
 whom 1 conveyed in my carriage to her lone empty house, 
 left a sadness in my mind. Sl>e has not perhaps one real 
 friend among all the numerous worldly persons, calling 
 themselves such, for whom she has sacrificed her affections 
 and her life. Her tastes are of the most extravagant kind, 
 and above her fortune, and her mind has been too long suf- 
 fered to waste itself in desultory pursuits after phantoms, 
 to be able to recover its tone, and derive from its own re- 
 sources that interest, vvhicli the world can neither give nor 
 take away. Yet I think her case peculiarly hard. Lady 
 
 • That was true: a more delii^luful or good person never existed — 
 one wiio united so many rare equalities in one person.
 
 44 MKMOIUS OF THE 
 
 H ought never to have forsaken her. But she is one 
 
 of the many who have loved and lived in vain. 
 
 I was sent for to Kensington: found her Royal Highness 
 talking to Dr. Moseley and Lady A H n. 1 over- 
 heard her say to the latter, " Now, dear Lady Anne, 
 take Dr. Moseley and show him the apartments above stairs." 
 I understood what that meant, and that my visit must be a 
 tete-a-tete. I trembled, for I fear it is in vain to do her 
 any good. She came to me: and having spoken a iaw 
 phrases on different subjects, produced all the papers she 
 wishes to have published: — her whole correspondence with 
 the Prince relative to Lady J- 's dismissal^ his subse- 
 quent neglect of the Princess; and finally, the acquittal of 
 her supposed guilt, signed by the Duke of Portland, &c., 
 at the time of the secret inquiry, — when, if proof could have 
 been brought against her, it certainly v.'ould have been done; 
 and which acquittal, to the disgrace to all parties concerned, 
 as well as to the justice of the nation in general, wms not 
 made public at the time. A common criminal is publicly 
 condemned or acquitted. Her Royal Highness command- 
 ed me to have these letters published foithwith, — saying, 
 " You may sell them for a great sum." At first, (for she 
 had spoken to me before, concerning this business,) I 
 thought of availing myself of the opportunity; but upon se- 
 cond thoughts, I turned frotn this idea with detestalion; for 
 if I do wrong by obeying her wishes and endeavouring to 
 serve her, 1 will do so at least from good and disintereited 
 motives, not from atiy sordid views. The Princess com- 
 mands me, and I will obey her, whatever may be the issue, 
 but not for fare or fee. 1 own, I tremble, not so much for 
 myself as for the idea that she is not taking the best and 
 most dignified way of having these papers pu'blished. — 
 Why make a secret of it at all.'* H" wiong, it should not 
 be done; it" right, it should be done openly and in the face 
 of her enemies. In her Uoval Highness's case, as in that 
 of wronged princes, in general, why do they shrink from 
 straight-torward dealings, and rather have recourse to 
 crooked policy.^ I wish in tliis particular instance I could 
 make Her Royal Highness feel thus; but she is naturally 
 indignant at being falsely accused, and will not conde- 
 scend to an avowed explanation. She wishes her cause to be 
 espoused by others. — This appears to me a very false piide. 
 But were 1 to propose to her Royal Highness to place this 
 affair in other ami abler hands than my own, she would 
 suppose that I shrunk from the task. — Now that is not the
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 45 
 
 case; whatever imprudence there may be, there is no dis- 
 honour in the service I am about to render her; let me not 
 therefore seem to wish to avoid it. 
 
 Shortly after, for some reason or other, which never 
 came to my knowledge, I was spared all farther anxiety 
 upon the subject, as other parties stepped forward, and her 
 Royal Highness, knowing that I would not profit by the 
 transaction, permitted her papers to be placed in their 
 hands. 
 
 Friday, October 21st. — Yesterday, the melancholy Lady 
 M came to see me. I was obliged to go to Kensing- 
 ton by appointment, so I could not take Lady M with 
 
 me in the carriage, and she walked away on foot. I was 
 quite grieved at heart for her. She was more depressed in 
 spirit than ever. When I arrived at the palace, her Royal 
 Highness was standing at the window, evidently awaiting 
 my arrival impatiently. She finished reading to me the 
 rest of the papers and correspondence, which occupy at 
 present so much of her thoughts. — I have never known a 
 more extraordinary person than the Princess. She writes 
 occasionally with much spirit, and many of the copies of 
 her letters to the Prince are both clever and touching; some- 
 times there is a series of exalted sentiment in what she 
 says and does, that quite astonishes me, and makes me rub 
 my eyes and open my ears, to know if it is the same person 
 who condescends to talk low nonsense, and sometimes even 
 gross ribaldry. One day I think her all perfection — ano- 
 ther I know not what totliink. The tissue of her charac- 
 ter is certainly more uneven than that of any other person 
 I was ever acquainted with. One day, there is tinsel and 
 tawdry — another worsted — another silk and satin — ano- 
 ther go4d and jewels — another de la boue, de la crasse, — 
 que dirais-je? et peut Hrefai trop dit. 
 
 I have so often determined to write a consecutive jour- 
 nal, and have so often failed, not from idleness, which is 
 not my besetting sin, but from the danger of telling all I 
 think — all I know— that I have shrunk back into silence, 
 and thought it better, wiser perhaps, to forget entirely the 
 passing events of the day, than to record them. 
 
 After the examination of the papers, I was desired to 
 
 remain during luncheon. Lady A H n was the 
 
 lady in waiting, and she was sent for to attend. 1 believe 
 the Princess has told the whole story to her, and, as she is 
 very fond of secrets, I make no doubt she has heard them
 
 46 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 in all their details. Then there are other ladies who, I 
 shrewdly suspect, have also been admitted to this confi- 
 dence. Most women, indeed, think a secret is not worth 
 knowing, if one may not tell it to a dozen or two intimate 
 friends. To own the truth, I am a very bad hand at keep- 
 ing secrets myself, and my best chance of doing so is the 
 great tacility witli which I forgetthem. Nothing that does 
 not interest my heart or my passions has any great hold 
 over my imagination or thoughts. I am only vulnerable 
 through my affections. My weal and wo lie all in that 
 quarter: what then can it have in common with a court-^* 
 
 Saturday, the 28th October, 1811.— Yesterday Sir Wal- 
 ter F came and told me a curious conversation which 
 
 he had held the niglit before with the Prince Regent. 
 " Well, F — r, so you were paying your court to ihe Prin- 
 cess of Wales at Tonbridge I hear," alluding to the day 
 he went there last May, wlien she spoke to Sir Walter. 
 The Baronet — '• Yes, Sir, her Royal Highness was very 
 gracious to me, and I tliouglit it my duty to show the Prin- 
 cess of Wales every respect; but I did not stay to supper, 
 though she was graciously pleased to invite me; because I 
 thought, if your Royal Highness heard of it, you might not 
 have been pleased." Regent — " What did shi say lu you?" 
 " She asked me, Sir, why I had not advised the Princess 
 Charlotte to go to the sea side for change of air, — saying, 
 "it would do her Royal Highness a great deal of good," 
 and insisted upon it that 1 ouo,ht to do so." "And what 
 did you reply?" eagerly questioned the Prince. " I re- 
 plied. Sir, that when I had last the honour of seeing her 
 Royal Highness the Princess Charlotte, she was in such 
 perfect health that she appeared not to require any medical 
 advice; consequently, it would be highly improper that I 
 
 should interfere. Oh, Sir Walter F , rejoined the 
 
 Princess of Wales, you are a courtier; and we both 
 laughed." Regent— " Was that all?" — -'Yes, Sir, "that 
 was all — stay, another word I recollect; when the Princess 
 first did me the honour to speak to me, she said, ' I know 
 you dare not, you must not speak to me?' to which I an- 
 swered, Pardon me, Madam, 1 never had any orders from 
 the Prince not to speak to the Princess of Wales." 
 
 At this, Sir Walter said the Prince 'seemed pleased. 
 Persons, however lost to rectitude, are not lost to the sense 
 of it; and he felt that the meaning of these words was, 
 what he ought to feel, and what his friend ought to have
 
 tlMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 4T 
 
 answered. The Prince then observed, " I hear Lady 
 Charlotte Campbell is very tired of her situation;" to which 
 Sir Walter replied, "That he had never known Lady 
 Charlotte to have expressed such a sentiment." Here the 
 conversation ended. 
 
 Sir Walter told me that by what he could gather from 
 all the Carlton House courtiers, he thought it most likely 
 if any question came on in Parliament, respecting an addi- 
 tional allowance to the Princess, it would be favourably re- 
 ceived. Tills looks, I think, as if they were afraid her 
 wrongs might, if not redressed, in pecuniary matters at 
 least, raise a strong party in her favour, and what is worse 
 for the ministers and placemen, against the Prince. Un- 
 fortunajely (I say unfortunately, because the dissensions of 
 all families, and more especially of Royal families, fre- 
 quently lead to incalculable evils, and often overturn king- 
 doms, and principalities, and powers,) — unfortunately the 
 Princess of Wales cannot become popular without the 
 Prince of Wales becoming the reverse; for the odium which 
 is taken from her, must of necessity fall upon him; and 
 this, in these changeable times, when the dregs of the na- 
 tion are all shook into commotion, is any thing but desira- 
 ble. Who can say where discontent may end, if it once 
 lift up its hydra head; or whether redress of public grievan- 
 ces, even if they be really such, and not innovations, may 
 not lead to the ultimate subversion and overthrow of the 
 constitution.'* Yet, on the other hand, a blind and bigoted 
 adherence to the past, and a venal Parliament, who are 
 slaves to the monarch iuid his minions, are not less danger- 
 ous. — No, the lungs of Englishmen will not breathe freely 
 under a corrupt government; and though evil spirits ever 
 have arisen, and ever will arise, when the tempest breaks 
 forth, yet to submit to present evil for fear of greater 
 danger, is not the characteristic of the nation; though it has 
 long shown patience with its rulers, even under discon- 
 tent at their supineness. . This century will not pass with- 
 out many awful changes. We are come to a crisis. No- 
 thing stands still in this world — our prosperity has reached 
 ks highest point — all things now tend to change. What 
 leads me ntoie particularly to think so is, the blindness of 
 those in power. " Whom the gods niean to destroy, they 
 blind;" and in all events of magnitude, whether in social 
 life or in that of nations, the truth of this observation is ex- 
 emplified. The security, the self-sufficiency of princes
 
 48 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 and their creatures, and above all, the blindness of princes 
 themselves, is a forcible comment upon this remark. 
 
 I grieve to think that the Princess of Wales is obstinate- 
 ly bent upon bringing forward her wrongs and her com- 
 plaints at this moment. She will only, now, be made the 
 tool of party. Had she waited till her daughter was of age, 
 to have backed her cause, and supported it with filial love, 
 as well as by the influence which a young heir-apparent 
 Queen would necessarily exercise over the minds of her 
 future subjects, then she might have succeeded. But as it 
 is — alas! alas! all public, like private greatness, rests its 
 security on moral rectitude; and where that is deficient, 
 the edifice is built on sand. No marvel, tliat those who 
 are denominated the vulgar should be so taken by the bait 
 of rank and greatness. Rank and greatness are in them- 
 selves truly admirable; real greatness, in its original and 
 highest sense, is an attribute of the Divinity, and earthly 
 grandeur is the visible sign by which it is presented to our 
 senses. The misfortune is, that there is hardly such an 
 image of the Divinity existing as true greatness. 
 
 My pen has never before busied itself with such a sub- 
 ject, but my situation naturally tnakes me sometimes re- 
 flect upon things, from which 1 turn away with pleasure to 
 the illusory world that I have created for myself — that vie 
 interieure which is worth all the rest, and to those simple 
 realities which nature and natural pleasures afford. 
 
 I went this evening to a friend of mine, Miss R : 
 
 this person, whom I have known so long, and esteem so 
 highly, has not always a winning manner, and certainly 
 every now and then talks to her friends in a way that is 
 not pleasant. The love that is much stronger on the one 
 side than on the other, is always painful to witness: as to 
 myself, the natural suavity of my manner and temper (no 
 praise, since it is constitutional:) a suavity that I sometimes 
 blame myself for, when it induces me to gloss over senti- 
 ments to which a more bold frame of mind would express 
 its dislike or abhorrence,— imparts somewhat of its own na- 
 ture to those with whom I associate, and with those of my 
 friends in whose tempers and manners the angular sharp 
 predominates — I am less apt to heurter myself against these 
 than they are against each other. This I felt yesterday 
 
 evening, but if my friend Miss B sacrifices somewhat 
 
 to the world, it must be said to her honour, that that sacri- 
 fice is never kindness of heart or integrity of character. 
 
 It is not always in our power to be generous, or to ren-
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 49 
 
 iler great services, but it is always in our power to sooth 
 a mitul and exhilarate spirits less fortunately constituted 
 than our own, and I do not feel it to be lost time when I 
 have dedicated some hours to such a purpose, or at least to 
 
 the attempt. Went again to Miss B ; Sir Humphry 
 
 and Lady Davy were there; Sir Humphry, accustomed to 
 adulation, seems to fall into surliness or dulness where he 
 meets it not; — his allowed preeminence in the science of 
 chemistry places him in that respect above every one, but 
 I never could find that theie was great superiority in other 
 respects. No person moving in the same sphere as myself 
 is less liable to be led away to like, or dislike persons who 
 are a little more orfess vulgar in point of manner, but there 
 is a peculiar degree of under breeding in Sir Humphry, 
 which is indicative of inferiority of intellect. I believe this 
 proceeds from his always trying to be what he is not, a jolt 
 ccewr if every body would only be natural — but it is na- 
 tural to sonie people to be affected. Lady Davy makes 
 what 1 call a douce societe; never in my life heard her 
 speak ill of any person; she is frank and kind hearted, and 
 has much acquirement, with a wish and thirst for' more, 
 which it is pleasing to,see: any thing, even a perpetual bus- 
 tle after knowledge, is preferable to the careless and dream- 
 i!)g way in which some persons pass tlieir insignificant lives 
 — pampering every appetite and never cultivating the only 
 spark of being they ouglit to be proud of, the intellectual 
 one, without uhicli the animals are our superiors; yet how 
 many of those who form what is called good society are 
 sunk in this sensual sloth. 
 
 Wednesday, 28th ofOc-tober. — Dined at Fish Crawfuru's 
 an old epicure and bon vivant, but one who has seen much 
 of the world. He has lived with all the celebrated people 
 of his time, MadiimeDu DeiTlmd, Voltaire, Hume, &c.&c., 
 and he seems to remember v.ith pleasure, that he has done 
 so, though gout and the consequences of indulgence render 
 
 * Sir Humphry Davy is harshly judged in this paragraph, lie was 
 a man of exceeding refinement o'f mind and singular discnminatioii of 
 cliaractcr: if lie sometimes indulged more than became the philoso- 
 plier in the pleasures of the table, he never did so to any degrading 
 excess;— what if alitUe misplaced vanity, at times, rcnclered him too 
 emulous to please? there was a great redeeming point in his charac- 
 ter, which raised him alike from becoming the slave of this grovelling 
 propensity, or from plunging into any habits derogatory to his fame. 
 Sir Humphry Davy was a religious man, and his last two works will 
 ever be most valuai)le testimonies, (if such were wanting, ) to prove that 
 science is not necessarily the foe of Christianity. 
 
 Vol. L 5
 
 MEMOIRS OF TKCE 
 
 him crabbed ami complaining. His table, bis house, fs most 
 luxurious, but his own dissatisfied mind, his emaciated body, 
 and bloated face, give the lie to happiness. I have ever 
 felt that old age, even in its least re>pectable form, is still 
 to be respected, and I have a peculiar pleasure in pleasing 
 old people. I reckon, that yesterday's dinner was a lesson; 
 ihere was elegance, luxury — all that can flatter the fancy 
 with well chosen and appropriate objects, as M'ell as the 
 palate, — but pleasure, happiness where was it.^ Does it 
 sit at the board of the epicurean? — is it enthroned in purple 
 and fine linen? — No. A very modified quantum of these, 
 with vigour of mind and body — a fair and honourable pur- 
 suit, a goal in view — and contentment at one's right hand, 
 be it gained or not; — these are, I believe, tlie best ingre- 
 dients to form the mixed good, which men have agreed to 
 call happiness. It was melancholy, to observe this old 
 man, in the possession of all which can gratify human de- 
 sires, and yet repining, and in fact, wretched. A Tanta- 
 lus, with the cup of enjoyment at his lip, — but there are 
 many such, — how many! There ever liave been, there 
 ever will be such, so long as people live to themselves 
 alone. 
 
 The Princess said, that the comphiints made in parlia- 
 ment, of government's not having sent over supplies to Lord 
 Wellington in the number, and with the celerity he de- 
 manded them, looked like an avunt-propos for more com- 
 plaints, and would end by I^ord Wellesley's becoming 
 prime minister; then, said she, "blood and treasure wouki 
 not be spared, and the constitution and country will be 
 lost."* I see many other reasons for the ruin of the coun- 
 try, but those who might do good are blind. Lord Moira 
 is sent oft' to India; — I call it being sent off", for it is evident 
 the Regent cannot bear to have him near his person. How 
 few people in any rank of life, have sufficient nobility of 
 soul to love those to whom they stand indebted I Would 
 you lose a friend, oblige him — not in the minor circum- 
 stances of life, but let the obligation be vast, and it crushes 
 friendship to death. 
 
 Lord Moira has accepted this honourable banishment, be- 
 
 • How ill she judged. It was the Duke of Wellington who saved 
 the country, who saved llie constitution. He never committed but one 
 great blunder, and that was in yielding to tlie cry of the day— tlie 
 Emancipation of the Itoman Catholics. The sensible part of that per- 
 suasion of Christians themselves say, the English Constitution was up- 
 rooted by the measure.
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 51 
 
 v:ause he cannot help liimself, and is ruined— but who ruined 
 him? He lent uncounted sums of money in former years, 
 of which no note whatever was taken, and of which he 
 fiever will see one farthing in return. Yet no one pities or 
 feels for this man. Why? — because he is of nobler stuff 
 than the common herd. Vanity and ambition perhaps, his 
 only flaws, if flaws they be; but his attachment, or rather 
 devotion to the Regent was sincere, chivalric, and of a ro- 
 mantic kind, such as the world neither believes in nor un- 
 derstands; it \vas a kind of affection which amounted even 
 to a passion of the n:iind, and like all passions, led him into 
 one or two acts beneath the " chevalier sans pear et sans 
 reproche,'"* but nevertheless he is a noble creature upon the 
 whole; and v/hat can poor human nature ever be more? 
 Formed to live in another day than the present, some men 
 seem born too late, and some men too soon, but perhaps 
 the only wise men are those who fulfil their course at the 
 time, and in the manner, where providence has placed them, 
 suiting their conduct and their actions to the present, ra- 
 ther than indulging in speculative theories for the future, or 
 vain regrets for the past, neither of which can they judge 
 with truth, for former times are seen through the medium 
 of otlier men's minds, and the future belongs to the All- 
 seeing eye alone: if the present moment be ever well em- 
 ployed, the by-gone, and the to come, will take care c^ 
 themselves. 
 
 Sonnet. Bi Lord Moiha. 
 
 ** What splendid vision o'er my fancy flies. 
 And witli long- dormant lietit my bosom warms, 
 Banners and barbed steeds, and loud alarms. 
 And listed fields, and love the mighty prize; 
 Bewitching- to my thoug-ht the years arise 
 When chivalry refined the pride of arms: 
 Then valour sought its meed from female charms, 
 And fierceness melted at the fair one's eyes. 
 O days, congenial to the noble soul! 
 Then love was dignity; then falsehood, shame; 
 Then conscious truth a generous boast allowed. —   
 Now, under fashion's frivolous control, 
 'Tis ridicule to bear a towering name, 
 Or hold a post distinguished from the crowd." 
 
 Very frequently, the dinners at Kensington were ex- 
 
 ■• A very fine sonnet by Lord Moira, will express the high-toned sen- 
 timent which really was his.
 
 52 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 ceedingly a2;reeable, tlic company well cliosen, and sufficient 
 liberty given to lulmit of tiieir conversing with unrestrained 
 freedom, — this expression does not imply a licentious mode 
 of conversation, aliliough sometimes, in f.ivour of wit, dis- 
 cretion and modesty were trenched upon. Still tliat was 
 by no means the genera! turn of the discourse. Mr. Gell 
 and Mr. Craven, in particular, though often very droll, 
 were never indecorous; I think I never knew a man of a 
 more kind and gentle turn of mind — nor one so humanised 
 by literature and the particular pursuits to which he devo- 
 ted himself, as Mr. Gell; aftectionate in the highest degree, 
 and willing to impart all he knew, (no common stock of in- 
 furmation,) in the least pedantic and most agreeable man- 
 ner; and if ever he indulged in a joke that was questiona- 
 ble, it was in a manner so devoid of real vice, that the most 
 punctilious or delicate female could scarce take oftVnce at 
 it. Mr. Craven likewise, his intimate tiiend, without pos- 
 sessin"; the strength of mind and the classical knowledjie of 
 Mr. Gell, was full of talent, and all those lighter acquire- 
 ments which adorn, if they do not instruct society. 
 
 To-day, I received another letter from my amusing 
 friend, C. K.. S. 
 
 •'Christ Church, Oxford, October, 1811. 
 Dear , 
 
 "What can I say to the generous return for my abomi- 
 nable scribbles, which you have made me by your delight- 
 ful letter, and I cannot for my life think of another case 
 than (he bounty of the outlandish queen, who gave a heap 
 of diamonds for a wash-hand basin, which was a sin of ig- 
 norance, as when Lady Strath more married Bowes, or 
 
 C a D d, P r B 1. Oh! heavens, 1 forgot 
 
 myself, do not tell . I wish that I had as many eyes 
 
 as Fame or Argus, or a spider, which I am told hath eight. 
 
 Alas! that Lady D s, who is the very reverse of a 
 
 spider in every thing but her industiy, hath but one; — Oh! 
 that I possessed as manyhasids as Briareus; or some of the 
 Hindoo gods, that I might produce a weekly drawing, pro- 
 vided my humble efforts were crowned with such a rich 
 reward about once a quarter, as your epistles are calculated 
 to bestow; but lack-a-day! my eyes, which scarcely can 
 be called a pair, demand a string like a doll's, in the sim- 
 ple operation of turning, and my fingers are about as un- 
 wieldy as an Irishman's legs in the gout; nevertheless, I 
 am resolved, in spite of nature and my stars, to write, that
 
 TTSiES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 53 
 
 ts, to wield a goose-quill in your Lordship's service, as long 
 as I possess a little more vision than the mole, and energies 
 that may in any measure rival those of the unfortunate 
 sloth. In truth, the honour of any command or employment 
 from you, is sufficient to transform a sloth into a squirrel, 
 for I must tell you, my dear fellow, that you are one of the 
 most extraordinary personages of the present time; perhaps 
 you did not know it before, — but only consider a little ia 
 the first place, nothing can be more honourable and illus- 
 trious than your family, and your rank is suitable to it. 
 Your Lordship doth not resemble some very fine and lofty 
 gentlemen of my acquaintance, Vv'ho, however high their 
 place may now be, had merchants and mechanics for their 
 fathers; and midens, I guess, for their grandsires; then Na- 
 ture s^e.ms to have run hiddy-giddy in your formation, for 
 she made you noble too in mind, and moreover, gave you a 
 voice of unexampled porwer and sweetness, which, in my 
 humble opinion, is one of her greatest bestowments, — and 
 here allow me just to hint at your Lordship's scientific pur- 
 suits, ami in short, whatever is praisewortliy, and fitting 
 the true dignity of human nature; all of which is wonder- 
 ful in any body, but in one so spoiled, so favoured, I should 
 say perfectly prodigious*! As to your more exalted merits, 
 I shall not particularize them, my rude pen being altoge- 
 ther unworthy; only tliis, I may say, that if your Lordship, 
 according to the chances of this world, hath not always 
 more than King Monter.uma, who reclined upon a bed of 
 roses, — yet your pious fortitude and resignation, have given 
 a wholesome lesson to your infc-riors, and added graces to 
 yourself. 
 
 From all that I have ever heard or seen, I am convinced 
 that you were intended to make as conspicuous a figure in 
 the next world as in this — and that a sentence in the funeral 
 sermon of Mary, Duchess of Queensberry, who was a very 
 exalted character, might with great justice be applied to 
 you — the preacher says, • But dry up your tears, my bre- 
 thren, and weep no more, for this most illustrious Prin- 
 cess, who, though she was a great and good Duchess on 
 earth, is now a great and gnod Duchess in Heaven.' This 
 is not very neat, but it is all very true, so that I may say 
 with the clown, in Measure for Measure, ' here be truths.' 
 
 "Alas! — your account of London, I shall not for a 
 
 * Was there ever such fulsome flattery addressed from one man to 
 another? Did the man want to be made a lord of the bed-chamber? 
 
 5*
 
 54 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 "•reat while experience the truth of, as when I leave this 
 place I must repair to Scotland, where 1 am to remain for 
 
 ages:— 
 
 •' To me the gods, severely kind, ordain 
 A cool suspense from pleasure and from pain." 
 
 However, as the dulness you mentioned mu-t exist in the 
 mass of people, (for it cannot possibly be in yau,) I niust 
 try to extract a sour-grape comfort fom the consideration, 
 that London is not u'hat it was. — Meanwhile, be it known 
 unto you lliat the ingenious Mr. Shelley hath been expelled 
 from'the University on account of his atheistical pamphlet. 
 Was ever such bad taste and barbarity known.^ He be- 
 haved like a hero, 'he s'lowed to fortune's frowns a brow 
 serene,' and declared his intention of emigrating to Ame- 
 rica.* I send his romance, which v/ould have reached you 
 sooner had not an impuclent person cribbed it from my 
 rooms. I also transmit Octavian, and a volume of poems 
 written by a friend of mine. He is, poor fellow! in the 
 hist stage of a consumption; so the critics should be mer- 
 ciful, for he will never write better, nor worse, (which is 
 of more consequence to brother authors,) and a death-bed 
 repentance of such literary crimes is as bitter, as it is 
 useless. — Doubtless, after this cargo of Oxford goods, your 
 Lordship will exclaim, enough, enough, no more of it, de 
 grace. I am not wise in sending you such a dose at once, 
 for I fear that our poetical fervours will prove little better 
 than camomile, only not so wholesome, and that you will 
 never more endure tlie sight of such another bouquet. I 
 transmit my treasures of Parnassus by the coach, but this 
 shall move per post, as I an> ever dubious concerning the 
 delivery of small parcels in London; and though my books 
 and my letters be of little consequence, yet, I would fain 
 not appear wanting in respect where so very much is due. 
 I have finished your portrait and it is not like, so I have 
 met the fate of all my painting predecessors. — Yet to catch 
 your Lordship's likeness would not be quite impossible, if 
 
 • In my opinion, Mr. Shelley merited the opinion here formed of 
 him. Nevertheless he had genius, — he had power; but his genius 
 was an evil one, and his powers were directed to a bad end, or what 
 was the same in effect, to no end at alii the best parts of his phren- 
 >:ied compositions have all the deleterious qualities of alcohol; and 
 Hamlet would scarcely think it necessary to apostrophize his shade 
 in the questioning words — "Bring'st with thee aire from heaven, or 
 blasts from hell?" — but, de mortuis—He waS"drowned in a storm!!!
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 55' 
 
 this system of galvanism could be improved, and four 
 painters of ancient times rendei'ed as lively by it, as a pig's 
 tail is at present. — I would rouse from his dull repose, Ti- 
 tian, to paint your head; Sir Peter Leiy, your necU; Van- 
 dyke your hands; and Rubens for the draperies and back- 
 ground of the picture; — then, perchance, one might have 
 something worth looking at: — as miitlers stand, 1 confess 
 I am in utter despair. Will you deign to read some Oxford 
 gaiety? — I was at a route at the Deanery last niglit. The 
 Deaneress, Mrs. Hall, ci-devant Miss Byng, and sister to 
 
 the P e, a fine lady, in white satin, telling us the price 
 
 of every thing in her drawing-room, from the mantel-piece 
 to her own dickey.^— We had tea and cards, and, — what, a 
 Miss, vvh<)Se name never reached me, called music. After 
 a long silence, ' But where are the sweet children?' cried a 
 parson present: on which, after two tugs of the bell, the 
 door flew open, and viola, toute la lingerie! — a thousand 
 little things, with monstrous mouths, hopped in, like the 
 Egyptian plague of frog<, and surrounded the poor dean, 
 who resembled St. Anthony in one of his Dutch tempta- 
 tions, squalling aloud for cake and tea, and I k:i5W not 
 what. I was glad to esc;:pe, leaving the eldest boy amu- 
 sing himself with (ickling the noses of all the company in 
 turns, with a handful of dirty hog-bii^tles, t-o the great de- 
 light of his mother, who esteems him a decided wit: — a 
 propos of wits. Lady Westmoreland hath been at Lord 
 Abingdon's, near this town, astonishing the weak minds of 
 sundry poor youths with her vivacities; she talked to a 
 friend of mine of — — -'» account of the plague at Athens, 
 which scared him sadlv; he told mc that he swore it was 
 d— d fine, though he had never read a word of it: and she 
 played on a Sj^anish guitar, sitting on a cushi(m in the lob- 
 by by the light of the lamps, to the admiration of sundry 
 bores, who read Sir Charles Grandison, and think a mad 
 countess a fine tiling. For my part, 1 have been told that 
 she is really not clever, and 1 never could admire her 
 looks, — she hath such a huge nose that she resembles a 
 hussar's sabre with ihe pouch and straps — she's principally 
 nose, and all the rest of her seems to belong to it.* — But 
 
 *Tl»is is a false and altojjether caricature portraiture of a lady, who 
 deserves to be fur otliervv se transmiitetl on paper to posterity; to 
 great talents she united a warm and afi'ectionate heart. — She was a 
 singularly delicate and sensible woman. — Her judgment was of the 
 ■finest order, and her perception in reading cliaracters partook of di- 
 vination — so rapid, so clear, so penetrating wene her decisions. But
 
 56 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 it is time for me to have done, there being scarcely any 
 space on the paper left for the name of 
 
 " Your Lordship's 
 
 ♦' Faithful servant." 
 
 FROM H. R. H. THE PRINCESS OF WALES. 
 
 I 
 
 " I SHOULD not so soon have encroached on your time, 
 my dear Lord, but that there has happened a few coinci- 
 dences which to relate to you, would perhaps afford you 
 amusement. — Lord Deerhurst is quite a joke to the secret 
 marriage of the ci-devant Mrs. Panton vvitli a Mr. Geldi, an 
 acquaintance of Balty's, and why it is kept a secret, and 
 wliy it is made public, nobody can guess, as slie was her 
 own mistress, — or that she thought that she was public pro- 
 perty, and that it would be essential to have an act of parlia- 
 ment to make an enclosure to become private property, at 
 a moment's warning. — Town grows every day thinner 
 and thinner; though I had last Monday a large party at 
 dinner and, in the evening, a little hop for the young la- 
 dies, yet I felt how useful you could have been to make the 
 party go oft" more lively and merrily. Chm Roiuland, very 
 unusually, danced with great glee the whole evening with 
 
 Lady C — — E ; he supped at my table with her, and 
 
 I have not the smallest doubt that Hymen will soon crown 
 
 that work. Lord M E e looked pleased with him, 
 
 and praised him to me to the skies; poor Miss R is 
 
 quite forsaken by him, and I trust she will be wise enough 
 to console herself, as Ariadne did — and not choose a Bac- 
 chus, but something more eligible to her taste. 
 
 " Though Lady Harriet is very cunning and sly, still I 
 have discovered that she is the match-making lady to her 
 brother. She brougiU Lady E to dinner, and did no- 
 thing than prosing in praise of her. — Lady G M 
 
 takes her to , and Lord H is also of the party, 
 
 and the final proposal will be made there under the shady 
 trees, or by the placid light of the moon. — The great ball 
 
 at D House, I heard was magnificent; Lord H 
 
 began the dance with Lady E , and she was introduced 
 
 to the old Duke, who, I hear, was very much charmed with 
 her beauty, and I dare say this marriage will be settled be- 
 fore we meet again. 
 
 with nerves too finely strung — the instrument has jarred under rough 
 hands and common treatment; — had she met with an answering' mind 
 she would not have been torn — buffeted — destroyed.
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. ST 
 
 " The H , Lady P , atul tlie daughters came also 
 
 to my party; the oh! hidy looked like the liead of a ship, 
 
 Lady P very enibai lassed, the two young ladies, as 
 
 usual, frightfully dressed — like naughty girls, with gray 
 stutt' gowns, to make them learn tlieir lesson better tlie next 
 
 day. The eldest (l.incid with B N , and the two 
 
 younger ones danced together. ^'I'hey did not stay supper, 
 but went away very early. I heard the next day, that 
 
 Lady C ^s had sprained her ancle, which prevented her 
 
 from guiiig to dance cotillions next day at Lord U 's. 
 
 She sent, instead, early in the morning, for a surgeon, to 
 Mr. Des Hayes, t\\^ dancer, and he came and said, • My 
 Lady, je s;iis bien arranger les jambes qui se portent bien, 
 mais pas celles i|'ii sont malades;' and so he left the room, 
 and she was obliged to keep company with the sofa. 
 
 "Monday next my humble habitation will be graced 
 with the presence of Louis XVill., Madame D'Angoutcme, 
 and all the French Princes, and above thiity French peo- 
 ple at a breakfast; — my mother, and the Piincess Sophia, 
 and some old fograms, male and female, will be there to en- 
 liven the party. This is all the merriment of my budget 
 which I can ofter you to-da}'. 
 
 "Mr. Arbuthnot looks shy and dismal. I think he 
 must feel ashamed of his cowardice, never to have asked 
 me to one of the many suppers which he has given lately. 
 There have been, 1 hear, very ch;irn!ing masquerades; but 
 I speak from report merely. ' Mes beaux jnurs sont pas- 
 ses.' But be that as it may, I always remain. 
 
 Your aR'ectionale friend, 
 
 "C.P." 
 
 Wednesday the 19th. — I dined at Kensington. All the 
 pleasure of the party w;is mailed by <listant looks, and si- 
 lence, that boded coming storms. There was Miss B , 
 
 Mr. Ward, Mr. Knight,* and Sir James Mackintosh, t — 
 
 * Mr. Knight, the author of :i work on Taste, which it has been 
 tVie fashion to receive as a standard work, but which is more pom- 
 pous and dictatorial, more factitious and learned, than gifted with the 
 spirit of his subject. Mr. K. was a man, wliom loo much learning 
 had made 'not mad,' but pompous, not wise but artificial; a man of 
 systems and nomenclatures, (hites and dulness; wiiosc boast was scep- 
 ticism, and whose enjoyments were those of a bon vivant. Yet, in his 
 own family he was loved, for he was generous and kind-hearted. — 
 Oil! the mixed texture of human nature! 
 
 ■j- Some men perform more than is expected of them throughout
 
 58 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 tlie latter a very charmlns; man; but as much leaven was 
 thrown into this society as ttie Princess of Wales could put 
 into it, to make it disagreeable. 
 
 Thursday. — I went to Lady D y's, where, amongst 
 
 much rubbish, there were soine persons worth conversing 
 
 with. I met there, my old friend Lord D ley. 
 
 There are some persons whom one feels to be sure friends. 
 It is impossible for a being gifted with quick sensations to 
 be deceived in this respect. I know not if it can be ac- 
 counted for philosophically, but I always return to my own 
 system of fascination and attraction, sans rhyme ni raison. 
 Lady M. came to see me. — I never saw so melancholy a 
 proof of the extent of punishment tliat conscience can in- 
 flict on those who have not fulfilled the severer duties of 
 life. The leaven of disappointment has soured all the ge- 
 nuine virtues of her disposition, while the acuteness of her 
 intellect, and her quick and warm affections, have been 
 fatally conducive to misery instead of happiness. — Yet, 
 like a wayward child that has been long indulged, I would 
 not thwart her, or use violence to instil otiier thoughts to 
 counteruct the poison; I would, on the contrary, sooth and 
 lull her wounds with the sedative of affection, before I at- 
 tempted to give stronger medicines to turn her mind and 
 views into another channel. Alas! riches and power afford 
 the means to do many kind things^ but who can say that 
 when the means are ours, the inclination will remain? The 
 amusements of London, unless accompanied by all which 
 can pamper and satisfy ambition, cease to be pleasures. 
 
 I learnt to-day that an old servant of my family was at 
 the point of death. The idea that this was the case, and that 
 he had not perhaps sufficient means to render his transit to 
 another world as little painful as possible, aflected me. 
 The great are not sufficiently attentive to the wants of their 
 dependants — persons who, after perhaps passing a lifetime 
 in their service, often die poorly, if at all provided for by 
 them. This sometimes happens from procrastination; not 
 from a determined neglect or a hardened indifference, but 
 from the vague sensation that we will do to-morrow what we 
 
 life, whilst others never answer to the idea that is formed of their ca- 
 pacity. Sir James Mackintosli had considerable fascination and ex- 
 treme suavity of manner. He impressed his hearers with the belief 
 that a great deal more remained to be said than he actually expressed; 
 and thus his credit was unlimited, while his means were, perhaps, not 
 of vast extent.
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 59 
 
 are not inclined to do to day. The longer I live the more 
 1 am convinced, that to put off a good intention is general- 
 ly to render it abortive. 
 
 NOTE FROM H. R. H. THE PRINCESS OF WALES. 
 
 " All the news I can offer you, my dear , is a most 
 
 dreadful blunder which that wonderful woman, Madame De 
 Stael, has committed. She was in some party several eve- 
 nings ago, and mistook old Mrs. B for the Marchioness 
 
 of Hertford. She began by assuring her ' que la renommee 
 avoit vante sa beaute et son esprit par tout le continent— 
 que ses portraits ^toient graves, et faisaient les charmes 
 et Tornement de tous les palais.' — Of course, you may 
 imagine that this event has been the laughing-stock of 
 these last eight and forty liours. 1 liad the unexpected hap- 
 piness of seeing my brother return: he gives no sanguine 
 hopes at all of the restoration of Germany, and he has a 
 very sad opinion of Bernadotte. To conclude my letter, I 
 must only give you another piece of information, that Ma- 
 dame De Stael has not discovered la Pierre Philosophale, 
 but ' t'liit Lord Castlereagh's speech about the treaty with 
 Sweden, was the most eloquent, most rhetorical and per- 
 suasive speech that ever was made in parliament:' these 
 are Madame De vStael's ovvn words. I fear this is not the 
 wav of pleasing in this country, at least not the generality 
 of the English people. She also had a great dispute with 
 Lord Lansdowiie about the Catholic question, uliich has, of 
 course, uiven great offence to all the oppositionj at least he 
 might have supposed that Madame De Stael must be tole- 
 rant: but writing and speaking seem to be two different 
 things with her. I will not longer dwell upon her,* and 
 
 * Very few persons of all those wlio wrote or spoke of Madame De 
 Stael were i\t all eompetent to fonin any just judgment of her cha- 
 racter — ! would rather say, of her whole moral beuig-, — not from de- 
 ficiency in point of talent on their parts, but because tiiey applied 
 squares and rules to tiiat which was immeasurable, and beyond all 
 ri-ceived standards of mensuration. Madame Ue Stael seems to me 
 to have been one of tliose creations which appear "few and far be- 
 tween" in the generation of mankind. It would be wholly unfair to 
 judge her by any common standaid of her sex. In all that pertained 
 to mind she was of no sex; those qualities which are supposed by 
 divine right to belong to men alone— vigour of understanding — ab- 
 stract reasoi.ing — vastness of conce[)tion — the power of overleaping 
 or discarding all minor considerations to arrive at a conclusion, — were 
 peculiarly her attributes, and never did the epithet of Great pertain 
 more jiis'.ly to any human being than to herself. She has been accused
 
 60 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 only anticipate the pleasure of havina; an a5;reeable tete-a- 
 tete with you on Siuiclay morning:. Yours sincerely, 
 
 (Signed) "C.P." 
 
 of vanity, but it was Eilsely. Slie was ambitions — not vain; and she 
 sbowed tbatslie was so willisuch an lio est frankness, tliat little minds 
 could not understand the bonbommie wbicli avowed itself atbirst 
 for commendation, — not tbe puerile commendation only of cotempo- 
 rary praise, but llie lastint;- eulogy of well-earned f;.me. It was not 
 wise to betray tbis feeling'; it gave an am[)le field for detractors to carp 
 at, and if sometimes dps'e"<?rated into an eg'otism 1 bat distressed ber 
 true admii-ers. But if Madame De Stael was ambitious of admiration, 
 she was ambitious also-of a womtui's jirerogwtive — of being' loved as a 
 woman. It is, jierbaps, incompatible to unite the two passions, and 
 tobe successfid in botb love and ambition; for tbe lUter must yield 
 to tbe former in a woman's breast. A woman who loves lias no am- 
 bition but what is vested in tbe object of that love. According' to 
 all memoirs of Madame Dc Stael's eaily life, she was unbappy in ber 
 affections; and when at last she fixed the heart of a young and band- 
 some man — one whom she deemed vvoitby of becoming' ber master 
 — I have beard ber say, as she watched ibe approach of that fatal dis- 
 ease, consumption, which was bearing him rapidly to the tomb, •' All 
 I pray for is to die before bim." — Iler prayer was gran'cd: nor did he 
 long survive her. In reg-ard to all the common things of life, she was 
 as ignorant as a child. Siie has been known to say, 'I will marry 
 my daug-hter to an Englishman;'' — and when tbe ]oerson to whom she 
 said it laughed, and re[)lied, "That may not be so easy, and if you 
 could do so, it might not be for the happiness of either party;" her 
 astonishment was unfeigned. Tbe "'comment donc!"so naively pro- 
 nounced, was replied to by all those sclf-evid.ent common places wbicb 
 would have suggested themselves to any one sa\e her: such as diffe- 
 rence of education — of habits — of country, — while she saw nothing 
 but her own very charming daughter, and tbe propriety of securing 
 her bappincss, by marrying ber to "un brave Anglois;" — for even 
 Madame De Siael foj'got, in her eagerness to st-cure that good for her 
 child, tliat it, in f ict, only rests in the selfchoice of the heart. One 
 of the instances where Madame De Stael exercised a woman's right, 
 a prerogative of which she Vv'as very tenacious, was in making the 
 Prince of Wales pay her a first visit in her lodgings in Argyll Street. 
 She likewise made some injudicious attacks upon tbe great political 
 characters of the day; questioning" them on points wbicb they nei- 
 ther CO dd nor would answer, and wbich shocked the received notions 
 of the country she was in. Rut these are specks and flaws in the 
 surface of her character only; mean and envious persons dwell on 
 these, but it will ever be delightful to those of another stamp to con- 
 sider ber character in tlie aggregate, and do homage to ber vast su- 
 periority over the generality of human kind. I!er kindness to her 
 inferiors in station and in intellect — her total fieedom from all affec- 
 tation — her strong sense of natural religion — the enthusiasm of her 
 nature, — were qualities as admirable as Ihcy were attractive. It was 
 impossible for any one to like Madame De Stael by halves. She was 
 destined to be either loved or hated. No wonder Uonaparte did 
 the latter: perhaps she was the only human being be feared, and 
 could not conquer.
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 61 
 
 " London, Wednesday. 
 
 " Lady M. informs me that you desire I should write; 
 so 1 hasten to obey your commands, though the weather 
 and my present mode of life are very far from propitious to 
 epistolary exertion. Nothing but smothering heat, and 
 parties that melt one into inanity. To go into the streets 
 is to endure the fiery ordeal; (which none of us here at pre- 
 sent can well abide;) and to venture into an evening as- 
 sembly is to tumble into a kettle of boiling sprats. For 
 my part, I have endured every culinary effect of fire men- 
 tioned by Hannah Glasse, and all tlie newer processes of 
 steam besides. I am in the condition of that poor Princess 
 in the Arabian Nights, who fought so fatally with the ge- 
 nius about the transformation of a monkey — (my concerns 
 are full as apish,) and I might most justly exclaim with 
 Nourmahal, 
 
 « I burn — I more than burn; I'm all a fire; 
 See how my mouth and nostrils flames expire!' 
 
 Thank Heaven, however, I am not in love! That alone 
 
 saves me from utter conflagration; for indeed, dear , 
 
 I cannot 'join the multitude to do evil,' in finding Lady 
 
 Elizabeth B m, and Miss Rumbold, and twenty more, 
 
 so very, very charming. Perhaps my taste is bad, and 
 these belles are fairer than the houris; but they do not 
 strike me; — a circumstance which can give them no con- 
 cern, and is, on the whole, very lucky for the second son 
 of a poor gentleman. And now, I wonder if you will care 
 to hear about routs and such things. I shall talk a little 
 on that subject at a venture; for you can burn this as soon 
 as you please, or give it to your hound to mumble, if there 
 happeneth to be no fire (as is most likely) in your chamber. 
 But I am firmly resolved not to say one word about the 
 disasters at Carlton House; though 1 saw one miserable 
 person brought out upon a board, and many gentlewomen 
 worse attired than Eve in her primitive simplicity. You 
 must have heard all these horrors long ago; so I shall begin 
 with Lady Mary L. Crawford's ball, most magnanimously 
 given in the Argyll Street rooms to all her friends, or ra- 
 ther her enemies — as even by her own account of the mat- 
 ter, she is at deadly feud with the whole world. I could 
 admire nothing at the entertainment — not even herself. 
 Fancy her attired in draperies of muslin, covered with 
 Vol. L 6
 
 62 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 gold spots the size of a sixpence! When she reclined uu- 
 der that frippery canvass bower at the end of the ball-room, 
 she looked exactly like an ill-favoured picture of Danac in 
 
 the shower of gold. To crown the whole, S ,* with 
 
 rouge on his cheeks and ultramarine on his nose, handed 
 her to supper! ' Slire such a pair!' 
 
 " I was one of the happy few at H 's ball given in 
 
 B m House — a house I had been long anxious to see, 
 
 as it is rendered classical by the pen of Pope and the pen- 
 cil of Hogarth. It is in a woful condition, and, as I hear, 
 to be pulled down. The company was \ery genteel (I 
 can't get a less vulgar word to express the sort of things) 
 and very dull; but all the ladies were vastly refreshed with 
 an inscription chalked upon the floor, which each applied 
 to herself. Within a wreath of laurel, like burdock, fast- 
 ened with fifty crooked true-love knots, were the myste- 
 rious words " Pour elle." Indeed, my dear , the 
 
 words written on the wall, which we read of in the Bible, 
 could not have produced a greater sensation. First, there 
 was such a flocking to the centre of the room — such a whis- 
 pering — such a 'Dear, I should like to see it!' — 'Pray 
 Lady Lousia, let me see it!' — 'Goodness! whom can it 
 mean?' — and then a triumphant retreat; smiles upon every 
 lip, exultation in every eye. It was quite amusing after- 
 wards to ask any lady who the ' elle ' could be — the down- 
 cast-look of affected humility, then the little sigh of half- 
 surfeited vanity, and then the stare of confident triumph, 
 crowned with ' How should I know?' were delightful. Af- 
 ter all, the true die is said to be Ijady E. B , for whom 
 
 a friend of mine is at present very sick, and carving her 
 name upon every tree he finds in the country. But I am 
 
 not qutie sure that she will be Lady H , as I do not think 
 
 that the swain looks much in love.f We had mucli waltzing, 
 and quadrilling, the last of which is certainly very abomina- 
 ble. I am not prude enough to be offended with waltzing, in 
 which I can see no other harm than that it disorders the sto- 
 mach, and sometimes makes people look very ridiculous; but 
 
 after all, moralists, with the Duchess of G at their 
 
 head, who never had a moral in her life, exclaim dreadful- 
 ly against it. Nay, I am told that these magical wheelings 
 
 • Mr. S is still alive, the very wreck of a beau; he is to be 
 
 seen sometimes like a fly, half" dead .and stupified, which has outlived 
 the summer. 
 
 j- Perhaps that ball at B House was given for one who was not 
 
 permitted to attend it.
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 63 
 
 have already roused poor Lord Dartmouth from his grave 
 to suppress them. Alas! after all, people set about it as 
 gravely as a company of dervises, and seem to pay adora- 
 tion to Pluto rather than to Cupid. But the quadrilles I 
 can by no means endure; for till ladies and gentlemen have 
 joints at their ancles, which is impossible, it is worse 
 than impudent to make such exhibitions, more particularly 
 in a place where there are public ballets every Tuesday 
 and Saturday. When people dance to be looked at, they 
 surely should dance to perfection. Even the Duchess of 
 Bedford, who is the Angiolini of the group, would make 
 an indifterent figurante at the Opera; and the prinQipal 
 male dancer, Mr. l^orth, reminds one of a gibbeted male- 
 factor, moved to antl fro by the winds, but from no person- 
 al exertion. Since I had the honour of seeing you last, I 
 have been introduced to the Princess of Wales, and have 
 dined several times at Kensington. Her Royal Highness 
 has been very good to me, which I in a great measure at- 
 tribute to the favourable manner in which you had men- 
 tioned me to her. One night we went through all the up- 
 per rooms in the palace, to examine the pictures, and many 
 seemed excellent in their way; but one can see little by can- 
 dle-light; and there was a sad want of names, — which takes 
 away all the pleasure of portraits. The Scotch picture, as 
 an altar piece, is very curious; though from the style of 
 painting, I guess that it must have been done a long while 
 after the death of the persons represented. 
 
 Since 1 have been in London I have read nothing save 
 Miss Seward's letters and Miss Owenson's Missionary. Of 
 Miss Seward I am bound to speak well, as she doth so of 
 nie; and her monodies are beautiful; but the letters are 
 naught; they abound in false sentiment, and a great many 
 other false things. As to the Missionary, Ambrosio is his 
 father and Matilde his mother; but,' wanting the indelicacy 
 of papa, and the delicacy of mamma, he's a dull fellow, 
 I could think of nothing but poor Margaret Stewart of 
 Blantyre, and her presbyterian minister, while I read this 
 book. Miss Luxina brought her hogs to a bad market, for 
 Hilarion was little better than a beast. Walter Scott's last 
 poem I have also seen, but so hastily that I can be no com- 
 petent judge of its merits. Talking of works, allow me 
 to reconmiend to you Ford's plays, lately re-published. 
 Some of them are excellent; the first in the series, (which 
 hath an awkward name, I must confess,) and the Broken 
 Heart are particularly admirable. I am sure that you will
 
 64 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 be struck with them; for Ford is almost as movinji; as Ot- 
 way or Lee, who is the mad poet I adore, yet I can per- 
 suade nobody to read him. The History of ti)e Somerville 
 family, wliich I have seen in MS., is soon to be printed, 
 and that of .Sutherland is to be out shortly. So much for 
 books — saving that Sir John Murray hath found the whole 
 correspondence of the Earl of Chesterfield, who flou- 
 rished in King Charles the Second's time, in Batli House, 
 containing most curious letters of the Duchess of Cleve- 
 land, Lady Southesk, and many other personages, whom 
 Count Hamilton has rendered so interesting. I shall try to 
 get Sir John to publish them, for such things should not run 
 the risk of fire, not to mention rats and mice. There is a 
 sort of memoir of Lord Chesterfield at the beginning of the 
 volume, in which he says that his second wife died of the 
 spotted fever or plague; but, in fact, he is said to have poi- 
 soned her in tlie wine of the Sacrament, to be revenged for 
 her gallantries, which were notorious: that old villain, Sir 
 John Denham, having shown him the way, by getting rid 
 of his wife after a fashion nearly similar. I have written 
 so much that I can find no room for Mrs. Dawson's mas- 
 querade, where it was said that the only good mask was 
 Mr. Fit'/.harding in the character of Lord Berkeley; nor 
 
 Deerhurst's marriage, nor Lady 's adventure with 
 
 that rogue her brother; — but if you will signify to me that 
 a second gazette extraordinary will be acceptable, I shall 
 
 be greatly flattered. Meanwhile I remain, dear , 
 
 "Your faithful servant." 
 
 " DEAR 
 
 ANOTHER LETTER FROM THE SAME. 
 
 "London, Sunday 1811. 
 
 " You flatter me greatly by desiring a second number of 
 the gazette extraordinary, which I hasten to transmit, al- 
 beit the adventures of Lady O and her brother are now 
 
 Avhat is termed in Scotland, Piper's news. But before I 
 touch seriously upon that legend, you must permit me to 
 disclaim all title to the knowledge of a certain art, the first 
 rudiments of which may be gathered from the ' Academy 
 of Compliments' and 'Walton's Complete Angler;' in- 
 deed, my dear , I never was accused of such a thing 
 
 before; nay, I have been told by many persons that I am 
 too innocent of the sin, and that my fortunes in life are im- 
 peded thereby; and I verily do believe it. In your especial 
 case, however, it is scarcely possible to commit thjs crime^
 
 Ti^ES OP GEORGE THE FOURTH. 65. 
 
 except one were to give you wings at once, and — but I shall 
 say no more on that subject for fear of fresh accusations; 
 and return discreetly to my news, ancient and modern, ac- 
 cording to the tenor of the permission through which I have 
 
 the honour of corresponding with you. Lady O , poor 
 
 Lady 1 knows the rules of prudence, I fear me, as 
 
 imperfectly as she doth those of the Greek and Latin gram- 
 mars; for she hath let her brother, who is a sad swine, be- 
 come master of her secrets, and then contrived to quarrel 
 with him. You would see the outline of the melange in the 
 
 newspapers, but not the report ihat Mr. S is about to 
 
 publish a pamphlet as an addition to the Harleian Tracts, 
 setting forth the amatory adventures of his sister. We 
 shall break our necks in haste to buy it, of course crying 
 
 ' shameful ' all the while; and it is said that Lady is 
 
 to be cut, which I cannot entirely believe. Let her tell 
 two or three old women about town that they are young and 
 handsome, and give some well-timed parties, and she may 
 still keep the society which she hath been used to. The 
 times are not so hard as they once were, when a woman 
 could not construe Magna Charta with any thing like im- 
 punity. People were full as gallant many years ago, but 
 the days are gone by wherein my Lord Protector of the 
 Commonwealth of England was wont to go a love-making 
 to Mrs. Fleetwood with the Bible under his arm. And so 
 Miss Jacky Gordon is really clothed with a husband at last, 
 and Miss Laura Manners left without a mate! She and 
 Lord Stair should marry and have children in mere re- 
 venge. As to Miss Gordon, she's a Venus well suited to 
 such a Vulcan, whom nothing but money and a title could 
 have rendereil tolerable, even to a kitchen wench. It is 
 said that the matrimonial correspondence between this cou- 
 ple is to be published — full of sad and scandalous relations, 
 of which you may be sure scarcely one word is true. In 
 
 former times the Duchess of St. A 's made use of these 
 
 elegant epistles in order to intimidate Lady Johnstone; but 
 that ruse would not avail, so in spite, they are to be print- 
 ed. What a cargo of amiable creatures! — Yet will some 
 people scarcely believe in the existence of Pandemonium 1 
 " Tuesday morning. — You are perfectly right respecting 
 the hot rooms here, which we all cry out against, and all 
 find very comfortable — much more so than the cold sands 
 and bleak neighbourhood of the sea — which looks vastly 
 well in one of Vander Velde's pictures hung upon crimson 
 
 damask, but hideous and shocking in reality. H and. 
 
 6*
 
 66 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 his EUe (talking of parties) were last night at Cholmonde- 
 ley House, but seem not to ripen in their love. He is cer- 
 tainly good-humoured, and, I believe, good -hearted, so de- 
 serves a good wifej but his cara seems a genuine London 
 miss, made up of many affectations. Will she form a com- 
 fortable helpmate? For me, I like not her origin, and deem 
 many strange things to run in blood, besides madness and 
 the Hanoverian evil. 
 
 "Thursday. — I verily do believe that I never shall get 
 to the end of this small sheet of paper, so many unheard of 
 interruptions have I hadj and now I have been to Vauxhall 
 
 and caught the tooth-ache, I was of Lady E. B m and 
 
 H 's party, — very dull; the lady giving us all a supper 
 
 after our promenade — 
 
 ' Much ado was there, God wot. 
 She would love, but he would not:' 
 
 He ate a great deal of ice, though he did not seem to re- 
 (juire it; and she " faisoit les yeux doux," enough not only 
 to have melted all the ice which he swallowed, but his own 
 hard heart into the bargain. The thing will not do. Tn 
 the mean time Miss Long hath become quite cruel to Wei- 
 lesley Pole, and divides her favour equally between Lords 
 Killeen and Kilworth, two as simple Irishmen as ever gave 
 birth to a bull. I wish to Hymen that she were fairly mar- 
 ried, for all this pother gives one a disgusting picture of hu- 
 man nature. Avarice in children is shocking — vet the 
 united schools of Eton and W^estminster are gaping after 
 this girl, as if she were fairer than a myriad of Venuses. 
 Apropos, I have discovered a Venus — a Mrs. Owen; she is 
 beautiful, but she looks vulgar, and is horridly affected. 1 
 think that the Adonis of this year is Grammont. He is 
 handsomer tlian anybody, and 1 know three fat ladies who 
 are expiring through the love they bear him. Lady Barba- 
 ra Asidcy is to marry him, it is said; and now admire, my 
 
 dear , the strange change of opinion which takes place 
 
 in families! Here is a person descended from a precise 
 Puritan, and the trumper-up of the popish plot, herself a 
 Papist, and about to marry one. The Count descends pro- 
 digiously to wed such an ill-born mushroom; but she has 
 money and he hath not. Here is another change; but he 
 has much more excuse for what he does than Miss Long's 
 pack of truffle hunters. When Miss Porter's Don Sebas- 
 tian came out, 1 expected to find the Margravine, Keppel 
 Craven, (with whom the fair authoress was in love,) and.
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. ST 
 
 many of my other friends there; in place of which I found 
 nothing but such heroes and heroines as might have been 
 fashionable and common formerly, but who are wonderfully 
 out of date and rare now; so that circumstances gave me a 
 disgust to the book. As to my own romance, which you 
 have done me the honour of accepting, I feel such prodi- 
 gious qualms about its publication, that I scarcely think 
 it will ever see the light. When it is quite finished you 
 shall have it in your power, as to a perusal. The subject 
 is certainly good, though my hero was a sad fool, and my 
 
 heroine (Latly H. W ) little better than a baggage; but 
 
 I have not done it ^istice, and people persuade me that 
 these melanges of truth and fiction are pernicious, or at 
 least worthless. On the score of impropriety you will find 
 
 nothing oft'ensive; and the moral of the Duke of M 's 
 
 life is excellent, for his errors popr soul, were venial, and 
 
 his punishment most exemplary. Lady H never held 
 
 up her head after the intelligence of his death reached her; 
 and his Duchess, who was a very unfeeling woman, that 
 breakfasted on cold haggiss, married Lord C , and con- 
 cluded her career very comfortably. And here it is time 
 that I sliould conclude mine for the present, as far as wri- 
 ting goes — so, with ten thousand thanks for your letter, 
 which I dare not call amusing, lest you should say I flatter, 
 and living in hopes of being honoured with hearing from 
 you again, 
 
 "I am, Dear , 
 
 " Your faithful servant." 
 
 FROiM H. R. H. THE PRINCESS OF WALES. 
 
 "Wednesday, , 1811. 
 
 "The accounts from Windsor certainly have been very 
 terrifying for a few days, which has prevented my going 
 since a week to the opera, — but the accounts are now very 
 much the same as they were a month ago, and I feel no ap- 
 prehension that it will be worse, nor, I fear, better. My 
 mother has been very ill indeed : her dinners have been post- 
 poned since a fortnight. I have been much at home, and 
 not at all the worse for having seen a few people whom I 
 liked the best. Mr. Sharpe* would do very well if he was 
 
 • If her Ifoyal Highness meant Mr. Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, 
 and had banished him from her society, she would have lost one of 
 the most amusing- persons in the world, and one whose wit was a*, 
 harmless as it was light and bright.
 
 08 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 not a great gossip; and there are clays and times that it 
 would be very inconvenient to have him in society, — The 
 two marriages in question are still a profound secret, and 
 the formal proposals are not yet made, of which I am cer- 
 tain. All parties are on the point of going into the country, 
 and before next year I believe notiiing will be settled. — 
 
 Mr. Macdonald is at Mr, E 's, and I suppose that it 
 
 will be arranged soon. Your letter is safely burnt, and a 
 
 feu de joie made of it, my dear . When the royal 
 
 visiters left me, Louis the XVlIIth could only offer me the 
 gout in one knee and in one toe, and Madame D' Angou- 
 leme a swelled face;* so that I have not been blessed with 
 a sight of these charming creatures. Still I was reduced 
 to the satisfaction of having forty, including my own fa- 
 mily, to this great feast. The sight was not enchanting, 
 as it was loaded with old fograms. My usual resource on 
 this occasion is to show them the great apartments and the 
 rarities they contain. f At last, (every thing, alas! ends,) 
 we were obliged to take to another resource, which was 
 walking in the great avenue; and there we walked with all 
 the plebeians, and with all the mobs. As our conviviality 
 was exhausted as well as our wit, the military band sup- 
 plied the sound of our voices. We lounged there till hap- 
 pily the clock struck eight, and then the party was swept 
 away like magic. 
 
 Lord Hartington gives a great ball at Burlington House,, 
 whicli is his new residence, and I suspect tliat this ball, 
 which was given quite suddenly, was for some matrimonial 
 reasons." 
 
 ANOTHER FROM H. R. H, TO THE SAME. 
 
 " DEAR , 
 
 " I have lived in such a confusion since you left me, 
 that I don't know whether I am the besieged or the be- 
 
 * All these ailirgs probably befell the royal family of France at the 
 command of the Prince Regent of Entjiand. 
 
 ■}• This was a circumstance which her Royal Highness's enemies 
 laid hold of to turn to her disadvantage, and the newspapers of the 
 day found great fault with the Princess for taking her guests into 
 those apartments, insinuated tliat they were tiie scenes of improper 
 conduct, being but partially lighted; whereas her Royal Highness 
 only took her company there when she had no other means of en- 
 tertaining tlieni. Thus was she often falsely accused; and, unfor- 
 t'inately for her own welfare, (though I think in many instances^
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 69 
 
 sieger. Lady Anne and I began by receiving an ambas- 
 sador, the second day after she had been installed into all 
 the secrecy of our nunnery. He was sent by our gracious 
 Majesty; in short, it was the Vice-Chamberlain, Colonel 
 Desbrowej his object being to stop my going to Windsor, 
 and convey a refusal to my request of having my daughter 
 to come to see me last Saturday. I was just sitting in 
 Lady Anne's room, opposite to the sofa on which she was 
 placed, when he was announced; she had never heard of 
 his name, and supposed that he was a young and fashion- 
 able beau. She behaved like Joan of Arc in the whole 
 of this business; was immovable; not a muscle of her face 
 altered at the eloquent speech of this knight errant. I de- 
 sired him to write it down on paper, to refresh my memory 
 now and then with it; but he refused. Lady Anne then 
 took her pen, and in the presence of this ambassador, she 
 conveyed his message to paper, which he read himself be- 
 fore he left the room and took his departure. I think this 
 scene will make a pretty figure in the Morning Chronicle 
 or in the Examiner; but I leave that to a much abler pen 
 than mine. 
 
 " One day I went with Ladj^ Anne to see ,the English 
 ' St. Cyr,'* at Lee, where I met Lady Perceval. I think 
 you would have been amused for a moment, with hearing 
 the second Miss Grimani sing; she is one of the govern- 
 esses. Sapio and his wife also sang duetts and trios with 
 her, and 1 was much gratified by the exquisite taste and 
 great flexibility of voice of this young person. 
 
 "Poor Lady C is, I fear, at this moment in great 
 
 anxiety and tribulation, as she has been absolutely refused, 
 under any condition, to have the house at Kensington. 
 She had offered to take upon herself all the repairs and 
 finishing, that it might prove no incumbrance to the Board 
 of AVorks; in short He is a brute, and unciualified to be 
 called a gentleman through his behaviour, this Lord Cham- 
 berlain. And now I must tell you something else — I am 
 so accustomed, my dear Lord, to disappointments since 
 my childhood, that one more or less makes not much eflfect 
 upon my temper. 1 am only astonished how very little 
 chivalresque feeling is remaining in this country, and Mr. 
 Drummond certainly shall not be the banker to George 
 
 it speaks well for her cliaracter,) the Princess ofWales did not heed 
 what interpretation her enemies put on her actions. 
 
 • A school founded by and under tiie protection of Lady Anne 
 Hamilton,
 
 70 MEMOIRS OK THE 
 
 IVtIvs Queenj* for any historian, who would write the bi- 
 ography of the ex-Princcss of Wales, would not a little 
 astonish the world, in relating that she could not procure 
 the sum of .€500, at the rate of paying ^6500 a year per 
 annum for it!!" 
 
 LETTER FROM M. G. LEWIS, ESQ. 
 
 " The Albany, November 10th. 
 
 " MY DEAR , 
 
 " Lord Aberdeen is a candidate for the Presidentship ol 
 the Antiquarian Societyj and I need not tell you, that 1 am 
 extremely anxious to promote iiis success, and entreat you 
 to use all your influence in obtaining votes for his support.! 
 
 *'I hear that Lady is living at Constantinople 
 
 with young B , avowedly as his cliere amie,- and that 
 
 she says nobody was ever so handsome, nor so clever, and 
 that he is in short, and is to he, one of the first characters 
 in these kingdoms. I wish him joy of his conquest, and 
 had rather he than /.J 
 
 " I send you some verses which I read in the Examiner; 
 I think them very witty, although very abominable. 
 
 " Believe me, 
 
 "Most truly yours, 
 
 "M. G. LEWIS.^ 
 
 * The banking house of Mr. Drummond refused to advance tiie 
 sum of £500 for her Royal Highness. The reason assigned was, its 
 being inconsistent with the rule of their house to obey her com- 
 mands — but one miglit have supposed that an exception could be 
 made in favour of the Princess of Wales, especially considering the 
 small amount of the sum. 
 
 f The person to whom this letter was addressed, canvassed for tlie 
 two competitors, both Lord Aberdeen and Sir Harry Englefield, with 
 perfect good humour and bon-hommie, not being aware (from a 
 strange confusion and ignorance on sucli matters) that such efforts 
 must of necessity be rendered nugatory to both parties. Tliis blun- 
 der caused much laughter at the time. 
 
 ^ If ever there was a person to whom the Scotch proverb of ' Great 
 cry and little wool' is applicable, it was so to Mr. B . He be- 
 gan his career as a spoilt child, he pursued it as a spoilt youth, and, 
 after having become an eastern dandy, returned to enact the part of a 
 hero in a Parisian melo-drama. Having reached London, with all his 
 honours fresli upon his head, he turned the heads of several elderly 
 ladies, and ended his public career by marrying a widow lady with 
 
 several children. Mr. B would iiave been a very harmless and 
 
 rather ornamental member of society in his youth, had not an over- 
 weening vanity rendered him the dupe of flattery and froth,
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 
 
 •' The Triumph of the Whale. 
 
 "lo! Psean! lo! sing-, 
 To the finny people's King! 
 Not a mightier whale than this, 
 In the vast Atlantic is; 
 Not a fatter fish than he. 
 Flounders round the Polar sea: 
 See his blubber at his gills, — 
 What a world of drink he swills! 
 From his trunk as from a spout. 
 Which next moment he pours out. 
 Such his person — next declare. 
 Muse! who his companions are: 
 Eveiy fish of generous kind. 
 Stands aside or slinks behind; 
 But about his presence keep. 
 All the monsters of the deep: 
 Mermaids with their tails and singing. 
 His delighted fancy stinging: 
 Crooked dolphins, they surround him, 
 Dog-like seals, they fawn around him: 
 Following hard, the progress mark, 
 Of one intolerant salt sea shark; 
 For his solace and relief, 
 Flatfish are his courtiers chief: 
 Last and lowest in his train. 
 Tub fish, libellers of the main, 
 Their black liquor shed in spite: 
 Such on earth the thing tliat write. 
 In his stomach some do say. 
 No good thing can ever stay: 
 Had it been the fortune of it. 
 To have swallowed that old prophet. 
 Three days there lie'd not have dwell'd, 
 But in one have been expell'd. 
 Hapless mariners are they, 
 Who beguiled, as seamen say, 
 Deeming iiim some rock or island, 
 Footing sure, safe spot, or dry land. 
 Anchor in iiis scaly rind; 
 Soon the difference they find: 
 Sudden, phnnp, he siiilcs beneath them. 
 Does to ruthies'^ waves bequeath them. 
 Name or title, wiiat has he? 
 Is the Ifegent of the sea? 
 From that difficulty free us, 
 liufibn. Banks, or sage Linnxus: 
 With his wondrous atiributes. 
 Say wiiat appellation suits; 
 By his hulk and by his size. 
 By his oily qualilics. 
 This, (or else my eyesight fails,) 
 This should be the Prince of Whales."
 
 72 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 Who is there that may not be caricatured, when the 
 most avowedly graceful man of his time, or perhaps of any 
 time, can thus be personally, ridiculed? And who is there 
 that is safe from the bitter tongue of scandal, when a kind- 
 ly hearted monarch is represented under such malignant 
 and dark colours? 
 
 To-day I went to see Mrs. Nugent. She is more like a 
 corpse than any thing can be that is not one. I have paid 
 her several visits. Her conversation is sensible and com- 
 posed. Whatever scandal may have formerly said against 
 her must, I conclude, now be silenced; though 1 believe, 
 like the Gowls in the Arabian Nights, it ever feeds upon 
 decayed carcasses. 
 
 I see strange reports in the papers about the poor Prin- 
 cess. Turning her out of Kensington Palace, for that is the 
 true meaning of procuring her another domicile, appears to 
 me to be the forerunner of new troubles. It is said slie is 
 to be sent abroad. How can that be, without bringing her 
 to public disgrace? It is farther reported, that no ministers 
 will be accepted by the Prince, except such as will fiirther 
 his plans respecting the Princess. Now is the time when 
 her Royal Highness should seek for the protection of the 
 greatest of the land. Talent alone is not sufficient to bear 
 her up counter to the tide which has set in against her. 
 When people forsake their own position — their own station 
 in life — to cast themselves upon the aid of those beneath 
 them, it is an invariable rule that tliey fall into a pit from 
 which none can extricate them. The latter are generally 
 incompetent to judge of the conduct of those who are in a 
 totally different position from themselves. There is nothing 
 perhaps so difficult as to place one's self in another's iden- 
 tity, in any circumstance or sfiition of existence,: and those 
 who attempt this, in regard to Princes, mu'st be very honour- 
 able persons indeed, not to be swayed in their judgment by 
 party, by prejudice, or by self-interest. No royal person 
 ever experienced this truth more fatally than the unfortu- 
 nate Princess of Wales. Si;e was alternately under the 
 influence of all these contending powers; and even the best 
 of her Royal Highness's advisers, those who were honest 
 and honourable in their intentions towards her, were not 
 free from party spirit — whilst others again used her merely 
 as a ladder on which to climb to power. But then, it must 
 be said in justice to those who tried to serve her and failed, 
 that she frequently marred their endeavors by underhand 
 confidences to persons of opposite principles, when she did
 
 flMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 73 
 
 Yiot like a measure, and yet did not dare openly to run 
 counter to it. Tliis was vexatious to those who really were 
 tlesirous to be of use to her, and failed of making her any 
 stable fiientls with any set of political men. 
 
 The tissue of all liuman character is more or less uneven, 
 but I never knew greater inequality than in that of this very 
 extraordinary woman. Posterity will never do justice to 
 her memory— for, as in most cases, the bad and inferior 
 parts of her character were tangible and prominent to the 
 observation, while those alone who lived in her intimate so- 
 ciety, knew of the many good and great ingredients which 
 formed a part of the heterogeneous mixture. A friend of 
 the Prince, one wht) leant with steady affection to his Ro- 
 yal Highness's interests, said to me the other (\i\j, "The 
 Princess has behaved towards me with a candour and good 
 nature that do her honour;" (alluding to that person's never 
 having waited upon her, for fenr of offending the Prince;) 
 " few royal persons are sufficiently liberal to set down a 
 seeming omission-of duty, even of the most trifling nature, 
 to its true cause, when no disrespect is intended." It 
 ought to be recorded to the honour of the Princes?, that un- 
 til she was goaded to madness, she never felt nny hatred 
 against the Prince's friends, as such; — only against persons 
 who had been her adb.erents, and turned from her to bow 
 the knee to Baal, did she show any resentment. 
 
 Returned to town — was invited to sup at Kensington—^ 
 a very agreeable party, but, unfortunately, the Princess 
 prolonged her pleasures till they became pains. No appe- 
 tite for converse, no strength of nerves, no love for any in- 
 dividual who might be present, could possible enable any 
 person, who was not roxjul, (tliey certainly are gifted with 
 supernatural strength,) to sit for five or six hours attable, 
 and keep vigil till morniniii; li;;ht. Some one, I remember, 
 present that night, ventured to hint that morning was ar. 
 hand. "Ah I" said the Princess, " God, he knows wlien 
 we may all meet again — to tell you God's truth, when I anv 
 happy and comfortable, I could sit on for ever." 
 
 There was heaviness in her mirth, and every body seemed 
 to feel it, so they sat on. At last \ye rose from table; many 
 of the guests went away; some few lingered in the drawing 
 room, amongst whom I was one. I was left the last of ail. 
 Scarcely ha.l Sir H. Englefield, Sir William Gell,and Mr. 
 Craven reached the ante-roon», when a long and protracted 
 roll of thunder echqed uU around, 4ind shook the palace tq 
 
 VOL. I. 7
 
 74 MKMOIUS OF THE 
 
 its very foundations; a bright light shone into the room — 
 brighter than the beams of the sun; a violent hissing noise 
 followed, and some ball of electric lluid, very like that 
 which is represented on the stage, seemed to full close to 
 the window where we were standing. Scarcely had we 
 recovered the shock, when all the gentlemen who had gone 
 out, returned, and Sir II. Engletield informed us, that the 
 centinel at the door was knocked down, a great portion of 
 the gravel walk torn up, and every servant and soldier 
 were terrified. " Ah I" said the Princess, undismayed but 
 solemnly — "this forbodes my downfall," and she shook 
 her head; then rallying, she desired Sir H. Englefield to 
 take especial notice of this meteoric phsenomenon, and give 
 an account of it in the Philosophical Transactions; — whiclv 
 he did. 
 
 I learnt the next day that three new mad doctors had 
 been called in to the poor King: Monro, Symons, and J, 
 Willis. Heberden was dismissed, and is to see him no 
 more. It is settled, that a new plan is to be adopted: — as 
 all the physicians now allow that the King's mind is quite 
 gone, he is to be left to himself, except at moments of vio- 
 lence, — no longer to be tormented with medicine or ques- 
 tions, &c. &c., and only attended by the doctors who pro- 
 fess to treat insane persons, and by one regular physician. 
 By all this it appears certain, that at the expiration of the 
 year at latest, that is to say, in the course of next Febru- 
 ary, all restrictions will be taken off the Prince Regent^ 
 and he will act as King. What is to follow, time only can 
 show. 
 
 Heard to-day of the marriage of Mrs. Bouverie, which 
 event has given rise to a great deal of wit. They say that 
 in her youth she wore a cloak, and in her old age a Spencer, 
 
 The Princess communicated to me a letter from Mr- 
 Brougham. It is very like a conjurer's hocus pocus; for I 
 defy any one, and certainly her Roj-al Highness, to under- 
 stand distinctly what it means. It is a very ingenious mys- 
 tification, however. 
 
 COPY OF MR. brougham's NOTE. 
 
 " I have seen Lord Grey, and Lord Lansdowne, and 
 others. The Prince did not propose to Lord Wellesley 
 any thing about seeing or speaking to the opposition; but 
 Lord Wellesley proposed it, and the Prince did not object.
 
 TIMES OF OEORGE THE FOURTH. 75 
 
 TiOrd W. saw Lord G. yesterday, and to-day he saw Lord 
 Y. and Loid Grenville — and then Ire saw Lord Moira and 
 others. He has proposed several principles, in which he 
 thinks they may all agree: — the Catholic question, and the 
 war in Spain. Nothing ha«i been proposed in the order in 
 council; which is the chief difficulty in the opinion of many. 
 As yet, nothing is fixed, nor has any mention been made as 
 to arrangements of the offices; they are only negotiating to 
 try to come to an understanding upon principles. If they 
 succeed in that, the rest will be quite easy, as far as relates 
 to them; and I fancy Lord Grey will be minister; and the 
 Prince resei-ves to himself to agree to or refuse the project 
 they may finally submit to him. The thing is still going 
 on, and thev seem to think Lord Wellesley has completely 
 quarrelled with the old cubinet — with some (Lords Bathurst 
 and Hanov/by) irreconcileably. I never believe in such 
 irreconcileable (juarrels. Tlie opposition (with a few ex- 
 ceptions) ;ire all against their coming into office, and I am 
 sure Whitbread, Coke, &c., will be decidedly so." 
 
 About this time there was a talk of publishing some state- 
 ment of facts, in favour of the Princess, which was either 
 got up by Brougham or some of the party, but which they 
 chose to envelop in a sort (»f mystery; — whether or not to 
 <leceive the Prince.-s, or whether to serve her or themselves 
 and their party, I never could nnderstand. Her Royal 
 Highness showed me the following sentence in a note of Mr. 
 Brougliam's concerning them. 
 
 (Copy.)— "The papers have been sent to me by a mys- 
 terious peisima^e, wiih the view to publication. I have 
 fully considered the subject, and have written a cautious 
 answer, which has not been called for, though I have twice 
 advertised in the newspaper, as directed by the stranger. 
 I had intended to send a copy of my answer, but it is 
 scarcely worth while; the substance is strongly to advise 
 publication, but accompanied with a proper narrative, which 
 1 have engaged a most uncxceptiooitble person to write as 
 soon as required, nfanely, Mr. Hunt."* 
 
 While Mr. Brougham' was thus busily engaged, as it ap- 
 
 • Doctors differ, and so do other people, in their estimation of pro- 
 per and improper. Some have ventured to tliink that Mr. Hunt was 
 tlie very reverse, as an agent for the Princess of Wales.
 
 ?6 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 pearecl, in procuring or buying up papers, supposed to be in 
 favour of her Royal Highness, she herself was equally busy 
 on her part in a similal* scheme; but by all 1 ever could 
 make out, it was kept a profound secret from Mr. Brough- 
 am. 
 
 FROM MU. M. G. LEWIS. 
 
 « The Albany, Nov. 20th. 
 
 " MY DEAR , 
 
 "In the first place you must understand, that 1 have 
 been all my life the most careful person in the world re- 
 specting letters, and that the late in'.tances of the Duke of 
 York and Lord Folkestone have by no means operated to 
 produce an abatement of caution. London is still very 
 empty, and there is nothing to be done except going to the 
 play. Ijuckily that is one of my favourite amusements; 
 and still more luckily, the few people who are in town seem 
 to be of the same opinion; so that, whenever tjiere is any 
 thing worth going to see, a couple of boxes are taken, in 
 which Lady Le Despencer and her daughters t^ady de Ros, 
 liady Perceval, and all the men they can pick up, establish 
 themselves, and we generally sup at Lady Le Dcspen^cer's 
 afterwards. I have neither seen nor heard any thing of the 
 Princess, since she removed to Blackiieath, except a report 
 that she is in future to reside at Hamplon Court, because 
 the Princess Charlotte wants the apartments at Kensington; 
 but I cannot believe that the young Princess, who has been 
 always described to me as so partial to her mother, would 
 endure to turn her out of her apartment, or suffer it to be 
 done. I ha^e also been positively assured, that the Prince 
 has announced that the first exertion of his power will be 
 to decide the fate of the Princess; and that Perceval, even 
 though he deinurrenl at endeavouring to bring about a di- 
 vorce, gave it to be understood that he should have no ob- 
 jection to her being excluded from the coronation and exiled 
 to Holy rood House.* However, I only give you these as 
 
 • I am confident, that such a coui-se would ne%'er have been adopt- 
 ed by Mr. Perceval. He was not a man to lend himself to any mea- 
 sures wliich were not strictly consonant with open, upright honour. 
 Had he been convinced of the Princess's guilt, lie would not have 
 upheld her, ov professed himself her friend, while ui secret lie joined, 
 in the party against her.
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 77 
 
 reports, for which I know no foundation, and sincerely hope 
 that there is none of a solid nature. While on the subject 
 of royalties, I may as well tell you an anecdote, which, 
 whether true or false, has amused me very much. They 
 
 say, that when the Duke of C deputed Mrs. F n 
 
 to make his proposals of marriage to Miss L — ng, she went 
 
 to her and stated very gravely that the Duke of C was 
 
 willing to part with Mrs. J n, and give her place in his 
 
 affections to Miss L ; on which the poor little girl 
 
 thouglit ihat she was inteniled to officiate in the same capa- 
 city with her predecessor: so she fell a crying, and called 
 the unluckv ambassadress all the bad names that shecould 
 think of. •» 
 
 "Donald Macdonald called on me a few days ago, to 
 tell m'e that his brother's marriage with Lady Caroline 
 Edgcumbe is finally settled, and will tiike place with all 
 possible expedition. I am heartily glad of it. Sir John 
 Sinclair (the Duchess of Gordon's grandson) is going to be 
 married to the daughter of Admiral de Courcy. Lady Ox- 
 ford ,is returned to town to lie in; somebody said (in allu- 
 sion to the old joke about the Harleian Miscellany) that to 
 judge by her size, t'lis production would be a very volumi- 
 nous work indeed. I have not yet seen her myself, but I 
 hear that she is looking extremely ill, is in very low spirits, 
 and in short i.-* evidently quite chap-fallen. 
 
 "You sav, ' I Wonder what vou think of Trotter's Life 
 of Fox."^' — Now I wonder that, supposing I had only read 
 two paragraphs, you could have any doubt of what I must 
 think; and still more I should wonder, if supposing that I 
 had read the paragrapiis, you should imagine it possible for 
 me to read two more. I contented myself with the extracts 
 in the newspapers, which were quite numerous enough to sa- 
 tisfy my curiosit\', and prevent my wishing to see any more 
 of the work. The Author was a person merely taken into 
 Fox's fanuly because he was a relation of the widow of the 
 Bishop of Down, who was Fox's tutor; and he was only 
 employed (as I understand) in making extracts from diffe- 
 rent works at Paris, wliich contained matters connected 
 with Fox's projected History. This man has since thought 
 himself not sufficiently taken notice of, nor provided for 
 by his patrons, relations, and friends, and he is therefore 
 supposed to have published these memoirs with the bene- 
 volent intention of vexing them. The work is evidently 
 
 ,7*
 
 79 jM£:moirs of the 
 
 Ihe production of a disappointed man. His late dispute 
 with the physicians, respecting his charge of their having 
 accelerated Fox's death by the use of digitalis, is sufficient 
 to show how little he is to be relied upon for accuracy; and 
 as to his style, it is the most inflated bombastic manner of 
 writing that ever yet came in my way, and would be much 
 better adapted to ' the sorrows of Lady Henrietta Heart- 
 broke, being the first literary attempt of a young lady.' 
 Lord Hollant! is so mucli offended, both at the manner and 
 matter of the work, that he will not suffer it to occupy a 
 place in liis library, wiiere even my trasli finds room. 
 
 " I have heard of nothing good in the literary way; but 
 I read' three volumes yesterday of the strangest, dullest, 
 and most incomprehensible trash imaginable, two or three 
 passages in which made me laugh above measure, owing 
 solely (I verily believe) to the writer's being half a fool, 
 and half a mad woman, [t is the life of Mrs. Wells, a ci- 
 devant actress; in which, among other things, she proves 
 that the Duke of has given himself a vast deal of un- 
 necessary trouble; a thing uf which I never should have 
 suspected him. It seems that when a person is married 
 already, and wants to tnarry somebody else, nothing in the 
 world is necessary but the simplest and easiest thing pos- 
 sible: he has nothing upon eartli to do but to turn Jew! 
 This is what Mrs. Wells did with the greatest success; and 
 she always takes care not to confound her personages toge- 
 ther. There is ' her first husband;' and then there is • her 
 second husband;' and then again there is ' the father of her 
 children;' and I assure you, of all the distinctions I ever 
 met with, these different distinctions are made out the clear- 
 est. As she was always in debt, she inveighs bitterly against 
 the power of arrest; and prays devoutly, that the earth may 
 open and swallow all the lock-up houses. And she says 
 that being at Hasting's trial, a citizen's wife, who had looked 
 at her, indolently begged her to lend her the newspaper; on 
 which, says Mrs. Wells, I said, loud enough for every body 
 to hear me, ' 1*11 see you at the devil first.' Every eye was 
 instantly fixed on the citizen's wife; she sajik into her ori- 
 ginal littleness, and hastily quitted a society where she |iad 
 made herself so ridiculous!! — Addio. 
 
 "Ever yours, 
 
 '"M. G. LEWIS.'^
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 79 
 
 Sunday, February 23rd, 1812.— The Princess Charlotte 
 was at the opera last night for the first time, and much de- 
 lighted, as it seemed. She leant over the box and bowed 
 to every person she knew. I could not learn if she was 
 applauded or not. Slie went witli the Duchess of York, 
 Lord de Cliiford. and Bloomfield to attend her. Someone 
 of her royal uncles, and Erskine, were I understand in the 
 box. 
 
 EXTRACT FROM A LETTER. 
 
 Dated «« Saturday, 11th May, 1812. 
 " I was actually gwng (o write to you about this said in- 
 aolent ilrawing-room; for such it is, and will help, I think, 
 much to 'raise commencing \m\'\gn?Lt\on I but, for heaven's 
 sake, let any who may, advise the Princess to remain 
 where she is, and not stir hand or loot for herself, but leave 
 that to others, and be assured " qu'il s'en presentera.'' I 
 have heard, and in a way that makes me give some credit 
 to it, that a man unconnected with opposition, who wislies 
 to come forward and be talked of, rich and independent, is 
 in possession of a copy of The Book, and tiiat he means to 
 purchase a seat, for tjie purpose of laying this book before 
 Parliament — to the dismay and confusion of Perceval and 
 others of his followers," &c. 
 
 I here, that in consequence of the Princess having gone 
 to Windsor to see her daughter, a message was sent to her 
 from the Regent by Lord Liveipool, to desire her not to 
 go there again. Her reply was, that if she saw the Prin- 
 cess Charlotte as usual, once a week, she would obey; 
 but if not, she thought her duty in respect to her child 
 was paramount to all others. The Princess Charlotte has 
 not come to her, and the Piincess of Wales, is deterniined 
 to go again to Windsor. Her Royal llighnes.s knows she 
 will be refused seeing her daughter, but wishes to have the 
 refusal in black and white; and also to be able to say that 
 she did all in her power to prove her love for Princess 
 Charlotte.* 
 
 * This conduct would have been natural and praiscwortivy, had ge- 
 nuine affection for her child been the real motive; but it was too evi- 
 dently pique and a revenj^e for self-indignitics, wliicb instigated this 
 undignified mode of showing her displeasure. More patience and
 
 80 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 EXTRACT FROM A LETTER. 
 
 " What you liave (he goodness to ask as a favour, mj 
 
 ilear , 1 need not sa.y I look upon as an honour; and I 
 
 have finished two daubs, which I shall take the eailiest pri- 
 vate opportunity of sending to you. The one is Queen 
 Elizabeth (lancing, the other Louis XIV. and the Duchesse 
 de la Viilliere. Whichever of these unworthy performan- 
 ces you deem best, pray^ retain for yourself; for though the 
 Princess Clurlotte is certaiidy a great personage, and a 
 budding queen, and one may give oneself great airs on 
 having done a drawing (or her, yet I am a Jacobite and a 
 Scotchman; — so I would rather have the best of my poor ef- 
 torts ill the possession of yourself, than in that of the Princess 
 Charlotte ot Wales. Ever since I have possessed eyes and 
 ears, i have known how to appreciate the honours done me 
 by the former. Things have gone on rather stupidly, I 
 think, since you left Edinburgh. There have been some 
 parties, where people pretended to waltz and imaginetl they 
 were singing. Indeed, not to be above one's trade, with 
 some exceptions, this city containeth few pretty, well 
 dressid women, and a number of Anthropophagi, and men 
 whose heads 
 
 * Do grow beneath their shoulders.' 
 
 "• I had the honour of being at Lady C 's one even- 
 ing lately, and saw some French country dances. I wish 
 
 that you and Miss C had seen them also: there was 
 
 every step of a dancing duck, and the line of beauty 
 
 formed the wrong way. Pray tell Miss C that the 
 
 principal Vestris was her humble admirer Charles C , 
 
 figuring with a new French (i presume) head, his hair being 
 peaked up like Corporal Trim's Montero cap, or sooie of 
 the foretops in Captain Cook's Voyages: — with his head- 
 sear, and liolilini: his legs like a fro"; swimmin";, he was 
 enough to kill one with laughmg; — and he never could have 
 his fill of it — fur when any poor Miss fell piping hot upon 
 
 forbearance, on this as on many other occasions, would have given 
 her a Ix-tttr chance of carrying her point; but if ever woman was 
 goaded to ititemperate display of passion, the Princess was that wo- 
 man.
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 81 
 
 licr chair, out of the ring, he always handed her up again, 
 with a kick-out of his heels that beggars all description. 
 
 " I saw Dr. A. R tiiere, in very good health, but 
 
 still busy with the nieasied children in George's Square. 
 His brother, an officer in the 92d, is a very descendant of 
 Adonis, and all the pelisses in Princes Street are in love 
 with him. However, 'tis said he confines himself entirely to 
 
 Miss G , a lady rich in money and a hump, to which I fear 
 
 Adolphus will never find a discussing plaster — for it ap- 
 pears to be a mighty obstinate tumour. She does not care 
 so very much for good looks — but she is extremely fond of 
 laurels, and R was at***^ so she will wear his gar- 
 lands upon her shoulders * * *; while he will find her money 
 a much jnore cotnfortable and substantial thing than a night 
 cap of green leaves. 
 
 I saw Mr. C here the other day. He is, I think, 
 
 grown fat, and has always more light in his face than any 
 body; but I wish he were away from this odious town, — I 
 mean odious with resiiect to vounjrmcn of fortune, and indeed 
 to young men of any sort: fori am old fashioneil, I confess, 
 in many points, and deem this place a very poison to the 
 youthful soul. In London, young lads are dissipatedenough, 
 and thoughtless; but I never found them set up, fis they 
 universally do here, for atheistic professors of every thing 
 foolish and impious. David Hume has left that legicy to 
 his unfortunate countrymen; his ill grounded reputation 
 dazzles our C()lle<>;e and our l)ar: and I actually bidieve that 
 there is not one Christian, 1 had almost said 'riieist,on the 
 benches of our lecture-rooms, or on the boards of our Par- 
 liament-House. 
 
 "Apropos, our ladies are greatly shocked with the free 
 use of scriptural phrases in the ******, and vci-y angry 
 with the author on that account. For ti\y part, as I have 
 read a great many of the old Presbyterian sermons, I do 
 not sec those passages in so atrocious a liglit; for they are 
 nothing to the wondeiful things one meets wiih in the effu- 
 sions of Peden and Cargill; whose favourite scriptural book 
 appears to have been the Song of Solomoii: — which song, 
 by the way, I lately found in MS. in the Advocates' Li- 
 brary, translated into rliyme by Mistress Baibara Macky, 
 and humbly dedicated to that most noble lady the Countess 
 of Caithness, daughter to that thrice worthy marquess, my 
 Lord Marquess of Argyll. And a conscientious translator
 
 8!2 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 Mistress Barbara was; for slio leaves not out one word of 
 her original; — but lier lidelitj is superior to her metre by 
 many degrees. The Countess to whom she dedicates was 
 twice married; first (o Lord Caithness, and then to Lord 
 Breadalbane. Her picture, extremely pretty, is at Holy- 
 rood House, 
 
 " Talking of pictures, poor B. H. has got such a cold (I 
 
 suppose by sitting to T as Venus) tJiat she coughs the 
 
 castle rocks into ten thousiind eclioes, and rouses the 92d 
 there every fiw. minuies with the trumpet of her nose. I 
 
 never saw her in so sad a condition Nut so Lady C 1, 
 
 who is going to marry Mr. B s forthwith, and seems 
 
 very comfortable on the prospect. However, she will not 
 
 have the satisfaction of carrying on the S family; for 
 
 it appears that Mr. B hath a son— an unlicked lad; 
 
 and 1 was told that, the other evening B 's old nurse 
 
 (who always lives with iiiin) and his landlady, looking out 
 of the back windows by moonlight, beheld 'master salute 
 the house-maid as they met in the cabbage garden; on 
 which the two indignant Lucretias sallied down stairs, and 
 fell each upon her own property, with blows as well as 
 words — and a dreadful scene there was! Nothing like the 
 uproar hath been heard thereabouts, since the murder of 
 David Rizzio. They had all been very nearly seized by 
 the police. What became of the nymphs I know not; but 
 
 Master B is transmitted to the birch of the minister 
 
 at Aberlady, there to mortify in sackcloth and sea-coal 
 
 ashes. If I did not know your goo<lness, dear , I 
 
 should beg ten thousand pardons for all (his stuff; but as 
 it is, offering my very best wishes and respect, 
 
 " I rest your ever obliged," &c. 
 
 Monday. — I was shown to-day some verses bv an ac- 
 complished man, which made me wish to be a free agent, 
 and to visit the scenes wliicli he describes so well. Mr. 
 
 K. C n addressed them to a lady, a friend of mine. 
 
 Mr. K. C n was one of her RoyaT Highness the Prin- 
 cess of Wales's most intimate friends, and she valued his 
 acquaintance. A mind that was capable of appreciating 
 such characters and talents as his, could not itself be de- 
 void of taste and delicacy.
 
 T1ME3 OF GEORGE THE FOUKTH. 83 
 
 Dated " Scio, Marcli, 1812. 
 
 "Think not, fair lady, though in foreign clime, 
 'Midst isles remote, a wanderer still I roam. 
 That length of travel, or that lapse of time. 
 Hath banished every thought of distant home; 
 
 " That home where all my old attachments dwell. 
 Where infant hope and young emotions grew, 
 Where breathe the vtilued friends I love so well. 
 Warm in atti^clion, though m number few. 
 
 " Then, lady, wonder not that when I view'd 
 
 The lines you traced, my cheek with pleasure glow'd^ 
 Nor deem it strange that thus my gratitude 
 
 Should own the comfort which those lines bestow'd. 
 
 " Oh! they were doubly welcome at tliat hour. 
 When soUlude and sickness were my lot; 
 They prov'd by words of soft persuasive power 
 That, though far distant, 1 was not foi'got. 
 
 *' They sooth'd my sadness, and I learnt awhile 
 The transient evils of tlds life to bear 
 With patience, as I saw great Nature smile 
 Upon the island she has made so fair. 
 
 "In truth, this isle is beauteous to behold. 
 Well worthy of the ancient poet's clioice. 
 Who here had' fixed his seat in times of old. 
 And taught its shore the echo of his voice. 
 
 " In yonder bay, which no rude storms invade, 
 
 Where, hush'd in calm, tlie billows seem to sleep, 
 Two Plantain trees extend their leafy shade. 
 Above a spring that mingles with the deep. 
 
 \ 
 
 "There, on a rock clad wiih luxuriant vine, 
 The Chian youths in eager number throng. 
 To learn the precepts of tlie man divine, 
 Or hear the wonders of iiis epic song.
 
 84 MEMOIIIS OF THE 
 
 " Mark yoti tlic woody crag's that crown the wave, 
 The olive groves spread o'er the Lesbian plain? 
 Alcaeus there to verse new measure gave, 
 
 And Sajjpho sang, and loved, and wept in \ain. 
 
 "Far happier he whom Teos called her own, 
 
 The bard who drank and laughed long life away; 
 Who scatter'd loses round a tyrant's tin-one. 
 And ligliten'd with his song oppression's sway, 
 
 "See, in the windings of lona's coast, 
 
 Full many a spot enriched by classic famej 
 Behold Miletus Thalcs' wisdom boast, 
 But prouder still of its Aspasia's name. 
 
 «' Observe where Ephesus its temple rears. 
 
 The seventh wonder of th' astonished earth; 
 That mighty monument, the work of years. 
 Fell on the hour that gave a conqueror birth. 
 
 •' At nearer Chios, view the hallowed shrine 
 Whose oracle the solemn silence broke; 
 Erythrx too, wiiere, fired witii rage divine. 
 The Sibyl once in mystic accents spoke. 
 
 "Now smooth Ionia, grov'iling lie thy fltnes, 
 Thy massy poilicos and columns tall; 
 Alone unchanged, thy genial breeze remains. 
 And sighs at even o'er their mournful fall. 
 
 " Beneath the marble wreck the viper hides. 
 
 The centi]ie(le along the cornice creeps; 
 
 Quick o'er tli' Ionic scroll the lizard glides. 
 
 While in the sculptured leaf tiie scorpion sleeps, 
 
 "Within thy ports mute solitude prevails, 
 Which arts and industry enricli no more; 
 No poetry is heard among thy vales. 
 No music floats along thy desert shore; 
 
 " Save where perchance some foreign minstrel strays, 
 And strikes the lyre with melancholy hand; 
 Or sadly chants in feeble notes the lays 
 Which call to memory his native land — ■.
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 85 
 
 ■" Tlie lays, fiiir lady, which you sang- so well, 
 ■Within tlie precincts of that royal bower, 
 Wiiere beauty, taleiits, wit, and kindness dwell. 
 And cheer the progress of each fleeting hour. 
 
 "*» Still does the wandering troubadour aspire 
 
 To taste the joys which in tliose bowers are found; 
 Beneath tlieir shade again to wake the lyre, 
 And hear your voice accompany its sound. 
 
 " These pleasing hopes his spirits still sustain, 
 
 And freshened courage to his steps impart; — 
 They bid him for tkose lialcyon days retain 
 
 Unmoved his friendship, and unchanged his heart." 
 
 11th May, 1812. — T know not wliether to have faith in 
 presentiments or not; but once or twice in my life "coming 
 events" have "cast their shadows before," in a manner 
 almost supernatural. To-day I experienced the most gloomy 
 melanclioly I ever felt, without at the time having a cause 
 for so doing; but in the evening, as I was at dinner with 
 the Princess of Wales, she received a letter; I observed 
 her change colour while perusing its contents, and, cover- 
 in"- her face witii her hands, she exclaimed, " Oh I some- 
 thing dreadful has happened; I cannot read it aloud j" 
 but she pushed the letter towards me, and signed to me to 
 ■do so. The letter was from Madame de Haeckle, giving 
 an account of Mr. Perceval's assassination, by a man of 
 the name of Bellingham, as he was going into the House of 
 Commons. — Revenge of private injuries was stated as the 
 cause which led to the commission of this crime — that is to 
 say, tiie conceived injuries; — but Madame de Haeckle 
 added, " God grant this may not be the signal for many 
 coming woes!" — The panic struck us all, but no one more 
 than the Princess. I never saw her so deeply affected be- 
 fore, or since. Mr. Locke alone declared he did not be- 
 lieve that the murder, dreadful as it was, had any con- 
 nexion with public events, but was a solitary instance of 
 crime. About twelve at night, an express which the Prin- 
 cess sent to Mr. Arbuthnot returned, with a few words 
 confirming the truth and accuracy of the first statement; 
 except that Madame (/e Haeckle said the deed had been 
 committed in the House of Commons, whereas it was done 
 in the lobby of the house. The assassin immediately sat 
 
 VOL. I. 8
 
 86 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 down, did not attempt to escape, and said he had no doubt 
 his country wouhl do him justice when liis wiongs were 
 laid before the public; he was sure the laws would respect 
 him; and, in short, used the language of" a fanatic or a ma- 
 niac. Mr. Aibuti\not said he hail lost his best friend, and 
 never could have his loss re|)laced. The whole night was 
 spent in conjectures upon the probable consequences of this 
 horrible event. 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS, 
 
 Giving an account to her Royal Higlmess of Mr. Perceval's Assassi- 
 nation. 
 
 "Though I may not be able to send your Royal High- 
 ness more particulars than you are already acquainted with, 
 respecting the atrocious and horrible murder committed last 
 evening, 1 find it impossible not to condole with your Roy- 
 al Highness on an event the most lamentable that could 
 have befallen the nation at this time. I feel it the more 
 sensibly from its being connected so immediately widi your 
 Royal Highness, wlio has lost so true, steady, and firm a 
 friend, at a time, too, when his strenuous eftbrts were em- 
 ployed to place your Royal Highness, if not in the situa- 
 tion you ought to hold, at least in one more proper and fit- 
 ting than your present; so at least I have been positively 
 informed. On the event being known, the Speaker moved 
 an adjournment. The depositmnsof the witnesses present 
 were taken immediately by Mr. Cromeand Mr. M. A. Tay- 
 lor, which I understand brings the act home to the perpe- 
 trator, Mr. Bcllingham, a Russian merchant living at Li- 
 verpool. He also confesses the crime. The Lords voted 
 an address to the Regent, which was immediately taken up 
 and presented to him. Insanity is, of course, ascribed to 
 the assassin — the motive, disappointment at not receiving 
 compensation for losses in his trade. Lord Granville Le- 
 veson is also said to be a person of whom Bellingham com- 
 plains; but his lordship has fortunately escaped. As to 
 what government will now be formed, that is entirely mat-
 
 TIMES OF GEOUGE THE FOURTH. 87 
 
 ter of conjecture — but a few hours must decide. As your 
 Ro^al Highness may probably determine to defer your ap 
 pearance in public to-morrow, I shall take it as a favour if 
 vou will let me know your pleasure. 
 
 " I have the lumour to remain, &c., &c., 
 
 (Signed) " A. B. ST. LEGER." 
 
 Monday. — I was glad to hear a person, very much Oi^ainst 
 the Princess of Wales, say, that- he considered what had 
 passed in the House of Commons as decisive in her favour, 
 and that noihing more can be atlenipted to be brought 
 against her, nor would dare to be attempted on the other 
 side — lor the unpopularity is extreme. The Prince Re- 
 gent went yesterday in grand state to tlie Chapel Royal; — 
 the first time of his appearance as sovereign. As he pro- 
 ceeded from Carlton House to St. James's, surrounded by 
 all his pomp, &c., not a single huz/.a from the critwd as- 
 sembled to behold him! Not a hat oil! Of this I was as- 
 sured by a gentleman present, on whom I can depend. 
 
 Tuesda)', , 1812. 
 
 "Nothing has yet transpired of ministerial arrangements* 
 nor is it even known whom the Prince Regent has seen; 
 but it is thought that the same ministry are to be conti- 
 nued, and that they will still venture to try iheir hand. 
 The Prince Regent certainly has a mind towards liOrd 
 Wellesley, and as certairdy saw him befure Perceval's 
 death, — 1 believe on the, Wednesday preceding; but whe- 
 ther Lord Wellesley will join with these, that is, tliinks him- 
 self sufficiently strong or not, is doubiful. 1 dread him! He 
 is violent, arrogant, an<l haughty! Poor Peiceval, as a 
 private man, is much to be re;:retted; as a minister, not 
 so; as is most plain by the way his death is received by the 
 pe(tplel He would not believe in tlieir present distress and 
 difficulties, nor hold out any consoling hope for their re- 
 lief; and all that has followed, atui I fear 7jntl follow, is in 
 a great measure the consequence of his harsh and head- 
 strong disbelief in miseries too manifest to be doubtful. No 
 wonder then if the people grow violent and unmanageable 
 from despair, and seek remedies, alas! where they are least 
 likely to be found, and throw all into confusion! I can- 
 not, as some do, put my head into a bag, and fancy others 
 do not see me; or slt^ut my eyes and not see the gloomy
 
 88 MKMOIRS OF THE 
 
 prospects of the country. As to the opposition coming in 
 at present, I neither believe nor wish it." 
 
 "I last nij^ht saw at Mr. G. Lamb's several members of 
 the House of Commons who were present, both at the mo- 
 ment of tlie assassination, ant! at the examination of the as- 
 sassin; and likewise Lord Lauderdale, and some of the other 
 lords, who carried up an address to the Prince Regent. 
 There is not the least appearance, or evidence, or indeed 
 suspicion, of this vile act being done in concert with any 
 body or any party of people, or of the murderer having any 
 accomplice. He had been in former times a ship-broker 
 or something of that sort at Liverpool, and within these 
 few years was resident in Russia upon some commercial 
 business; where his conduct was eternally getting him into 
 scrapes, and giving mucl> trouble to Lord Granville Leve- 
 son, our then minister there. It is said too, that he w-as 
 for some time confined in that country, on account of po- 
 sitive insanity. At present he seems perfectly calm, and 
 free from any of the manners of a madman. He said upon 
 his examination, that he was perfectly aware of the atrocity 
 of the action, but that if he was to be calmly heard, he did 
 not doubt that he could justify it. He never attempted 
 escape, either before or after his seizure. The Prince Re- 
 gent received the address of the Loids within an hour after 
 the event had taken place, with every due and decent ex- 
 pression of regret; it was cairied up to Carlton House by 
 Lords Grey, Lauderdale, Lansdowne, Holland, the Duke 
 of Rutland, and some one else whose name I have forgot, 
 accompanied by all the Princes and the Duke of York, who 
 delivered it. The address was one merely stating the hor- 
 rible crime that had been committed on the person of a mem- 
 ber of the Lower House within tlie precincts of Parliament, 
 and praying a minute inquiry, and speedy justice upon the 
 delinquent. The House of Commons, in their confusion, 
 had adjourned without coming to any vote on the subject. — 
 You may easily conceive the effect this event must have 
 had on all society last night in London, and how il, and 
 nothing but it, was talked oi imiversal/i/, with all the hor- 
 ror which such a catastrophe must inspire. I am sorry to 
 add, that its effect on the mob who had collected at the 
 doors of the House of Commons before the murderer was 
 removed, was by no means such as could be wished— I
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 89 
 
 mean, that they did not seem at all impressed with horror 
 at such a crime, so committed, but seemed careless about 
 the matter, and even disposed to joke; without, however, 
 any party cr}', or any disposition to rioting." 
 
 Her Royal Highness sent for me again the next day. She 
 repeated ail that had been said the preceding evening; and 
 then she drew conclusions as to the future, respecting 
 the ministry, the Government, and other public matters, 
 wit!) sucli ingenuity of combination, and so much sound 
 reasoning, that I had a higher opinion of the powers of her 
 mind than I ever entertained before. 
 
 "The Prince," said siie, "never will have sufficient 
 energy to change his vvliole set of ministers, wliatever he 
 may wish to do; and he will merely get in Lord Wellesley, 
 or some such person, to plaster up the rent this great man's 
 death has made." Then she added, with an expression of 
 feeling which excited my warmest sympithy for her situa- 
 tion, " 1 have lost my best frienil; I know not where to look 
 for another: — tliough even he was chan";ed towards me 
 since he had become one of the nunisters. Whoever is in 
 power becomes always more or less the creature of the 
 Prince, and of course less friendly to me. No, no," she 
 said, *' there is no more society for me in England; fur do 
 
 you think if Lady H by, and the Duchess of B 1, 
 
 and all liiat set, were to come round to me now, that I 
 would invite them to my intimacj.'^ Never. They left me 
 without a reason, as time serves, and I never can wish for 
 them biick again. I am too proud for that. I do not say 
 that, were they to be civil again, I never would ask them 
 to a great dinner or ball; that is quite anoder affair. Mais 
 vous sentez bien, dat to have dem in de intimate footing 
 dey use<l to be on, coming every Sunday niglit, :ind all dat 
 sort of ting, never. No, I repeat it, so long as dat man 
 lives, [meaning tlie Regent,] les choses vont de mal en pire 
 for me — for whoever comes in to serve him, even dose 
 calling themselves my friends, are just tlie sami-; they will 
 set me asiile and worship the Regent — enfin, I have had 
 patience for seventeen years, and I conclude [ must for 
 seventeen years longer." 
 
 To hear complaints too well founded, to be low spirited 
 oneself, to have no consolation to offer, save of a kind that 
 unforlunalely for her she has never been taught to resort to* 
 
 8*
 
 90 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 and consequently cannot benefit from, is a very painful 
 situation for any one to be in who is her friend. I admire 
 her in many instances — I honour her masculine nobleness 
 and magnanimity; but I feel that we are too Air apart in 
 our habits and views, for me to be able either to divert, or 
 entertain, or comfort her. I can listen, howeverj and that 
 is always some consolation. 
 
 She received various letters from all her intimates, filled 
 ^ith accounts of the tragic event; then her Royal Highness 
 proposed driving to Lady Oxford's, to consult with her. I 
 did not immediately contradict her; but the idea of driving 
 to Lady Oxford's at a moment when I knev/ all eyes would 
 be turned upon her, teriified me for her sake. Shortly 
 after she ordered her pliacton, 1 know not what impelled 
 me, but I exclaimed, " Oh! I trust not to go to Lady Ox- 
 ford; I am so afraid, Madam, of what may be said." On 
 looking up, I saw a rising storm on her countenance. She 
 aiFected great composure, and said with a pettish air, " Oh, 
 'tis ail one, I assure you — let us not go;" upon which she 
 turned short upon her heel, and walked away in anger into 
 the garden. 1 felt sorry at having been guilty of any thing 
 she deemed disrespectful. I knew not what to do, but I 
 thought I had done what a real regard for her demanded; 
 so I followed her, and when I came up to her, I saw that 
 she wished to hide her anger, anil, with a command of tem- 
 per, rare in most persons, but admirable in a Princess, she 
 began talking upon inditferent subjects with great self- 
 command, and 1 saw that she was determined to forget the 
 circumstance, and I on my part resolved never to repeat 
 the offence. After all, 1 knew that she would always fol- 
 low the bent of her own inclinations, and nothing but an 
 imprudent impulse of real friendship made me hazard one 
 word of advice. 
 
 "When I was first introduced to her Royal Highness, she 
 gave me her opinion upon the subject of advice, and after we 
 became better acquainted, she said, with many flattering 
 expressions on my character, " Now I look upon you as a 
 friend, and we shall never quarrel if you never give me 
 any advice." In future, therefore, I determined (and I kept 
 to my determination) that unless her Royal Highness should 
 call upon me to act in any business, or on any occasion, 
 that I deemed hurtful to myself personally, I neither would
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 91 
 
 contradict nor advise her — that was the province of others. 
 Fortunately, or unfortunately, it is diffieult to say which. 
 Lady Oxford herself came, accompanied by Lord A. Hamil- 
 ton, and Lord G y. These visiters prevented her 
 
 going out to commit any imprudence to which the excited 
 state of her mind might have tempted her. 
 
 Thursday, 14th. — Tlie drawing-room was put off, which 
 of course disappninted the Princess, as she wislsed to be on 
 the scene as mucli as possible. 
 
 Saturday. — I was invited to Blackheath. The Princess 
 Charlotte, as usual, at dinner; Monsieur and Madame de 
 Haeckle, Ijady Elizabeth Whitbread, Miss Whitbread, and 
 the Dowager Lady Grey. I Vv'as soii-y to see these excel- 
 lent people there on this day, because I feared her Royal 
 Highness would be blamed for inviting; them to meet her 
 daughter; as her enemies will turn every thing to her dis- 
 advantage, and exaggerate every error. The Princess had 
 been forbidden to invite any persons whatever to meet the 
 Princess Charlotte. 
 
 " The Albany, Sunday. 
 " MY DEAR , 
 
 " 1 shall have the pleasure of dining with you to-mor- 
 row, but you will see me quite crest-fillen. Madame de 
 Stael! Oh! Madame de Stael !—' Oli I Huncamunca! — 
 Huncamunca, oh!' — How shall I write it. She told me — 
 she uttered it with her own lips — I heard it with my own 
 ears — it was to my own face, wliich slill burns with morti- 
 fication, that siie suid it — she told me — sliame checks my 
 pen — in short, she told me — that I was — inferieur! Oli! 
 all ye gods, inferieur! Write it not, my hand. 'The 
 word appears already written; wasli it out, iny tears:' and 
 not inftrieur merely, but tres inferieur! Humiliating truth; 
 can I ever survive thy declaration! What can I do? 
 whither shall I fly? Malheure.vx qitc je sins! wliere hide 
 my dimini?>hed head. — HelasI — Oime! heigii ho! — Oh dear! 
 lack a daisj! bubble and squeak, &c., and so forth. 
 
 " You may perceive that this mortification has nearly
 
 92 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 turned my head; let nie, (luM-cforc, use what little sense I 
 have lelt to assure you tlvat 1 am, * * » 
 
 * # ' * * * w 
 
 ***** » 
 
 « * 
 
 " Your sincere friend, 
 
 (Signed) " M. G. Lewis."* 
 
 Brighton. 
 1 saw Ladies Melbourne and Cowper, Lords Worcester 
 and IJrook, walking upon tlie iibominable Steyne, which 
 looks to me like a piece of ground where felons are allowed 
 to take the air. OliI how litile rashionable folks know of 
 rural enjoyments, or (1 believe) of any enjoyment! Lady 
 
 M is a fiiend of my fiierids, so i am sure there must 
 
 be some lair stuH'iii her; but slie is sadly encased in world- 
 ly ice. 1 wish 1 could be very fine. 1 think it is a co- 
 vering to all sorts of deformity; and the silence and gran- 
 deur of it im]Kises delightfully upon the multitude. The 
 bareness and glare of Brighton put my eyes out, and the 
 bustle and noise put my patience out; so Brighton is not in 
 my good graces. To-day I saw my ohi tutor. He con- 
 fesses that he is nearly tired of keeping a school; and no 
 wonder; for thougli the theory of educatiim is mighty pret- 
 ty in prose or verse, it is an Herculean labour when put in 
 actual practice; anil nothing but a sense of duty can make 
 any one go througli with it. 
 
 I received a letter from the Princess. She tells me that 
 the paper called the Acivs, has been bought over by Carl- 
 ton House, and that editor, a Mr. * * *, is going to publi.sh 
 a correspondence, which he declares to have pas>eil between 
 the Princes-, herself, and Lady Anne Hamilton, and Lord 
 Perceval, which correspondence her Royal Highness savs 
 is a forgery. She requests me not to take the News in any 
 more, and likewise wishes all those who profess to be her 
 friends, to forbid it iu their faniilies. One of her Royal 
 
 • Qui prouve tiop, ne prouve rien. This elaborate eflToj-t not to 
 betray mortficatioii, defeats its own purpose. But why did Mr. 
 Lewis tell of this ciicumstaiice? and if he thought it necessary to do 
 so, why not s;iy honestly, "it wounded me." Madame De Stael's 
 blunt sincei'ity in this instance~\vas misapplied, and apparently uncalled 
 for. If lier opinion hud Z/efwa just one, it was not hkc her usual supe- 
 riority of mind, to give unnecessary p.iin.
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 93 
 
 Highness's ladies is inucli distressed at the continued alarms 
 whicli such threats impart to lier Royal mistres?; and, in 
 writing to me bj the Princess's desire to tell me of the 
 
 above circumstance., Lady adds, that siie thinks she 
 
 will not be able to continue in the Piincess's service; for 
 not only is it a situation of constant uneasiness, but also of 
 very great fatigue; — sucli a perpetual excitement from lit- 
 tle causes, that, during the period of her waiting, s!ie never 
 
 knows peace. Lady is sincertdy attached to- the 
 
 Princess: but she says, and says truly, that it is impossible 
 for her, or indeed for any one else, to be of use to her Ro- 
 yal Highness; for if ^he asks advice otie day, she acts in di- 
 rect opposition to it the next: and J^ady adds, I fore- 
 see so mucii misery likely to be the poor Princess ol Wales's 
 lot, that I had rather, being unable to serve her, not be im- 
 plicated in the blame uhicii will fall upon tiiose persons 
 who, it is very naturally supposed, have some influence 
 over her conduct. 
 
 Fortunately for liady , the Windsor expedition, or 
 
 royal siege, is not likely to take place during lier time of 
 waiting, for Lady De Clifi'ord has j^ot inflaiieil eyes, and 
 has been obliged to come to town. Princess Ciiarlotte is in 
 consequence sliut up in the castle with the Queen Grand- 
 mother, and so all will remain as it is for the present. The 
 Prince's going in person, or not, to the House on Monday, 
 is uncertain; a negotiation I hear is carrying on between 
 Lord Wellesley, Canning, and the Whigs, in order to turn 
 out the present Ministry — that, would be a good deed; but 
 I dread Loid Wellesley as a minister more than any others: 
 he is ambitious, haughty, extrava<2;:int to excess. — Alas! poor 
 country ! Where Napoleon and Kutosou are, with their ar- 
 mies, no one can tell. 
 
 December 2nd, 1812, 
 
 The Princess Charlotte was at the House, and sat on the 
 woolsack near the throne; two of the Princesses came from 
 Windsor to accompany her, — it was remarked, that she 
 talked and laugiied much, turned her back (d'ten upon papa, 
 and had a certain expressive smile during the speech, which 
 dill not displease all the lords, nor all the ladies there. The 
 Prince, it is said, was much displeased at her manner; in 
 addition to whicl), the Princess Charlotte spoke to Lord
 
 94 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 Erskine, ami nodded to Loid Jersey; but those from whom 
 1 heard this seemed to be divertecronly at what had passed, 
 and :)f(;iclied no blame to her Royal ilij^hncss.* His Ro- 
 yal TIi;iliness was flurried and nervous, both in going to 
 and returning IVum the iuuise, but delivered his speech 
 well. — A pretty speech it was. By tlie people he was re- 
 ceived witli dead silence, and not a hat oft", — some marks 
 of disapprobation even, witli scarcely any loyal <i;reeting; 
 only a few plaudits as he went tlirough the Horse Guards, 
 — no general buist of popular- applause. 
 
 There was a report of the Prince Ri^genl's being ill, and 
 1 was told the King had been and was, since Monday last, 
 in such paroxysms, (hat they were considerably alarmed at 
 Windsor. I am much amused at hearing that her Grace 
 the Duchess of Leeds is appointed first lady to the Prin- 
 cess Charlotte. 
 
 I have only observed the advertisement (of the letters the 
 Princess of Wales wished to have published) once inserted 
 in the Morning Chronicle, and it is not, 1 find, yet general- 
 ly undeistood, as being a genuine documi'nt. I am in hopes 
 that some com|)romise may be ottered from the other side; 
 and the less that is said "about it, therefore, I think, the 
 better. I dread the publication of these epistles, as, how- 
 ever great it may make her wr(»ngs appear — and great in 
 my opinion they are — \et it will give colour to a charge of 
 breach of trust in making letters public that were never 
 written to meet the public eye. This might not be an 
 
 * It would be astonislvinsij to observe liow mucli party spirit per- 
 verts tlie minds of tliose over whom it takes possession, (even the best 
 natures,) were it not so common an occoiierce, tliiit it no longer 
 strikes as being- a novel or siii.nolar ciictimstance, but seems to be a 
 received ai^olot^y lor every sort of deiellciion from moral or religious 
 principle, oreven fiom luiMual feeling. — AVIiat in reality could be more 
 unamiable than for a daugbter to bold her fatber in contempt? — and 
 what more disgusting, than tbat sbe slioiild sbow sbe did so? — No 
 state considerations - nay, even no feeling for an injured molber, could 
 justify sucb a sentiment, or sucb beluiviour. lint, by all I could learn, 
 ihe whole tiling was misrepresented: proi)ably Princess Charlotte was 
 more iiiteresteil in the jiageant than in any cons. deration of the real 
 consequence of the scene, anil in the gay spirits of her youth thought 
 more of individuals whom she knew and liked, than of the more se- 
 rious consequences of the drama in which she performed so conspi- 
 cuous a part.
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 95 
 
 objection at a moment of personal attack, (or after a lapse 
 of years when time briiiy;s foul and fair to light,) but this 
 not bein2;al present the case, I repeat that I dread the publi- 
 cation of them, and thit'k it is highly injudicious in her 
 Royal Highness's advisers. 
 
 It appears that Napoleon has got to Wilna, and is safe, 
 with a great part of his army. The Russian Ambassadrice, 
 1 heard from Lady Warreti, is making all sorts of inquiries 
 as to the form 'ti which she is to be presented to her Royal 
 Highness the Princess Regent! — How will (hev get oft" this? 
 I wish it may embarrass them, but fear it will not.* 
 
 Kensington, Monday. 
 
 Came here yesterday by invitation — the house desperate- 
 ly cold, and every thing else as bad as ever; was command- 
 ed at hal*' past two to accompany the Princi-ss of Wales to 
 see the young princes, her ne[)heu's. She hates ihem, I don't 
 know why, unless it is that, as she says, they are friglit- 
 ful. As usual, she was mighty gracious to me, bat that is 
 because I am not curious or prying; — I only wish I had ears 
 and heard not, eyes and saw not;— but as that cannot be, I 
 render myself as deaf, blind, and dumb as I can, and think 
 myself perfectly justified in so doing. — Her Lady in waiting 
 said to me, " thinj^s are grown so ba<l, .so dull, so black, 
 that if it were not for the determination of putting a speedy 
 end to my slavery, I could not endure it: to have, all day 
 and all night, long complaints poured forth from which tlieie 
 is no remedy or relief, — nothing in heaven or earth that one 
 
 • When these matters came to stand recorded on the pnge of his- 
 tory, as recorded they most certainly will be, how difTercntly will the 
 characters of the persons fig'urinji^ in tliose times be rctrai'ded from 
 what they were at the period in which they lived! Could any thing 
 be more mean or unworthy, than the constant petty acts of provoca- 
 tion and insult, which were heaped upon tiie mother of the future 
 Queen? How impossible was it that Princess Chailolte should not in 
 some degree resent these injuries and affronts, which must have 
 wounded her own self pride, together with every better feeling of 
 her nature! Hers, indeed was a most difficult part to play: if she dis- 
 played affection and respect for the one parent, she tacitly blamed the 
 other.
 
 96 MEMOIUS OF THE 
 
 can point to as a sanctuary from tlicm! and I know of only 
 oncotluM- place to mention, wliicli is not polite. — The feeling 
 that I t(!l vou this, and tiiat wlien in her presence I seem 
 pleased, is a constant goad to tny conscience, and would 
 make me miserable, even if ennui and a consciousness of pos- 
 sible disi!;race did not render me so. — All (he day long her 
 Royal Hi<j,hness continues to talk of wishing people dead, 
 and I nuist not dare to contradict the wisli. I iiave been 
 an accomplice in murder many a time, if silence gives con- 
 sent.*' 
 
 The Piincess made many complaints of La reine des 
 Ostrogoths, and long liistoiies about the Squaltinis, and the 
 Grimas, that really diso,usted tne; — if she likes busying 
 herself with such ohiects, I do not. The old ourans; ouianjr 
 came to dinner, — tlr.nk of him porir tout bien, more free 
 and easy and detestable than ever. Then her Royal High- 
 ness sang — squally — stpially, why invite me? 
 
 Afier supper she continued the complaints. I cannot 
 describe how weaiisome, how unavailing and injudicious 
 the subjects of her conversation now are in general. I 
 know so perfectly tliat advice or even example is totally 
 thrown away, and that every body who gives such is de- 
 tested without benefiting her, th:it in the pass to which 
 things are arrived there is o!ily one course to be pursued, 
 silence — and to break from her society. Regret must and 
 ever will have place in my thoughts, when I shall look 
 back on tlie past, and think of the pleasant days which I 
 Jiave spent witli the Princess of Wales, and recollect how 
 cruellv she has been treated, and how recklessly she has 
 played into her enemies' hands, by going on in a course 
 which must ruin her character and happiness. 
 
 The persons who have gained undue influence over the 
 Princess, have cunningly persuaded her to renounce all her 
 former friends — and she herself has too much sense not to 
 be aware that the respectable individuals, who were a short 
 time ago proud to frequent her society, would not do so 
 now; neither would Her Royal Highness invite them, for 
 she knows her present associates are very unfit company 
 to be seen in her house; so she pretends that she has found 
 her old frieiius insincere and unkind — and professes not to 
 like them.
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 97 
 
 The next day her Royal Highness made a party to go to 
 a small cottage which she had taken in the neighbourhood of 
 Bayswater, where she could feel herself unshackled by all 
 the restraints of royalty and etiquette ; there she received a 
 set of persons wholly unfit to be admitted to her society. It 
 is true, that since the days of Mary of Scotland, (when 
 Rizzio sang in the Queen's closet,) and in the old time before 
 her, all royal persons have delighted in some small retired 
 place or apartment, where they conceived themselves at 
 liberty to cast off the cares of their high station, and descend 
 from the pedestal of power and place, to taste the sweets of 
 private life. But in all similar cases, this attempt to be what 
 they were not, has only proved injurious to them — every 
 station has its price — its penalty. Princes and Princesses 
 must live for the public — and though it has sometimes been 
 said that dissimulation was necessary to them, I believe it is 
 the reverse. They are beacons set on a hill — they must be 
 an example or a warning, and when they lurk about in cor- 
 ners, and forsake tlie society of those with whom tliey ought 
 to associate, for that of low butToons and creatures who pan- 
 der to their vanity and folly, the die is cast, and they fall 
 rapidly to perdition. To some who have been more power- 
 ful than others, the descent has been more gradual ; but from 
 whatever I do remember in tale or history, those princes have 
 become despicable, and finally lost, who gave themselves up 
 to favouritism and all its attendant unworthiness ; and, by the 
 Princess especially, a more unwise or foolish course could 
 not have been pursued, than this imitation of her unfortunate 
 Sister Queen, of France. All the follies, though not the ele- 
 gance and splendour of Trianon, were aped in the rural re- 
 treat of Bayswater ! ! — and the Princess's foes were not 
 backward at seizing upon this circumstance, and turning it 
 (as well they might) to eflfect her downfall. As far as regards 
 this world only, it is much more frequently imprudence than 
 actual crime which finall}' hurls people to their destruction. 
 
 All the time that her Royal Highness was going on in this 
 idle, unworthy manner, there existed a half-smothered com- 
 punction which made her wish to excuse her conduct, for 
 none can entirely emancipate themselves from blame, when 
 aware that it is merited ; or remain ignorant of the sentence, 
 which they deserve to have passed upon them by their fellow 
 mortals. The Princess said, how ill it would appear in the 
 eyes of the world if she diverted herself and gave balls and 
 
 Vol. I. 9
 
 98 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 assemblies, when no further supplies were granted to her, 
 and that she must consequently run into debt if she incurred 
 any unnecessary expenses ; besides, unhappy as she was at 
 being deprived of Princess Charlotte's society, how could 
 she aflect gaiety, — would not her doing so have the worst 
 possible appearance ? would not people blame her and say, 
 all she wanted was to amuse herself — " there, you see, she 
 cares not for her daughter, so that she has company." Tliere 
 was much plausibility in all this lying, but, unfortunately, I 
 am too well acquainted with the interior to be so deceived — 
 to say the truth, I often wonder that the world is as easily 
 gulled as it is by the great little people : it only proves that 
 it is the station and not the iiuman being that twists and 
 metamorphoses everything ; but a near inspection of Les 
 tours de Passe-passe reduces all the magic to mere juggling. 
 Sometimes I am enraged at myself for enduring to be in their 
 society for a moment, much more so for laughing or seeming 
 pleased ; but I have the same sensation as if I was living with 
 mad people, and really humour her as much as I would do 
 them, for fear of the immediate consequences to myself. 
 Yesterday, at dinnft', before the servants, she told the abomi- 
 nable, that a hundred virgins had strewed flowers in the Duke 
 of Brunswick's way, on his landing in Holland, &c., &c. 
 
 Tuesday, 11th. — I am informed that the music mania is at 
 its highest pitch ; the intervals between singing and eating, are 
 filled up with tedious complaints, which mean nothing, or 
 nothing that they ought to mean. The Princess obliged one 
 of her ladies to tell the ourang outang's fortune ; it was not 
 difficult to tell of his impudence and cunning and rapacious- 
 ness, but he would not take the hint. It was quite a relief 
 to-day to be invited to meet Mr. Gell, Mr. Knight, and Mr. 
 Craven at dinner, but her manner to them, especially to the 
 two latter, would be comical in the extreme, if it were not 
 melancholy, from the knowledge of the source whence it 
 arises. I could not help looking with a scrutinizing glance 
 at Mr. Craven, and I think his ejes are unsealed. Mr. Cell's 
 are still close shut, but the degree of bonhommie and truth, 
 with which he speaks to her Royal Highness, is very divert- 
 ing. He talked of a gentleman who sings divinely, and who 
 is very handsome and agreeable, and wished to be allowed to 
 be presented to her Royal Highness; at which I saw the 
 Princess quite furious, — a rival Squallini ! mercy upon us —
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 99 
 
 what should we do ? how sliould we dare to listen to any 
 other music than that of the one par excellence? In short, 
 nobody is to come into the house but Squallinis. She told 
 me she should sell all her plate, all her toilette ornaments 
 given her by the king, everything, in short, which she could 
 convert into money — for money she must have. 
 
 Another person in my place, would say to her Royal High- 
 ness, when she is detailing her money grievances, but syrely, 
 madam, if yon have gained £2000 a year by putting your 
 servants on board wages, and that you have had siBlOOO from 
 another source, and that you get ^61200 a year by not paying 
 your ladies, you ought to be richer than ever ; — but no, I 
 never said one word of all this — a quoi bon ? — She is abso- 
 lutely infatuated, she even talks of marrying again — but never 
 till she has tried the favoured mortal, and made him pass five 
 times through the fiery furnace of constancy and truth : there 
 is an ordeal for you ! — it is more truly an ordeal than Miss 
 Adair's.* To kill the Regent, then go abroad with a court 
 of her own making, of which the fiddler is to be king, is her 
 favourite plan ; Campbell is to write the epithalamium, and 
 Lady C. L. and Lady C. C, the two favourites, are to be the 
 ladies of the bedchamber — and « * * « * * » * 
 * * " Don't you think this will be delightful ?" she asks 
 me. Writing these notes, though they are never to meet any 
 eye but my own — seems to me unamiable, for Lam more 
 than ever overwhelmed with kindness. 
 
 Though the Princess was playing at chess with Lord Pal- 
 merston, she overheard every word I said, and that was not 
 agreeable, though, in fact, I said nothing that was of any con- 
 sequence. I endeavoured as much as possible to turn the 
 conversation upon books, and upon such books as I was 
 aware she would not have the patience to read. Neverthe- 
 less, from a quickness of perception, great tact, and an excel- 
 lent memory, she catches the title of every work, and, liaving 
 turned over tlie leaves, has a sort of smattering of the con- 
 tents, which she hashes up with other people's opinions, and 
 gives the whole en rechauffe, with a faux brillant which im- 
 poses on the many. As soon as these men went away, she 
 felt a weight removed from her. — She cannot now bear to be 
 in good society: she calls it dull; and, true enough, good 
 society is often dull — whereas what is called good (though 
 
 • Miss Adair, afterwards Mrs. Graj, wrote a novel called the Ordeal.
 
 100 MRMOIRS OF THE 
 
 often bad) is tire reverse. What strange misnomers there are 
 in the world ! but it is possible to unite greatness with 
 fi-oodness; and at all events, it is a great merit to bear dul- 
 ness with patience. 
 
 The Princess is always busying herself with the multipli- 
 cation-table — that is, putting two and two together. She 
 asked me if I thought Lady C — C — would marry Mr. Ar- 
 buthnot. I burst out laugliing, and replied, "First of all, is 
 he so inclined ? — 1 believe not. And secondly, I know Lady 
 
 is not inclined, either for lovers or matrimony, at pre- 
 
 s,ent." 
 
 The Princess then held Lady C — C — very clieap, and 
 returned to the old story. It is difficult to say to any per- 
 sons that one thinks their principles libertine, or rather that 
 they have no principles at all : but I told Her Royal High- 
 ness, that I knew Lady would never be made happy by 
 
 any iUicit attachment, and tiiat the sting of what she con- 
 ceived guilt, and the anxiety of concealment, would always 
 make her wretched. To this the Princess replied, — " Mar- 
 ried love never lasts ; dul is not in de nature.^^ I confessed 
 that I had seldom or ever known it to do so; but that even 
 were ir the case, and that a married woman found herself 
 obliged to resign the sweet illusions of pa:ssion, she had yet 
 the sober consolations of esteem from others — of the applause 
 and consideration of the world — above all, the inward peace 
 of self-satisfaction; whereas, a woman who was a mistress, 
 was always in danger of losing her lover, and with him 
 she lost every thing besides. To this Her Royal Highness 
 had nothing to reply. I spoke merely as to the ivorldly con- 
 sideration of the subject, for I knew that view of the matter- 
 would weigh most with her. I do not think she likes me 
 
 when I speak thus. I assured her. Lady was sincere 
 
 in her principles ; but she hopes she is not stedfast in them. 
 
 Thursday. — Yesterday Mr, Arbuthnot, Mr. Ward, Mr. 
 Luttrell, Mr. Gell, Mr. N —   1, Mr. Fox, and Lady Char- 
 lotte Lindsay dined at Kensington ; of all these persons, Mr. 
 Gell is, I believe, my favourite ; I think he is really good, 
 and I cannot like any one long, that has not that stable foun- 
 dation whereon to rest. The conversation was of that kind 
 which most delights the Princess — brilliant, evanescent, and 
 devoid of reflection — a sort of sparkling fire which only 
 makes darkness visible — this it is which moves the muscles
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOVRTH. 101 
 
 of the face to laughter, but never dilates the heart with real 
 joy. If flattery could delight, I had enough of it ; but it has 
 ceased to charm rae — for it is only intoxicating when one can 
 bear its trophies to the feet of a beloved object, as an of- 
 fering to its merits ; 'tis nothing when it is an idle gratifica- 
 tion of selfish pleasure. Mr. N 1 is a fat, fubsy man, 
 
 very like a white turkey-cock — but he is a good musician, 
 reads music at sight, and sings correctly. Mr. Fox is a little 
 hideous black man who is called clever, perhaps only be- 
 cause he bears that name, though I am tempted to give him 
 credit for somewhat of reality, though it is only upon credit, 
 for I never heard him say anything that could sanction the 
 belief. Of all that was said, I only remember that these per- 
 sons praised Lord Byron's English Bards and Scotch Re- 
 viewers, aud declated they were surprised it had not made 
 more noise, as it was the cleverest thing that ever was written. 
 
 This backed Lady M 's opinion — they added that it was 
 
 the more wonderful it should be so, because his " Hours of 
 Idleness" was remarkably weak and poor.* — It is curious to 
 hear all the different opinions that people give of eacdi other. 
 
 On Saturday, Lord L n dined here, he hates Lord H , 
 
 and there appears to be no love lost between them. I like 
 the latter much the best; he says, Lady E. B — is an impu- 
 dent, forward girl, that pursued Lord H — a toute outrance, 
 who declares openly that he does not mean to have anything 
 to do with her ; — I believe both these assertions to be true. 
 
 People say that the unfortunate King may linger much 
 longer, but that, whenever the Prince does come to the throne, 
 he will make no change in tlie administration, and that he 
 will also totally abandon the Catholic question, in spite of 
 having promised to support it; — that his conduct will raise a 
 rebellion, and that it is what ministers wish, because it will 
 give them an opportunity to act with greater rigour, and by 
 violence to extirpate the Roman Catholics, or at least their 
 tenets, altogether. Others say, that as this is impossible, it 
 will only breed a civil war. There was much talk yesterday 
 at dinner about Mr. Greville; the Princess hates him; she 
 says, he is so mischievous and so tattling ; she added, " I could 
 forgive him for anything he said of myself, because I have 
 
 • The " weakness and poorness"^ of Lord Byron was the strength and 
 riches of other men; he might have laughed those to scorn who syoke 
 thus of liLm. 
 
 9*
 
 102 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 good broad shoulders; but he calls iny daughter an aban- 
 doned little thing, and d — n nie [she often swears that oath,] 
 if ever he shall meet her in this house again. The case vas, 
 you see, that Mr. Grevillc abuse all the lioyal Family to her, 
 vich vas a great impertinence as I should say, and she, poor 
 little ting, vanted to excuse dcni ; so wen Mr. Greville in his 
 wisdom said it was pity de Duke should have his mistress 
 here, vare de princesse was, she aunswered, 'Oh Lord upon 
 us, vat would you Iiave; de Dukes cannot marry, dey must 
 love somebody' — it would have been better had my daughter 
 said, as one should say, dat is a subject on which I never 
 speak, but she is a young ting, and not prepared for such 
 matters, — No, no, let us speak no more of Mr. Greville, 'tis 
 such an unpleasant subject." 
 
 Montague House. — I arrived at three, found nobody but 
 
 old J : the horrid din continued till five, then eating, 
 
 then din again till dinner at seven — I think my ears never 
 underwent such martyrdom. After dinner, again the music was 
 continued till ten without ceasing: he was then dismissed, 
 and I was kept till two in the morning: the Princess told me, 
 " that every thing was going on as she wished, that they 
 were playing her game, that she had the cards in her owa 
 hands," and a great many more mystical nothings with 
 which she deceives herself, and fancies she deceives others. 
 The only facts I could catch hold of, were that Lady de Clif- 
 ford had resigned, and that the Duchess of Leeds was pro- 
 posed to succeed iier as governess to Princess Charlotte, but 
 that she (the Princess nf Wales) as well as Lady de Clifibrd, 
 had advised the young Princess never to allow another 
 governess to come n'jar her; a piece of advice, I conclude, 
 which tallies too well with her own inclinations for her to 
 disregard it. What interest Lady de Ciiflbrd could have in 
 this advice, I know not, unless it were the vanity of saying 
 " Princess Charlotte never had any governess after me." 
 Then, continued her Koyal Highness, "Mr. Brougham has 
 written me a letter of twelve pages, which, as soon as he 
 returns to town, when Parliament meets, I am to send to the 
 Regent and the Chancellor, respecting my cruel situation, 
 and my not being permitted to see my daughter,— to which 
 letter he must give some answer; but 1 have taken care to 
 write a copy of it to the Ministers also, well knowing that 
 he would put the paper in his pocket and never say more 
 about it." — I had nothing to do but to bow, and listen. "Oh!
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 103 
 
 my dear there will be such a crash!" "I trust it will 
 
 be all for the best," said I. "Nothing can be worse," said 
 
 she. " Oh ! my dear ," resumed the Princess, after a 
 
 short pause, "there is all sort of tracasseries at Lee." Of 
 that 1 had no doubt. — Such jealousies and quarrellings, Lady 
 Anne fighting with liady Perceval — the one supporting the 
 Sapios, the other, that is Lady Anne, wishing to turn them 
 out of the seminary — then the young Miss Guiu making 
 love to the young captain: and the old man in a fury, and 
 the young lover mighty cool. — "Lady A.," said the Princess, 
 " is very much attached to me, and has many good qualities, 
 but has a love of meddling, and prying, and managing, and a 
 want of tact I cannot endure. And, in short, 'tis nothing but 
 little things, but in^little things she is constantly doing what 
 is disagreeable, and there is not a hole or corner into which 
 she dops not follow me— she has such a manque de facte, 
 that she wears me to death — no, I could not sufier it long." — 
 "I wonder your Royal Highness did not tell her of your 
 dislike to have any one in your apartment." — "No, my dear 
 
 , I showed it to her, but, to say get out, I could not." 
 
 This was spoken with real good nature. 
 
 I was unwilling to add my mite of disapprobation against 
 the poor Lady A., and said what I could in her favour — and 
 the Princess replied, "If I had a house in town, it would be 
 very difierent. None of my ladies should live in my house, 
 
 I would give Lady C. L , and Lady C C , a house 
 
 each of their own, and this would be a good excuse never to 
 have the ladies I do not like, as well as Lady C. L. and Lady 
 C. C, except at dinner." — Her Royal Highness said many 
 kind things about myself and my own concerns — she 
 praised those 1 love, and promised never to forget the little 
 services they had rendered her. " You shall see, the instant 
 I have any thing in my power." One must not, however, 
 put one's trust in princes; and though I believe her Royal 
 Highness intends to do what she says, I fear perhaps her 
 opinions may change, when she has the power of doing what 
 she now wishes. 
 
 Sunday. — After luncheon I accompanied the Princess (at- 
 tended by her Lady in waiting) to town, to the Duchess of 
 Brunswick's. The Duke of Gloucester was there ; he re^ 
 ceived the Princess very heartily ; party as well as interested 
 views, perhaps, of the highest kind, may influence him; but
 
 lot MEMOIUS OF THE 
 
 from all I can learn he is a good man, and has the upright 
 solid basis of religion and virtue which distinguished the poor 
 fallen Monarch. The conversation between these three royal 
 personages put me exactly in mind of the Margravine of 
 Bareitli's Memoirs, and 1 think all accounts of courts and 
 the petty transactions therein, must have precisely the same 
 stamp. The old Duchess talked chiefly of the Queen and 
 the Princesses having visited her — upon which her daughter, 
 the Princess of Wales, addressed herself as loud as she could 
 across her mother to the Duke of Gloucester, not liking to 
 hear her enemies, as she conceives them, so dwelt upon, and 
 with such complacency. — Then they talked of the death of 
 Lady Ailesbury, and immediately of who would get her place 
 in this ivorld; then of the death of a Mrs. Fielding, and who 
 would get her place — upon which the Princess of Wales 
 rolled her eyes in signal of being weary ; though, in talking 
 of the places she intends to bestow if ever she has the power, 
 she is not at all aware that to those not particularly on the look- 
 out, it must be equally tiresome. — Then they mentioned the 
 New Theatre, and the Duke said, " nobody but Mr. Whit- 
 bread could have done so clever a thing." " Why," said 
 the old Duchess, " is he an architect ? I thought he was 
 only a brewer." — Not so bad that, — but she meant, in the 
 simplicity of her heart, merely to say, " how the Devil got 
 the apple in?'"* — Duke — " No ma'am, only no one but he 
 could have had so much taste and ingenuity." Then their 
 Royal Highnesses made a joke on the conveniences attached 
 to the private boxes ; after which the conference broke up — 
 the kiss of peace was given, and the Princess came back 
 
 here. — On the way. Lady A was started as fresh 
 
 game. " Think, my dear , of another petitesse. Miss 
 
 R. was with me, and, talking of masters, observed that she 
 could not afford them here as she could abroad, whicli she 
 regretted. ' Now,' said she, ' I want to have such a master 
 for such a thing — but it costs so much.' ' Oh !' said Lady 
 
 A , ' there's Mr. Bolton, the best man in the world, and 
 
 so cheap, only five shillings a lesson.' Accordingly Miss R. 
 had this master, but found out that he hati three or four 
 guineas' entrance money, which Lady A. had never men- 
 tioned. Accordingly she wrote to the latter to mention the 
 circumstance, and to say she could not employ him. Upon 
 
 * Vide Peter Pindar.
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 105 
 
 which Lady A. asks me to pay de tree guineas. Can you 
 conceive ! I say, ' oil ! yes, to be sure,' but I link de thing 
 has not de sens comniun, for why should I pay de masters 
 of all de misses ?" 
 
 I quite agreed with her Royal Highness in the meanness 
 of such contrivances. 
 
 After dinner, the Princess received a letter from the Princess 
 Charlotte, who told her she had written to the Prince her 
 father, refusing, but in a very respectful manner, to have any 
 more governesses, and gave the Princess of Wales an account 
 of a dispute she had had wilii the Queen and her Aunts about 
 it. The Princess of Wales was in the third heaven of de- 
 light. — Her Royal 'Highness showed me Mr, Brougham's 
 letter, which she is copying, that it may go to the Prince. 
 It is a most capital letter, setting forth her wrongs, and, pro- 
 viding the basis be solid upon which it is founded, her cause 
 must be secure. No petulance, no anger, but dignity, ten- 
 derness, and propriety. Then what may they not answer? 
 They may say it is all true, if so, and so, and so were 7iot ; 
 but if so, and so, and so is, why then so, and so, and so is 
 justice, and not injustice, — and all this depends on this so 
 and so being proved, or disproved. God grant all may be 
 for the best. 
 
 Tuesday, 12th. — I received Walter Scott's Rokeby. I 
 gazed at it with a transport of impatience, and began reading 
 it in bed. I am already in the first canto : — my soul has 
 glowed with what he justly terms " the art unteachable." 
 My veins have thrilled ; my heart has throbbed ; my eyes 
 have filled with tears — during its perusal. The poet who 
 can thus master the passions to do his bidding, must be 
 indeed a poet.* 
 
 Wednesday, 13th. — The Princess came to me yesterday 
 in a great bustle, as though she were " big with the fate of 
 
 ' Walter Scott ! — There is a magic in the name, which arrests the 
 pen, and almost makes it sacrilege to write one word which can disparage 
 the chivalric character of his glorious memory. T5ut truth must be 
 told : — he behaved ill to a woman I — and that woman her who was to 
 he his queen ! From having literally sat at her feet — from having in 
 one of the most spirited of his songs, expressed devotion to her cause, 
 he suddenly veered round to the Regent, and never after testified the 
 slightest remembrance of his having once courted her favour. — Verily he 
 had his reward I
 
 106 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 Cato and of Romcy She had received another letter from 
 her daughter : — such a character ; such firmness ; such deter- 
 mination ! She was enchanted. The Prince had been with 
 the Chancellor to Windsor, and, in presence of the Queen, 
 demanded what she meant by refusing to have a governess. 
 She referred him entirely to her letter, — upon wliich the 
 Queen and her father abused her, as being an obstinate, per- 
 verse, headstrong girl. — " Besides," said the Prince, " I 
 know all that passed in Windsor Park ; and if it were not for 
 my clemency, I would have shut you up for life. — Depend 
 upon it, as long as I live you shall never have an establish- 
 ment, unless you marry."* 
 
 " Charlotte never spoke, or moved a muscle," said the 
 Princess of Wales : " and the Prince and the Chancellor de- 
 parted as they came, but nothing could be more determined 
 or immoveable than she was; — in short, we nmst frighten 
 the man into doing something, otherwise he will do nothing; 
 and if mother and daughter cannot do this, nothing can. — On 
 Sunday I shall send my letter — but I do not think gentle 
 
 means will ever avail. — If we were in past times " and 
 
 her Royal Highness looked quite fearful as she spoke ! 
 
 I know not what to- reply, when she talks thus. What I 
 think is most likely to ensue — and I fear 'tis what is best — 
 is, that she will be set aside entirely as a factious spirit, dan- 
 gerous to the peace of the country. 
 
 Yet, after such a conversation as the above, her Royal 
 
 Highness could begin squalling with S and forget her 
 
 cares and vital interests, in the amusement of frightening 
 the air with horrible sounds till past one in the morning ! — 
 'Tis wonderful ! — After all, what right has the Princess 
 Charlotte to disobey her father? Those persons who are 
 never governed are not, surely, fit to govern others. 
 
 1 am agitated for the consequences of the intrigues that are 
 going on. I am sincerely attached to the Princess Charlotte, 
 but 1 shrink from being obliged to say, " very firm, and very 
 fine," when I think, " very obstinate, and very wrong- 
 headed." — If she is without shame, or fear of God or man at 
 seventeen, what is to become of her — of us ? Hearing of 
 
 * Princess Charlotte's firmness of character in this instance, amounted 
 to nothing more than the obstinacy of a child who wishes to escape all 
 wholesome restraint ; and whoever countenanced, or advised her to act 
 thus, was much to blame. — It was a pity her mother upheld her in this 
 rebellious conduct.
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 107 
 
 crooked ways and mean policy disgusts me, and creates a 
 tremor, as tliough I were surrounded by a parcel of opera 
 devils, shaking their resin torches in my face. 
 
 Thursday, 14th. — T. Campbell accompanied me by invi- 
 tation to see her Royal Highness. I had to lecture and pre- 
 pare him for what he was to hear, and what he must reply ; 
 and he followed my directions, and did not misbehave. 
 About seven o'clock, a messenger arrived from Princess 
 Charlotte, which occasioned a great bustle, and some tears 
 to the Princess of Wales, who is in despair, for the young 
 Princess consents to receive the Duchess of Leeds as her 
 governess,* after all her violent objections to do so. This 
 circumstance decided the Princess of Wales on sending off 
 her own letter directly to the Regent per messenger.f How 
 far this sudden and premature disposal of her letter may suit 
 Mr. Brougham's intentions, I know not. Mais la bombe est 
 partie, and the mine is sprung. I fear all it will produce, 
 will perhaps be, an order to shut her up in some close con- 
 finement, and allowing her to see nobody. Sometimes I 
 hope the best, but oftener fear the worst for this poor woman. 
 
 Friday, 15th. — To-day the Princess received an answer 
 from Lord Liverpool — oidy a few lines, — returning her let- 
 ter to the Regent unopened, and saying, that he was com- 
 manded by the Prince to inform her Royal Highness, that, 
 having some years ago declared he never would receive any 
 letter or paper from the Princess, his Royal Highness in- 
 tended to adhere to that determination ; and so ended all the 
 hopes and fears her packet had created. It seems to me that 
 the Prince does not mean violently to attack her, for here a 
 fair opportunity presented itself, and was not seized upon ; 
 but that he intends to let the Princess be forgotten, and to lay 
 her by upon the shelf of oblivion. 1 fear parliament will do 
 much the same. — She, however, does not anticipate this. 
 Princes have little idea, and can have little, of the very small 
 importance of their interests and petty intrigues out of the 
 
 * The Duchess of Leeds was an excellent quiet character, bent upon 
 falfiUing her duty, but not suited to the stormy spirits with whom she 
 had to deal. And yet, perhaps, the quiet, humble agents of royal esta- 
 blishments are less likely to do mischief than those whose natures arc of 
 different mould, and who take an active part in the scene. 
 
 f Why so 1
 
 108 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 immediate circle of their influence; in England especially, 
 where even the reigning monarch is merely a chief magistrate, 
 under the autliority of laws which he cannot overpass. 
 
 Whenever there was a storm brewing, or actually raging, 
 then the poor Princess was comparatively happy: like all 
 restless spirits, she hoped that " it is an ill wind which blows 
 nobody good :" — she was sure to be the person who would 
 derive benefit from the tempest. — But whenever there came a 
 calm, then she had nothing to do ; and, after being accus- 
 tomed to live in a state of excitement — being now let down 
 to the quietude of common life — she suffered the depression 
 a man feels who is recovering from intoxication. 
 
 After receiving this answer, her Royal Highness was in 
 very low spirits for a short time; but no one feeling lasts 
 long — and, to do her justice, she has an indigenous courage 
 and cheerfulness of disposition, which no provocations or 
 vexations can wholly subdue. Had this princess been other- 
 wise nurtured and brought up — had she, when first she came 
 to this country, found a husband at once strict and fond — how 
 different a person she might have been ! Her good qualities 
 fostered, lier evil ones restrained — her mind softened by cul- 
 tivation, her manners regulated by decorum — what might she 
 not have been ? But she came from a court sufTiciently base 
 in its principles, to another, where the unfortunate state of 
 the best of monarchs occupied all the thoughts and time of 
 his devoted consort, and the royal family, and left her an un- 
 protected prey to the person who was the mistress of her 
 liusband ! — To those who knew the Princess in the first days 
 of lier arrival in Britain, and the set by which she was sur- 
 rounded, it must ever be apparent, that all her subsequent 
 faults and follies admitted of great extenuation. 
 
 Saturday, 1 6th. ■^— The Princess told me a strange circum- 
 stance, which has lately come to her knowledge, namely, 
 that the editor of the Star, a Scotchman, whose name she 
 forgot, told Lord Perceval, that when the paragraph announc- 
 ing the publication of the letters came out, Mr. Macmahon 
 went to the editor of the Star, and, giving him a scurrilous 
 piece of abuse about the Princess, desired him to put it in 
 his paper. The former refused, saying it was actionable; 
 and then Mr. Macmahon offered any sum to the man, to 
 bribe him, which he equally spurned and rejected. What
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 109 
 
 meanness ! How these histories make one feel the littleness 
 •of human beings ! 
 
 I walked to Lee. The day was fine, and I had not felt 
 the fresh air blow on me so long, that it seemed redolent of 
 life, and health, and peace, if not of joy and youth. There 
 are past days we mark in tlie calendar of our thoughts by the 
 strong sensations we have felt, while others, that have been^ 
 perhaps, replete with incident — which, in the common opi- 
 nion, ought to have been more interesting, have never once 
 returned to our thoughts. Among the former of these days 
 was one when, a year ago, I had taken the same walk to 
 Lee, and when the same spirit moved within me to see and 
 feel — a joy I could jtot fell. This is a doubling of existence : - 
 it is a foretaste of the pure pleasures which will be for us in 
 an hereafter. The very nature of such sensations is an im- 
 pulse of " praise — it is a joy that cometh from above." 
 
 Mr. L. walked home with me : he is one of those beings 
 whom one trusts upon credit, and to whom we are assured 
 we are agreeable, by those indefinable marks of courtesy and 
 kindness which aie, after all, the surest proofs of genuine 
 
 good will — at least at the moment. He talked to me of ; 
 
 praised, and praised in a way to please : he laid the unction 
 
 of flattery to my soul: — I denied the charge of being but 
 
 I fear I did not do so to the purpose. — I never was made for 
 any concealment; partly through weakness, partly through 
 the sincerity of my nature. — What I love, I like to talk of, 
 and I should like those I love to talk of me. 
 
 Sunday, 17th. — Lady De Clifford came and told the 
 Princess all the story of the Regent's scolding Princess Char- 
 lotte over again, and repeated what he had said in respect to 
 her never having an establishment till she married. He had 
 also, she said, called her a fool, and used other violent lan- 
 guage. The Chancellor told the Princess Charlotte, that if 
 she had been his daughter, and had written him such a letter, 
 he would have locked her up till she came to her senses — 
 " Rather violent language," said Lady De Clifford, " for a 
 coal-heaver's son to the future queen of England." Of course, 
 there were many epithets bestowed upon the Duchess of 
 Leeds, such as " weak woman," and a " pinchbeck duchess," 
 &c., &c. Old Lady De Clifford was very furious, and the 
 Princess delighted at her for so being — but observed to me 
 after she was gone, that in her place she never would have 
 
 Vol. L 10
 
 110 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 taken the salary. I agreed. " Besides," said the Princess, 
 " tlie nation would have done something for her, and it would 
 liave been in a more honourable way." It is supposed by 
 this party, that the Duchess of Leeds has been placed by the 
 
 recommendation of Mrs. Nugent, through the Duke of C . 
 
 Princess M., it is said, tells every thing to the Prince Regent, 
 and Princess S. is the one that does exactly what Princess 
 Charlotte chooses. The Prince had written a very cold letter 
 to Lady De Cliflbrd, who had also written one, as cold, in 
 reply. 
 
 This evening, there came a letter from Mr. Brougham, de- 
 siring her Royal Highness to send her letter again to the 
 Chancellor and Lord Liverpool, and command them, as Lord 
 Keeper, &c., to lay her petition before the Prince :-r-it seems 
 they are by Jaw obliged to do this. The Princess has done 
 so accordingly, and wrote in her own name. Lord Liver- 
 pool's answer was, that he would go to the Chancellor with 
 her Royal Highness's letter as she desired. — What will be 
 the result? • I am anxious to know. 
 
 Tuesday IQth. — Campbell, the poet, came to see me. His 
 conversation always awakens thought and feeling : every thing 
 that is his oivn, is elegant and enthusiastic* He understands 
 not the Princess any more than if he were a native of some 
 unknown land, and I doubt whether he would, even were I 
 to sit down and spell her a b c d to him, which is impossible. 
 
 Another letter came to her Royal Highness from Mr. 
 Brougham, which was only a repetition of that she received 
 from him the day before : — but she made one of her ladies 
 answer it, standing by and dictating a thousand trivial circum- 
 stances, without order or arrangement, and sometimes so con- 
 fusedly, that Lady scarcely knew whether the letter was 
 
 intelligible or not. Campbell and myself talked apart, when 
 we could. 
 
 * Why sleeps the muse of Campbell ? Why does party politics 
 usurp her rightful throne in his breast, and drag him down to earth ; — 
 he who should be on airy pinions soaring 1 When I hear of him, im- 
 mersed in dinners, and meetings, and popular assemblies, it is as of one 
 not done honour to, but debased. — To be made the penny trumpet of 
 faction, instead of commanding the voice of Fame to sound her pseans 
 with his name, is selling his birthright for a mess of pottage.
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. Ill 
 
 Wednesday, 20th. — The Princess received a letter from 
 Lord Liverpool, saying the Lord Chancellor and himself had 
 never refused to be the channel of communication for any 
 thing the Princess might wish to have presented to the Re- 
 gent's ear; but that it rested with his Royal Highness in 
 what mode he would receive such a communication ; and that 
 his Royal Highness still adhered to his determination of not 
 receiving any letter whatever from the Princess of Wales. — 
 Accordingly, her letter was returned. 
 
 In answer to this, the Princess commanded the lady in 
 
 waiting to wiite as follows : — " Lady is commanded 
 
 by her Royal HigJiness the Princess of Wales, to desire 
 Lord Liverpool and the Lord Chancellor will read her Royal 
 Highness's letter to the Prince Regent without delay, since 
 his Royal Highness adheres to his determination of not re- 
 ceiving any direct communication from the Princess of 
 
 Wales." Lady told me, she always regretted when 
 
 she had to write such letters as these in her name ; but royal 
 servants Ought to be considered as mere automatons. 
 
 The Princess expected Mr. Brougham to-day, but he did 
 not come. Tn the evening, amongst other topics of conver- 
 sation, she said to me, " Oh, my dear Lord, if you were to 
 see all the curious papers I have ! — 1 have a correspondence 
 that passed between Bonaparte and Prince Louis Ferdinand, 
 before the first was emperor. — It w^ould make the world 
 
 stare ; and if it had not been for that , the King of 
 
 Prussia, Prince Louis would now have been king of France. 
 The fact was. Prince Lnuis was the cleverest and the first 
 man in the world ; and Bonaparte, at that time, did not want 
 to be emperor — he only wanted to choose a proper king. 
 Well, the King of Prussia, from his foolish notions about the 
 Bourbons, seized upon and locked up Prince Louis. Uh, my 
 dear, how different would have been my fate, and that of all 
 Europe, if this had not been the case." How far the above 
 is true, Heaven knows ; but it is curious ! 
 
 Thursday, 21st. — Mr. Brougham arrived : his manner en 
 impose a la Princesse, and it is lucky. I think from all the 
 little circumstances, known only to myself and one other 
 person, that he never meant to dash in so far as he has been 
 obliged to do in this business. He only intended, I believe, 
 to place the ladder against the wall, on which to mount when
 
 112 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 it was safely held ; but not to find himself, as he does now, 
 half way up while it is tottering ; — to make her a tool of his 
 party — yes, and not to act dishonourably either — but certain- 
 ly not to run any risks for her sake. Unhappy kings, queens,, 
 princes, and princesses, ye are seldom served with any better 
 feeling than this. 
 
 He told the Princess, that he and Mr. Whitbread both 
 agreed in thinking that it was a most fortunate circumstance 
 for her that the Regent had refused to read or receive her 
 letter ; and that it must go, failing all other ways, in the shape 
 of a petition to him — last of all as a petition to Parliament — 
 "But they are frightened to death," said Mr. Brougham, " 1 
 know, for Lord Moira has been sent to Whitbread to tell him 
 that the Regent being afraid he may have been led into error 
 respecting the Princess, wished to submit some papers to 
 him." This message by the by came from Sheridan, who 
 came from Lord Moira. Mr. Whitbread said he could not 
 then stay in town to read papers, but that he should return in 
 a few weeks, and that if they thought it worth their while 
 they might then give him the papers, but he was sure they 
 contained nothing but what he knew already. — Sheridan 
 began explaining, and in fact, Mr. Brougham said, the papers 
 by his account were merely those wliich the Princess has in 
 her possession. — Another circumslauce is, that Mr. Conant, 
 the police magistrate, went to Messrs. Longman and Rees, 
 and asked what they meant by the paragraph they had putiu 
 tlie newspapers, concerning a publication of letters. Messrs. 
 Longman and Rees replied, that they meant what the para- 
 graph specified, — upon which Mr. Conant threatened them 
 with the law and foretold their ruin, and the Lord knows 
 what, — but Messrs. Longman and Rees replied, they should 
 take care not to publish any thing actionable, and as for the 
 rest, thev should follow their trade, 
 
 Mr. Brougham then went over the old ground, but said 
 positively that till the Princess Charlotte was one and twenty, 
 the Prince might even lock her up, if he chose, and had abso- 
 lute power over her, — iiovv far the country would allow of 
 such treatment, is another question. I thought to myself ^ as 
 to that, it is the interest of all those in power to vest as much 
 as they can in the Regent's hands, and consequently I have 
 but a hopeless kind of view of the whole of this business. 
 In as far as the Princess of Wales is concerned, — they will 
 not dare to do any thing outrageous against her, but they will
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 113 
 
 keep the extinguisher over her. Mr. Brougham staid a couple 
 of hours, and went away : the Princess is never satisfied, till 
 she has drained a subject dry; so she was very angry at his 
 going so soon, — but I perceive he keeps her in order — how 
 fortunate ! 
 
 EXTRACT FROM A LETTER. 
 
 Friday, January 22d, 1813. 
 
 I am indeed anxious on the subject of this unfortunate busi- 
 ness, and hope that the Princess will be well advised, before 
 things are brought to extremity. Ministers, it is clear, will 
 not bring forward any thing that is not agreeable to the Prince 
 Regent, and if opposition should attempt it at this time, it 
 would be easy to give the whole, the turn of a party question. 
 This I have litde doubt, but that the ministry ivould do, and 
 would succeed in, and then things would remain where they 
 are, with the additional stigma of having been attempted to 
 be redressed in vain. I am not saying what ought to be, but 
 what I fear would be. Indeed, I have lived long enough in 
 the world to have learnt, that how others will consider an 
 object, is the question in all. public matters where their con- 
 currence is required, not how we see it, however truly, our- 
 selves. Tell me, if you know, what is to be done about the 
 drawing-room on the 4th, — and what the paragraph means, 
 saying that the Princess Charlotte is to be pret^ented by the 
 Princess of Wales. I think she can be presented by no other 
 person than her mother, and I suppose that therefore she will 
 not, this time, be presented at all ! am I right ? It is the gene- 
 ral voice that the Princess Charlotte feels all the duty and 
 affection, that she ought to feel towards her mother, also that 
 she has declared that unless she is presented to the Queen by 
 her mother, she will not be presented at all." 
 
 Saturday, 23d. — Yesterday I went to see ; all was 
 
 well, even to her animals. What cause of ihankfuhiess ! — 
 the vacuum in my existence, which one only circumstance 
 can fill, still exists, and a low languor enfeebles body and 
 mind, — but I hope, — nay, 1 am not ungrateful for the bless- 
 ings given. — The Princess received a letter of twenty-eight 
 pages, from tlie Princess Charlotte, which looked like the 
 writing of a chambermaid, and appeared to me wholly illegi- 
 ble ; but she said she could decipher it, and so she did in re- 
 
 10*
 
 114 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 gard to undersianding the general meaning, but I defy her 
 powers or her patience to have made out literally, what those 
 twenty-eight pages contained ; — the whole of the matter was, 
 that Princess Charlotte was to remain in town, from Satur- 
 day to Wednesday; from which the Princess of Wales con- 
 cluded, that she is to go to the Opera to-night, and intends if 
 she does to go also. There came likewise accounts of Miss 
 Knight's having accepted the place of sub-governess, which 
 the royal mother and daughter are very glad of. The same 
 post that brought all this intelligence, brought a letter also 
 from Lady Oxford, and the Princess decided upon setting off 
 immediately, to go to Mortimer House. Accordingly, though 
 her Royal Highness had not been out for a fortnight, off she 
 went, and her lady in waiting told me, when they arrived 
 they found, as the Princess predicted, no one, except Lord 
 Byron. 'Tis sickening to hear of and see the ways of the 
 world. The Princess immediately retired with Lord Byron 
 and Lord Oxford, and her lady staid with Lady Jane, — the 
 latter is a good musician, but sings dreadfully out of tune. 
 Lady told me that she thought Lord Byron was exceed- 
 ingly wearied, and endeavoured to listen to the music, and es- 
 cape from her Royal Highness and Lady O , but the former 
 
 would not allow him to do so, and he was desired to " come 
 and sit ;" and upon the whole, the Princess was not pleased 
 with her visit. 
 
 Sunday, 24lh. — Yesterday, the Princess went to meet the 
 
 Princess Charlotte at Kensington. Lady told me that 
 
 when the latter arrived she rushed up to her mother, and 
 said, " for God's sake, be civil to her," meaning the Duchess 
 
 of Leeds, who followed her. Lady said she felt sorry 
 
 for the latter, but when the Princess of Wales talked to her, 
 she soon became so free and easy that one could not have 
 any feeling about her feelings. Princess Charlotte, I was 
 told, was looking handsome, very pale, but her head more 
 becomingly dressed, that is to say, less dressed than usual ; 
 her figure is of that full round shape which is now in its 
 prime, — she disfigures herself by wearing her boddice so 
 short, that she literally has no waist ; her feet are very pretty 
 and so are her hands and arms, and her ear and the shape 
 of her head, — her countenance is expressive, when she allows 
 her passions to play upon it, and I never saw any face with 
 so little shade express so many powerful and varied emotions.
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 115 
 
 J^ady told me that the Princess Charlotte talked to her 
 
 about her situation, and said, in a very quiet, but determined 
 way, she icoidd not bear it, and that as soon as Parliament 
 met, she- intended to come to Warwick House, and remain 
 there ; that she was also determined not to consider the 
 Duchess of Leeds as her governess, but only as her first 
 lady, — she made many observations on other persons and 
 subjects, and appears to be very quick, very penetrating, but 
 imperious, and wilful ; there is a tone of romance too in her 
 character, which will only serve to mislead her. 
 
 She told her mother, that there had been a great battle at 
 Windsor between the Queen and the Prince; the former 
 refusing to give up Miss Knight from her own person, to 
 attend on Princess^ Charlotte as sub-governess, — but the 
 
 Prince R 1, had gone to Windsor himself and insisted on 
 
 her doiag so, and the "Old Beguin" was forced to submit, — 
 
 but has been ill ever since, and Sir H H d declared 
 
 it was a complete breaking up of her constitution, — (to the 
 great delight of the two Princesses who were talking about 
 
 this affair.) Miss K was the very person they wished 
 
 to have; they think they can do as they like with lier.* It 
 has been ordered that the Princess Charlotte should not see 
 her mother alone for a single moment; but the latter went into 
 her room, stuffed a pair of large shoes full of papers, and 
 having given them to her daughter, she went home. Lady 
 
 told me every thing was written down and sent to Mr. 
 
 Brougham next day. — There are in the newspapers, daily 
 long histories written, with intention to inflame the public 
 with an idea of the Princess's wrongs, and above all to 
 make it clear that Princess Charlotte could reign to-morrow, 
 if any circumstance was to unfit her father for so doing; — 
 this is the great point with tlie party out of office — and which 
 the men of ambition want to establish, in order to raise them- 
 selves. True patriotism, true knight-errantry, where is it? 
 
 * In this idea, their Royal Highnesses were much mistaken ; for Miss 
 
 K was a person of uncompromisinij integrity and steady rectitude 
 
 of conduct. A devoted royalist, but not a sycophant — no one has proved 
 more than she has the fallaciousness of court favour. The Queen Char- 
 lotte never forgave her, for having left her service to attend the young 
 Princess Charlotte, and the Regent afterwards dismissed her in an unjust 
 manner, from the post in which he had himself placed her, and which 
 
 every one who knows Miss K , is confident she never was unworthy 
 
 of. The memoirs of all courts furnish similar instances of ingratitude.
 
 116 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 There are few minds good enough, great enough, to entertain 
 either of these sentiments, — as to Brougham, I am more and 
 more convinced that he never meant to have risked what he 
 has done, — he is a man of inordinate ambition, and I fear of 
 little heart, indeed in most cases, the former generally usurps 
 every affection. 
 
 Tuesday, 26th. — I saw Bessie R n and her mother. 
 
 The first is a very beautiful and superior creature, the lattter 
 lives but in her daughter, and would be a cypher without 
 her. 
 
 Thursday, 27th. — I dined at Blackheath. Old Sapio was 
 there, and the Princess sung, or rather squalled. Of course, 
 those who live much with her Royal Highness must see hjow 
 matters go on; it is a great pity she should be surrounded 
 by such society; it does her infinite harm. 
 
 Saturday. — I accompanied the Princess to the British In- 
 stitution ; there were not many fine pictures. One subject, 
 taken from Scripture, that has been bought by Lord StaQbrd 
 for eight hundred guineas, the painter's name, Edward Bird, 
 the subject the death of Eli, pleased me most, and I liked 
 some of Barker's, particularly a woman perishing in the 
 snow, with her baby, and Tam O'Shanter, the horse very 
 good, by Cooper. 
 
 The letter has been read to the Prince Regent. His Royal 
 Highness is not pleased to give any answer whatever, says 
 my Lord Liverpool. What is to be done now : Brougham 
 
 seems to be at a stand still; the R s tell me that what the 
 
 Prince is determined to try for, is a divorce; I hardly think 
 that he will though. — Princess Charlotte would be furious, 
 for fear of his marrying ag^in and having a son, and putting 
 her off the throne. The game of change seats, the King's 
 cominff, is what she would not at all enjoy, therefore she 
 would naturally make a strong party to prevent this, and 
 many persons dissatisfied with the Prince would side with 
 her, not from any other motive but self-love — 'tis, alas! the 
 most powerful one with the geneiality of mankind. Besides, 
 he dare not, — the clean hands are wanting.
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 117 
 
 EXTRACT FROM A LETTER. 
 
 Date, 6th February, 1S13, Saturday. 
 "I went last night to Carlton House; all very magnificent, 
 but such a lack of young dancing men, and indeed women! 
 that I quite pitied the Princess Charlotte for the dulness of 
 the ball — such it appeared to me — what must it not have ap- 
 peared to youth ! — and intelligent youth ! I think her quite 
 charming, and in all respects as to appearance far exceeding 
 whatever I had heard of her. I much regretted not having 
 it in my power, in any way to make myself known to her, 
 for possibly I should have received a gracious word or so. 
 But I was very near her often and could therefore make all 
 my observations ; her manner seems open, frank, and intelli- 
 gent; she will captivate many a heart or I am much mistaken. 
 I think her like both the Prince Kegent and the Princess ; 
 
 she danced with the Duke of C , that is, began the ball 
 
 with him — but of that you will hear more than I can tell 
 you. Lord Holland was there at a very short notice, as he 
 told me, also the Duke of Bedford, Lord Tavistock, (at least 
 I saw Lady,) Lord Cowper, Lord Jersey ; I think not many 
 more opposition lords." 
 
 Thursday, 11th of February. — The circle of the Princess's 
 acquaintance and attendants grows smaller every day, and I 
 fear will at length degenerate wholly into low company. The 
 Oxford and Burdett party prevail. 
 
 12th of February, 1813. — To-day, the Princess received 
 the following letter from Lord Liverpool: — "Lord Liverpool 
 has the honour to inform her Royal Highness that in conse- 
 quence of the publication in the Morning Chronicle of the 
 lOtli instant, of a letter addressed by her Royal Highness the 
 Princess of Wales to the Prince Regent, his Royal Highness 
 thinks fit, by the advice of his confidential servants, to signify 
 his command tliat the intended visit of the Princess Charlotte 
 to her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales on the follow- 
 ing day, shall not take place. 
 
 " Lord Liverpool is not enabled to make any further com- 
 munication to her Royal Highness, on the subject of her 
 Royal Highness's note." 
 
 Dated, Fife House, 12th February, 1813.
 
 118 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 To which the Princess sent the following reply : " Lady A. 
 H. is commanded by her Royal Highness the Princess of 
 Wales, to represent to Lord Liverpool that the insidious in- 
 sinuation respecting the publication of the letter addressed by 
 
 the Princess of Wales to the Prince R 1 on the 12th of 
 
 January, conveyed in his lordship's reply to her Royal High- 
 ness, is as void of foundation, and as false, as all the former 
 accusations of the traducers of her Royal Highness's honour 
 in the year 1806. 
 
 " Lady A. is further commanded to say, that dignified 
 silence would have been the line of conduct the Princess 
 would have pursued upon such insinuation, (more than unbe- 
 coming Lord Liverpool,) did not the effects arising from it 
 operate to deprive her Royal Highness of the only real hap- 
 piness she can possess in this world, that of seeing her only 
 child; and the confidential servants of the Prince Regent 
 ought to feel ashamed of their conduct towards the Princess, 
 in advising his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, upon an 
 unauthorized and unfounded supposition, to prevent mother 
 and daughter from meeting, a piohibition, as positively 
 against tlie law of nature, as against the law of the land. 
 
 "Lady A. is further commanded, to desire Lord Liverpool 
 to lay this paper before the Prince Regent, that his Royal 
 Highness may be aware into what error his confidential ser- 
 vants are leading him, and will involve him, by counselling 
 and signifying such a command." 
 
 Dated, " Moiitague House, 15th Feb. 1813." 
 
 It is scarcely possible to read this composition without 
 laughing. There can be no doubt of the authors, and it cer- 
 tainly does not do much credit to their literary or rational 
 powers. One might have supposed that all resentment must 
 have given way, on its perusal, to the more pleasurable sen- 
 sation oT laughter. How that was cannot be known, as no 
 one was present when Lord Liverpool received it, or made 
 
 known its contents to the R 1 (if he ever did so). To be 
 
 serious, how lamentable that the Princess should have been 
 betrayed by passion to trust herself or her scribes to commit 
 such egregious folly, and to act in matters of such import- 
 ance without consulting those persons in whom she partially 
 placed confidence. It was this partial and not entire confi- 
 dence on her part which so often brought them, as well as 
 herself, into great difficulties — and with justice disgusted
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 119 
 
 those whose interest it was to serve her. There had evi- 
 dently been some hocus pocus about the premature publica- 
 ,tion of the above letter in the Mornhig Chronicle; and the 
 whole business had been ill conducted. 
 
 COPY OF HER ROYAL HIGHNESS'S LETTER. 
 
 "THE PRINCESS OF WALES TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS 
 THE PRINCE REGENT. 
 
 " 14th of January, 1813. 
 
 " Sir, — It is with great reluctance, that I presume to ob- 
 trude myself upon your Royal Highness, and to solicit your 
 attention to matters which may, at first, appear rather of a 
 personal than a public nature. If I could think them so — if 
 they related merely to myself, I should abstain from a pro- 
 ceeding which might give uneasiness or interrupt the more 
 weighty oceupations of your Royal Highness's time. I 
 should continue in silence and retirement to lead the life 
 which has been prescribed to me, and console myself for 
 the loss of that society and those domestic comforts to which 
 I have been so long a stranger, by the reflection that it has 
 been deemed proper I .should be afflicted, without any fault 
 of my own, and that your Royal Highness knows it. 
 
 " But, Sir, there are considerations of a higher nature than 
 any regard to my own happiness, which render this address 
 a duty both to myself and my daughter. May I venture to 
 say, a duty also to my husband, and the people committed 
 to his care ? There is a point beyond which a guiltless 
 woman cannot with safety carry her forbearance ; if her 
 honour is invaded, the defence of her reputation is no longer 
 a matter of choice ; and it signifies not whether the attack be 
 made openly, manfully, and directly, or by secret insinuations 
 and by holding such conduct towards her as countenances all 
 the suspicions tliat malice can suggest. If these ought to be 
 the feelings of every woman in England who is conscious 
 she deserves no reproach, your Royal Highness has too 
 sound a judgment and too nice a sense of honour not to per- 
 ceive how much more justly they belong to the mother of
 
 120 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 your daughter — the mother of her who is destined, I teust at 
 a very distant period, to reign over the British empire. 
 
 " It may be known to your Royal Highness, that during 
 the continuance of the restrictions upon your royal authority, 
 I still was inclined to delay taking this step, in the hope that 
 I might owe the redress 1 sought to your gracious and unso- 
 licited condescension. I have waited, in the fond indulgence 
 of this expectation, until, to my inexpressible mortification, 
 I find, that my unwillingness to complain has only produced 
 fresh grounds of complaint, and I am at length compelletl 
 either to abandon all regard for the two dearest objects which 
 I possess on earth, — mine own honour and my beloved child, 
 or to throw myself at the feet of your Royal Highness, the 
 natural protector of both. 
 
 "I presume, Sir, to represent to your Royal Highness, 
 that the separation, wliich every succeeding month is making 
 v/ider, of the mother and the daughter, is equally injurious to 
 my character and to her education. I say nothing of the 
 deep wounds which so cruel an arrangement inflicts upon my 
 feelings, although I would fain hope, that few persons will 
 be found of a disposition to think lightly of these. To see 
 myself cut off from one of the very few domestic enjoyments 
 left me — certainly the only one upon which I set any value — 
 the society of my child — involves me in such misery, as I 
 well know your Royal Highness never could inflict upon me, 
 if you were aware of its bitterness. Our intercourse has 
 been gradually diminished — a single interview, weekly, 
 seemed sufficiently hard allowance for a mother's affections, 
 that, however, was reduced to our meeting once a fortnight, 
 and I now learn, that even this most rigorous interdiction is 
 to be still more rigidly enforced. But while I do not venture 
 to intrude my feelings as a mother upon your Royal High- 
 ness's notice, I must be allowed to say, that in the eyes of 
 an observing and jealous world, this separation of a daughter 
 from her mother will only admit of one construction — a con- 
 struction fatal to the mother's reputation. Your Royal High- 
 ness will also pardon me for adding, that there is no less in- 
 consistency than injustice in this treatment. He who dares 
 advise your Royal Highness to overlook the evidence of my 
 innocence, and disregard the sentence of complete acquittal 
 which it produced, or is wicked and false enough still to 
 whisper suspicions in your ear, betrays his duty to you. Sir, 
 to your daughter, and to your people, if he counsels you to
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 121 
 
 permit a day to pass without a further investigation of my 
 conduct. I know that no such calumniator will venture to 
 recommend a measure which must speedily end in his utter 
 confusion. Then, let me implore you to reflect on the situa- 
 tion in which I am placed, without the shadow of a charge 
 against me, — without even an accuser — after an inquiry that 
 led to my ample vindication, yet treated as if I were still 
 more culpable than the perjuries of my suborned traducers 
 represented me, holding me up to the world as a mother who 
 may not enjov the society of her only child. 
 
 "The feelings. Sir, which are natural to my unexampled 
 situation, might justify me in the gracious judgment of your 
 Royal Highness, had I no other motives for addressing you 
 but such as relate to myself. The serious, and soon, it may 
 be, the -irreparable injury which my daughter sustains from 
 the plan at present pursued, has done more in overcoming 
 my reluctance to intrude upon your Royal Highness than any 
 sufferings of my own could accomplish. And if for her sake 
 I presume to call away your Royal Highness from the other 
 cares of your exalted station, I feel confident I am not claim- 
 ing this for a matter of inferior importance, either to yourself 
 or your people. 
 
 " The powers with which the constitution of these realms 
 vests your Royal Highness in the regulation of the royal 
 family, I know, because I am so advised, are ample and un- 
 questionable. My appeal, Sir, is made to your ex-cellent 
 sense and liberality of mind in the exercise of those powers, 
 and I willingly hope, that your own parental feelings will 
 lead you to excuse the anxiety of mine for impelling me to 
 represent the unhappy consequences which the present sys- 
 tem must entail upon our beloved child. 
 
 " Is it possible, Sir, that any one can have attempted to 
 persuade your Royal Highness that her character will not be 
 injured by the perpetual violence offered to her strongest 
 affections — the studied care taken to estrange her from my 
 society, and even to interrupt all comminiication between us? 
 That her love for me, with whom, by his Majesty's wise and 
 gracious arrangements, she passed the years of her infancy 
 and childhood, never can be extinguished, I well know, and 
 the knowledge of it forms the greatest blessing of my exist- 
 ence. But let me implore your Royal Highness to reflect 
 how inevitably all attempts to abate this attachment by forci- 
 VoL. I. 1 1
 
 122 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 bly so]);iratin<^ us, if ihey succeed, must injure my child's 
 principles — il" they fail, must destroy licr happiness. 
 
 " The plan of excludinir my daughter from all intercourse 
 with the world appears, to my humble judgment, peculiarly 
 unfortunate. She, who is destined to be the sovereign of this 
 great country, enjoys none of those advantages of society, 
 which are deemed necessary for imparting a knowledge of 
 mankind to persons who have infinitely less occasion to learn 
 that important lesson ; and it may so happen, by a chance 
 which 1 trust is very remote, that she should be called upon 
 to exercise the powers of the crown, with an experience of 
 the world more confined than that of the most private indi- 
 vidual. To the extraordinary talents with which she is 
 blessed, and which accompany a disposition as singularly 
 amiable, frank, and decided, I willingly trust much; but be- 
 yond a certain point, the greatest natural endowments cannot 
 struggle against the disadvantages of circumstances and situa- 
 tion. 
 
 " It is ray earnest prayer, for her own sake as well as for 
 her country's, that your Royal Highness may be induced to 
 pause before this point be reached. 
 
 " Those who have advised you, Sir, to delay so long the 
 period of my daughter's commencing her intercourse with the 
 world, and, for that purpose, to make Windsor her residence, 
 appear not to have regarded the interruptions to her education 
 which this arrangement occasions, both by the impossibility 
 of obtaining proper teachers, and the time unavoidably con- 
 sumed in the frequent journeys to town which she must 
 make, unless she is to be secluded from all intercourse, even 
 with your Royal Highness and the rest of the royal family. 
 To the same unfortunate counsel I ascribe a circumstance, in 
 every way so distressing, both to my parental and religious 
 feelings, that my daughter has never yet enjoyed the benefit 
 of confirmation, although above a year older than the age at 
 which all the other branches of the royal family have par- 
 taken of that solemnity. May I earnestly conjure you, Sir, 
 to hear my entreaties upon this serious matter, even if you 
 should listen to other advisers on things of less near concern- 
 ment to the welfare of our child. 
 
 "The pain with which I have at length formed the resolu- 
 tion of addressing myself to your Royal Highness is such, as 
 I should in vain attempt to express. If 1 could adequately 
 describe it, you might be enabled, Sir, to estimate the strength
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 123 
 
 of the motives which have made me submit to it ; they are 
 the most powerful feelings of affection, and the deepest im- 
 pressions of duty towards your Royal Highness, my beloved 
 child, and the country, which I devoutly hope she may be 
 preserved to govern, and to show, by a new example, the 
 liberal affection of a true and generous people to a virtuous 
 and constitutional monarch. 
 
 " I am, Sir, with profound respect, 
 " And an attachment which nothing can alter, 
 " Your Royal Highness's 
 " Most devoted and most affectionate 
 
 " Consort, Cousin, and Subject, 
 
 "CAROLINE LOUISA. 
 *' Montague House, 14th January, 1813." 
 
 This is a letter in masquerade, forced and unnatural. It is 
 difficult to say who was its author. It bears the marks of 
 being the composition of more than one writer. It would be 
 convincing, were it sincere, but it is sneering and insincere. 
 On a cursory reading, it appears dignified and temperate, but 
 there is an under current in every sentence which might be 
 construed into a totally difl'erent meaning from that which it 
 conveys on its surface. Upon the whole, it appears to me 
 to have been more likely to give offence and irritation, than 
 to obtain any favour by conciliation and entreaty. The latter 
 part, most especially, is Jesuitical and dictatorial : it is one 
 thing to ask a favour, another to demand a right ; it is one 
 thing to set forth a moral right, another a legal claim ; it is 
 one thing to sue as a wife, another to command as a queen. 
 How difficult to join these different claims and make them 
 coalesce ! 
 
 But in this instance, as in most others, the happiness and 
 welfare of the individual was lost sight of, and she was the 
 tool of a party. Yet it is just possible, that whoever drew 
 up this document (destined hereafter to be recorded in the 
 page of history) had a feeling of interest and compassion for 
 the unhappy woman whose cause it professed to espouse, — 
 only that feeling was subservient to their own. But there is 
 seldom any unmixed motive to instigate human actions — the 
 bad or the good may predominate, but they are both tliore, 
 and are generally so commixed, that, till time has sifted the 
 grain from the chaff, they cannot be separated.
 
 124 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 Tuesday. — Mr. Whitbread has made the finest speech that 
 ever was heard ; most of his auditors were in tears, (said 
 Mr. Bennet,) but all agreed in their admiration of the manly 
 and forcible eloquence he displayed. There was no division. 
 He read a letter from the Princess of Wales to the Prince, 
 written after what lie termed her last triumph, and written in 
 an humble conciliatory tone, when the news came of another 
 secret investigation note going on, and the pen fell from her 
 hands at this intelligence. The house were all electrified, 
 say my informants. Mr. Tierney spoke, and Lord Castle- 
 reagh. The latter floundered deep in the mire of duplicity 
 and meanness. But Mr. Canning made an elaborate speech, 
 saying that it were belter all this business should end for 
 ever ; that the Princess was proved pure and innocent, but 
 that if further jirivate malice was at work against her, it 
 would then be the duty of the house to take cognizance of 
 the affair. 
 
 EXTRACT FROM A LETTER, FROM THE HON. A. S. D, 
 
 " I consider Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales 
 being sent abroad without a specific cause, as not only impro- 
 bable bat impossible, under our good laws ; but I do fear and 
 believe that some machinations, in the way of trial and inves- 
 tigation, are actually going on underhand, and that real or 
 pretended proofs of misconduct will be brought forward 
 against her. I understand that she professes herself secure 
 in her innocence, and determined not to give way or make 
 compromises, should they be offered. How all this will end 
 Heaven only knows.* That it may never begin, I truly 
 
 * Whether this prevalent report, respecting the machinations of the 
 secret tribunal, was a trick of party to rouse the Princess into some im- 
 prudent measures, which might have served their ends, whilst it was 
 obnoxious to her true interests, or whether it really existed, and that it 
 behoved her friends to guard her against the net which was outspread to 
 entangle her, is a question which it is impossible, at this distance of time, 
 to reply to with confidence ; especially as all those persons who know 
 most about the private history of the court of George IV. and his queen, 
 and who possess papers and documents which might bring foul and fair 
 to light, are, either from fear or policy, or better feelings, obliged to re- 
 main silent. There is a great probability that such a watch -was set on 
 the Princess, even then; but there are also some reasons to suppose that 
 it was the contrivance of a few mischievous persons who fancied they
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 125 
 
 wish ; and, in any case, must pity her, and that most sincere- 
 ly, should she be brought into trouble, for she certainly has 
 been hardly used ; and, at her first coming into this country, 
 when she had a right to meet with every indulgence and pro- 
 tection, she was vilely betrayed by those about her, who, I 
 am convinced, heaped lies upon lies for the worst and most 
 sordid purposes of their own. Imprudent she has been, no 
 .. one can deny; but Justice will find much to put in heroppo- 
 '. site scale, should the case come before a tribunal! Of her 
 being turned cut of Kensington (for so, as you say, it would 
 be) and ordered to Hampton Court, or worse, to Holyrood 
 House, (but this latter only for hereafter,) still all is uncer- 
 tain ; and I am somelimes inclined to hope, though I confess 
 with no great reason, that this odious business will be put to 
 sleep. Tiie best thing for her, poor soul, would be the im- 
 mediate death of our wretched King, as the moment that 
 event happens, (supposing nothing previously has taken place 
 to prevent it,) she becomes queen, by the laws of the land — 
 so Perceval has positively decided ; and that would be a 
 step, and might make a difference in her treatment, and be in 
 her favour. Now it is thought that the accusations are hur- 
 rying on to prevent that happening — I mean her being 
 Queen. 
 
 " It is certainly not the factious, and the mob alone, who 
 espouse the Princess's cause ; the sweet charities of life, the 
 protection of the social rights of families, are connected with 
 her wrongs, and if she is true to her own self duties, there 
 will be an overwhelming force of general opinion in her 
 favour." 
 
 The Princess is often besieged with letters, anonymous 
 and otherwise. She showed me one of the letters the other 
 day, from a D. D., signed with name, date, and abode. It 
 is curious, but bears rather the appearance of being instigated 
 by private pique, than of the spontaneous emanation of any 
 genuine sentiment of good will. The letter was addressed to 
 
 were gaining favour with the Prince, by persecuting his wife to the death. 
 I do not believe that the Prince authorized such proceedings at that 
 period, and still less do I believe that a British public w^ould ever have 
 sufiercd such a stain to rest on the national character, as to allow a secret 
 inquisition to pronounce an award on the character, and blast the happi- 
 ness of any individual ; especially that of the woman who was to becuinc 
 their Queen. 
 
 11*
 
 126 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 one of the Princess's ladies — the writer unknown personally 
 to the lady. 
 
 " Madam, — Lord Eldon and his elder brother, Sir W. 
 Scott's father, were fitters of ships in the coal trade at New- 
 castle. — Money brought them to Oxford and the law, when 
 no great maiivaise honte stood in their way ; nor can it be 
 denied that sufficient abilities in them, authorized their intro- 
 duction in the world by friends. Your Ladyship, of whose 
 proper spirit, together with that of your Royal Mistress, I 
 am one amongst myriads of humble applauders, would, as I 
 conceive, not object to receive anecdotes of the origin of the 
 afoie mentioned celebrated friends. In the letter of your 
 Ladyship's Royal Mistress, I noticed the word ' suborn,'' and 
 am persuaded that many lose much, (and often their lives,) by 
 the perjury of others. An oath, although authorized by the 
 religion of the Church of England, was an invention of the 
 Church of Rome, to increase the power of tlie powerful ; in 
 the Hebrew original of the Old Testament it is not to be 
 found, although it is so in translations. 
 
 "Christian governments have, unfortunately for society, 
 armed its members one against another with this dangerous 
 instrument, an oath. With those whose belief in religion is 
 small, an oath is a mere instrument against the enemies of 
 the individual, or of those who can suborn him, or her; and 
 such I should esteem Bidgood, (fee, to be, and would humbly 
 recommend the defiance of them. Lord De Clifford as well 
 as Lord Liverpool passed the University, during ray twenty 
 years' residence there ; the Scotts are considerably my seniors* 
 The Bishop of Salisbury, as superintendent of the education 
 of her Royal Highness the Princess Charlotte, ought himself 
 to have confirmed her at the age of fourteen. A note to the 
 Bishop of London from her Royal Highness requesting cort- 
 firmation, preparation for which, should be a knowledge of 
 tlie Church Catechism, so as to be able to say it by rote, 
 could Scarcely fail of being followed by an appointment from 
 that prelate to attend a private confirmalion in the Chapel 
 Royal, when her Royal Highness might properly be accom- 
 panied by her mother. 1 requested Lord De CHflbrd, who 
 formerly knew me as Fellow of the college in which his 
 Lordship was educated, to forward this letter to your Lady~ 
 ship ; and have the honour to conclude, with best wishes foE
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 127 
 
 the cause and happiness of your Ladyship's Royal Mistress, 
 and respect for your Ladyship, 
 " Madam, 
 " Your Ladyship's most obedient servant, 
 
 " D. D., &c. &c. &c." 
 
 Wednesday. — I saw the Princess yesterday ; I fear she 
 has been goading the sleeping lion. However, I have heard, 
 that when the Regent wanted the ministers to try for a di- 
 vorce, they said that was impossible, and that, if they 
 attempted it, they must inevitably lose their places. This 
 intelligence did not come from the Princess or her friends, so 
 that, if it is true, tlfat sounds well for her cause ; but every 
 thing that is reported concerning her Royal Highness one 
 day, is contradicted the next. Her first letter has certainly 
 produced a disposition in her favour in the breasts of John 
 and Jenny Bull in the country, but here, alas, like all other 
 things, it seems to be a party question — with some few ex- 
 ceptions — for some fair judging spirits do exist. 1 wish the 
 Letter to Lord Liverpool had never been sent, but that the 
 impudence of his avowal of interference and advice on such 
 an occasion, and that of the confidential ministers, had been 
 left to its own punishment. It is, I think, quite clear that 
 nothing criminal can be proved, or most assuredly these 
 mighty and daily councils would not have been able to keep 
 their discoveries so secret, but that something must have 
 transpired. As nothing comes out, I feel secure that there is 
 nothing to come out. 
 
 EXTRACT OF A LETTER. 
 
 "March 2d, 1813. 
 " Ministers were beat last night by forty : so far I sincr 
 Te Deum, but fear all will be again overset in the House o( 
 Lords. The letter frf>m the Princess was, I understand, laid 
 last night before the House of Commons by the Speaker, 
 and, after a little conversation between Mr. AVhitbread and 
 Lord Castlereagh, the subject was dropped — I conclude to be 
 resumed in future. The letter is very good, whatever may 
 be the consequences : I should suppose it must be Brough- 
 am's, for it is a simple and impressive law statement. The 
 general impression seems to be, that the Princess has beea
 
 128 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 harshly treated ; and it must be allowed that, unprotected as 
 she is, she had no refuge but an appeal to Parliament ; yet I 
 fear no good purpose will be answered, and that the material 
 point will not be gained — that of seeing her daughter more 
 frequently than she has of late been allowed to do."* 
 
 EXTRACT FROM ANOTHER LETTER. 
 
 "March 8th, 1813. 
 " Pray express my most sincere congratulations on the 
 triumph, the complete triumph, the Princess has so justly 
 obtained. What passed on Friday night in the House of 
 Commons, made me, I confess, feel proud of my country : 
 which has not of late been the case with me ! liut what 
 gives me the greatest satisfaction, as far as her Royal High- 
 ness is concerned, is her most admirable letter to the Prince 
 in answer to his of 1796; that letter does her more credit 
 than words can express, and I am heartily glad that it has 
 appeared at this time, as I already see the impression it 
 makes. For the present, I do trust that the Princess will 
 remain satisfied with the sensation excited in her favour, 
 which is what it ought to be. By remaining satisfied, I do 
 not mean that she is to seclude herself at Blackheath, or 
 avoid appearing as usual ; for my part, I think she should in 
 all this just follow her own inclination ; come to Kensington, 
 go to the theatres, &c., &c., as she has hitherto done," &c. 
 
 EXTRACT FROM A LETTER, FROM THE SAME. 
 
 " Dated March 2.5th, 1813. 
 " I must (as I hope at least) be the first to tell you, that 
 I have heard from good authority that Sir John Douglas is, 
 or is immediately to be, expelled by the Freemasons of this 
 country from their society. Also, that the Duke of Sussex 
 has dismissed him from his household. All this marks the 
 general and honest indignation the conduct of these vile 
 sycophants excites." 
 
 Simple and impressive I
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 129 
 
 EXTRACT FROM A LETTER ADDRESSED TO ONE OF 
 THE PRINCESS'S LADIES. 
 
 " March 26lh, 1813. 
 
 " Though I have not the honour of being personally ac- 
 quainted with your ladyship, I feel assured that the subject 
 which actuates this address will form an apology for the li- 
 berty I take in making it, and claim your ladyship's full and 
 free pardon, having felt no less an interest in it than myself. 
 On an affair of so important and interesting a nature as 
 that which has receiitiv been brought into Parliament, and 
 which has gained such general attention, and from its happy 
 termination, such warm approbation and delight, it will not, 
 I trust, be deemed impertinent to make a few remarks. 1 
 could not, without subjecting myself to much pain, withhold 
 expressing the enthusiastic joy which the perusal of this 
 
 day's papers has produced. Will Lady gratify the 
 
 feelings of a stranger by conveying to her Royal Highness 
 the Princess of Wales, the warm congratulations of an affec- 
 tionate heart on the glorious victory recently obtained — a 
 heart that has long been deeply wounded at the base conduct 
 of the Douglases, the vilest pair that England ever knew, and 
 who it is ardently hoped will now receive their just and 
 highly merited punishment. Yes, revered and highly be- 
 loved Princess, the nation has long felt your wrongs and 
 wished for redress ; power and undue influence forbade it, 
 until that impressive address obliged a public avowal of your 
 innocence : excuse the freedom of my sentiments, my heart 
 is full and every feeling is roused. That her Royal Highness 
 may long live to enjoy the society of her beloved daughter, 
 beholding in her every grace and virtue which can adorn the 
 throne and secure the affections of the nation, is the fervent 
 prayer of thousands. It may afford her Royal Highness 
 some pleasure to be informed, that the patronage which she 
 so graciously conferred on the National Benevolent Institu- 
 tion, has been highly beneficial to the charity ; a respectable 
 committee lias been formed, and subscriptions are daily in- 
 creasing. Relying on your ladyship's forgiveness for this 
 intrusion, I beg leave to subscribe myself," &c.
 
 130 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 A LETTER ADDRESSED TO ONE OF HER ROYAL HIGH- 
 
 NESS'S LADIES. 
 
 "March 19th, 1813. 
 *' I do myself the honour of writing to your ladyship, to 
 congratulate you on the pleasure you must have felt on the 
 result of the late debates in the House of Commons. I see 
 a variety of persons, and observe with gre^t satisfaction, that 
 there is a general sympathy with the Princess of Wales, on 
 the cruel persecution she has undergone; and the complete 
 conviction of her Royal Highness's perfect innocence. Whit- 
 bread has done himself great honour by his generous defence 
 — he has acted nobly. I wish he had been able to crush the 
 vile snake whom her Royal Highness cherished formerly, 
 and who so ungratefully attempted to sting her benefactor ; — 
 that wretch and her mate have however covered themselves 
 with infamy. May I venture to ask the favour of a few lines 
 from your ladyship, to inform me how her Royal Highness 
 endures these, which I trust will be the last efforts of calumny. 
 It is not from curiosity that I take this liberty, but from the 
 sincere interest which I feel in her Royal Highness's wel- 
 fare. 
 
 " I have the honour to be. Madam, 
 
 " Your Ladyship's most obedient," &;c. &c. 
 
 These letters have been taken promiscuously from the 
 upper and middling classes, and from a large collection on 
 the same subject, in order to give an impartial idea of the 
 feeling which generally prevailed at that time respecting the 
 wrongs of the Princess of Wales. 
 
 It may be that this was the proudest moment of the 
 Princess's troubled life ; afterwards, there was more pomp 
 and greater public demonstration of feeling for her, but then 
 it was a storm of passion and of party, not the sober current 
 of honest feelings, which moved justice to stand forth and 
 defend her. 
 
 May 10th, 1813. — After all these triumphs, we are only 
 making a charivari upon an old tin tea-kettle of a harpsichord. 
 Full of my own feelings, and my own regrets, I yet could 
 enter into those of others, if there was uniform greatness, 
 uniform tenderness, uniform anything ; — but courtly ways
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 131 
 
 are not my ways, and the unfortunate Princess is so incon- 
 sistent, so reckless of propriety, so childishly bent on mere 
 amusement, that I foresee her enemies must — and will get 
 the upper hand ! 
 
 Read Madame de Stael sur les Passions — What a wonder- 
 ful mind is hers ! what an insight she has into the recesses 
 of human feeling. How many secret springs does she un- 
 lock ; and how much the woman — the tender, the kind, the 
 impassioned woman, betrays herself even in all tlie philoso- 
 phy of her writings I Yet what do my sex think of a female 
 authoress ? With one or two very sober, but very great ex- 
 ceptions, it is true, that where science rather than imagina- 
 tion or thought is displayed, Avomen are sneered at who ven- 
 ture on the public arena of literature; and there is not a man, 
 perhaps," existing, who does not think that those women are 
 wisest and happiest who do not attempt that bold and dan- 
 gerous adventure, authorship. I remember once a great 
 friend of mine defended herself, (she being guilty of the 
 fact,) by asking me what stimulus to life remained when 
 youth and outward charms were gone, but when the affec- 
 tions and the imagination were as vivid as ever, and nothing 
 was left to supply the place of that life of life to which, when 
 once accustomed, it was as impossible to live without it, as 
 to live without breathing? "Men," she said, "have the 
 camp, the court, the senate, and the field, — but we — we have 
 nothing but thought and feeling left; and if we are not under- 
 stood, not prized by those around us, like 
 
 ' Rosa non colta in sua stagion,' 
 we scatter these thoughts and feelings to the wind, hoping 
 they may bear us back some fruitage of answering kind. 
 Besides, there are many other reasons which instigate wo- 
 men to become authors. It is not, as you falsely accuse us, 
 vanity, or the thirst after notoriety, which prompts the deed, 
 but it is generally one of two things — perliaps both together — 
 either poverty, or the aching desire to be appreciated and 
 understood, even though it may be by some being whom we 
 shall never see in this world. 
 
 I was sent for this day to the palace at Kensington, to 
 converse only on one topic — the disappointment the Princess 
 felt at having suddenly received a message, informing her 
 Lady Reid's house was not to be let — only sold. As this 
 information came unexpectedly, and after she had concluded 
 that every arrangement was settled, she supposes it is a trick
 
 132 MEMOIRS OF THK 
 
 proceeding from Carlton House. One might imagine such 
 meannesses were beneath the consideration of the adverse 
 party ; but I have known so many instances of similar little- 
 nesses, that I should not be surprised if this were one. 
 
 It seems Mr. Brougham wrote to the Princess on Wed- 
 nesday last, stating, that he had heard it was the Regent's 
 intention, the moment she got a house in town, to take Ken- 
 sington, and all its advantages of coal and candle, &c., from 
 her, for which reason he, (Mr. Brougham,) conceiving this 
 would be of great detriment to her Royal Highness, had 
 delayed concluding the bargain about the Curzon Street 
 house ; and that when he went a few days after on the Fri- 
 day to do so, he heard of the new resolution which had been 
 adopted by the late Lady Reid's executors. What makes 
 this the more unaccountable is, that it was specified in her 
 will, that the house should not be sold, but let for twenty 
 years, in order that the rent might accumulate for the benefit 
 of some near relation, and that in consequence of the will, 
 the executors must procure an act of parliament to enable 
 them to break it. I was requested privately (and this was 
 what I was sent for) to go secretly to another person, a man 
 of business, and if possible, on any terms whatsoever, secure 
 a lease of the house. 
 
 This underhand manner of employing another agent, above 
 all of making me an instrument in the business, distressed 
 me greatly ; for not only is it unadvisable to be insincere, 
 and to doubt the faithfulness of any one till he is proved 
 false, but also, on the present occasion, it was just possible 
 that Mr. Brougham might, with the best intentions towards 
 the Princess's interests, have purposely prevented her from 
 obtaining this house. 
 
 On the 11th of May I was invited again to the palace. 
 The Princess informed me that she was in great hopes the 
 Regent was going to Hanover. I wondered what difference 
 that could possibly make to her. She told me there was to 
 be a congress held, at which all the potentates were to meet, 
 and that Bonaparte was to join them. 
 
 The Princess is dissatisfied with her daughter's conduct. 
 She wished that the latter should have had the firmness to 
 say, " I will go to no ball unless my mother is present at it;" 
 but this she does not do, and the mother of course is wound- 
 ed, and thinks her child really does not care for her — which 
 I fear is true. And when this unfortunate Princess sees her-
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 133 
 
 self forsaken by every natural tie, and by every person of 
 distinction once professing friendship, it is hardly to be won- 
 dered that she should become desperate : if she does not, she 
 will stand recorded in history as the wisest and best of her 
 sex and regal station. But a return is naturally made to self, 
 and I feel myself, as her friend, very awkwardly situated. 
 
 To-day, for instance, there was that foolish Lady P -, and 
 
 her silly protege — both very unfit company for the Princess. 
 
 Dr. B is clever and agreeable ; still there ought to be 
 
 another set of persons to form her Royal Highness's coterie. 
 It is impossible not to regret that she should thus lose herself, 
 and forfeit the vantage-ground she had so recently obtained. 
 Yet for me to appear 'downcast, would only draw on explana- 
 tions which I am desirous of avoiding. Mr. came by 
 
 appointment. He was pleased at being presented to her 
 Royal Highness any how. If everybody was behind the 
 scenes, they would not think so much of the show — but this 
 applies to all courts indiscriminately. 
 
 It was one o'clock in the morning before I was dismissed. 
 — O ye gods and green geese ! I wish I was one upon a 
 goose green, instead of a court ! 
 
 Wednesday, May r2th. — Her Royal Highness graciously 
 gave me. a picture of herself (as she calls it !) — which might 
 just as well be the picture of the Grand Turk, and which I 
 verily believe was done for her dead sister-in-law, the late 
 Duchess of Brunswick — not for herself. Nevertheless, by 
 a little royal hocus pocus, it is now transmuted into her own 
 portrait ! — and I received it as though I believed it — so much 
 for being a courtier ! 
 
 o 
 
 Friday, 14th. — Yesterday came Sir J. Owen, with the 
 Pembrokeshire address. He is a well-looking young man. 
 The Princess went through the ceremony with great dignity, 
 and did the whole thing very well. Why does she not always 
 so ? I was present at a visit her Royal Highness paid the 
 Duchess of Leinster, when she took a china cup to her which 
 her Royal Highness said had belonged to her mother, who 
 was a friend of hers. What a magnificent old lady ! There 
 is something in great age, when accompanied by sweetness 
 and dignity, that has a peculiar charm for me. I feel inclined 
 to honour such persons, if only for having outlived and out- 
 braved the storms of life which they must have passed through. 
 
 Vol. I. 12
 
 134 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 " So some lone tower, with many a hue inlaid, 
 
 Which Time (the cunning artist) doth enchase. 
 Lifts its grey head above the forest's shade. 
 And seems from age and time to steal new grace." 
 
 Now poured in the addresses from the whole of England. 
 Tlie Princess ought to have felt the double responsibility 
 which such testimonies to her honour imposed upon her. 
 
 On Saturday, the 15th, came the Sheffield address. That 
 night I dined at Blackheath, and sat up till two o'clock in the 
 morning. The Princess read some of Mirabeau's letters of 
 the private history of the Court of Berlin ; but every now 
 and then laid down the book to talk of the personages men- 
 tioned therein, according to her own version of the story. 
 This she did very well, and was extremely entertaining. 
 Mirabeau mentions a long discourse he had with the Duke 
 of Brunswick, about the state of Europe in that time, and 
 adds, that it was 'diamond cut diamond' between them. The 
 Duke wanted to tind out whether Monsieur de Bieteuil was 
 likely to succeed Monsieur de Vergennes as minister at Ber- 
 lin. — " Ah," said the Princess, closing the book, " nobody 
 could love a fader belter nor I loved mine ; but he was a man 
 of inordinate ambition, and was not at all pleased with only 
 reigning over so small a principality as Brunswick. Frederick 
 Guillaume was a very weak prince, and my fader always de- 
 termined to have the whole management of Prussia. The 
 better to bring this about, he earnestly desired my marriage 
 with the Prince Royal, but I never could consent. — Ah, I 
 was so happy in those times !" I asked if he was not a very 
 handsome man. " Very like the bust I have of him," was 
 her reply — and that bust is, I think, handsome, but she does 
 not. She then added, — " Things all change since that time, 
 — and here I am." — And she burst out crying. 
 
 Sunday, 16th. — Met her Royal Highness in town to see 
 Harcourt House, the abode which was now pointed out to her 
 as eligible. She was disappointed in its dimensions and ap- 
 pearance ; — so was T. How few persons have any idea of 
 real magnificence ! However, it is a proper sort of house 
 for the Princess to inhabit ; and I wish upon all accounts 
 that she may take it. 
 
 Mr. Brougham came to her at last. His manner does not 
 please her : they look at each other in a way that is very
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 135 
 
 amusing to a bystander. The one thinks, " She may be 
 useful to mp;" and the other, '■'■He is usefid to nie at pre- 
 sent." It does not require to be a conjurer to read their 
 thoughts — but they are both too cunning for each other. Mr. 
 Brougham, however, gave her good advice, which was, to 
 wait a few days, in which time he thought VVhitbread would 
 sound the waters, and take the bearings of all circumstances, 
 so as to let her know whether or not she mijjht venture to live 
 in town without incurring the risk of losing Kensington. 
 She wishes, and is advised, to let this place, and keep Ken- 
 sington as her villa. That would be a very wise plan, and I 
 hope for her sake she may do so. 
 
 The addresses arg all going on notably : they come from 
 every part of the country. I do hope the people may force 
 the nobles into a more just conduct towards her ; but I look 
 with very despairing eyes upon the state of the constitution 
 of this country — that is to say, with regard to the continuance 
 of its regal power, — were it not that God, who sees into the 
 hearts, r.nd tries the reins of men, knows of virtues that are 
 not seen, but which to his all-seeing eye redeem the vices 
 that are alone apparent to man. 
 
 The history of all courts, and all princes, from the time of 
 Jehu unto the present day, shows them full of corruptions 
 and vices : their very stations lead them into sin. Yet, when 
 lately France tried to exist under an ideal form of government, 
 greater misery ensued, and the convulsion only subsided when 
 a more despotic power than any king's gradually subdued the 
 tumult, and restored order by enforcing obedience. Why then 
 should we seek for imaginary perfectibility in tlie laws of 
 man? it suits not with his imperfect essence. God sees the 
 hearts of princes, and will perhaps maintain them in their 
 place in spite of all their seeming unworthiness to us. Yet, 
 sometimes, I again think no, especially at this time in 
 England. — " A house divided against itself cannot stand." 
 The old King had many faults — 1 say had, for in fact he is 
 dead, to this world, — but then he was a good and a pious 
 man ; and the example of such has always been of powerful 
 influence. When he dies, I fear much harm will ensue, for 
 there is a fermentation in men's minds, and a general system 
 of deceit prevails, which in regard to things temporal and 
 spiritual the coming power is not likely to dissipate. May 
 God avert the evil ! It will be laid to the charge of one,
 
 130 MEMOIRS Of THE 
 
 M'hen it does come, but it is the consequence of the hollow- 
 ness and immorality of all. 
 
 Thursday, May 19lh. — Monday was the Princess of 
 Wales's birthday. I went to pay my respects. Her Royal 
 Highness told me she had received a letter at half-past one 
 o'clock in the morning, from Princess Charlotte, to give no- 
 tice that she was to arrive at Blackheath at two to-day, to 
 remain for one hour only. This did not please ; and fthe was 
 pleased to aggravate the sense of her displeasure, because we 
 naturallij like to make bad tvorse, when we are ill treated. 
 Haidly had she time to receive the Berwick address, which 
 was delivered by a remarkably gentlemanly man, Colonel 
 Allen, (who made her a very pretty speech from himself 
 afterwards,) when there arrived a servant from Princess Char- 
 lotte to say she was ordered to be at Blackheath at half-past 
 one, and back at Warwick House by half-past two. This 
 was a fresh cause of complaint. Royalties do not understand 
 having hours changed by others, though they change them 
 when it suits their own convenience. In general, however, 
 they are punctual. 
 
 The Duke of Kent came, and a quarter of an hour after, 
 Princess Charlotte; the Duchess of Leeds and Miss Knight 
 attending her. The meeting was as dry and as formal as 
 possible. Princess Charlotte was rather gracious to me. 
 Her legs and feet are very pretty : her Royal Highness 
 knows that they are so, and wears extremely short petticoats. 
 Her face would be pretty too, if the outline of her cheeks 
 was not so full.- She went away soon after two ; and I left 
 the Duke of Kent and the Princess tete-a-tete. 
 
 In the evening, singing and playing. — "Vivent les beaitx 
 arts .'" 
 
 I do not, whatever others may say, believe that the Prince 
 Regent considers the addresses to the Princess in the serious 
 light they deserve to be considered ; because he is under the 
 influence of bad and weak advisers. Nor do I think that, in 
 the present slate of men's minds, any immediate advantage 
 will be gained by them to her Royal Highness; but if she 
 has the resolution to act with a patience scarcely to be ex- 
 pected, I have not the smallest doubt but that she will stand, 
 in point of popularity, so high in this country, that justice 
 will and must be done to her. 
 
 The Princess has taken a dislike to Sir C. and Lady
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 137 
 
 Hamilton, and was angry at their calling on her. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Lock are still in favour, and dined here. 
 
 Friday, 21st. — The Princess went to town, after receiving 
 an address from Middlesex, — a very strong one. The Sherift' 
 and Mr. G. Byng, and some more people, all warm in her 
 cause. They ate luncheon, and asked a great many ques- 
 tions, and seemed very much interested in all that concerned 
 her. The Sheriff said, her Royal Highness had at least one 
 consolation, namely, that the voice of the people was for her. 
 God grant this may be true — and continue ! 1 think, if she is 
 but tolerably prudent, she will get the better of her enemies. 
 
 Saturday, May 22d, 1813. — The Princess went to town 
 to see her nephew a*t the Duke of Brunswick's, Chelsea. I 
 was glad to hear it, for the sake of appearances, though I, 
 alas ! know 'tis only appearance. 
 
 May 31st. — I have not been able for the last nine days 'to 
 write this memorandum; perpetual late hours fatigue me so 
 much, and render me incapable of the smallest exertion. 
 
 There has been less music lately, and the musicantes have 
 been less with her. I am afraid, or rather I ought to rejoice, 
 that, she has not found that society quite congenial. The ad- 
 dresses have continued — Westminster is the strongest ; Berk- 
 shire, &;c., &c., have followed. The people certainly espouse 
 her cause: the nobles, more immediately influenced by pen- 
 sions and places, and stars and garters, show their native 
 meanness of soul. If it were really virtue, or extreme deli- 
 cacy, that made some people step aside and decline her so- 
 ciety, one should only grieve, and could not blame ; but as it 
 is, self-interest alone directs their conduct, and one must 
 despise those who bend the knee to those only who have the 
 power of benefiting them. At the Opera the other night, 
 every person stood up when her Royal Highness entered the 
 house, and there was a burst of applause : it was not so long, 
 or so rapturous, as I had before witnessed — for instance, in 
 Kensington Gardens; but it was very decidedly general and 
 determined. There were two or three hisses : I could not 
 distinguish where they came from, — some Carlton House 
 emissaries, of course.* I saw nobody and nothing, being 
 
 • It is said a very great lady, now far advanced in years, the mother 
 of a particularly pious nobleman, was Uie leader of this disapprobation. 
 
 12*
 
 138 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 very much moved and interested in her reception. I heard 
 
 afterwards that the Dowager Lady C y was one of those 
 
 who hissed — more shame to her.* The Princess entered the 
 house at eleven, and left it at twelve, so that there was not 
 much time for the people to weary of her ; and when she got 
 up to go away there was another applause, but she did not 
 receive the applause as if she was pleased by it, — perhaps it 
 did not content her; or rather, I think, the true cause which 
 prevented her from being pleased at any circumstance that 
 evening was, that Mr. Whitbread had written her a letter, 
 begging that she would be very careful about her dress, — in 
 short, explaining that she ought to cover her neck. This I 
 knew by a roundabout way. It was a bold act of friendship 
 to tell her this : she will never forget it, nor ever like the 
 person who had the courage to give her the advice. She has 
 many good qualities, but that Christian virtue, humility, en- 
 ters not within the porch of her thoughts or feelings : indeed, 
 to speak candidly, it is the most difficult one to attain ; and 
 many who think they possess it, are as far from it as the 
 poor Princess, who openly contemns it. She absolutely 
 wept some tears of mortification and anger, when she re- 
 ceived this letter from Mr. Whitbread. She did not know 
 that I knew the contents, which I rejoiced at, because it 
 spared her another act of humiliation before me. In regard 
 to myself, I have laid down a rule of conduct towards her 
 Royal Highness, from which I am determined not to depart. 
 This determination is, never to give advice; because I am 
 quite aware that it might do me much harm, and would do 
 her no good. From a legal adviser alone she can endure a 
 plain unpleasant truth, and she has greatness of mind enough 
 to esteem and value the attachment of such a man to her cause, 
 after the first sting of rebuke is passed away, though such a 
 man, she never will suffer to be immediately in attendance 
 upon her person. 
 
 On Thursday last, little Matt. Lewis came to pay me a 
 visit. He is such a steady friend, and so amusing, that in 
 spite of all his ridicules I like him exceedingly. 
 
 Friday 1 again dined at Kensington : my cousin dined 
 
 there also. I am always distressed when I meet him at the 
 Princess's, for I know he is trying lojindfaidt all the time. 
 I think, however, for once he did not succeed, and he made 
 himself (as he ought) agreeable to his Royal hostess. 
 
 * What an unladylike, and unchristian demonstration of feeling!
 
 TIMES or GEORGE THE FOURTH. 139 
 
 Monday, June 2d. — I met the Princess at supper, at Lord 
 Glenbervie's : it was a dull affair, and the more so, from the 
 Princess appearing to be very low and cross. The party did 
 not last long; that was one comfort. I had received such a 
 shock from the accounts of the horrid murder of the poor old 
 Mr. and Mrs. Thompson Bonnar, that I was quite unfit for 
 society ; but her Royal Higiiness had commanded me to meet 
 her at Lord Glenbervie's, so I was obliged to obey. Having 
 seen the murdered persons frequently; having been in their 
 house, and in their very room, I had the whole horrid scene 
 before me most vividly. It is strange to remark how the 
 most tragic events pass under the observation of people who 
 live in the busy world, without creating one serious thought. 
 They say, " shockipg," " horrid," and as soon as their curi- 
 osity is amused and gratified by the details of the story, turn 
 from the tale with an air of levity, and soon contrive to lose 
 all recollection of so unpleasant a subject: the wholesome 
 moral to be deduced from serious retlection is wholly set 
 aside. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Thompson Bonnar were good people : they 
 had closed their evening in acts of family devotion ; and yet 
 the Almighty permitted, for some wise purpose doubtless, 
 but one unknown to man, that these innocent beings should 
 suffer a dreadful death. What an exercise for faith and 
 resignation ! How can any thing else reconcile such awful 
 dispensations with the tender mercies of God ? There were 
 few whom I heard express any serious thoughts about this 
 tragic story ; — and some contrived, even upon such an event, 
 to cut their idle jokes.* 
 
 Tuesday, June 3d. — I went to see Mrs. R n : her 
 
 daughter is a beautiful girl, and very agreeable. The Princess 
 (.'harlotte has taken a great fancy for her, at which I am not 
 
 surprised. She told me Miss E n is not friendly to the 
 
 Princess of Wales, and 1 fear it is so ; for since her return to 
 the Princess Charlotte, the latter is not half so kind to her 
 
 • It so happened, that at the distance of twenty-seven years, the editor 
 of this journal heard of a similar event, which excited similar unfeeling 
 remarks, when looking over these papers. The coincidence was striking; 
 and the editor experienced the same revulsion of feeling on hearing Mr. 
 
 G e speak with heartlcssness on a suhject of equal horror. Perhaps 
 
 Mr. G e mistakes this ill-judged levity for wit. "Dans ce monde, 
 
 tout se retrouve hors le bonheur."
 
 140 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 mother. Whoever busy themselves by depreciating a parent 
 in a child's estimation are much to blame ; for even where 
 the parent is in fault, tlie child should never know it. It is 
 a dangerous experiment to bid the ofl'spring discriminate 
 where its parent is in the right and where in the wrong. 
 
 Very likely Miss E did not advise Princess Charlotte 
 
 not to love her mother, but she probably told her, " She is 
 imprudent, foolish ; do not be guided by her ;" and so les- 
 sened her respect for her mother. Miss E , however, 
 
 was on one occasion a useful friend to the Princess Char- 
 lotte, insomuch that it was through her means that a silly 
 correspondence into which the Princess Charlotte had enter- 
 ed with C H was delivered up and destroyed. The 
 
 Princess of Wales, on the contrary, behaved very foolishly 
 in this business ; and it gave a handle to her enemies to re- 
 present to the Regent that she ought not to be allowed indis- 
 criminate intercourse with her daughter. They took a fiend- 
 ish pleasure in laying hold of this or any other plausible 
 pretext to separate the Princess from her child. 
 
 Tuesday, 10th of August, 1813. — I passed nearly an hour 
 with Madame de Stael. That woman captivates me. There 
 is a charm, a sincerity, a force in all she says and looks. / 
 am not disappointed in her. 'I'he anger 1 felt at her for 
 not taking up the Princess's cause more warmly is, I feel, 
 fast vanishing away. The reason of this lies in my unhappy 
 knowledge of the dessous des cartes, a knowledge more like- 
 ly to increase than to diminish, for the poor Princess is going 
 on headlong to her ruin. Every day she becomes more im- 
 prudent in her conduct, more heedless of propriety and the 
 respect she owes to herself. The society she is now sur- 
 rounded by, is disgraceful. 
 
 Yesterday, when I dined with her Royal Highness, the old 
 ouran oiitang was there, and they sang together for some time, 
 
 and after that the Princess set off with Lady to go to 
 
 the vile Maison de Plaisanre, or rather de Nuisance. It 
 consists of two damp holes, that have no other merit than 
 being next to the S. Kennel. I was shown all over, or half 
 
 over, this abominable place, and then dismissed. Lady 
 
 told me to-day that she was left lo chew the cud of her reflec- 
 tion for several hours. She said, that she tried " to spit them 
 out, for that truly they were neither nutritive nor sweet." 
 She lead one of Madame de Stael's Pelits Romans, which I
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 141 
 
 had lent her, and which she tokl me had given her great 
 pleasure. Madame de Stael's Essai sur les Fictions delights 
 me particularly ; for every word in it is a beautiful echo of my 
 
 own feelings. Lady told me the Princess was not content 
 
 with being 7iext door to the Kennel, but she would go into 
 it ; and there she was introduced to a new brother and sister- 
 in-law of the L s. Alas ! what company for her to asso- 
 ciate with ! Lady said she felt very distressed at seeing 
 
 her royal mistress there ; and thought the mother of the Prin- 
 cess felt so too, for that the latter neither wants feeling nor 
 sense. After two hours of music, i. e. charivari, the Princess 
 returned back again to the other hole, and supped tete-a-tete 
 
 with Lady ; tWs, at least, was an appearance kept up ; 
 
 but Lady is terrirted, for the Princess talked of sleeping 
 
 at the "'co//f/o'e." Her Royal Highness's servants are infu- 
 riated, and there is no saying how long their fidelity may 
 hold out. 
 
 AVednesday, 11th of August. — Again I dined at Kensing- 
 ton, and after dinner the Princess went with Lady -. to 
 
 Mr. Ano^erslein's, and desired me to follow her thither. 
 There was an awkward scene took place; for Lady Bucking- 
 hamshire, like a true vulgar, ran off\he moment she saw the 
 Princess enter the room, and nothing could persuade her to 
 come back, instead of standing still and making a curtsy and 
 taking her departure quietly. The gentlemen were still at 
 table. Mr. Boucheret was the first who came out. The 
 Princess did not speak to the Dean of Windsor, who was 
 
 there ; which I regretted for her sake. Lady told me 
 
 that she had implored Lady C. L. to write to Mr. Whitbread, 
 to say it is of vital consequence he should state to her Royal 
 Highness, that the " cottages" are already a cause of scandal; 
 and, well knowing her innocent recreations, he advised that 
 they should take place elsewhere. Perhaps he will not dare 
 
 to give her this advice. From Mr. A the Princess went 
 
 to sup at Lady Perceval's. I am sorry for her Royal High- 
 ness ; I think she has sacrificed herself, and that she is really 
 attached to a weak intrisruing woman. I heard a curious 
 story about the Duke of Brunswick. It is said that he has 
 an intrigue with a married woman at Shrewsbury; and hear- 
 inaf tliat her husband was absent, the Duke set off to a ren- 
 dezvous. When he arrived at an inn there, he ordered a 
 dinner the next day for himself and his innamorata ; but his
 
 142 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 broken English, and a peculiar air belonging to him, attracted 
 observation ; and Mr. Forrester, son-in:la\v to the Duchess of 
 Rutland, happening to be there, said to the landlord, *' I am 
 sure that is a French prisoner trying to escape ; accordingly, 
 a hue and cry was made after him, and lie was arrested. 
 His continued bad English confirmed them in their opinion, 
 but he said he was an officer in the Duke of Brunswick's 
 German legion. This was not believed ; and he, infuriated 
 at their doubts, declared himself to be the Duke of Bruns- 
 wick. " No," said Mr. Forrester, " I am certain the Duke 
 of Brunswick is not such a frippery fellow as you are." In 
 short he was treated with all sorts of indignity ; but at length 
 some one knew him, and he was set at liberty, and excuses 
 out of number were made to him when it was too late. What 
 the Duke principally dreaded was an action for crim. con., 
 and being obliged to pay ten thousand pounds. 
 
 I have long had a foresight for some great interior revolu- 
 tion in these kingdoms. All I see and know, and do not see 
 but Ihhik, confirms me in this opinion. Speaking morally, 
 it is perhaps better that a man should have a compensation in 
 money for his wife's guilt, than in the blood of the offender : 
 but, speaking according to my own feelings, I think that 
 were I in such a miserable position, nothing but fighting to 
 the death would satisfy me ; for how can gold be a compen- 
 sation for wounded honour? It is, according to my way of 
 thinking, only an additional affront. If a man, from the high- 
 est of all motives, Christian humility and forbearance, par- 
 dons a failliless wife, and the object of her guilty passion, 
 then indeed he is truly great, and by his greatness alone over- 
 comes his injuries, and washes away all stain from his cha- 
 racter. — but to take a price for an injury is a cowering mean 
 idea, that could only obtain currency from its being part of 
 that system of trade upon which hang our law and our pro- 
 phets. , 
 
 Sunday. — Last niglit the Princess again went to sup at Mr. 
 Angerstein's, and unfortunately Lord and Lady Buckingham- 
 shire were there. The latter behaved very rudely, and went 
 away immediately after the Princess arrived. Whatever her 
 opinions, political or moral, may be, I think that making a 
 curtsy to the person invested with the rank of Princess of 
 Wales, would be much better taste, and more like a lady, 
 than turning her back and hurrying out of the room.
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 143 
 
 I wonder why the Princess treats the Dean of Windsor 
 with such marked dislike, for he has always been respectful 
 and attentive to her and her mother, the Duchess of Bruns- 
 wick : — it is vexatious to those who take an interest in her 
 Royal Highness's welfare, to observe how she slights persons 
 to whom it is of consequence for her to show civility; and 
 how she mistakes in the choice of those on whom she lavishes 
 her favour. The Princess is always seeking amusement, and 
 unfortunately, often at the expense of prudence and pro- 
 priety. — She cannot endure a dull person : she has often said 
 to me, " I can forgive any fault but that ;" and the anathema 
 she frequently pronounces upon such persons is, — " Mine 
 G — ! dat is de duUest person G — Almighty ever did born !" 
 
 Monday, 22d of August. — I went and saw I-ady 
 
 she told me a piece of news, which it gave me great pleasure 
 to learn, namely, that From mudame exists no more, and 
 that Chanticleer has been fairly driven off his dunghill. Lady 
 
 does not know how this has been effected ; but that it 
 
 has is certain, thank heaven ! — Only, I fear, that if Chanti- 
 cleei^s wings are clipped, they will grow again; and if his 
 neck is twisted, some other dunghill-bird will roost on the 
 same perch — and it is not only disgraceful tliat the Princess 
 should have lived in intimacy with such persons as tlie S — s, 
 but they have extracted so much money from her, that, had 
 their reign continued longer, she would have been greatly 
 embarrassed. All Mr. H has said to me on this melan- 
 choly subject, starts up and stares me in the face with damning 
 truth. Even were the excuse, though a bad one, of supposing 
 her heart interested in any one person, I could forgive — nay, 
 feel sympathy with her Royal Highness: but taking pleasure 
 merely in the admiration of low persons, is beneath her dig- 
 nity as a woman, not to mention her rank and station. 1 am 
 sometimes tempted to wish Lord H. F — d had continued to 
 love her, for I am sure, poor soul, had any one been steadfast 
 to her, she would have been so to them; and though, as a 
 married woman, nothing could justify her in being attached 
 to any man, yet it is a hard and a cruel fate, to spend the 
 chief part of one's existence unloving and unloved. How 
 few can endure the trial! It requires strong principle, and a 
 higher power than mortals possess, to enable them to bear 
 such a one; — and when I hear women sitting in judgment on 
 the Princess, (many of them not entitled by their own con-
 
 144 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 duct as wives to comment on the behaviour of others,) and 
 declaiming against her with unchristian severity, — some from 
 a feeling of self-iighteousness, others from ])olitical or party 
 motives, — it is all I can do to forbear from telling them how 
 unamiable I think such observations. Even when a woman 
 is guilty, I cannot bear to hear another of her own sex pro- 
 claim her fault with vehemence — I always think it proceeds 
 from private malice, or a wish to appear better than others. 
 If ever there was a woman to whom, in this respect, mercy 
 should have been shown, it was the Princess ; and those 
 who condemn her should consider the trying, nay, almost 
 unparalleled situation in which she was placed, immediately 
 after coming to this country. 
 
 Who and tv/iat was the woman sent to escort her Royal 
 Highness to England ? Was there any attempt made on the 
 part of the Prince to disguise of what nature his connexion 
 
 was with Lady J y? None. — He took every opportunity 
 
 of wounding the Princess, by showing her that Lady J y 
 
 was her rival. — 'I'he ornaments with which he had decked 
 his wife's arms, he took from her and gave to his mistress, 
 who wore them in her presence. — He ridiculed her person, 
 and suffered Lady J y to do so in the most open and of- 
 fensive manner. — And finally he wrote to her Royal Highness 
 that he intended never to consider her as his wife — not even 
 thouo-h such a misfortune should befal him as the death of his 
 only child. 
 
 When the " " made known this declaration, 
 
 it does not appear that he assigned any cause of accusation 
 against his wife. — He was the first to blame ; and when her 
 subsequent follies (for from my heart I believe they never were 
 more than follies) gave him an excuse for his ill treatment of 
 her, it should be remembered, what an example of bare-faced 
 vice was set before the Princess when she was first married 
 to the Prince. Unfortunutely she had not been brought up 
 with a strict sense of moral rectitude, or religious principle, 
 in her childhood neither was the example set her by her father, 
 the Duke of Brunswick, likely to give her just notions of 
 right and wrong. She loved her father, and therefore excused 
 his errors. From her earliest years she had been taught by 
 the example of others, and those most near and dear to her, 
 to consider married infidelity as a very venial trespass ; and 
 when she came to England, this notion was confirmed by 
 those whom she had thought most to have honoured, and
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 145 
 
 been guided by her own conduct. It may be said that the 
 person who cannot discern between vice and virtue, and 
 choose for herself which course to pursue, is always to blame. 
 Granted ; — but surely, for a woman so educated, and who 
 had such examples set before her, there ought to be some 
 indulgence shown, and some consideration made, for frailties, 
 which in one shape or other, are common to humanity. 
 
 While opprobrium was heaped on the Princess of Wales, 
 and the smallest offence against etiquette or propriety which 
 
 she committed, was tnagnitied into crime, the Prince of W 
 
 ran a career of lawless pleasure unrebuked, nay, even ap- 
 plauded ! How true is the proverb — " One man may steal a 
 horse, and another rpay not look over a hedge." I am not 
 one of those who reason falsely, and think that crime in the 
 one sex alters its nature and becomes virtue in the other, 
 
 Tuesday, 23d August. — I dined at Kensington. The man- 
 ner in which Pylades and Orestes are treated, amuses and 
 makes me melancholy at the same time ; for it shows how 
 things were, and how they are. The only new person I 
 have seen at Kensington for a length of time, is Madame 
 Zublibroff, the wife of a General Zublibroff : she is a daughter 
 of Mr. Angerstein's, and a very pretty, agreeable-looking 
 person. Her Imsband appears clevei and sincere; — I am 
 sure, by the conversation I heard him hold with the Princess, 
 he is a good man. She deceives the wife, I think, com- 
 pletely, but I doubt it is not so with the husband : he never- 
 theless seems friendly, but friendly with self-dignity. He 
 told her Royal Highness some home truths, which she did 
 not at all relish ; but, being determined to like him, she con- 
 trived very ingeniously to turn the subject in the light in 
 
 which she chose to have it viewed, leaving General Z 
 
 precisely at the point whence he had set out. Accustomed 
 as the Princess is, in common with all royalties, to see only 
 through the medium of her own passions, she contrives 
 generally to conceal whatever is disagreeable to her, and to 
 have ears, yet hear not. So far, Bonaparte, by making a 
 new race of kings, may perchance alter the nature of royalty ; 
 but I believe not, for the evil lies in the station more than in 
 the individual. Yet any magistrate, gifted with the same 
 superiorities of power and fortune, would, though under an- 
 other title, be just as liable to the same prejudices as a king 
 or an emperor; and a rose, by any other name, would smell 
 as sweet. I conceive, however, that a restless and active 
 
 Vol. I. 13
 
 14G MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 mind may dwell on this subject till all sorts of chimeras enter 
 the brain. 
 
 My walk lies another way. 
 
 Wednesday, — The Princess drove to Lady Perceval's, and 
 dined there yesterday. Clianticleer was there. It was 
 curious to see how she thought she hid niatlers from Lady 
 
 P . The latter is a weak intriguing woman, who seems 
 
 to me to be a mere convenience, but can see as far into a 
 millstone as another, especially such a broad barefaced one. 
 
 Lady told me, that in going out of Kensington Palace 
 
 gates, by driving furiously, one of the leaders fell, and the 
 
 poor little postillion was thrown off, and Lady feared, 
 
 at first, seriously hurt, for he did not get up for several 
 minutes. The Princess was wholly unmoved, and never 
 even asked how he did. Lady said she could not ex- 
 press the hatred such want of feeling excited in her. The 
 Princess ought not to have allowed the boy to ride on, but 
 should have ordered him to go home and be taken care of. 
 Instead of this, he remounted, and twice afterwards, on the 
 road to Lady P 's, the same accident very nearly hap- 
 pened ; for, of course, the poor boy was trembling and unable 
 
 to guide tiie horses. Lady told me she was made quite 
 
 sick by this circumstance, but the resentment and abhorrence 
 she felt at the Princess's total want of humanity on this occa- 
 sion, made her recover sooner than she would otherwise have 
 done, for indignation took place of any other feeling; and no 
 wonder. I could not understand a woman's being so unfeel- 
 ing. It gave 7Jie also a feeling of dislike towards the Prin- 
 cess. 
 
 To-day I went to Blackheath by command. Her Royal 
 Highness was in a low, gentle humour. I walked round her 
 melancholy garden with her, and she made me feel quite sorry 
 for her when she cried, and said it was all her own creation 
 — meaning the garden and shrubbery, &c., but that now she 
 must leave it for ever, for that she had not money to keep a 
 house at Blackheath and one m London also ; and that the 
 last winter she had passed there had been so very dreary, she 
 could not endure the thought of keeping such a one again. I 
 did not wonder at this. All the time I staid and walked with 
 her Royal Highness, she cried, and spoke with a desolation 
 of heart that really made me sorry for her, and yet, at the 
 end of our conversation, poor soul, she smiled, and an ex*
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 147 
 
 pression of resignation, even of content, irradiated her coun- 
 tenance as she said, " I will go on hoping for happier days. 
 Do you think 1 may?'''' she asked me ; and I replied, with 
 heartfelt warmth, "I trust your Royal Highness will yet see 
 many happy days." This Princess is a most peculiar per- 
 son — she alternately makes me dislike and like her, her con- 
 duct and sentiments vary so in quality every time I see her. 
 But one sentiment. does and will ever remain fixed in my 
 breast, and that is pity for her manifold wrongs. 
 
 I saw Madame de H e ; I think she is a good and an 
 
 upright woman. Heavens ! wiiat an opinion she has of the 
 Princess. She told me she dreamt the other night, that her 
 Royal Highness's .carriage was fired at, going down a lane, 
 
 and that slie was shot in the back. Madame de H and 
 
 I agreed on the impropriety of her Royal Highness exposing 
 her person as she does, without attendants, in lanes and by- 
 ways near Kensington and at Blackhealh. 
 
 Thursday. — Lady was sent to the cottage to fetch 
 
 away books, &e., which had been left there. Slie heard that 
 Chanticleer was ill — amiable distress, interesting denoue- 
 ment! I dined at Kensington. There was no one besides 
 
 the Princess, except Lady ; we dined oft* mutton and 
 
 onions, and I thought Lady would have degobbiled with 
 
 the coarseness of the food, and the horror of seeing the Prin- 
 cess eat to satiety : afterwards her Royal Highness walked 
 about Paddiugton Fields, making Lady and myself fol- 
 low. These walks are very injudiciously chosen as to time 
 and place, though perfectly innocent, and taken for no other 
 purpose than for the pleasure of doing an extraordinary 
 thing. It was almost dark when the Princess returned home 
 in the evening. She amused us very much by telling us the 
 history of her sister. Princess Caroline. I asked her if it was 
 true that the Duke of Wirtemburgh had poisoned Princess 
 C. She said she did not believe it, and had even reasons for 
 supposing she was still alive. Princess C. married at 13 or 
 14 years of age, and, like all princesses and most other wo- 
 men, she did so in order to have an establishment, and be her 
 own mistress. For some time she behaved well, though her 
 sister said her husband was very jealous of her from the he- 
 ginning, and beat her cruelly. At length they went to Russia, 
 and there she became enamoured of a man who was supposed 
 to have been llie Empress's lover, a circumstance wliich ren-
 
 148 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 ' dered the offence heinous, even though he was a cast off 
 lover. But it seems ladies snarl over a bone they have picked, 
 just like any cross dog. The Princess Caroline was secretly 
 delivered of a child in process of time, in one of the Em- 
 press's chateaux. Her husband not having lived with her for 
 a year or two, the deed was known not to be his, and for 
 once the right father was actually named. As soon as she 
 recovered from this little accident, the Empress informed her 
 it was no longer possible for her to allow her to live under her 
 roof, but that she might go to the Chateau de Revelt, on the 
 Baltic — that is to say, she must go : whither accordingly she 
 was sent. The curious pa,rt o-f this story is, that Miss Saun- 
 ders, the Princess of Wales's maid, at this time living with 
 her, had a sister, which sister lived as maid to Princess 
 Caroline, and she, after a time, came from the Chateau de 
 Revelt back to Brunswick, saying her mistress was in per- 
 fect health, but had dismissed her from her service, as she no 
 longer required her attendance. She gave her money and 
 jewels, and afier vain entreaties to be allowed to remain with 
 her royal mistress, to whom she was much attached. Miss 
 Saunders's sister left the Princess Caroline. 
 
 Not long after this, word was brought to the Duke of 
 Brunswick that she dred suddenly of some putrid disorder, 
 which made it necessary to bury the body immediately, 
 without waiting for any ceremonies due to the rank of the 
 deceased. All further inquiries that were made ended in this 
 account, and no light was thrown upon this business. Some 
 years subsequently to this, a travelling Jew arrived at Bruns- 
 wick, who swore that he saw the Princess Caroline at the 
 Opera at Leghorn. He was questioned, and declared that he 
 could not be mistaken in her. I own, said the Princess of 
 Wales, that from her sending away the person who was so 
 much attached to her, and " the only servant she had whom 
 she loved and relied on, that I always hope she contrived to 
 elope with her lover, and may still be alive." This story is 
 curious if it be true, but her Royal Highness loves to tell 
 romantic histories, so that one cannot believe implicitly what 
 she narrates. 
 
 Saturday. — Again I dined at Kensington ; Mr. and Mrs. 
 were also there. I was glad to see them at her Royal 
 
 Highness's table ; for, though not great personages in point 
 of rank, they are great in goodness, and respectability and 
 talent. The Princess talked durin<i the whole of dinner lime 
 
 o
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 149 
 
 about her wish to procure four or live thousand pounds by 
 giving up the lease of twenty-one years of her house at Black- 
 heath, to whoever would advance her this sum of money. 
 
 Messrs. both told her it was a very good bargain for 
 
 any body to enter into, but very disadvantageous for her. 
 She" insisted upon it, however, and said " she would get it 
 
 done," and desired Lady to write the next day, and 
 
 tell Mr. H to endeavour to procure the money for her 
 
 on these terms. After dinner the Princess, her Lady , 
 
 and her gentleman accompanied her to Vauxhall, and supped 
 at the Duke of Brunswick's. The evening was pleasant and 
 amusing, but she would imagine that Mr. Gell was in love 
 
 with Lady , a very funny idea, but it ann\3yed her. 
 
 The Duke of Brunswick is a man who has no notion of per- 
 sons af' different sexes associating together, ???fire/i/ for the 
 sake of conversation and society. The only subject in 
 which he shines is in talking of wars and rumours of wars. 
 He told me that the reason he could not and would not do 
 any thing abroad was, because the Crown Prince insisted 
 upon every person being under him, and all troops serving 
 in the same cause making an oath to follow him, when and 
 wheresoever he should appoint. " This," said the Duke, 
 " I never in honour could do, for I do not, in the first place, 
 feel confidence in this man; and in the second, I could not 
 be subservient to him, a faiseur (Varmes.^'' I asked him 
 what sort of looking man ihe Crown Prince is. " Very like 
 what his former profession was," replied the Duke, holding 
 himself erect, and gesticulating very much, and " always in 
 this attitude," placing himself in that of fencing, with both 
 arms extended. 
 
 " I knew Bernadotte," said the Duke, " before he was in 
 Bonaparte's service, and when he was only a maitre-d'armes. 
 He is an upstart, and thouoji he personally hnles Bonaparte, 
 he loves the French, and only desires to place himself in his 
 stead at their head. He would be just as great a tyrant, 
 were he placed in the same position. My opinion is, he 
 would follow in Bonaparte's footsteps, and I do not think the 
 general cause will be advanced by him." 
 
 The Duke showed us two very curious illuminated MSS. ; 
 
 one of them was a prayer-book, or rather a book of prayers, 
 
 composed and .written out in the hand-writing of one of the 
 
 Dukes of Brunswick. There were one hundred beautiful 
 
 pictures in it, all finished like the finest pai!it?d miniatures-, 
 
 I •)*
 
 150 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 and, Mr. Gell said, executed by some great master. The 
 binding of the book was also beautiful — of fine carved silver 
 work. We also saw a vase twenty inches high, and ten in 
 circumference, made of a single sardonyx, with the mysteries 
 of Ceres exquisitely carved upon it. There was a printed 
 account of how this vase came into the possession "of the 
 family, and its supposed age, which the author placed as far 
 back as having been in the temple of Solomon ; but Mr. Gell 
 said, " that is nonsense, and I hope they will not publish 
 this in the translation intended to be made of this account, 
 for the workmanship of this unique vase is evidently Grecian, 
 and of the Jin est times; besides, a representation of the 
 heathen deities would not have been allowed to exist in 
 Solomon's 'I'emple." I do not know- if the Duke understood 
 perfectly all th?.t Mr. Gell said, for his Serene Highness is 
 somewhat bouche upon these subjects. We were shown yet 
 one tiling more — the Jhike^s bed, which is the most uncom- 
 fortable place of rest I have ever seen. It is made of iron : 
 there are no curtains, and only one mattress, and a sheet. 
 He piques himself on having, he says, " sounder and sweeter 
 sleep on that bed, than many who lie on the softest down." 
 There is a frankness and an enthusiasm in the Duke of 
 Brunswick which makes me like him very much, notwith- 
 standing his to)i de Garnison. 
 
 Sunday. — The Princess went to Lady Perceval's, where 
 
 Lady says there is no amusement; it must be, there* 
 
 fore, that this intimacy is kept up for past reasons, not pre- 
 sent pleasure — a sad consideration. 
 
 Monday. — The Duke of Brunswick came to take leave 
 of his sister, her Royal Highness. I was present at their 
 interview, with some of ihe Princess's ladies. There never 
 was a man so altered by tiie hope of glory ; his stature 
 seemed to dilate, and his eyes were animated with a fire and 
 an expression of grandeur and delight which astonished me. 
 I could not help thinking tlie Princess did not receive him 
 with the warmlli she oujrht to have done. He ('etailed to 
 her the whole particulars of the conversations he had had 
 
 with the Ministers, the Prince R 1, &c., he mimicketl 
 
 them all admiral)ly, particularly Lord Castlereagh, so well 
 as to make us all laugh ; — and he gave the substan'ce of what 
 had passed between himself and tho.se persons, with admira-
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 151 
 
 ble precision, in a kind of question and answer colloquy that 
 was quite dramatic. 
 
 I was astonished, for I never saw any person so changed 
 by circumstance. He really looked a hero. The Princess 
 heard all that he said in a kind of sullen silence, while the 
 tears were in several of the bystanders' eyes. How could 
 this be so ? At length, when tlie Duke of Brunswick said, 
 " The ministers refused me all assistance ; they would pro- 
 mise me neither money nor arms. But I care not ; I will go 
 straight to Hamburgh : I hear there are some brave young 
 men there who await my coming ; and if I have only my 
 orders from the Prince Regent to act, I will go without either 
 money or arms, and gain both;" — " perfectly right," replied 
 the Princess, with some enthusiasm in her voice and manner. 
 *' How'did Bonaparte conquer the greater part of Europe," 
 (the Duke continued,) " he had neither money nor arms, but 
 he took them. And if he did that, why should not I who 
 have so much more just a cause to defend?" The Duke 
 then proceeded to state how the Ministers and the Regent 
 were all at variance, and how he had obtained from the lattei 
 an order which he could not obtain from the Ministers. 
 After some further conversation he took leave of his sister — 
 she did not embrace him. He held out hi-s hand to me 
 kindly, and named me familiarly, I felt a wish to express 
 something of the kindly feeling I felt towards him, but, 
 I know not why, in lier presence, who ought to have felt so 
 much more, and who seemed to feel so little, I felt chilled 
 and remained silent. I have often tl>ought of that moment 
 since with regret. When the Duke was fairly gone, how- 
 ever, she shed a few tears, and said emphatically, " I shall 
 never see him more." 
 
 Mrs. and Miss R n and Lord H. F. dined at Kensintr- 
 
 ton. It is con^ical to see how the Princess behaves to him, 
 trying to show ofl", and yet endeavouring to make him hate 
 her. His behaviour is perfectly kind, respectful, and even, 
 at times, there is a sadness in his manner, whieh makes me 
 think he regrets the change in her sentiments towards him, 
 artd I am certain he is sorry to see the alteration there is in 
 the society which frequents her Royal Higliness. 
 
 I was for several days mucli alarmed by a change that I saw in 
 the shape of the Princess's figure, and I could not help imparling 
 
 the terrible fear I felt to Lady . She also had noticed 
 
 it, but I was much relieved by her telling me she knew for
 
 152 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 certain it was only caused by the Princess having left off 
 stays, a custom which she is very fond of; and she ought to 
 be warned not to indulge in this practice, for it might give 
 rise to reports exceedingly injurious to her character. Lord 
 
 H. F. asked Lady many shrewd questions about 
 
 young Chanticleer? He smells a rat; the sweet odour must 
 
 soon spread far and wide. Mrs. R talked openly to me 
 
 of this sad and disgraceful story; I felt very awkward and 
 very much ashamed for my poor royal mistress. 
 
 Tuesday. — Again I dined at Kensington. No company 
 
 except the Sapios. Lady and I sat apart and talked 
 
 together when we could hear one another speak, but the hor- 
 rible din of their music hardly ever stopped the whole even- 
 ing, except when it was interrupted by the disgusting nonsense 
 of praise that passed between the parties. Interest and cun- 
 ning excuse it from the low and servile, but really, to hear 
 her let herself down so as to sing paeans to the Fiddler's son, 
 who is after all gone away from her. Upon my honour, my 
 
 honour could hardly stand it. Lady and I both agreed, 
 
 it is more than human patience can bear to witness such folly ; 
 the perpetual silly nonsense of the old buffoon, amounting 
 often to imprudence, crowns the whole. 
 
 Thursday. — I dined at Kensington. Messrs. Cell and 
 
 Craven and Sir H. Englefield were there, besides Lady . 
 
 The Princess sat at table till we went to sleep or near it. 
 Sir H. Englefield did quite; not that these men dislike 
 women's society, or probably wish them away to lose all 
 restraint and give way to conversation which they could not 
 hold in their presence, but that sitting round a table for four 
 hours is wearisome to the body as well as mind. Sir H. En- 
 glefield went away immediately after the Princess rose : the 
 others remained, and were pleasant and amusing, as they 
 always are, but her Royal Highness is very jealous of any 
 
 attention being paid to Lady , and if she listened to Mr. 
 
 Craven singing, the Princess wanted to do the same; or if 
 Lady talked to Mr. Gell, her Royal Highness was curi- 
 ous, and came near to hear what they were saying; and 
 
 wlien Mr. Gell attempted to teach liady to play on tlic 
 
 guuar, ihat annoyed her beyond measure, and she desired 
 Mr. Gell to "come and sit beside her Royal Highness." I
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 153 
 
 admire and am astonished beyond measure at Lady 's 
 
 good humour and patienc-e. 
 
 In the course of the evening the Princess desired Lady 
 
 to tell her her fortune, and in doing so, the story of Tiberius 
 and the conjurer occurred to her, — and, as she told me after- 
 wards, she could not resist telling it to her Royal Highness 
 for her benefit. It was a comical story to tell a Princess. 
 
 I do not think she was pleased with Lady for doing so, 
 
 though she pretended to laugh and be much amused. 
 
 B'riday. — It is said Friday is an unlucky day, and I am 
 superstitious, and inclined to believe in these traditions ; but 
 I never can again in this one, for Friday was a day of hap- 
 piness to me. It bcDught me an unexpected pleasure ; I saw 
 
 and she was kind. This meeting has given me fresh 
 
 courage to bear my unhappy existence. 
 
 I saw Mr. Ward, he was in a gay, good humour. How 
 different the same man appears at different times, and in dif- 
 ferent company ! 
 
 Saturday, 4th of September. — I called on Lady W ; 
 
 she is very agreeable, and, I think, has much natural clever- 
 ness, but it is all wasted in eloquence in conversation. She 
 leads a strange life as to hours and customs, which I do not 
 think is calculated to calm her mind or give strength to her 
 body. She is always in a bustle about nothing; many of 
 her ideas are exalted, and her language often poetical, but it 
 is frittered away on paltry subjects, and there is a spirit of 
 resdessness in her, poor soul, which renders her an unhappy 
 being. Perhaps, were she compelled by some kind but reso- 
 lute friend to lead a more regular and wholesome life, she 
 might become less excited; but alas ! she has none such, and 
 each day her mind is getting the mastery over her body, to 
 its undoing. 
 
 There was a time when I despised all notions of adhering 
 to any regular course of existence; I did not believe that 
 such was requisite, or contributed as much as it does to 
 health and peace. I liked sometimes to be out all day and 
 return at night to my meals; sometimes 1 would sit up late 
 and rise early, and at others lie in bed for days. I did not 
 believe that such irregularity could injure my health, much 
 less affect my mind ; l)ut I am convinced now, that nothing 
 tends so much to enervate or excite (according to the nature 
 of the person) as loading this sort of unsettled life. It is 
 the dull round of hours for meals, and sleep, and exercise.
 
 154 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 which is most likely to preserve health, and that calm of 
 spirit which, thoiigli it precludes vivid sensations of pleasure, 
 spares those who lead such lives many a severe pang. It 
 was not so once, however, with me, and when 1 look at 
 what I have just written, I say. Is it / who have thus spoken 
 — I who once sought with eagerness to escape that odious 
 " peace," which I now covet as the greatest blessing? It is 
 even so. 
 
 I dined at Kensington. A Mr. Mills dined with her Royal 
 Highness. I never saw him there before, and I could not dis- 
 cover who he is, or any thing else about him, except that he 
 has very white teeth and very festooned lips. 
 
 31st December, 1813. — In looking back upon the past there 
 is always much melancholy reflection excited, but it is a 
 wholesome melancholy, and I wish not to avoid it. How 
 little I have done or thought, that has left me a pleasant re- 
 membrance ! How much time has passed that has been wasted 
 in idleness, and in that worst idleness, the idleness of the mind 1 
 1 know and regret that it has been so, but I have never had the 
 power'to overcome the languor and laziness, which have taken 
 possession of my faculties. In justice to myself, though, I 
 must say, it is circumstances which have rendered me thus — 
 it is not my nature. Time, wliich either lessens or increases 
 regret, will, I hope, bring with it healing for me under its 
 wings, and I have made many wise plans for the future, and 
 framed many good resolutions, which I hope I shall be able 
 to fulfil. 
 
 In the course of the last four months, the changes that 
 have taken place in the political world are of so vast a magni- 
 tude, that my intellect is not great enough to compre- 
 hend them. Holland is free, Germany and Sweden also have 
 shaken off the tyrant's yoke; in short, his own speech to 
 the senators at Paris, proves sufl^iciently Bonaparte's altered 
 state, — "all Europe was with us, all Europe is now agaihst 
 us" — no more needs be added to such a confession. We 
 have taken all the merit of these changes to ourselves, with 
 what justice, I am not competent to decide; certainly Lord 
 Wellington is a great hero, and certainly we have been partly 
 the means of liberating Spain: but I have sometimes in my 
 own mind doubted, whether the opprobrium thrown upon 
 Uie Spaniards was not exaggerated, and might not be an artful 
 contrivance of out Government to encourage the idea, in order 
 .that a greater share of glory might attach to us ; while such
 
 TI-tlES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 155 
 
 a notion suited Lord Wellington's ambition, who wished to have 
 the sole command, and whose views perhaps did not even 
 end there. So many events in private life are so very dif- 
 ferent, when truly known, from what appearances bespeak 
 them, that it is impossible to believe the same deceit is not 
 practised on a larger scale ; for the passions of nations, like 
 those of smaller communities, are, after all, only the aggre- 
 gate passions of mankind individually, and are as liable to 
 influence, and to lead to falsehood, prejudice, injustice and 
 crime, in the great political world, as they are in the domestic 
 concerns of life. 
 
 It has been said, that we have been the only nation, during 
 tliese last twenty-four years, that has held out against the 
 tyranny and anarch}" which ravaged or confounded Europe. 
 But when I consider our opinions and promises respecting 
 the restoration of the Fiench monarchy, and see how widely 
 we now differ from those opinions, and fall short of the ful- 
 filment of those promises, I cannot help thinking, that neither 
 nations, nor individuals, should be hasty to enter into engage- 
 ments, since the very nature of humanity is to render all 
 things around us mutable, and that it is utterly impossible we 
 should not partake in some degree of the general condition. In 
 regard to these last great Continental changes, my opinion is 
 that if any one individual has been instrumental more than 
 another in effecting them, it has been the Crown Prince 
 (Bernadotte). A Frenchman himself, he knows how to act 
 upon Frenchmen, and, as a native of the Continent, he knows 
 belter the continental systems than we do. The weakness 
 of all persons (with few exceptions) in private as well as in 
 public life, is to insist upon everybody's being managed pre- 
 cisely as we ourselves have been managed. The narrower 
 the circle, and the more confined the spot, on which we live, 
 the more (generally speaking) will our views and wills be 
 limited, and unfit for general application. / believe, tkere- 
 fore, that with one of the finest countries and constitutions in 
 the world, we are not calculated, as islanders, to give laws to 
 the continent, or to subdue its peoj)le ; let us merely endea- 
 vour honourably to maintain our own laws and liberties invi- 
 olate, and to be satisfied with that safe and stable power, 
 which our insular situation, and our internal greatness bestow 
 upon us ; but to subdue France, or impose upon its people 
 any government that is not of their own choosing, appears to 
 me folly, — to relieve the oppressed, to maintain them ever>
 
 1 56 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 as we have done, is noble, as a nation of Christians, and of 
 good and brave men ; but for their sakes to keep up perpetual 
 wars with other nations, seems to me unwise. Lending our 
 aid to Spain is an exception, and I view it in a very different 
 light; we only went with what we were at first told was the 
 general spirit of the whole nation ; it was not in favour of any 
 one family or dynasty that we fought, but for the rights of an 
 oppressed people, who demanded our aid and succour ; yet 
 even these were latterly supposed not to desire our assist- 
 ance. So seldom is it that foreign troops are looked upon 
 with a favourable eye in national warfare. 
 
 No one was so likely to be able to defeat Bonaparte as the 
 Crown Prince, from the intimate knowledge he possessed of 
 his character. Bernadotte was also instigated against Bona- 
 parte, by one who not only owed him a personal hatred, but 
 who possessed a mind equal to his, and who gave the Crown 
 Prince both information and advice how to act — it was no 
 less a person than Madame de Stael who gave him her 
 counsel. It was not, as some have asserted, that she was in 
 love with Bernadotte, for at the time of their intimacy Ma- 
 dame de Stael was in love with Rocca ; but she used her in- 
 fluence (which was not small) with the Crown Prince, to 
 make him fight against Bonaparte, and to her wisdom may 
 be attributed much of the success which accompanied his at' 
 tack upon him. Bernadotte has raised the flame of liberty, 
 which seems fortunately to blaze all around : may it liberate 
 Europe — and from the ashes of the laurel, may olive branches 
 spring up and overshadow the earth ! 
 
 I wish, ardently wish, individually for peace ; but, I think, 
 I wish for it also from that spirit of humanity, which cannot 
 hear of a land saturated with blood, and not shrink aghast 
 from all the desolation of heart which it implies. My private 
 life has been calm ; no very lively emotions have given a high 
 zest to existence, and a constant pressure has lowered the 
 tone of my intellect, and reigned in my imagination. I wish 
 to be able to leave England and visit foreign countries ; I long 
 for an opportunity to extend my observations, and to acquire 
 new matter for my mind to feed upon. * * » * 
 
 I check my eager longings, however, because I know that 
 we are erring mortals, and that our views for ourselves are 
 generally not those which are for our good. I recollect also 
 that everything which I have earnestly longed for has come 
 to pass, and yet the events thus desired, are precisely those
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 157 
 
 which have least tended to my felicity; indeed, in many in- 
 stances, have been productive of misery. I say therefore to 
 my folly. Be subdued ; for the wisdom of man's desire is 
 only folly ; and to my eager wish of change, Be suppressed, 
 for there are many changes which would make me miserable, 
 and few that could make me happier. However, hopes and 
 wishes must exist while life remains, and we must act if we 
 would enjoy. It is only an overweening eagerness, a repin- 
 ing spirit, whose gratified desires are liable to turn to curses. 
 A moderated wish, made in humble subserviency to the 
 Divine power, cannot draw down upon us the displeasure of 
 heaven. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 Sunday, January 9th, 1814. — Yesterday, according to ap- 
 pointment, I went to Princess Charlotte ; found at Warwick 
 House the harp-player Dizzi ; was asked to remain and listen 
 to his performance, but was talked to during the whole time, 
 which completely prevented all possibility of listening to the 
 music. The Duchess of Leeds and her daughter were in the 
 room, but left it soon. Next arrived Miss Knight, who re- 
 mained all the time I was there. Princess Charlotte was 
 
 very gracious — showed me all her bonny dyes, as B 
 
 would have called them, pictures, and cases, and jewels, &c. 
 She talked in a very desultory way, and it would be difficult 
 to say of what. She observed her mother was in very low 
 spirits. I asked her how she supposed she could be other- 
 wise — this questioning answer saves a great deal of trouble;, 
 and serves two purposes — i. e. avoids committing oneself, or 
 giving offence by silence. There was hung in the apartment 
 one poi trait, amongst others, that very much resembled the 
 
 Duke of D . I asked Miss Knight whom it represented; 
 
 she said that was not known : it has been supposed a likeness 
 of the Pretender when young. This answer suited my 
 thoughts so comically, I could have laughed, if one ever did 
 at courts anything but the contrary of what one was inclined 
 to do. Princess Charlotte has a very great variety of ex- 
 pression in her countenance, — a play of features and a force 
 of muscle rarely seen with such soft and shadeless colouring. 
 Her hands and arms are beautiful, but I think her figure is 
 already gone, and will soon be precisely like her mother's. 
 
 Vol. I. U
 
 158 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 In short, h. is the very picture of her, and not in miniature. 
 I could not help analysing my own sensations during the time 
 I was with her, and thought more of them even than I did of 
 her. Why was I at all ilattercd, at all more amused, at all 
 more supple to this young Princess, than to her who is only 
 the same sort of person set in the shade of circumstances and 
 of years? It is that youth and the approach of power, and 
 the latent views of self interest, sway the heart and dazzle the 
 understanding. If this is so with a heart not, I trust, corrupt, 
 and a head not particularly formed to interested calculations, 
 what eft'ect must the same causes produce on the generality 
 of mankind ? In the course of the conversation, the Princess 
 Charlotte contrived to e(]ge in a good deal of tum-de-dy, and 
 would, if I had entered into the thing, have gone on with it, 
 while looking at a little picture of herself, which had about 
 thirty or forty different dresses to put over it, done on isin- 
 glass, and which allowed the general colouring of the picture 
 to be seen through its transparency, and was I thought a 
 pretty enough conceit, though rather like dressing up a doll. 
 " Ah !" said Miss Knight, " I am not content though, Ma'am, 
 for I yet should have liked one more dress, that of the favour- 
 ite Sultana." " No, no I" said the Princess, "I never was a 
 favourite, and never can be one," — looking at a picture which 
 she said was her father's, but which I do not believe was 
 done for the Regent any more than for me, but represented a 
 young man in a hussar's dress, probably a former favourite. 
 The Princess Charlotte seemed much hurt at the little notice 
 that was taken of her birthday. After keeping me for two 
 hours and a half, she dismissed me, and I am sure I could 
 not say what she said, except that it was an oglio ofdecousu 
 and heterogeneous things, partaking of the characteristics of 
 her mother, grafted on a younger scion. I dined tete-a-tete 
 with my dear old aunt ; hers is always a sweet and soothing 
 society to me. 
 
 January 10th, 1814. — I read several chapters of Miss 
 
 B 's work, a comparative view of the English and French 
 
 nations, since the time of Charles II. to the present day. I 
 think this work a most sterling performance, and one, from 
 the nature of its subject as well as the grave and masterly 
 manner in which she treats it, likely to do honour to her 
 
 memory. I hear Miss B has been reproached with its 
 
 being too grave : I think the sober, chastened style in which
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 159 
 
 it is written suits the dignity of the matter. A lighter pen 
 might have found de qiioi to have made a continuation of that 
 most amusing and immoral work, the Memoires de Gram- 
 mont, but where a deeper tone of thought induces a higher 
 aim than mere wit and entertainment, surely she has chosen 
 more appropriate means to attain her object. 
 
 It i3 the most severely cold weather we have had for many 
 
 winters past. I called on Miss ; she was full of the 
 
 politics of the day, or rather I should say, events, for truly 
 the great catastrophe of the fate of Europe, takes a higher 
 character than that of mere court politics. There was a re- 
 port that Lord Yarmouth, who was just arrived, had said, 
 that in a few days tUe allies would be at Paris, as the country 
 made no resistance to their progress. It is also\ said that a 
 deputation to Louis the Eighteenth has arrived from France. 
 Wonderful indeed will be the hour which sees that monarch 
 again seated on his throne. How far the restoration of the 
 Bourbons might be productive of happiness to France, I can- 
 not pre;end to determine: certainly, I would not have more 
 blood shed on their account, or ou anj'' account; but if the 
 people will with one voice receive them, I believe I have a 
 hankering at mv heart tliat those remaining of the old race 
 should resume the sceptre of their ancestors. After all, their 
 misfortunes are more likely to render them deserving than 
 any other person might be ; and God perhaps will now re- 
 ward them after their tiials. Yet I confess, considering 
 Bonaparte as a conqueror, 1 do not know that he is worse 
 than all conquerors have ever been. What seas of blood 
 tliey have all waded through, to gain their ambitious ends ! 
 In spite of his crimes and of his heartless character, I think 
 him gieat, and wherever tliere is superior intellect, I cannot 
 help in some degree paying homage to tliat divine impress. 
 I siiould be sorry that that -man was shown about for lesser 
 villains to hoot at, or that he was massacred to satisfy the 
 rage of an undistinguishing nudtilude. 
 
 The circumstance wliich gives me tlie greatest dislike to 
 Bonaparte, is his having put away his wife Josephine, whom 
 he did not accuse of any fault, save that she did not give him 
 an heir to succeed to his crown. Nothing can, in my idea, 
 pardon this vile action; and I cannot understand how Jose- 
 phine condescended to receive his visits and his expressions 
 of attachment, after he had behaved so cruelly to her. The 
 only thing that can reconcile tliis to one's understanding is, 
 ihat a woman will do and sufl'er much when she loves.
 
 160 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 Tlicre lias been a little scandal reported of Josephine, but 
 still it amounts to nothing more than rumour — her husband 
 never accused her. He set her aside as a useless appendage 
 10 his state, but he continued to profess afi'ection for her even 
 to the day of his death. 
 
 Every wife, every woman, sympathised with Josephine ; 
 her situation excited in her own sex universal pity. Since 
 the time of Henry VIH. there had been no such instance of 
 injustice in a monarch. Josephine was kind-hearted and 
 generous, she did many acts of charity, and was besides a 
 very fascinating woman. These qualities, together with her 
 cruel fate, will make her a heroine in history, and her rival, 
 Maria Louise, will stand opposed to her as heartless and 
 vain ; for when people pitied her, supposing she was a victim 
 to Bonaparte's power, she disclaimed such pity by appearing 
 happy, and pleased with the great station to which her mar- 
 riage with him exalted her. She has a child, a son ; so it 
 would seem as if she were to be a favourite witli heaven. 
 
 At five o'clock I was at Connaught House ; found Lady 
 Anne dressed out like a mad Chinese. Miss Garth very 
 quiet, as usual. The Princess, arrayed in crimson velvet 
 up to the throat, looking very well. ' Shortly after, arrived 
 Princess Charlotte and the Duchess of Leeds : the former 
 took very little notice of her mother, so little that I do not 
 
 wonder the Princess of W was hurt. She took me by 
 
 the arm and led me to the fireplace, and I saw she was feady 
 to weep : I felt for her. Princess Charlotte addressed her- 
 self wholly to Miss Garth ; and, as in a few moments Prin- 
 cess Sophia came, she laid hold of her, and conversed aside 
 with her ; all which must have been most cutting to the mo- 
 ther's heart. Oh ! what an evening of deceit, and of cold- 
 ness, and of cunning ! At dinner I had an opportunity of 
 
 speaking to Miss D^^ about*the old story of the paper 
 
 Mrs. N. had lent tome, and which she thought I kept for some 
 sinister purpose. Miss D said that her sister had ex- 
 pressed herself warmly about me before her death. That 
 may or may not have been, but I was glad of an opportunity 
 of telling that worldly-minded woman that I am not a spy. 
 During dinner time I heard the Princess pouring dissatisfac- 
 tion into her daughter's ear — if it was not there already — 
 saying, "all the world had hoped for promotions, and for 
 emancipation from prisons, &c., (fee, the day of her coming 
 of age, but that no public testimony of joy had been shown
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 161 
 
 on the occasion, and it had passed away in a mournful 
 silence." Princess Charlotte was considerably struck, and 
 replied, " Oh, but the war and the great expenses of the na- 
 tion occasion my coming of age to be passed over at present." 
 
 " A very good excuse, truly," said the Princess of W , 
 
 " and you are child enough to believe it !" and so ended all I 
 heard them say. 
 
 Friday, 14th Jan. — Saw Messrs. G. and C. ; they told me 
 that they are both perfectly aware to what a tow ebb things 
 have run ; nevertheless they are good and faithful, and regret 
 for her sake the imprudencies and follies she is perpetually 
 committing ; but haw long tlie Princess will find others so, 
 
 God knows! Lady told me she drove out yesterday 
 
 for five minutes only ; groaned and found fault, and returned ; 
 
 then made Lady sit with her till seven listening to a 
 
 perpetual, wicked, and nonsensical repetition of evils, the 
 most of which she forges herself. Chanticleer did not come 
 .to dinner, which caused great rage and despair. 
 
 Saturday. — I dined at Connaught House ; Lady was 
 
 ill, to ray great sorrow, not only for her sake but my own. 
 Chanticleer dined there. I read a novel all the evenin'g, but 
 yet his very presence is horridly degrading. 
 
 Sunday. — I went to inquire for Lady ; she saw me 
 
 and told me she had been much distressed this morning, for 
 that Miss B and Mr. K had called and been admit- 
 ted to the Princess, but that her extreme ill-humour must 
 
 have been visible. Mi!=s B told her some home truths 
 
 in a very proper manner, but Lady said that every sub- 
 ject that was touched upon, novels, public news, &c., all 
 were equally displeasing or indiflerent to her Royal High- 
 ness. Lady said that to her the Princess always main- 
 tains the language and manners of friendship and of real 
 liking; " this," she said, "distresses and wounds me, be- 
 cause I cannot really be her friend ; she will not hear the 
 truth," Yesterday the Princess told her that she was of the 
 greatest comfort to her, and she often does so after conversa- 
 tions which make Lady feel the reverse. Lady 
 
 said to me that this contradiction of sentiments harasses her 
 
 more than she can express. H has engaged to advam e 
 
 the Princess two thousand pounds in the course of twelve 
 
 14*
 
 162 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 months, by instalments of five hnndred each ; I do trust t1»at 
 she will not deceive him. She is to pay two hundred a year 
 for the money till the sum is paid off, or till some change 
 enables her to do so. I warned him sufficiently as to the 
 paction he was entering into ; so he has done it with his eyes 
 open : besides, he told me plainly she can serve him in two 
 instances, and he expects she will do so. The Princess sent 
 to desire me to go to Mr. St. Leger, as he is too ill to wait 
 on her, and ask him to procure the lease of her house left her 
 by her mother, from Mr. Le Blanc, which she wants to give 
 Mr. H. as security for the payment of the debt contracted to 
 him. I hope she will get that lease ; it is the only security 
 she can give. Oh ! how the Princess talks of her mother, 
 till really my blood freezes to hear a mother so spoken of by 
 a daughter ; and that I should listen to such conversation 
 with apparent quietness ! At luncheon her Royal Highness 
 was in high spirits. " Shall I tell you something very cu- 
 rious ?" said she. I knew it was in vain to stop the tide, so 
 I did not attempt it. " I went one day," she continued, " in 
 September to walk from my house at Blackheath with Miss 
 Garth to Mr. Angerslein's, who was very ill at that time ; I 
 went out the back way from my garden through Greenwich 
 Park, so tliat nobody could know me." Hem ! thought I. 
 
 " Well, my dear , I was followed by two gipsies, who 
 
 insisted on telling my fortune ; I have no money, said I, but 
 they persisted in following me and did so till I came to Mr. 
 Angerstein's gate : I then told them that if they would wait 
 there, they should tell my fortune when I returned. I found 
 them there on my return, and what do you think they told 
 me ?" The Princess looked fixedly at me, and rolled her 
 eyes with that quick, penetrating glance which seems to exa- 
 mine all the folds of one's thoughts at the same moment. 
 " I am sure, madam, I cannot guess." " Why they told me 
 that I was a married woman, but that I should not be married 
 long ; and that my heart was a foreigner's, and that I should 
 go abroad and there marry the man I loved, and be very rich 
 and happy — they did, by G — , tell me so, and how could 
 they know that ?" 
 
 How, indeed, unless they had been tutored to the tale ? 
 This was to myself. What I replied aloud was, " Very 
 strange, indeed, ma'am, but they make up many curious and 
 nonsensical tales ; that is their trade." " 'Twas very odd," 
 she said, looking significanUy ; "was it not very odd?"
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 163 
 
 This conversation was all, save what I dread most; and the 
 horror of thinking I shall one day hear it, and that ere long, 
 et en detail, is the most terrible thought, and makes me very 
 uneasy whenever her Royal Highness honours me by a tete- 
 a-tete interview. She swore to me as she was standing by 
 the fire the other day, apropos des boties, that Willikin was 
 not her son. " No," said she, " I would tell you if he was. 
 No," she continued, " if such little accident had happened, 
 I would not hide it from yon. He is not William Austen, 
 though," added she ; but, avouez-moi, it was very well 
 managed that nobody should know who he really is, nor shall 
 they till after my death." I replied, " I thought it was no- 
 body's business who'the boy was, and that I, for one, had no 
 curiosity to know." " That is for why I tell you," replied 
 the Princess. 
 
 " Then somebody ask me who Willikin is de child of. 
 De person say to me, ' Dey do say, he is your Royal High- 
 ness's child.' I answered, ' Prove it, and he shall be your 
 king.' The person was silent." After that, I could not 
 resist laughing, and the Princess laughed also. She takes 
 great pleasure in making her auditor stare. After a pause, 
 she said, " Poor dear Willikin, I am so sorry he is growing 
 big, but I am determined to have another little boy ; 1 
 must always have a child in tlie house." I lifted my 
 eyes to her person ; I really fancied I saw the full meaning 
 of her words ; but she met my glance with a steady com- 
 posure which reassured me, for I thought no one could 
 look so calm, so bold-, were there any thing to be ashamed 
 of; and I replied, " But, madam, you. have the same in- 
 terest in Willikin that ever you had." "Oh! yes, to be 
 sure, I love him dearly, but I must have a little child ; he 
 is growing too big, too much of a man." The conversation 
 then changed, for I said nothing — what could I say — though 
 I thought much. If she only adopts another very young 
 child, and that the transaction be perfectly innocent, still evil 
 will be attached to it; again her enemies will have something 
 to say against her. Poor foolish woman, that she should not 
 see that iu taking another child under hei protection, she will 
 lay herself open to fresh accusations to be bronnht against 
 her. She does not want sense ; yet such folly 1 never saw 
 before in a person not bereft of her senses. 1 dared not tell 
 her how imprudent I thoufrlit she would he if she gratified 
 this wish for a young child. I wish she had some friend 
 ■who would tell her the truth. I have often thought that her
 
 164 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 Royal Highness's having no confidants in her ladies, was a 
 very fortunate circumstance, and I have said this to her face. 
 Yet I earnestly desire that she had some wise counsellor 
 who had inlluence over her. 
 
 Monday. — I dined at Connaught House. Old Ouran Ou- 
 tang came in the evening. The Princess went down stairs 
 for some music, and when she came up was ready to fall 
 with breatlilessness ; this lasted for some minutes, for I was 
 sitting with my back to the pianoforte, reading, but, on 
 chancing to look round, I saw her look significantly to S. 
 and say, " If you knew what it is," — then catching my eye, 
 she added, " so soon after dinner, to run vp down siaircafie." 
 I looked stedfaslly at her Royal Highness, but she never 
 flinched beneath my gaze. No, I do not believe her guilty, 
 but I wish to heaven she did not talk such nonsense. 
 
 Tuesday. — Lady told me the old Ouran and his wife 
 
 were with the Princess the whole day; that at dinner she 
 cried and looked very ill, said slie had been so all night, and 
 seemed really suffering. After dinner her Royal Highness 
 made a wax figure as usual, and gave it an amiable addition 
 of large horns ; then took three pins out of her garment and 
 stuck them through and through and put the figure to roast 
 and melt at the fire. If it was not too melancholy to have to 
 
 do with this, I could have died of laughing. Lady says 
 
 the Princess indulges in this amusement whenever there aie 
 no strangers at table; and she tliinks her Royal Highness 
 really has a superstitious belief that destroying this fffigy of 
 her husband, will bring to pass the destruction of iiis royal 
 person. What a silly, piece of spite ! Yet it is impossible 
 not to laugh when one sees it done. 
 
 o 
 
 Saturday, 29ih January. — I dined at Connaught House, 
 
 and passed three hours of dulness with Madame S and 
 
 the Princess. After dinner Thomas Campbell came. The 
 Princess did nothing but try to amuse that cli,ild Willikin, 
 who will be a thorn in her side yet, if she lives. Campbell 
 
 and Lady talked and recited verses, which did not 
 
 please her Royal Highness ; nothing entertains her except 
 talkinar of her irrievances, which always at the moment affect 
 me, and which are, in the great outline, true, but unfortu- 
 nately I know all tl^e filling up of the picture, and that is so
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. ' 165 
 
 silly, SO despicable, that one becomes indignant at having 
 one's feelings excited in favour of a cause where there is so 
 much to blame on both sides ; and one can only regard it in 
 oneself as a piece of ivettk tenderness, an animal sensation 
 rather than a mental sympathy, to feel anything for evils of 
 such a nature, and most of them of a self-constituted kind. 
 
 Sunday. — I called on Lady W . She has tranquil and 
 
 dignified manners, though rather cold. She was, in her youth, 
 exceedingly handsome, it is said, and long held in thrall Lord 
 
 H , but always with safety to her own character. Her 
 
 love of command superseded all other love, and her husband 
 never dared to say his soul was his own, although a very 
 amiable man ; this cast a ridicule upon him, as it will upon 
 all those who are foolish enough to allow their wives to 
 
 usurp authority over them. Lady told me that the 
 
 Princess complains of being beset by spies, that she abused 
 all her servants, especially Mrs. Robarts ; in which idea 
 Lady assured her she was mistaken. 
 
 The Princess wishes to have a lodging in the country, that 
 she may go there unaccompanied by her household. What a 
 mad scheme ! but when she is determined to do a thing, who 
 can stop her ? 
 
 All of a sudden the Princess sent out cards for a dinner 
 party ; ail the persons slie invited were of the opposition. I 
 dare say it will be said that she lives entirely with these per- 
 sons, and low company ; the latter, alas ! is but too true. 
 
 To-day I dined at Connaught House ; the Princess Char-   
 lotte was there ; she was in her most gracious mood, but ap- 
 peared low-spirited. Tiie Princess Sophia of Gloucester 
 was also of tiie party ; they left Connaught House early, and 
 none of the royal party seemed pleased with one another. 
 
 — I came to town Thursday, 24lh February. I never 
 leave home without regret ; life is so short, so uncertain, that 
 it seems to me as if all voluntary absence from what we love 
 most, is folly. 1 dined with my aunt, and went in the even- 
 ing to Miss . I made acquaintance with a Monsieur 
 
 D'Erfeuil ; he has a clever-looking countenance, but with a 
 cast of the eye, not unlike that of the Duke of Orleans, and
 
 166 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 his expression implies insincerity. I heard that it is thought 
 Mr. Robinson, Lord Grantham's brother, has brought over 
 dispatches which are of a nature to force our government to 
 nialve peace with Bonaparte. I am sorry for these poor 
 deceived Bourbons, but not sorry for the peace which is 
 talked of. 
 
 Friday. — I dined at Lord F. C.'s ; it is melancholy to see 
 one of a distinguished family reduced to living in so litde and 
 mean a house, and the more so as he is thus reduced from a 
 mistaken notion tliat he is acting rightly ; and what is yet 
 more grievous, to his friends is, that it is impossible to be of 
 any service to him, because his heart only half opens, and 
 before one can get a place in it, it closes again. We played 
 at dull cards. I escaped as soon as I could. I went to Mrs. 
 Villiers, and from Mrs. Villiers to Madame de Stael ; at Mrs. 
 Villiers's I saw Mr. Arbuthnot and his bride; she is very 
 pretty, but it is what is vulgarly called Pig Beauty, in English ; 
 in French, la Beaute du Diable, i. e., Youth. He is all fire 
 and flames and love, selon son ordinaire, and so very proud 
 of her ! It is rather agreeable to see any person so com- 
 pletely happy. There was, standing close by him, a person 
 whom, twenty years ago, he had been madly in love with. 
 She had, it was said, behaved remarkably well, but yet there 
 was such a melancholy in seeing 
 
 " The object alter'd, the desire the same." — 
 
 It was such a perfect illustration of the instability of all hu- 
 man aflec(ions, that I stood and philosophized on my own 
 heart and that of the rest of mankind, despising alike the 
 one and the other; but this anger against myself never lasts 
 long: on se racommode si facilement avec ce que Ton aime ! 
 From Mrs. Villiers I proceeded to Madame de Stael's. I 
 saw there Monsieur de la Gardi, Monsieur d'Erfeuil, Messrs. 
 Gell, Craven, and Mercer, Monsieur de Merfelt, the Austrian 
 ambassador, and I knov/ not who besides. The latter has 
 very uyly features, but a pleasing countenance. I made ac- 
 quaintance with a Lady W., just come from Paris, who has 
 brought a packet to Lady Hertford from the ci-devant Em- 
 press Josephine, which packet made much noise, and raised 
 much conjecture, for persons inimical to the R — t were glad 
 to catch hold of it as a subject of abuse. Whether the story
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 167 
 
 I heard concerning the presents was true or not, I cannot 
 say ; but it is curious. Lady W. praised Paris, its fashions, 
 and its society ; which latter, she says, is peculiarly agreeable 
 to women. 
 
 Saturday. — I dined with Madame de Stael ; there were no 
 
 ladies except Miss B and Madame de Vaudreuil. It is 
 
 always delightful to be in Madame de Starl's society; even 
 those persons who have been most inimical to her, have 
 generally been subjugated by her sincerity, lier kindness, and 
 the charm of her conversation, which, unlike that of any other 
 person, male or female, in giving out her own ideas, awakens 
 those of her hearers? and draws them, as it were in despite 
 of themselves, to a reciprocity of communication ; thus it was 
 that Madame de Stael acquired a knowledge of mankind, 
 which superseded all that books can ever teach. From 
 Madame de Stael's I proceeded to Lady Salisbury's ; I met 
 
 there my old friend Lord D ; he is not particularly 
 
 amusing, but he has been my friend for twenty years with- 
 out ever evincing a shade less of kindness towards me during 
 that long period. It is pleasant to have such a friend, and 
 fully compensates for want of superior talent. Lady Salis- 
 bury's* was a brilliant assembly ; Lady Melbourne introduced 
 
 * Lady Salisbury, for seventy years, formed the nucleus of all distin- 
 guished society in London. She had an extra influence, differing from 
 that of any other woman of her rank and time, for she added to every 
 other, that of being considered by the great members of the sporting world 
 almost as one of themselves. Her feats of horsemanship, and her love of 
 the chase, brought her into intimacy with characters who were not fre- 
 quenters of women's society. It is stated that the last time Lady Salis- 
 bury took the field, (a very few years before her death,) all the gentlemen 
 piesent expressed their regret at seeing her, in a manner, take leave of 
 their sport for ever. This passion, which might be supposed to create 
 something unpleasingly masculine in a female's deportment, had not this 
 effect upon her; there never, perhaps, was a more highly-bred woman, 
 or one whose courtesy to persons of all ranks better proved the greatness 
 of her own. It is to be regretted, that a person with so many gifts and 
 graces, and who possessed so much influence over society, should have 
 set a bad example by holding Sunday assemblies. When the bishops 
 entreated Lady Salisbury not to continue her card parties " on that 
 night;" she is said to have replied — " I. always have been at home on a 
 Sunday, and I always will." She adhered to this determination to the 
 end of her life. Her death was so tragical, that it excited not only per- 
 sonal regret for her loss amongst her friends and acquaintance, but left 
 an impression of horror on the public mind. There were not wanting
 
 168 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 me to a Monsieur de Neymaii, an Austrian, who seems very 
 agreeable. I like the society just now in London ; there are 
 many foreigners. Mademoiselle de Slael is very clever and 
 
 agreeable en tete-a-tete. Lady tells me, but she is shy 
 
 and reserved in general society ; one looks at her with inter- 
 est, as being Madame de Stael's daughter. 
 
 Tuesday. — I called on Mrs. W. Lock to ask her how the 
 Princess had received my excuse which 1 sent for Sunday 
 last. Mrs. L. said she was very gracious to her, and spoke 
 kindly of me. Lady E. Whilbread, and Mrs. W., and Mrs. 
 Beauclerk dined at Kensington that day. Mrs. L. told me 
 Lady E. Whilbread appeared shocked when she looked at 
 the \*x\nc.es,s''s figure. Mrs. L. ascribed this to the Princess's 
 wearing extremely short petticoats, but I thought, with fear, 
 that perhaps Lady E. Whitbread's disgust was occasioned by 
 other ideas; although, considering the legs and feet which 
 the short petticoats display, there is more than enough to 
 shock a woman like Lady E. 
 
 I dined with my aunt; she told me a curious anecdote she 
 had heard about Caulincourt, whom one had hitherto held 
 in abhorrence as the murderer of the unfortunate Duke 
 D'Enghien. It is said, that when he was sent to arrest him, 
 he wished to save him, and, entering the room where the 
 Duke was, he looked round, and then full at him, as at a 
 person wholly unknown to liim ; then turning to his gens 
 d'armes who attended him, he said^" You see the Duke is 
 not here, we must seek him elsewhere," when a lady to 
 whom the Duke d'Enghien was attached rushed into the 
 room, and falling on her knees to Caulincourt, cried out, save 
 him, save him ; " Vous le voyez devantvous; vous n'avez 
 pas la cruaute de le perdre," At this imprudence Caulin- 
 court was obliged to execute the orders he had received, and 
 he desired his men to seize their unfortunate victim. How 
 
 those who looked upon Lady Salisbury's awful death (she was burnt in 
 the fire at Hatfield) as a judgment upon her for her disregard of her 
 duties to her God ; but these persons should remember that it is not for 
 man to judge his fellow creature. " Suppose ye that these Galileans 
 were sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things ? 
 I tell you nay, but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Or 
 those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell and slew them ; 
 think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem 1 
 I tell you nay, but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 169 
 
 tar this story is a fabrication or not, in order to soften people's 
 judgments against the man of whom we are now treating, 
 ^rests with future times to discover. 
 
 Wednesday, 2d of March. — I am writing from the Priory ; 
 a far different scene of wo from that which I witnessed at 
 
 Lady S 's. Here every thing is to be as if no change 
 
 had taken place. Poor Lord Abercorn ! he wishes to forget 
 those he has lost, but the reiTiembrance of them will cling to 
 him as long as life remains; he will not bend to the storm, 
 but stands erect and bids it defiance. I wish I could give 
 him comfort by advising him where to seek for it, where 
 alone it is to be foufid, but his heart is hardened, and he will 
 not believe; yet "it is hard for him to kick against the 
 pricks.'' 
 
 To day I received a letter from the Princess of Wales : — 
 
 EXTRACT. 
 
 " Of my health I have no right to complain, but the state 
 of suspense and the ray of hope I had for some days past 
 has kept my mind in a constant state of perturbation; but this 
 happy vision has vanished, and the monster is fast recovering 
 again. Princess Charlotte I have now not seen for six weeks 
 past. The only great news I can offer you, is Lady Char- 
 lotte Rawdon's extraordinary marriage with a lieutenant on 
 half-pay, of the name of Fitzgerald ; and the death of Sir 
 John Douglas, which took place on the 5th March, when 
 exactly twelve months ago the division took place in Parlia- 
 ment upon his conduct. His burial was one of the most 
 pompous ever seen, as if he liad been the commander-in-chief 
 himself, to the disgust and contempt of every body who saw 
 that show passing; he has been buried at Charlton, to the 
 great annoyance of the Perceval family : and so much about 
 nothing. 
 
 " I remain, for ever, 
 
 " Your affectionate friend, 
 (Signed) " C. P." 
 
 I arrived at Worthing, Tuesday evenii>g. The weather 
 was beautiful, but my mind was the reverse of serene; recol- 
 lections of the past, and fears for the future, got the better of 
 me. I dislike this place as a locale, yet it was by my own 
 choice I came to it — how unreasonable ! Often when we 
 
 Vol. L 15
 
 170 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 say a thing is our own choice, it is the force of circumstances 
 which drives us to the action; the will, in fact, is only in our 
 minds; it frequently fails in the fulfilment, or is pleasing only 
 on one side of the question, while it is abhorrent on the other. 
 I tutored myself, however, to bear with better grace what I 
 had determined to undergo, and in the very endeavour to 
 conquer ourselves, we lose some part of that irritable humour 
 which mars our own comfort, as well as that of others. 
 
 I slept soundly the night of my arrival, and the next day 
 the sun shone gaily, the sea looked grandly bright, and poor 
 human nature was exhilarated. The power of employing 
 one's faculties is the best gift of Heaven : I felt this power 
 return in some small degree, and with it the enjoyment of 
 existence. 
 
 On Wednesday, the 8th, I read in Stafford's library the 
 wonderful news of the allies entering into Paris. The parti- 
 culars of this extraordinary epoch in the world's history will 
 be written every where by every pen, but the effect it pro- 
 duces on the minds of individuals will be varied as the varied 
 passions, habits, and tempers of those individuals ; on mine 
 it impresses the awful power of an overruling Providence, 
 who in his own time brings to bear, by apparently very sim- 
 ple means, the most unexpected and incomprehensible events. 
 In about six months' time, the whole affairs of Europe have 
 been changed : the storms of revolution are drawing near a 
 close, and they have borne away, in their devastating course, 
 many of the errors and crimes of former times, it is to be 
 hoped ; and we may with humility conclude, this moral 
 tempest has been designed to purify and to ameliorate man- 
 kind. All is not yet completed ; but the hand of Heaven is 
 peculiarly visible in this great event. The Disposer of all 
 things will bring them to the best issue in his own good 
 time. 
 
 Sunday, April 10th, 1814. — The incidents which take 
 place every hour are miraculous. Bonaparte is deposed, but 
 alive; — subdued, but allowed to choose his place of residence. 
 The island of Elba is the spot he has selected for his igno- 
 minious retreat. ' France is holding forth repentant arms to 
 her banished sovereign. — The Poissardes who dragged Louis 
 the Sixteenth to the scaffold are presenting flowers to the 
 Emperor of Russia, the restorer of their legitimate king !
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 171 
 
 What a stupendous field for philosophy to expatiate in! 
 What an endless material for thought! What humiliation to 
 the pride of mere human greatness ! How are the mighty 
 fallen! Of all that was great in Napoleon, what remains? 
 Despoiled of his usurped power, he sinks to insignificance. 
 There was no moral greatness in the man. — The meteor 
 dazzled, scorched, is put out, — utterly and for ever. But the 
 power which rests in those who have delivered the nations 
 from bondage, is a power that is delegated to them from 
 Heaven ; and the manner in which they have used it is a 
 guarantee for its continuance. The Duke of Wellington has 
 gained laurels unstained by any useless flow of blood. He 
 has done more than ■conquer others — he has conquered him- 
 self; and in the midst of the blaze and flush of victory, sur- 
 rounded' by the homage of nations, he has not been betrayed 
 into the commission of any act of cruelty, or wanton oflence. 
 He was as cool and self-possessed under the blaze and dazzle 
 of fame, as a common man would be under the shade of his 
 garden-tree, or by the hearth of his home. But the tyrant 
 who kept Europe in awe, is now a pitiable object for scorn 
 to point the finger of derision at ; and humanity shudders as 
 it remembers the scourge with which this man's ambition 
 was permitted to devastate every home tie, and every heart- 
 felt joy 
 
 No, I cannot recover from my astonishment at the miracu- 
 lous winding up of this complicated piece of mechanism. 
 Still the downfall of the colossal mischief who stalked this 
 earth in dreadful wrath is appalling. There is a feeling of 
 regret, unaccountable perhaps, but not unnatural, that Napo- 
 leon did not finish his career in some way more analogous 
 to his course. — He ought to have died in a manner more 
 consonant, as it were, with himself. 
 
 How strikingly do these late events teach us, that what is 
 jnerely dependent on the tricks of fortune, and the tide of 
 popular feeling, is ephemeral and valueless. The same mob 
 — the same people — now call aloud for one of that race, 
 whom twenty years ago they led to the scaff'cild. 
 
 Saturday, May 21st, 1814. — Nearly seven weeks have 
 elapsed since I came to this place. The intoxication of the 
 mind which naturally takes place after any great event, sub- 
 aides of course, and there succeeds a sort of deadness whicli 
 is the consequence of excitement. Then comes the sober
 
 172 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 appreciation of the intrinsic value of events. The restoration 
 of the Capets to the throne of their ancestors is connected 
 with every sentiment of moral justice ; and the downfall of 
 that wonderful man, Bonaparte, is also agreeable to every 
 principle of liberty and humanity. But, that immediate tran- 
 quillity will ensue, appears to me unlikely. How can the 
 old nobilily see all their honours tarnished by the admission 
 of the new to share with them the rights and piivileges of 
 their order? How can they behold their fortunes and esta.tes 
 for ever alienated from themselves and their families, and not 
 feel that indignation, which they would be more or less than 
 human not to feel? Must not this produce perpetual dis- 
 cord ? The king, too ; can he place confidence in the men 
 who so lately served Bonaparte, and assisted him to mount 
 that throne from which they afterwards expelled him ? No, 
 it is impossible ; and they in their turn, from feeling that it 
 is so, will hate the puppet of their own creation, and retain 
 him in leading-strings, or again hurl him from his exaltation. 
 To forgive and forget every thing are the fine foolish words 
 put into Louis the Eighteenth's mouth ; but who can forget 
 the murder of a brother ; the dethronement of a king ; the 
 subversion of empires, and the shedding of the blood of mil- 
 lions ? For all these crimes Bonaparte is pensioned ; his 
 son is presented with the dutchies of Parma, Placentia, and 
 Guastalla ; his brother is made King of Naples ; and he him- 
 self a kind of sovereign in an island which may become a 
 maritime power ; and all this is done by the senate who are 
 to support the throne of Louis. 'Tis an attempt at amalga- 
 mating the most discordant elements. There will yet be, 
 I fear, more tumults and wars. I thoujjht with great interest 
 of the poor royal fugitives at Hartwell, when they first heard 
 the confirmation of their hopes : — perhaps that first mo- 
 ment was tlie happiest they will ever enjoy ; for surely their 
 return to their native" country must have been replete with 
 mournful, horrible recollections. Besides the cares and mise- 
 ries which are ever attendant on exalted stations, theirs must, 
 be peculiarly exposed to dangers and difficulties. — 
 
 " Uneas}' lies the head that wears a crown." 
 
 The Emperor of Austria, King of Prussia, and Emperor of 
 Russia, are expected in this country. Great preparations are 
 making for them. It is now said the first does not intend to 
 come : — 1 think he cannot like to show his Janus face. The
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 173 
 
 Emperor of Russia is my hero, and everybody's hero. I 
 once saw his picture : — if he is in reality as handsome as 
 that represented him to be, his personal aspect corresponds 
 with his late calm and magnificent conduct. 
 
 It is shameful how our Regent is kicking the dust in the 
 poor Princess of Wales's face. There are moments when 
 her wrongs make all her errors forgotten. There is that little 
 vile Prince of VVirtemburg, her oivn nephew, who has never 
 been to see her. White's club is to give a great ball and fete ; 
 and they have given tickets to the Regent, that he may invite 
 the royal family, and this on purpose to avoid asking the 
 Princess. Was there ever anything so shameful 1 
 
 The Duchess of Oldenburgh is spoken of as a very clever 
 woman ; and I am inclined to believe the truth of the report, 
 by the observation she seems to take, not only of our places 
 of entertainment, but of everything best worth seeing in this 
 country. I understand she is a great favourite of Princess 
 Charlotte, and gives her (as it is supposed) excellent advice 
 about her conduct. I, however, know what a ticklish thing 
 it is to advise princes or princesses ; and besides, from my 
 own observation in general on human nature, I am more in- 
 clined to believe in Princess Charlotte's acting according to 
 her own wishes and impulses, than according to the advice of 
 any one. When these tally, then it is called following advice ; 
 and the foolish advisers fancy 'tis they who do it all, just as 
 the Prince Regent beHeves that he has reinstated Louis the 
 Eighteenth, and that Europe is at his command, because one 
 or two of its potentates come to look at England. 
 
 The Prince of O e,* it is said, wishes his wife to go 
 
 with him to his own Dutch land, and so does the Prince 
 Regent, who does not like a rising sun in his own : but re- 
 port also whispers that the rising sun is aware of this, and 
 will not consent to the marriage, unless she is allowed to 
 shine in her own dominions. 1 believe there is more of the 
 
 * The same Prince of O e again visited this country in 1836. He 
 
 is a man of high and excellent character : his manners pleasing, dignified, 
 and perfectly unaflccted. It is impossible not to look back with some- 
 thing of regret that he was not the chosen consort of Princess Char- 
 lotte. — It is curious that the purport of his second visit should be, it is 
 supposed, of a similar nature to his former one, namely, that of an alli- 
 ance between his family, with the presuinplive heiress to the crown of 
 
 England : and it is also said, that the Prince of O e's sons were, liku 
 
 their father, disapproved of by the princess. 
 
 15*
 
 174 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 woman in her than of the queen, and that she wants to get a 
 look at another prince or two before she makes her choice of 
 a husband. — Perhaps, also, she has still a third point in view, 
 and that is, to play off and on, marry no one, and love whom 
 she may fancy, noble or common. We may live to see 
 strange things; yet, if I am not mistaken 
 
 I heard to-day from Miss C , that the Princess of Wales 
 
 had been very well received, and much applauded, at the 
 annual meeting of the National Education School; and Mr. 
 Whitbread made her a very proper compliment in his speech. 
 The Princess sat by the Dukes of Sussex and Kent, the first 
 
 chairmen of the meetings, Miss B says, the Grand 
 
 Duchess is charming in her manner, and has an intelligence 
 in her conversation quite new in the princess line. She 
 dined at Devonshire House last 'J'hursday, where she held 
 an awful circle after dinner : — all the gentlemen, I hear, looked 
 beautiful in their dress clothes. 
 
 This evening I received this note from the Princess of 
 Wales : — " 1 have not seen Princess Charlotte for nearly five 
 months : she is outraoeous at the thoujjhts of leaving this 
 country ; and her unnatural father assured her that she never 
 should have an establisliment in this country. — I expect Mr. 
 Whitbread every moment, about this interesting subject; it 
 will make a great rumpus in the houses both of liords and 
 Commons, which I trust will accelerate his departure to the 
 skies. — Believe me for forever, dead or alive, your most 
 sincere- C. P.*' 
 
 Received a letter from Lady also, telling me that the 
 
 Princess talks of coming to Worthing. I am very sorry to 
 hear this, for though I do not dislike her Royal Highness's 
 society, — on tlie contrary, no one can be more agreeable or 
 amusing than she sometimes is, — still I should greatly have 
 preferred being here alone for a short time, and, when the 
 Princess comes, I cannot count on an hour of uninterrupted 
 quiet. It is droll her Royal Highness should have said no- 
 thing of her intention of coming here, in her note to me, I 
 suppose she wishes to surprise me by her Royal presence. 
 I hope still, how:ever, slic may give up this plan, knowing as 
 T do how many such she amuses herself by making one day, 
 and changing another. I dread hearing the same complaints 
 repeated over and over again, and, as 1 cannot be of any use 
 to her Royal Highness, I should rather not be thrown again
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH, 175 
 
 into her society as much as I was during last year and this 
 
 winter. Lady sent me the following letter from Mr. 
 
 Gell, addressed to her, to read, thinking it would amuse me, 
 which it has very much. 
 
 " My dear Lady Aurora, — At length a letter is arrived 
 
 from K Ciaven, announcing the safe receipt of a letter 
 
 from me, with an enclosure whicli I presume to be the secret 
 communication of your excellency. Letters were certainly 
 stopped somewhere, and I suppose read by Lord Castlereagh 
 and Co., till within a few days ; so, if yours contained trea- 
 son, you had better take leave before he r-eturns to England. 
 Mrs. Thompson* has quite recovered her spirits, laughs, and 
 is merry. I dined there yesterday with Professor Playfair, 
 surnamed Des Dames, (like one of the guides whom you will 
 shortly' know at Chamouni,) Sir Sidney Smith, Frederick 
 Douglas, and Keith Stuart, all of whom were very mei'ry, 
 not to mention Miss Berr}', and the dinner went oft' with 
 unbounded applause, excepting, that we sat at it till past 
 eleven. — They afterwards went a junketing to Lady Hard- 
 wicke's, where I again beheld Play-fair des dames, seated be- 
 tween Lady Catherine this, and the Countess of that, on a 
 sofa, to the great scandal of the discipline of the university 
 of Edinburgh. Sidney Smitli having been long condemned 
 to piety, and matters of fact, in Yorksliire, is now broke out 
 quite varyingly merry in London. Ward is in Paris, looking 
 wretched, unhappy, and angry. — -This we hear from all 
 (juarters. The Slael is safely lodged there, and is to give 
 parties immediately to all the great characters, — the Emperor 
 of Russia, liTnfrni, the King of Prussia, LTmpossible, and 
 in short the heroes of all ages and principles, with tlie inten- 
 tion of exlracliug from the mass, the real quintessence and 
 vital principle of virtue, in a irydrogen state, which she 
 means to have ready in bottles for exportation. N.B. None 
 are genuine but those sealed with her own arms, viz. gules, two 
 arms a kimbo, surmounted by a Saracen's head, sable, crowned 
 with a French pyx ; crest, a cock and bull ; badge, a cat and 
 bladders. These have all been conferred by Louis X VIIL dur- 
 ing his last visit to London. By the by, I saw or rather wit- 
 
 * Mrs. Thompson. — This is supposed to have leen a name useil to 
 designate the Princess of Wales, by some ])prsons oorrespondinir with 
 one another at that time, who wished to avoid the risk of their observa- 
 tions being known to allude to her Royal Higlinesg, Mr. Thompson, of 
 course, meant the Prince Regent.
 
 176 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 nessed last night, that Mrs. Mansell, who certainly will 
 knock out the Stael's teeth some day or other, and then she 
 will make a pretty woman. As to Lady G, Bathurst, she is 
 really a chest of drawers, with the upper drawer pulled out 
 
 so far that Miss A and I watched a whole night to see 
 
 what would be the effect in dancing, but nothing happened, 
 though she really became a cat and bladders. There is your 
 Prince Paul of Wirtemberg, a squinting bird, dancing, and 
 scolding the ladies, and already out of favour; nephew to 
 Mrs. Thompson, but has not been to her. Alexander says 
 he will see her.* Lord Beresford is come home, and was at 
 
 the Hardwickes', so 1 introduced the Lord B to flirt with 
 
 him. I kiss Mrs. D 's hands, and your eyes, and if you 
 
 cannot read this, it is because it is written on my knee at 
 
 breakfast. Is Mrs. D very angry at me for being knighted "^ 
 
 ' Rise up. Queen of Sheba.' Adieu, Adieu. 
 
 Most sincerely and affectionately yours, 
 
 ANACHARSIS. 
 
 Monday, May 31st, 1814. — After many different changes, 
 the Princess came here on the 26th. It was twelve at night 
 before she arrived. The inhabitants of this town had been 
 waiting to drag her carriage, and they had illuminated, &c., 
 according to their abilities, to welcome her Royal Highness 
 to Worthing, but at last the lights had gone out, and the 
 people gone to sleep, and I was not well, and fain would 
 have been asleep also, but I did not like to seem inattentive, 
 and not to be there to offer my services to the Princess ; — 
 and when at last my patience was exhausted, and I was going 
 to bed — she arrived, all graciousness, and looking very well. 
 The first thing she did, after a kind greeting, was to give me 
 a detail of the late event of the Queen's having written to her, 
 by desire of the Regent, to forbid her going to court. She 
 tlien related what had been her answer, namely, « delcrmina- 
 
 * Alexander the Emperor did not see Mrs. Thomj>son, alias Princess 
 of Wales, for though he had all the inclination in the world to pay his 
 respects to her Royal Highness, his Imperial Majesty was not allowed to 
 do so, as the Regent sent one of his ministers, either Lord Liverpool, or 
 Lord Castlereagh, to implore the emperor not to visit the Princess of 
 Wales. He was actually stepping into his carriage to go toConnaught 
 House, when his purpose was frustrated by an act as despotic as any 
 which his Imperial Majesty could ever have exercised in his own 
 kingdom.
 
 TIMKS OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 177 
 
 lion to go ; but Whitbread, without even reading her letter, 
 insisted upon it, she was not to go ; and, in the most per- 
 emptory manner, almost ordered the Princess to copy a 
 letter he had written to the Queen, which was a submissive 
 acquiescence respecting the two drawing-rooms immediately 
 in question. No sooner had the poor Princess agreed, than 
 Mr. Brougham arrived, and told Mr. Whitbread he had com- 
 pletely misunderstood him, for that it was his decided opi- 
 nion, tliat her Royal Highness should not have given up her 
 right, but should go to court in spite of the Regent and his 
 whiskers. Mr. Whitbread was thrown into a state of great 
 agitation at finding he had by his obstinacy led the Princess 
 into error ; and now the two wise men laid their heads to- 
 gether to know what could be done to set matters to-rights, 
 and remfjdy their own blunders. They thought the Princess 
 . should write a letter to the Prince in another tone, setting 
 forth rights, and threatening complaints, which letter they 
 had been the whole of Thursday brewing in the Princess's 
 room. 
 
 I fear they will only make bad worse. The whole account 
 of this transaction is to appear in to-day's papers. The poor 
 Princess was (as usual in the midst of any bustle) vastly 
 happy, and full of hope at the mighty things which were to 
 accrue to her from all these court contrivances. This subject 
 aftbrded matter for conversation till past two in the morning. 
 The next day the Princess was up and flying about at an 
 early hour: she sent for me immediately after breakfast, and 
 walked all over the town, and up and down the beaciii until 
 I thouglit I should have died of the fatigue of following her 
 Royal Highness; and most of the time she took my arm and 
 
 leant heavily on it. Lady was not well, so I was kept 
 
 in attendance the whole day. 
 
 At three o'clock she went out for an airing: she drove by 
 Goring and Sumpting; and being easily pleased when in 
 good humour, talked the whole time of the '■'■great event,''' 
 as she called it. Her Royal Higliness descanted upon her 
 intention of going abroad as soon as possible, saying, she 
 thought she was more likely to be able to escape now than 
 she had ever been ; for that she hoped, and had reason to be- 
 lieve, the Emperor of Russia would be friendly towards her: 
 — that she meant to ask his Imperial Majesty to l)ear her 
 request to llie Prince tbat she might leave this country. — " I 
 will tell you, my dear , what I expect he is to answer
 
 178 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 to that. — We are parted from incompatibilite d'hutneur — that 
 I am to have fifty thousand a-year, and may go and come as 
 I choose." Poor wrong-headed Princess! I said, "Yes, 
 Yes," to every thing, of course, and bowed acquiescence. — 
 
 But how little can I believe that the R 1 will give such a 
 
 reply, still less that the Emperor will interfere in this business ? 
 The Prince hates his wife with inveterate malice; — if she 
 goes out of the kingdom, it will be only on one condition, — 
 that she should never return ; and if she does go out of the 
 kingdom, she will inevitably be ruined. 
 
 In her peculiar circumstances, as well as station, she should 
 never withdraw herself from the eye of the nation ; and 
 though, as it has been from the beginning of time, all poten- 
 tates and public characters are desirous of sometimes laying 
 aside their robes of slate, and tasting freedom like other men, 
 they have seldom or ever done so without losing their own 
 station, and have not obtained that enjoyment which they 
 sought. — The sentinel must not leave his post. In the Prin- 
 cess's particular situation, she is more imperiously called 
 upon than any other Princess ever was, not to absent herself 
 from England. The English, even in these days, are unrea- 
 sonably prejudiced against foreigners, and the idea that she 
 has resided amongst them for any length of time will be suf- 
 ficient to raise a feeling of distrust against her Royal High- 
 ness ; and more especially amongst the lower and middling 
 classes. 
 
 Besides, absence is such a fearful test of human attach- 
 ment, that it is very dangerous to venture it. It is human 
 nature to love those most whom we dwell most with, and who 
 contribute most to our welfare and amusement. The person, 
 whether a private individual or a public character, who volun- 
 tarily forsakes those over whom he ought to preside, has 
 no right to expect the continuation of their love or loyalty. 
 
 Had the Princess the ideas of a private individual; had 
 she a taste for literature, or even for female employments, I 
 could understand her wish to leave this country, and lead a 
 private life. I should think her in that case a wise woman, 
 and likely to be a far happier one than she could be under 
 the most favourable circumstances of her present station ; but, 
 constituted as her mind is, she has only one course to pursue 
 — that is, to remain in England, and to endeavour to main- 
 tain tlie eminence from which her enemies wish to hurl 
 her.
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 179 
 
 The Princess told me, that she thinks the Duchess of Old- 
 enburgh is her friend, and that she had sent her some kind 
 messages through Princess Charlotte. The latter told her 
 mother, the last time they met, that she was determined not' 
 to marry the Prince of Orange ; — that "his being approved 
 of by the royal family was quite sufRc-ient to make him dis- 
 approved of by her ; for that she would marry a man who 
 would be at her devotion, not at theirs. — Marry I will," said 
 she to the Princess of Wales, " and that directly, in order to 
 enjoy my liberty; but not the Prince of Orange. I think 
 him so ugly, that I am sometimes obliged to turn my head 
 away in disgust when he is speaking to me." 
 
 " But, my dear," replied her mother, (at least so her Royal 
 Highness told me,) " whoever you marry will become a 
 king, and you will give him a power over you." 
 
 " A King! Pho, pho ! Never! He will only be my first 
 subject — never my king T''* 
 
 The Princess of Wales is delighted with this hopeful spirit, 
 and believes in its continuance. So do I, as to the ivill of 
 the person: but as to the possibility of the power of execut- 
 ing that will, I foresee a thousand obstacles. Besides, Prin- 
 cess Charlotte's inclination will vary with every wind that 
 blows; and I should not be surprised to hear that her mar- 
 riage with the Prince of Orange was to take place to-morrow. 
 — There is no believing one word these royal people say; and 
 1 verily believe they do not know what they believe them- 
 selves. 
 
 The Duchess of Oldenburgh was offended, the Princess of 
 Wales says, at her not having sent her Chamberlain to wel- 
 come her to England, which all the other royalties had done 
 — at least so she says now, — and that she (the Duchess) only 
 awaits her brother the Emperor of Russia's arrival, in order 
 to pay her respects at Connaught House. I much doubt this 
 will end in smoke ; but a short time will show. 
 
 • It would, indeed, have been difficult to determine whether or not the 
 Princess could have kept her resolution respecting the man she chose to 
 marry, had her life been granted. He was not of a disposition to play 
 the part of king-consort, the most difficult and degrading one in truth 
 that can fall to the lot of man. It is a perversion of the natural rights 
 of the superior sex, and places wife and husband, both respectively to each 
 other, and to mankind in general, in a false position. It would require 
 more virtue, and more forbearance, than falls to the lot of human nature, 
 to render such an alliance one of happiness, cither to the parties them- 
 selves, or those over whom they reign.
 
 180 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 It is publicly known the R 1 sent over Sir Thomas 
 
 Tyrwhitt with a private message to the Emperor of Russia, 
 desiring him to take no notice of the Princess on his arrival 
 in England. Whether or not the Emperor is weak enough, 
 or politic enough, to choose to submit to this dictatorial order, 
 will soon be known. 
 
 The Princess drove about till eight o'clock, then returned 
 to a dinner soitpativc, and sat at it till twelve o'clock. 1 can- 
 not understand what royalties are made of, — they are so 
 strong, and able to bear so much fatigue. 
 
 The next day I was again sent for, to walk with her Royal 
 
 Highness and Miss , Lady being still ill. The 
 
 Princess was in much lower spirits than the preceding even- 
 ing: — I attributed it to her not seeing any thing in her own 
 favour in the newspaper, but rather, on the contrary, against 
 
 her. Miss told me that Chanticleer is either gone, or 
 
 going immediately, to France. I am very glad to hear it, as 
 it will put an end to the evil rumours about the Princess 
 "which his constant presence at Connaught House excited. 
 
 Thursday, 9th of June, 1814, — I saw Lady 
 
 E . Poor soul ! the operation she has lately undergone 
 
 proves what strength of mind and moral courage she is en- 
 dowed with. All she cares about is, that it should not be 
 known that she has undergone this trial ! She looked quite 
 well, and did not allude to what had happened; neither did I, 
 for I know she hates the subject. 
 
 As I walked through the streets, they were crowded with 
 people waiting to hear the proclamation of peace, which was 
 not however proclaimed. I dined at my aunt's. B. C. told 
 us he had been at Carlton House the night before, where he 
 saw all the potentates and generals, &c., now assembled in 
 this capital. I was very glad he had been invited, for nobody 
 likes to be left out and forgotten by those who used to receive 
 them well, and 1 feared his having lived in intimacy with the 
 Princess of Wales might have occasioned his disgrace at the 
 other court. 
 
 I hear that all ranks, except merely those who bask in the 
 sunshine of the Regent's favour, have expressed themselves 
 warmly for the Princess ; and tiiat the Prince cannot move 
 out without hisses and groans. I am glad to think his bitter- 
 ness and tyranny are mortified; but what good will it do
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 181 
 
 her? None, I fear. — The most that can happen, is her hav- 
 ing her establishment put on a more liberal footing by the 
 nation, — and then the Princess will go abroad, run into all 
 sorts of foolish scrapes, and be forgotten at best: — worse will 
 it be for her if things are there proved, which may be brought 
 back to this country, and her whole money, hopes, and hap- 
 piness, taken from her for ever. I tremble for her, poor 
 woman, for her own sake; but see no daylight. 
 
 When I went to Connaught House yesterday, by appoint- 
 ment, I found the Princess dressed in a style as if she ex- 
 pected some visitors. She said, that if she did not look for- 
 ward to going abroad, she should die of despair; and though 
 i think her mistaken in the idea that she will be happier in a 
 foreign country than here, and that she is wrong to indulge 
 in perpetual murmuring, still, whenever she is in her gentle 
 melancholy, and touches upon her crying wrongs, (for crying 
 they certainly are,) I am really moved with indignation 
 against the persecution offered to a princess and a woman. 
 She read me a letter she was writing when I arrived: it was 
 a letter to Lord Liverpool, demanding leave to quit this coun- 
 try, and retire whither she would ; saying, that she did not, 
 nor ever had, wished to render the Prince unpopular, and 
 that she begged permission to go abroad. The matter was 
 spirited, dignified, and clever, but was not clothed in English 
 language, nor free from obscurity. 
 
 I was much annoyed at her Royal Highness desiring me 
 " to do this letter into English." I did not like to refuse her 
 request, but it has much distressed me, for I shall have the 
 credit of having composed the whole of the letter. The 
 Princess, after some time spent in general conversation, con- 
 fessed to me that she had dressed herself in a half-dress, ex- 
 pecting the Emperor of Russia, and the King of Prussia, to 
 call on her. But the moment I told her I heard those per- 
 sonages had refused to go to White's, or to any public place, 
 she said, " Then the Prince has conquered, and they will 
 not come to see me." I saw she was very much vexed; but 
 she bore it with a command of temper which would have done 
 any one honour. It seems she sent her Chamberlain to wel- 
 come them to England. The King of Prussia sent his Cham- 
 berlain to thank the Princess in return, but the Emperor has 
 sent no one, nor taken the least notice of her, except by re- 
 ceiving Mr. St. Leger graciously. 
 
 It will be a shame if the King of Prussia does not visit her 
 Vol. 1. 16
 
 182 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 once at least, considering what obligations he wa*3 under to 
 her father, who died in battle, figliting in his cause : — but 
 perhaps he Iiasforgoltcn this circumstance. 
 
 All goes gloomily with the poor Princess. — Lady Charlotte 
 Campbell told me, she regrets not seeing all these curious 
 personages ; but, she said, the more the Princess is forsaken, 
 the more happy she is at having ofl'ered to attend her at this 
 time. This is very amiable in her, and must be gratifying to 
 the Princess. 
 
 Thursday, 9th of June. — I dined at Connaught House. 
 There were Mr. Cell, Mr. Hobhouse, Mr. Bennett, and Mr. 
 Fox there. The first was low-spirited and ill, yet amusing 
 and kind, as he invariably is ; the other men are violently 
 for the Princess, but I fear 'tis their politics, more than their 
 personal attachment to her, which makes them so. I never 
 saw Mr. Gell so violent as he was against the present system 
 of bowing in all things to the Regent. He said that the 
 rights of the constitution were infringed, and that posting 
 guards at all corners of the streets was a species of tyranny 
 that amounted almost to a military government: that it was 
 the civil authorities alone that had any right to keep order, if 
 such were necessary in the town ; but that the next step 
 which might now take place, was that I might see two senti- 
 nels placed at my door, and find that I neither could go in or 
 out of my own house, if such were his pleasure, (meaning 
 
 the R t's,) yet no one be a bit the wiser. " Seriously," 
 
 he said, " it is coming fast to this ; and I only hope some 
 disturbance may take place to put an end to this nonsense. 
 If other men's minds are strung to the same tone, or at all 
 like it, I should think there would be riots." 
 
 The Princess received an anonymous letter yesterday, which 
 she put in the fire, — the fate all such communications deserve 
 to meet with, for the writer of an anonymous letter would be 
 almost capable of murder. This letter was to say, that the 
 Prince would be killed shortly, he was such a tyrant. I do 
 not suppose the information shocked her very much. 
 
 Princess Charlotte paid her mother a visit last Saturday, 
 and told her that everything was fixed for her marriage ; that 
 she did not love the Prince of Orange, but thtit she must be 
 married. — So there ends all the nonsense her Royal Highness 
 talked and wrote the time before she saw her mother. It
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 183 
 
 only shows what faith is to be placed in her words — and in- 
 deed there is no coming at truth where no truth is. 
 
 Friday, 10th of June. — I heard Mr. Whitbread called on 
 
 the Princess this morning ; and Lady said, she thinks 
 
 he is really interested in the Princess, and feels compassion 
 for her cruel situation, besides being urged by his political 
 career to make a tool of her for his own ends. He said to 
 Lady , he thought tlie Princess would get an establish- 
 ment, and liberty granted her, but nothing more. He knows 
 her intention of going abroad, and blames it as a very injudi- 
 cious plan : but he is quite aware no one can hinder her 
 Royal Highness from following her own inclinations; so he 
 has not told her how unwise he thinks lier to leave England, 
 and he, as well as all her other friends, can only hope she 
 may he prevented by circumstances from taking this step ; or 
 still more, that the ivish to go away may cease to exist. Mr. 
 Whitbread has very pleasing manners in private : they are 
 gentle, almost to effeminacy. , 
 
 I dined again at Connaught House : Miss Berry, and Mr. 
 and Miss R — were there : the two latter looked very ca- 
 pottes. 1 know they dislike the dulness whicli now prevails 
 at the Princess's dinner-parlies. The Princess had imagined 
 that she could associate B — R — to her fortunes, and was 
 quite in astonishment wben she found that that was out of 
 the question. What an idea, to separate a moliier and daugh- 
 ter I — and to suppose that a very young and beautiful girl 
 would sacrifice her best days to the service of an unhappy 
 Princess. How unlikely to find one, with similar advan- 
 tages of mind and person to those which B — R — possesses, 
 willing to give them all up to serve a person who had no 
 claim on her! How little does the poor Princess 1inow hu- 
 man character, if she thinks to find such disinterestedness; — 
 nothing for nothing, in this world, is a sad tnuh ! 
 
 Her Royal Highness has taken a dislike to Mrs. R — , be- 
 cause she will not permit her daughter to be often alone with 
 the Princess. ChaiUicleer the younger is gone to Paris, but 
 the old S — s are still in London, and still invited occasion- 
 ally ; but she is disgusted with their ra])aciousness. This is 
 most fortunate for her sake. She has not heard a word from 
 kings or emperors ; — they went to-day to Ascot Races, and 
 are to sleep at Windsor. ^
 
 184 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 Saturday, 1 Itb. — I was sent for by the Princess this niorniiTg 
 to say that she was going to the Opera to-night, and wished 
 me to attend her. Lady C. L. liad just left her when I ar- 
 rived, and the Princess complained that " her friends tor- 
 mented her as much as her enemies." I found out afterwards, 
 that this remark was occasioned by one of her friends having 
 advised her Royal Highness not to take JViUik'mio the Opera 
 with her. — The two Doctors Burney dined with the Princess ; 
 
 Lady , Miss , and myself were of the party. There 
 
 came a note from Mr. Whilhread, advising at lohat hour she 
 should go to the Opera, and telling her that the Emperor was 
 to be at eleven o'clock at the Listitution, which was to be 
 lighted up for him to see the pictures. All this advice tor- 
 mented the Princess, and I do not wonder that she sometimes 
 loses patience. No child was ever more thwarted and coti- 
 troUed than she is — and yet she often contrives to do herself 
 mischief in spite of all the care that is taken of her. When 
 we arrived at the Opera, to the Princess's, and all her attend- 
 ants' infinite surprise, we saw the Regent placed between the 
 Emperor and the King of Prussia, and all the minor Princes, 
 in a box to tlie right. 'God save the King' was performing 
 when the Priilcess entered, and consequently she did not sit 
 down. — I was behind ; so of course I could not see the house 
 very disiinctly, but I saw the Regent was at that time standing 
 and applauding the Grassinis. — As soon as the air was over, 
 the whole pit turned round to the Princess's box and ap- 
 plauded her. — We, who v/ere in attendance on her Royal 
 Highness, intieated her to rise and make a curtsey, but she 
 sat immovable, and at last, turning round, she said to Lady 
 
 , " My dear, Punch's wife is nobody when Punch is 
 
 present." — AVe all laughed, but still thought her Ayrong not 
 to acknowledge the compliment paid her; but she was right 
 as the sequel will prove. — " We shall be hissed," said Sir 
 W. Gell. — " No, no," again replied the Princess with infi- 
 nite good humour, " I know my business better than to take 
 the morsel out. of my hitsbamVs month; I am not to seem 
 to know that the applause is meant for me till they call my 
 name." The Prince seemed to verify her words, for he got 
 up and bowed to the audience. This was construed int) a 
 bow to thn Princess, most unfortunately ; I say most unfor- 
 tunately, because she has been blamed for not returning it ; 
 but I, who was an eye-witness of the circumstance, know the 
 Princess acted just as she ought to have done. The fact was,
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 185 
 
 the Prince took the applause to himself: and his friends, or 
 rather his toadies, (for they do not deserve the name of 
 friends,) to save him from the imputation of this ridiculous 
 vanity, cliose to say, that he did the most beautiful and ele- 
 gant thing in the world, and bowed to his wife ! ! 
 
 When the Opera was finished, the Prince and his sup- 
 porters were applauded, but not enthusiastically ; and scarcely 
 had his Royal Highness left the box, when the people called 
 for the Princess, and gave her a very warm applause. She 
 then went forward and made three curtseys, and hastily with- 
 xirew. — I believe she acted perfectly right throughout the 
 evening — but everybody tells a different story, and thinks dif- 
 ferently. — How trivial all this seems, how much beneath the 
 dignity of rational beings ! But trides make up liie sum of 
 earthly things — and in this instance this trivial circumstance 
 affects the Princess of Wales's interests, therefore it becomes 
 of consequence for the true statement to be made known ; and 
 as I was present, I can and will tell the truth. — When the 
 coachman attempted to drive home through Charles-street, 
 the crowd of carriages was so immense it was impossible to 
 pass down that street, and with difficulty the Princess's 
 carriage backed, and we returned past Carlton-liouse, where 
 the mob surrounded her carriage, and, having once found out 
 that it was her Royal Highness, they applauded and huzzaed 
 
 her Royal Highness till she, and Lady , and myself, 
 
 who were with her, were completely stunned. — The mob 
 opened the carriage doors, and some of them insisted upon 
 shaking hands with her, and asked if they should burn 
 Carlton-house. — " No, my good people," slie said, " be quite 
 quiet — let me pass, and go home to your beds." — They 
 would not, however, leave off following her carriage for some 
 way, and cried out. Long live the Princess of Wales, long 
 live the innocent, &;c. <kc. — She was pleased at this demon- 
 stration of feeling in her favour, and I never saw her look so 
 well, or behave with so much dignity. Yet I hear since, all 
 this has been misconstrued, and various lies told. 
 
 Sunday, 12th. — The park (Hyde Park) was crowded with 
 multitudes of spectators, and all the Kings, Emperors, and 
 grandees, foreign and English, rode and drove about, while 
 the people flocked around them, applauding and huzzaing. 
 Princess Charlotte drove round the ring in her carriage, and 
 looked well and handsome — what a strange and galling sight 
 
 IG^
 
 186 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 for the Princess of Wales, her who ought to be, from her 
 rank, her relationship to some of these foreign potentates, and 
 her station in this coantiy, the first to be honoured by their 
 attentions, thus to see herself so completely cast aside ! 
 Whilst they were in the gay throng in Hyde Park, she drove 
 
 ■with Lady to Hampstead and Ilighgate. Lady 
 
 told me she was very tired of that amusement. 
 
 I dined at Connaught House — the party consisted of Mr. 
 and Lady Charlotte Greville, Lord Henry Fitzgerald, Mr. 
 Bennet, and Mr. Hobhouse. After dinner a few more per- 
 sons came, and formed a dull stiff circle, but it was good 
 company ; therefore I was pleased to see there the Hard- 
 wickes, Paulcts, Lord and Lady Grey, Lord and Lady Dun- 
 more, Lord Nugent, &c., to the amount of fifty or sixty 
 persons. — Many more really intended to come, after having 
 been to Lady Salisbury's, where were theEmperor and King, 
 and our mighty Prince R — t ; but the crowd was so immense, 
 they could not get their carriages till morning. 
 
 Monday, 13th. — The Princess sent forme this morning; 
 I found her looking big with some news, but she waited till 
 she mastered herself before she told me she had got a letter 
 from Lady C L — y, telling her that she had heard positively 
 from Lady Westmoreland, who had the intelligence from a 
 quarter that left no doubt of its truth, that the Emperor would 
 wait upon the Princess either that day or on Thursday 
 next; — that she, Lady C. L — y, felt certain of its authenti- 
 city, and therefore took the liberty of communicating the in- 
 tention of his Majesty to her Royal Higliness. The latter 
 was delighted. She gradually gave way to the hope which 
 charmed her, and said — poor soul — " my ears are very ugly, 
 but I would give them both to persuade the Emperor to come 
 to me to a ball, a supper, 'any entertainment that he would 
 choose." Well, she dressed, and waited till seven, but no 
 Emperor came ; she^made me remain with her all the after- 
 noon. I did my best to amuse her, but I am not an amusing 
 person at any time, certainly not — neither, when I feel sad 
 and sorry, which Ldid for her Royal Highness, can I exert 
 the little powers I have of being diverting. — For four hours 
 together — it was an effort to me to try to seem cheerful, when 
 I was tliinking the whole time, of whether the Emperor 
 would or would not come, and whether the poor soul who 
 sat opposite to me would be disappointed or not of the pro-
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 187 
 
 mi^ed pleasure. — Neither was it possible the Princess should 
 be amused or interested with what I or any one else could 
 have said, when she was waiting for his visit; yet she endea- 
 voured to converse, and to conceal her anxiety. Alas! I fear 
 Thursday will be just such another day of disappointment as 
 to-day was. How cruel to give her a hope that anything 
 pleasant will befal lier, which people are not quite sure will 
 take place. — Yet the persons who gave her this false hope, 
 did not do so with an unkind intention. — It was her friend 
 who sent her the announcement of the Emperor's intended 
 visit. — No wonder the Princess says, " my friends torment 
 me as much as my enemies." She is not the only person 
 who has said and felf thus. — I was made to stay and dine, 
 and in the evening there were the old S — s pour tout bien. 
 
 Tuesday, 14th. — Lady told me, that in going slowly 
 
 up a hill in the course of her drives to-day, a decently dress- 
 ed and respectable looking countryman came close to the 
 Princess's carriage, and said, " God bless you, we will make 
 the Prince love you before we have done with him." Ano- 
 ther of the same class of persons cried out as she passed, 
 " You will soon overcome all your enemies." — Such volun- 
 tary declarations prove that there is a strong feeling prevailing 
 in her favour; still, it is not a few kind words uttered by a 
 chance person as she passes ill her carriage, that can be of 
 real use or comfort to her, though gratifying at the moment. 
 
 Wednesday, 15th. — The Princess, Lady informed 
 
 ine, received a note this morning from Mr. Brandon, box- 
 office, Covent Garden, telling her that no box could be kept 
 for her Rovnl Highness at that theatre, as they were all en- 
 gaged. What an answer to the Princess of Wales ! — Then 
 arrived a note from Alderman Wood, informing her, that if 
 she chose to go to see the monarclis pass in [>rocession to the 
 City, he would have a private house kept U)v her Royal 
 Highness for that purpose. — Alderman Wood did not mean 
 to insult her, it was only his vulgarity that induced him to 
 make her such a ludicrous ofier. — IJiit what was most vexa- 
 tious of all these vexatious communications was, that the 
 Duchess of Oldenburgh and four other ladies were to be pre- 
 sent at the dinner; this was gallinof, and the Princess felt 
 her own particular exclusion from this fete given by the city 
 very hard to bear, as she had considered the city folks her
 
 188 MEMOIRS OF THE ^ 
 
 friends. They, however, are not to blame, as these royal 
 ladies are self-invited, or invited by the Regent, and the 
 Princess's friends had not time to call a Common Council 
 and discuss the matter. — Immediately after this bitter pill 
 came another from Mr. Whitbread, recommending her upon 
 no account to go to Drury-lane on Thursday evening, after 
 having a few days before desired her to go. " You see, my 
 
 dear," she said to Lady , " how 1 am plagued ;" and 
 
 although she mastered her lesentment. Lady says she 
 
 saw the tears were in her eyes. " It is not the loss of the 
 amusement which I regret, but being treated like a child, and 
 made the puppet of a party: what signify whether I come in 
 before or after the Regent, or whether 1 am applauded in his 
 hearing or not — that is all for the gratification of the party, 
 not for mi/ gralifi(;ation ; 'tis of no consequence to the Prin- 
 cess, but to Mr. Whitbread — and that's the way things always 
 go, and always will, till I can leave this vile country." — 
 
 Lady was desired by her Royal Highness to write her 
 
 sentiments, with leave to alter the mode of expressing them, 
 to Mr. Whitbread and Alderman Wood. 
 
 I dined at Connaught House the same day, and the Princess 
 was in wonderfully good spirits considering how much she 
 had been vexed in the morning. — Sir W. and Lady Louisa 
 Call, Lady Elizabeth Forbes, and Mr. Craven, and Sir W. 
 
 Gfell, and Sir J B were tlie j)arty. — I had a long 
 
 conversation with the latter: he is a good-hearted, honourable 
 man, but I see he is too good for those with whom he has to 
 deal; yet he is not deficient in sound sense or penetration. 
 It is a pity that he indulges too much in the pleasures of con- 
 viviality. He praised the Prineeys up to the skies, and said 
 he believed her to be " pure as the urisiinned snows." — Then 
 he said that he liimself had been of the party all the time drtr- 
 ing the story about Manly, and that once when he {Manly) 
 was said to have been in the boat with her, it was he himself 
 (Sir J. B.), " therefore," added he, " I know the falsity of 
 that accusation." He ended by summing up all the Princess's 
 wrongs, and declaring she was the most cruelly treated woman 
 
 in the world. She had been telling Sir J of the city 
 
 business, the box-keeper's message, and ^Iderman Wood's 
 offer of a private window from whence she could see the 
 show pass, and her determination of going to the play next 
 Thursday. — " I think," said he to me, "unless Whitbread 
 gives her some very strong reasons to the contrary, she is ia
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 189 
 
 the right to go ; hut I fancy he has some goot} reasons, and 
 then she must yield. Gad," he added, " if I was her, and 
 Whitbread did not please me, I would send for Castlereagh, 
 and every one of their., till I found one that did. To tell you 
 the truth, I am sorry the Princess ever threw herself into the 
 hands of Whitbread — it is not the staff on which the Royalties 
 should lean." — "Ah!" but I replied, "at the moment he 
 stepped forth iter champion and deliverer, who was tiiere that 
 would have done as much?" Sir J. B. does not believe she 
 was at so low sn ebb; but he does not know all the circum- 
 stances I know, and I could not explain them. He has been 
 lately taken up as a great fiiend of the Prince Regent; and 
 ever since he carried the King of France over, he has been 
 in high estimation at Carlton House, and was even made the 
 Prince' s' aid-de-camp. It is but yesterday, said he, " that he 
 held both my hands in his, and called me a d — d honfcst 
 fellow." What a pity, thought I, his Royal Highness does 
 not imitate you a lilUe, and try to imbibe some of your 
 honesty and good-heartedness. 
 
 It is droll that there is a vast sympathy between the Prince 
 
 R 1 and Princess in their loven as well as in their hatreds. 
 
 Sir J. B is an equal favourite with them both, as he de- 
 serves to be — for he is not insincere or cringing to either of 
 them. I think he is a friend to both — though he sees their 
 respective faults. — During dinner a note had arrived from Mr. 
 Whitbread, saying, that a box was reserved for her Royal 
 Highness, but that he implored her not to think of going. 
 
 To this she only ordered I>a(ly to reply, by desiring Mr. 
 
 Whitbread to come to her immediately; "if he gives me 
 good reasons, I will submit," she said to me, " but if he does 
 not, d — n me, den /go.'" These were her words, at which 
 I could not help smiling — but she was in no mood to smile — 
 so I concealed the impulse I felt to laugh, for I cannot bear 
 to be of those who wound her. The Princess kept us all to 
 supper, and it was past one o'clock before we were dismissed. 
 Mr. Whitbread never came. 
 
 To amuse herself is as necessary to her Royal Higliness 
 as meat and drink, and she made Mr. Craven and Sir W. 
 -Gell, and mjsclf, promise to go with her to the masquerade. 
 — She is to go out at her back door on the Uxbridge Road, 
 of which " no person under Heaven^' (her curious ^phraseo- 
 losy) has a key but her royal self, and we are to be in reatli- 
 ness to escort her Royal Highness in a hackney coach to the
 
 190 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 Albany, where we are to dress ! What a mad scheme ! at 
 such a moment, and without any strong motive either, to run 
 the risk. 1 looked grave when she proposed this amusement, 
 but I knew I had only to obey. I thought of it all night with 
 fear and trembling. 
 
 Thursday, 16th. — Mr. Whitbread sent early to-day to 
 
 Lady , to say he was out at Lord Jersey's ball when her 
 
 Royal Highness's note was sent to him last night, and that now 
 he begged to know at what hour she chose to see him. — She 
 desired him to be at Connaught House at twelve, and Lady 
 was sent to speak to him for a little while, till the Prin- 
 cess was ready to see him. Lady told Mr. Whitbread 
 
 how his medicine had worked, but tliat nevertheless she 
 thought it would produce the desired effect. Mr. Whitbread 
 said he was sorry to have been obliged to write in the per- 
 emptory manner he did to the Princess. When she came 
 in she gave him her hand, but received him rather drily ; — 
 he then informed her who some of the persons were who 
 think it best for her Royal Higiiness not to go to the play : 
 he said Mr. Tierney, Mr. Brougham, and Lord Sefton were 
 of opinion, that however much the Princess had been ap- 
 plauded, the public would have said it had been done at ttie 
 instigation of Mr. Whitbread, and was not the spontaneous 
 feeling of the people : that the more she was applauded, tlie 
 more they would say so ; and that if, on the contrary, a 
 strong paiy of the Prince R — t's friends, and paid hirelings, 
 were there, and that one voice of disapprobation were heard, 
 it might do her considerable harm : " besides," continued 
 Mr. Whitbread, " as the great question about an establish- 
 ment for your Royal Highness comes on to-morrow, I tliink 
 it is of the utmost importance that no one should be able to 
 cast any invidious observation about your forcing yourself 
 on the public, or seeming to defy your Royal HiglineSs's 
 husband." — In fine, the Princess was over-ruled. Mr. Whit- 
 bread thanked l.er for her condescension in listening to him, 
 and seemed really touched when he said, " I trust, madam, 
 you will believe me sincere, when I declare that no party in- 
 terest whatever sways me in this or any other advice I have 
 ever given your Royal Highness, nor ever shall, to the detri- 
 ment of your interests." The Princess, as I am told, bowed 
 coldly in reply to this speech, and did not seem to believe in 
 Mr. Whitbread's sincerity. It is not surprising that she
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 191 
 
 should doubt and hesitate before placing confidence in any 
 one, for she has been so often cheated, poor woman ! Yet I 
 wish she had replied with some degree of answering kind- 
 ness to Mr. Whitbread's assurance that he was faithful to her 
 interests. Sho flung ccAd ivater on him, as it were, just at 
 the moment when he seemed roused to energy in her cause. 
 Alas ! how very foolish she is in all that concerns her true 
 interests. 
 
 1 dined in the evening of the same day with her Royal 
 
 Highness. There was no one present except Lady ; 
 
 the Princess went to the Opera afterwards with her. Lady 
 C. L. came in during dinner, having been to Drury Lane, 
 thinking she was thete ; she said she took the liberty of 
 coming to tell the Princess that Princess Cliarlotte had sent 
 for her (Lady C. L.) that morning, and had informed her 
 that the Emperor of Russia had sent to tell the R — t that he 
 was determined to visit the Princess of Wales, and to make 
 his sister accompany him ; that lie would do so publicly to 
 show his respect to her Royal Highness, and that, since the 
 Emperor had sent that message, the Prince R — t had not 
 spoken to his Imperial Majesty. " Depend upon it, he goes 
 to my mother," said the Princess Charlotte to Lady C. L., 
 " and I sent for you to inform the Princess not to be from 
 home." Lady C. L. added, " that Princess Charlotte led a 
 very dull life, and was extremely out of spirits, and consi- 
 deiably hurt at the Prince of Orange's going out and divert- 
 ing himself at all public places, while slic remained shut up 
 in solitude ; and that she thought he might have refused 
 going to Carlton House unless she was there." — The Prin- 
 cess of Wales had been told to-day that the match was off 
 between her daughter and the Prince of Orange ; but Lady 
 C. L. said, " No, madam, I do not believe so at present, but 
 I think very likely it will be soon at an end." Princess 
 Charlotte told Lady C. L., that when she drives about, the 
 mob cry out, " God bless you, but never forsake your mo- 
 ther." — The poor Princess's eyes filled with tears when 
 Lady C. L. repeated this. She has excellent and strong na- 
 tural feelmgs when they are stirred ; but in general all her 
 bad feelings are roused, and her good ones smothered, by 
 the unkindness and persecution she meets with. Thers is 
 no knowing what a different person this poor Princess might 
 be, had she the fair play of other human beings. The 
 Princess wished Lady C. L., the herald of this pleasant 
 news, to accompany her to the Opera, but her sister was ill,
 
 192 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 SO she declined going. The intelligence she brought reani- 
 mated the Princess — perhaps it is all a falsehood from be- 
 ginning to end, not of Lady C. L.'s invention, or of Princess 
 Charlotte's : she herself may be deceived, or she may deceive 
 for the pleasure of being agreeable at the momenta — but Avhat 
 a total subversion of comfort there is when there is no truth 
 to rest upon ! The music at the Opera was divine — the 
 house empty, of course. 
 
 Friday, 17lh June. — Lady told me, the Princess had 
 
 shown her a letter she had been writing to Mr. Whitbread, 
 which she intended to send, with one she'has written to Lord 
 Liverpool, which latter she intends to send without asking 
 Mr. Whitbread's advice: the one she addresses to himself 
 accounts very plausibly for so doing, under the pretext of its 
 being from motives of delicacy towards him. She says in it, 
 that, persecuted as she is, life is a burthen to her; tliat her 
 stay in this country does no person any good, and that it is 
 worse than death to herself. She thanks Mr. Whitbread for 
 all he has attempted to do for her, and ends by declaring her 
 unalterable resolution to quit the country. The letter of 
 course is not good English, and its mode of expression is very 
 strange and entortille. Nevertheless there is much of that 
 fire and determination in it, which are great ingredients in 
 any character, and which she possesses. Unfortunately these 
 qualities are not prized or done justice to in women — they 
 are called obstinacy and violence, except in some instances, 
 such as in our Queen Elizabeth, the Catherine of Russia, and a 
 few others, where power made men of them. Otherwise, as 
 it is the interest of the stronger sex to subdue women men- 
 tally and personally, at least we imagine that it is so, all dis- 
 play of vigorous intellect in them is charged with folly, if 
 not with crime. 
 
 Again I dined at Connaught House. There were Lord 
 Fitzwilliam, Lord and Lady Essex, Lord Hardwicke, Mr. 
 and Miss G rattan. Lord H. Fitzgerald and Lord de Roos 
 were to have been of the party, but there was some mistake 
 about iheir invitation, and they did not come. Lord Fitzwil- 
 liam has delightful manners, so gentle and so polite, they 
 remind me of my dear . There is a divine expres- 
 sion in his countenance; he is shy and rather reserved on 
 first acquaintance, but he is not so to such a degree as to 
 make him disagreeable. I believe Lord Hardwicke is a very 
 good sort of man, but he is not so pleasant a person to me, as
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 193 
 
 Lord Fitzwilliam. I was sorry the Princess did not behave 
 very graciously to the Essexes : she is always committing 
 some fatal mistakes respecting whom she ought to show 
 favour to, and to whom she ought not; — but slie said when 
 they were gone, " I cannot like people who take me up only 
 because they are displeased with the Regent." — In tliis ob- 
 servation there is much truth ; but, as the Princess can play 
 a part sometimes when she chooses, I regret that she does 
 not do so in regard to paying attention to persons whom it is 
 of consequence she should interest in her favour. 
 
 Before the Princess dismissed I/ndy , Miss , or 
 
 myself, she received a letter from Princess Cliarlotte, telling 
 her mother the match between herself and the Prince of 
 Orange was entirely off, and at the same time enclosing 
 a copy of a letter she had written to the Prince of Orange, 
 in which she alludes to some point of dispute which it seems 
 remained unsettled between them; but Princess Charlotte 
 does not precisely name what that point was, and chiefly 
 rests her delermination of not leaving this kingdom upon the 
 necessity of her remaining in England to support her mother. 
 The whole letter turns upon the Princess of Wales — it is 
 extremely well ivritten and very strong. I conclude the 
 words are Miss Knight's, but the sentiments, for the present 
 moment, are Princess Charlotte's. This letter gave the 
 Princess of Wales a great feeling of affection for her daughter, 
 and triumph at her declaring herself determined to remain 
 and support her against the Prince R — t; but then, on reflec- 
 tion, came the recollection that it was calculated to be a great 
 barrier to her going abroad, and instead of this intelligence 
 being pleasant to her, it made the Princess so full of care and 
 thought, that she soon dismissed us. I know too much of 
 all parties to believe that Princess Charlotte, in her heart, 
 quarrelled with her lover from any motive of real tenderness 
 towards her mother. I believe that what the Princess of 
 AVales told me some time ago is perfectly true, namely, that 
 her daughter did not at all admire tlie Prince of Orange, and 
 only wanted to be her own mistress; and now finding, I con- 
 clude, that that end would not be answered by marrying him, 
 she has determined to i)reak off the engagement. I won- 
 der what will ensue of her doing do. The Princesses mother 
 will not give up the amusement of going abroad; and in 
 order to do this, 1 fear she will act foolishly, offend her 
 daughter, and lose the advantage of her support. 
 Vol. I. 17
 
 1 
 
 194 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 LETTERS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PRINCESS OF WALES 
 
 The following compositions betray a want of education which in the 
 present day would be disgraceful even to a person of the middle class. 
 But many of the sentiments are kind ; and an impartial judge would be 
 apt to say, in reading them, " This person was not intended by nature 
 to be a bad character." 
 
 An anecdote related of the prince of Borghese's father, may be illus- 
 trative of the degree of value placed upon the attainments of princes in 
 general by their relatives; in former days, though now the light of culti- 
 vated intellect has even illumined their Cimmerian darkness. — The 
 Prince entered the apartment of his son, whom he found in tears : the 
 Preceptor told the cause — " He would not learn to write or to read." — 
 " Pho, pho," said the father, " what signifies — do not plague the child ; 
 he will always have some one paid to do that for him." 
 
 , No. 1. 
 
 " June 37th. 
 " MY DEAR , 
 
 " I send you a new novel of Madame de Genlis', ' Made- 
 moiselle de la Fayette' — I think it will interest and amuse 
 you at the same time. 
 
 " The subject is taken from the reign of Louis XIIL and 
 Anne d'Autriche. The colouring of the characters has proved 
 a very happy effort of genius, and, after my taste and my
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 195 
 
 humble judgment, I think it one of the very best that ever 
 she wrote, except ' Les Vceux Temeraires.' 
 
 " I am in expectation this morning of seeing Madame de 
 Stael, and I shall fairly give my opinion upon this new me- 
 teor, which is now in full blaze upon our atmosphere — I 
 trust it will not be long before I shall have the pleasure of 
 seeing you again. 
 
 " Believe me, in the mean while, 
 
 " Your affectionate 
 "C. P." 
 
 " I have opened my letter again, to announce to you that^ 
 Miss Johnstone is ^oing to be married to Don Antonio, on 
 account of her £40,000. 
 
 " Lady Davy has not taken the least notice, by writing or 
 by verbal message, of keeping her promise to bring Madame 
 de Stael to me, and I begin to suspect that Madame de Stael 
 will be guided by the torrent, and may live this moment in 
 the hopes of being introduced on the 30th, ' dans le Palais 
 de la xVerite.' — On the Friday following, which is the 2d 
 July, I hear there will be given in Pall Mall also a great 
 breakfast ' dans le Temple de la Justice.' I am determined 
 to be very proud, and not to take one single step if it is 
 not entirely from Madame de Stael's own impulse that she 
 becomes acquainted with me ; but pray, if you have heard 
 any thing on the subject, and that my suspicions rest on good 
 foundation, let me know, as I am quite resigned to any dis- 
 appointment of that nature." 
 
 It was even so. Madame de Stael did go with the torrent. 
 She would not know the Princess, and paid the most servile 
 court to the Regent, after she had once prevailed on him to 
 visit her^^rs^ in her lodgings in George Street: she insisted 
 upon this unusual compliment being paid her, and she carried 
 her point. The Prince did visit her in her lodgings; it is 
 reported that slie treated him cavalierly, and spoke in a strain 
 of personal praise, which was too strong for his taste, parti- 
 cularly dwelling on the beauty of the form of his legs, but 
 saying very little to him of the glories of his country, or the 
 powers of his mind. The interview was not supposed to be 
 pleasant to either party; nevertheless Madame de Stael con- 
 tinued her adulatory conduct to the Prince. It was unlike 
 her nobility of charucier to sliow disrespect to one of her
 
 196 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 own sex, or to join in a hue and cry against her, which, if it 
 were founded in truth, would not have been amiable, and if 
 it were false, was utterly unworthy of Madame de Stael. To 
 lend herself to any party for any reward of court favour, was 
 so totally unlike the principles she professed and the general 
 tenor of her conduct through life, that, were it not for the 
 discrepancies which exist in all human character, one could 
 not credit that she should have acted thus; Init so it was. — 
 She, who braced Bonaparte's ire, crouched to the tyranny of 
 George IV. 
 
 No. II. 
 
 " DEAR , 
 
 " I should not so long have delayed answering your letter, 
 which so earnestly requested a return, if I had not hoped to 
 atone for my seeming neglect ; but, as I live in my little nut- 
 shell, like a hermit, and never meet Princes, Lords, nor 
 Commons, and all such paraphernalia of ornaments, I cannot 
 decorate our epistolary correspondence by a fine franc on 
 the envelope of the letter. Nevertheless, I can assure you, 
 in a situation like mine, the world and its blessings are seen 
 in their just point of estimation ; but, when a blessing of real 
 innate value glides before me, I catch it and strain it to my 
 bosom with all the eagerness of poverty. Judge, then, of 
 the transport with which I seize my pen, to apprize you that 
 my daughter has acted with the greatest firmness, prompti- 
 tude, and energy of character possible, in the very intricate 
 business concerning her raarriatre. She has manoeuvred and 
 conquered the Regent so completely, that there can be no 
 more doubt that the marriage is broke off. The Prince 
 hereditary of Orange was secretly sent for by the Regent, 
 and arrived under the feigned name of Captain St. George. 
 Under that same name, he presented himself next day at War- 
 wick House early in the morning. She was in bed, and had 
 not expected him in this country. Miss Knight received him. 
 She had afterwards a long conversation with him, in which 
 she showed him every letter that had passed between her 
 father and her upon that subject. She then declared to him 
 that she never would leave this country, except by an act of 
 Parliament, and by her own especial desire. She then de- 
 sired that he might retire, and that she would not see him 
 again till these matters were eettled. Two days after, he
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 197 
 
 came again, and brought a message from the Regent, in. 
 which he proposed to her that he would forgive and forget 
 every thing, and that she should immediately come to him, 
 and that every thing should be arranged in the most amicable 
 manner. She declared that she would not see her father, or 
 -any of the family, till their consent to her remaining in this 
 country had been obtained, or that otherwise, the marriage 
 would be broke off. She lias received no answer since the 
 course of a week from her fatiier, and she supposes that the 
 papers have been sent to Holland, to make tiie family there 
 also a party concerned in a new political question for the 
 future happiness of England. It has, in my opinion, nothing 
 at all to do with the Dutch family. The Uuchess of Olden- 
 burgh, 1 believe, is her chief adviser, and as she is a clever 
 woman, and knowstho world and mankind well, my daughter 
 cannot be in better hands. They are a great deal together, 
 which 'makes the 'Regent outrageous, and his good looks and 
 spirits will not be of long duration, if he will be beaten, 
 'plate couture,'' by his daughter. She desired also not to 
 see the Prince of Orange again, till she received the definitive 
 answer upon her requcot. 
 
 " I am quite transfixed with astonishment that my daughter 
 at last has resumed her former character of intrepidity and 
 fortitude, as her father frightens her in every manner possible, 
 that her character would be lost in the world by her fickleness 
 
 to break off her marriage. My paying a visit, my dear , 
 
 will be either before the 22d of this month, or after, for as I 
 intend merely to come to see you and enjoy your personal 
 society, I rather wish to meet nobody there, and I wish to 
 spend a few moments of our eternal friendship together. 
 " With these sentiments, 
 
 " I remain for ever, yours, 
 
 " most truly and affectionately, 
 " C. P." 
 
 " Madame de Stael set off yesterday for Paiis. I send 
 you the will of Napoleon,* which I wrote con amore for 
 your perusal ; you may show it to any body, but without my 
 name." 
 
 What a miserable view of human nature is here unfolded ! 
 
 • Something copied out of a French Brochure. 
 17*
 
 198 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 A daughter mistrusting her frither, and, conceiving that a mar- 
 riage was only proposed for her which should take her out of 
 the kingdom. At the same time it must be acknowledged, 
 lliat if the Princess Charlotte was under this impression, it 
 was reasonable she should arm herself against the dreaded 
 evil ; and had the Prince of Orange loved her truly, he could 
 not have refused to accede to the terms on which she con- 
 sented to become his bride. But a different fate awaited her : 
 she had at least one gleam of brightness in her brief and 
 melancholy career. She married a man to whom she gave 
 her heart, and one who seemed worthy of the prize. Of all 
 difficult parts to play well and with dignity, that of king con- 
 sort is the most so. A man is in a false position who stands 
 second in power to his wife ; and it may be questioned 
 whether this marriage would have ended happily, — but it 
 was dissolved before it had been tried by the touchstone of 
 iime. 
 
 No. III. 
 
 " Friday Morning. 
 " MY DEAR r-, 
 
 " You must be at half past eleven at Blackheath on Mon- 
 day ; I shall send you the carriage in time: — you must be 
 also so good to send through the bearer this ' Ze Gentil 
 Troubadour,'' which I think must be amongst your music, as 
 it is not to be found amongst mine, and young S— - — is very 
 anxious to have it back. 
 
 " The editor of the ***** has behaved quite scandal- 
 ously : — he has been corrupted and bribed from Carlton 
 House since a week, and, though Dr. Warburton affirms, 
 
 that so late as six weeks back, Mr. M has left him, 
 
 having been under his care, and not even then believed to 
 have been well, and he has been the creator of forging false 
 letters, pretending to be from me to him ; still the Editor will 
 not relent, or hear reason, and will publish the whole fabri- 
 cated correspondence, which is a false and foul one> in his 
 
 next Sunday's paper. Poor Lady Anne and Lady P 1 are 
 
 in the greatest alarm possible ; I wish you would write a 
 very strong cojitradiclion for the Examiner, that this is a 
 new trick played, and that the Editor of * * * * * will not 
 even suffer Dr. Warburton, or tlie lawyer, to take an affidavit 
 of Mr. M 's being mad. NYrite this to , and to
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 199 
 
 , and all our friends, that they do not any longer take 
 
 the News, as he must know that people of respectability do 
 not like to be imposed on, and that every body may some 
 day or other be liable to -see forged letters of their's in 
 * « « * *^ My servant is quite at your service. If you have 
 any letters to send ready by him, he may wait, as he is be- 
 sides going- that way to town. 
 
 " Heaven bless you, and believe me, for ever, 
 
 " Yours, 
 
 "C. P." 
 
 It is impossible, at this distance of time, to sift the truth 
 from the falsehood, respecting this transaction with editors of 
 newspapers. To say the best of it, it is always to be lament- 
 ed, when ladies of rank and charactei enter into any discus- 
 sion, or are in any way mixed up with similar stories. 
 Certain it is, that after this time the Princess of Wales gra- 
 dually dropped all intimacy with Lady P . Whether 
 
 she imagined that lady had in any way compromised her in 
 this business, does not appear — but the intercourse between 
 them ceased. How vain for the Princess to imagine that her 
 command would suffice to make any one discard a newspaper 
 or journal >vhich might chance to amuse them! — No! not 
 even if they saw their best friends shown up in its columns. 
 Indeed, that circumstance might be an additional reason for 
 taking it in. Amiable ! but true ! Vide the Satirist, the Age, 
 &c., in which, it is currently reported, people in the highest 
 circles of fashion not only read of iheir friends, but write of 
 them. 
 
 No. IV. 
 Sompting Abbey, Sussex, July 29th, 1814. 
 
 " DEAR 
 
 "I am in great haste, as you may easily imagine, as I have 
 postponed my writing to you till I could give you a definitive 
 and comfortable account of all my proceedings. 
 
 " On Monday, the 2.'3th, at two o'clock, I delivered my 
 letter for the perusal of the Prince Regent into Mr. Cannino-'s 
 hands, but previously my brother had sent a gentleman, hia 
 grand ecuyer, the week preceding, as he was prevented him-
 
 200 MEMOIKS OF THE 
 
 self from coming to accompany me to Brunswick, that this 
 gentleman should take charge of me ; and through that medium 
 I was informed already that there would be no objection made, 
 cither on the part of the ministers or the Prince Regent him- 
 self, to go abroad for some time, and unconditionally upon 
 any other point. But knowing that it would be gratifying 
 to you to see the answer, I have enclosed a copy, which Mr, 
 
 H will forward to you with this letter. 'J'he same day 
 
 that I sent my letters, I went to Norbury — where I stayed 
 the night, and arrived next day for my late dinner, at nine 
 o'clock, at Sompting. But last night, in the midst of a most 
 violent storm of thunder and lightning, a king's messenger 
 arrived ; as if from the clouds, sent by Jupiter with his 
 thunderbolts. It is the most gracious letter that ever was 
 written to me from that quarter — " end well, all well ;" — 
 and I feel quite happy and comfortable at the prospect that 
 "we can now soon meet each other, and enjoy each other's 
 society, in a warmer climate. I have desired that the man of 
 war is to be ready by the 6th of August, that I may set sail 
 with the full moon on the 8lh, to go immediately by Cux- 
 haven, the shortest way to Brunswick. I shall only remain 
 a fortnight in my native country, anxious to go by the Rhine 
 to Switzerland, and so to Naples before the bad weather sets 
 in. I trust to meet you there (I mean to say in Switzerland)^ 
 and take you in my suite to Naples. I heard of Mr. Craven 
 of your safe arrival at Paris, and how much you had been 
 admired, which has given me great satisfaction, to hear that 
 the Parisians have, at least for once, shown good taste and 
 judgment. 
 
 " I saw Princess Charlotte on Saturday, two days before I 
 ■set out; she seems much more calm and resigned to her prison 
 at Cranboiirne Lodge than I expected. She is to go after- 
 wards to the sea-side. Warwick House is to be demolished, 
 and a new wing built to Carlton House ; and the Regent is 
 to remove to the Duke of Cumberland's apartments, in St. 
 .James's Palace. This, I believe, is all the news I can oflier 
 you. The marriage of Georgina Fitzroy and Lord Wor- 
 cester took place last Monday, and Emily Pole's and Lord 
 Fitzroy Somerset's is to be next week. They ai'e going to 
 Paris, with the Duke of Wellington, as he is his secretary. 
 Don't trouble yourself with answering my letter, as it certain- 
 ly would not find me. In September, I shall certainly be 
 near you in some part of Switzerland, and you may imagine
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 201 
 
 how anxious I shall be to assure you again in person of my 
 sincere and unfeigned attachment, with which 
 
 " I remain, 
 
 " Ever yours, 
 
 "C. P." 
 
 Poor Princess ! she played her enemies' game. Of course 
 the adverse party desired nothing more than that she should 
 leave England. " The most gracious letter that ever was 
 written to me from that quarter." It was the fable of the 
 Fox and the Crow. She swallowed the flattery and fell into 
 the snare, which ultigaately caused her death. The Princess 
 Charlotte, too, could not think her mother's heart was 
 wrapped up in her, when she left her in no very pleasant 
 circumstances, to go whither? — she knew not herself — and 
 why ? — merely to get rid of time, and lose by change of scene 
 and idle amusement a bitter sense of the indignities she had 
 received; — but it is impossible not to feel that, if the Prin- 
 cess had possessed as much moral courage as she had per- 
 sonal fearlessness — as much of principle as she had of good 
 impulses, — her whole fate would have been far different from 
 what it was. True, she had been grossly insulted at the time 
 when the foreign potentates came to England, and to Eng- 
 land's monarch almost as vassals subject to his power. Dis-. 
 carded by her husband from every public and private homage 
 due to her rank ; — branded with a dark stigma of crime, which 
 her enemies dared not examine into or avow openly, and in 
 which their machinations had been secretly, years before, de- 
 feated, when they attempted to prove their charge ; — mocked 
 by the King of Prussia's pusillanimous conduct in sending 
 his chamberlain to her with professions of regard, but avow- 
 ing that under circumstances he dared not come to her him- 
 self — he in whose cause her father, the Duke of Brunswick, 
 had fought, and her brother lost his life ; — spit upon, as it 
 were, by the Emperor of Russia, who now would, and now 
 would not come to visit her, and of whom it is said, that as 
 he was actually leaving his apartment to pay her a visit, one 
 
 of the R t's ministers almost fell on his knees before him 
 
 to prevent, and ultimately did prevent him from going to 
 her; — thus persecuted, defamed, tormented — much may be 
 said in extenuation of her unwise resolution to leave England 
 and her cares for a time, at least, behind her — but it was a
 
 202 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 great moral mistake, and a greater political one. Her 
 (laugliter, too, had a short time before proved her love for her 
 mother, by flying to lier arms in a moment of offended pride 
 — when her escrutoire had been broken open, and her cor- 
 respondence seized — lier favourite attendant and guardian, 
 one of the most high-minded women in the world, and the 
 
 kindest-hearted. Miss K , turned rudely in disgrace away, 
 
 and herself removed to a sort of prison, near Windsor. 
 Whom then did Princess Charlotte fly to ? her mother. — Her 
 mode of doing this was wild, and evidently the impulse of an 
 offended pride — but the act was dictated by nature. Where, 
 if not in the arms of a mother, can a child find refuge? — 
 The Princess Charlotte fled from Warwick House unattended 
 and unobserved, got into the first hackney coach she could 
 find, and desired to be driven toConnaught Place. The man 
 must have guessed that he drove a person of no mean note, 
 as the Princess put a guinea into his hand — but he was in no 
 wise to blame in driving her where she ordered. Her mother 
 was out when she arrived. The Princess's chief page, see- 
 ing her arrive in such an equipage and unattended, was, as he 
 himself declared, thunderstruck ; but, of course, ushered her 
 into the drawing room, where she awaited her mother's 
 return. It is said tlie Princess, either from fear of the conse- 
 quences, or from surprise, did not receive the Princess Char- 
 lotte with that warmth of affection which it would have been 
 more natural and more fortunate for both parties, had she 
 displayed. But, terrified lest anything should detain her in 
 England, the Princess of Wales was loth to oflTend the Re- 
 gent at that moment, and therefore did all she could to dis- 
 suade her daughter from remaining with herself, and begged 
 her to return to her allegiance to her father. It maybe ques- 
 tioned whether this was altogether right under the immediate 
 circumstances of the case. Had she preached obedience to 
 her father's will, but at the same time offered her an asylum 
 with herself, in the event of her determination to remain with 
 her, it would have been acting in the true spirit of maternal 
 love — but it seems that she did not, and that there was an 
 evident bias in the Princess of Wales towards her mode of 
 conduct which evinced greater anxiety for her own pleasure 
 than love for her child. She sent for the Duke of York — 
 she sent for the Archbishop of Canterbury — and, finally, they 
 prevailed with Princess Charlotte to return to Warwick' 
 House. -
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 203 
 
 The Princess of Wales was as much blamed by the adverse 
 party on this occasion, as if she had instigated her daughter 
 to the deed of having run away from Warwick House — and 
 though the consequences are incalculable, had her Royal 
 Highness pursued a different line of conduct — supported her 
 daughter with mildness, but with steady resolve to be to her 
 indeed a mother, in all the tenderness of the tie — yet it will 
 always remain a problem to be solved, whether the Princess 
 did or did not act rightly, by giving up Princess Charlotte to 
 her father, her uncle, and the church. Certain it is, her 
 Royal Highness had used no influence whatever to induce 
 Princess Charlotte to act as she did — the deed was her own, 
 and no other person whatever had any share in it. 
 
 The sequel of this most melancholy history, must have 
 embittered the Princess of Wales's life, and the idea, that, 
 had she remained in England, she might have saved her 
 child's life, must have been a deep aggravation to all her 
 sorrows. 
 
 No. V. 
 
 MY DEAR 
 
 "I suppose by this time you have been informed of the 
 result of the business in the House of Commons yesterday; 
 though it has been in some measure satisfactory, I am not 
 
 YET SATISFIED. 
 
 " I should not have troubled you with tliese lines, was it 
 not on account of a visit which you will receive to-morrow; 
 
 namely, Mrs. B k. She came this morning again, being 
 
 very busy to carry messages back and forward to Lord Grey, 
 which I had declined completely, and that she certairrly never 
 
 would disclose anything to Mr. A 1, though he was her 
 
 great friend. I never saw any woman compromise herself in 
 such a way as she did this morning; for which reason, I am 
 particularly anxious, that if she should make any questions 
 to you, you would be particularly careful, and, to avoid any 
 questions concerninf^ the family of Oxfords, Lord Byron and 
 Co., as I cannot help thinking, that she has more curiosity 
 than ladies usually have; Sir F. B. must also not be named. 
 In short, you must be as much upon your guard as possible*
 
 204 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 Holland House is, of course, entirely against poor me, and 
 their have send her as a spy to Black — th. 
 " Heaven bless you, — 1 am in great haste, 
 
 " Your 
 
 " Most truly affectionate, 
 "C. P." 
 " After you have read the newspaper, pray send it to 
 ; but let C see it.' 
 
 »j 
 
 How miserable must that person be, who has, in fact, no 
 one friend in whom she can confide I — Mrs. B. was, I really 
 believe, attached to her Royal Highness ; and yet the Princess 
 doubted and feared her. The cautions contained in this let- 
 ter, against this lady, were addressed to a person whom she 
 afterwards cast off in like manner ; although I Jiave good 
 reason to know her Royal Highness, in her heart, was per- 
 fectly convinced that that person remained her true friend to 
 the last. It is a singular fact, that when the unfortunate 
 Princess passed through Rome, and that the Duchess of D. 
 sent word to the Cardinal Gonsalvi, if the Pope valued the 
 
 friendship of the Prince R 1, he must not send a guard of 
 
 honour to the Princess, a steady friend of the latter (whom 
 her Royal Highness would not, however, receive) sent her 
 word by a famous antiquary, that if her Royal Highness 
 would leave on the continent every individual foreign attend- 
 ant, and throw herself on the generosity of a British public, 
 she had yet a great part to play. The Princess had confi- 
 dence in the person and in the advice, (although she no longer 
 liked the society of that person,) and, acting upon it, imme- 
 diately set off that night for England. Had she acted a dif- 
 ferent part there, what might have been the consequences? 
 
 No. VI. 
 
 " DEAR , 
 
 " I Still continue to live in the same active idleness ; my 
 party for Sunday dinner was small, as it did consist only of 
 
 ten people; but Lord B- n was more lively and odd than 
 
 ever, and he kept us in a roar of laughter the whole dinner 
 time. In the evening, Catalini sung. William Spencer came 
 
 with the family of Mr. C . The daughter is the finest 
 
 piano player I ever heard in this country — and Mr. Craven 
 and Mr. Mercer sung their delightful Spanish songs. At
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH, 205 
 
 supper, Mr. Lewis was more absorbed and queer than ever. 
 Yesterday, I received your amiable letter, and would have 
 answered it sooner, but that I forgot to have a frank. Lord 
 Glenbervie does not come till to-day. After the hot and dull 
 dinner at Spring Gardens, I went to the Opera House to see 
 a play — one act of an opera, and the ballet of Psyche, for the 
 benefit of Kelly : it was as full as it could hold, and I returned 
 to my solitary supper. I am rathei early this morning, as I 
 expect the Marquis. I have not yet seen any body that par- 
 ticularly interests you since you left this sphere. If I could 
 be of any use to you, you know how glad I should be. I am 
 always ready to do mon petit possible. Monday the I8th 
 will be a grand masquerade at Mrs. Chichester's — and if 
 you mention it to some of your intimate acquaintance, they 
 would .procure you some tickets for your family and your 
 friends. There is a week almost to consider of it, and if it 
 is agreeable to you, which is sufficient to me. 
 
 " I had a very surprising visit yesterday from the Duke of 
 Gloucester, and he comes the 24th to dinner ; I cannot help 
 thinking that the visit was intended for you. If he has no 
 other merit, he has, at least, that of admiring beauties, which 
 is certainly the ninth part in a speech.* I could write a 
 volume to you, had I but time ; but as it is, you escape this 
 misfortune, luckily for you — and I only subscribe myself, 
 with the greatest pleasure, 
 
 " Your most sincere and affectionate — C. P. 
 
 " Kensington would be the surest place to go from on that 
 day. Lady Glenbervie must not hear of it. 
 " Par causa, give me an answer soon." 
 
 There is a curious story respecting this masquerade. The 
 Princess, it was related to me by undoubted authority, would 
 go to the masquerade, and with a kind of girlish folly, she 
 enjoyed the idea of making a grand mystery about it, which 
 
 was quite unnecessary. The Duchess of Y k frequently 
 
 went to similar amusements incognito, attended only by a 
 friend or two, and nobody found fault with her Royal High- 
 ness. The Princess might have done the same, but no ! — 
 the fun, in her estimation, consisted in doing the thing in the 
 
 • One has heard of a tailor's being the ninth part of a man, and that 
 is the idea which perhaps ran in her Royal Highness's mind when she 
 wrote this hicid illustration of the royal Duke's merit. 
 
 Vol. L 18
 
 206 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 most ridiculous way possible ; so she made two of her ladies 
 privy to her scheme, and the programme of the revel was, 
 that her Royal Highness should go down a back staircase with 
 one of her ladies, while the cavaliers waited at a private door 
 wiiich led into the street, and then the parti qvarre was to 
 proceed on foot to the Albany, where more ladies met her 
 Royal Highness, and where the ciiange of dress was to be 
 
 made. All of this actually took place, and Lady told 
 
 me, she never was so frightened in her life, as when she 
 found herself at the bottom of Oxford Street, at twelve at 
 night, on her cavalier's arm — and seeing her Royal Highness 
 rolling on before her. It was a sensation, she told me, be-' 
 tween laughing and crying, that she should never forget. 
 The idea that the Princess might be recognized, and of 
 course mobbed, and then the subsequent consequences, which 
 would have been so fatal to her Royal Highness, were all so 
 distressing to her, that the party of pleasure was one of real 
 pain to her. 
 
 This mad prank, however. Lady told me, passed off 
 
 without discovery — and certainly, without any impropriety 
 whatever, except that which existed in the folly of the thing 
 itself. It was similar imprudencies to this which were so 
 fatal to llie Princess's reputation ; and truly, it might have 
 been said of them, " Le jeu ne valoit pas la chandelle." 
 
 This anecdote is alluded to in the body of the diary, but 
 the letter calls for a note in this place. 
 
 Whenever the Princess did not like the visit of any person 
 — she ascribed it to the attractions or influences of some one 
 of her household. This was a hint that the person should 
 not come again. In the present instance, as in many others, 
 how fatally mistaken her Royal Highness was, in respect to 
 
 the estimation in which slie held the Duke of G . 'i'o 
 
 have had the countenance and' friendship of so good a man, 
 was of incalculable consequence to her, and she despised 
 both. 
 
 No. VI. 
 
 DEAR , 
 
 I found a pair of old earings which the d of a Q- 
 
 once gifted me with. I truly belived that the saphires arfals 
 as her heart and soul is, but the dimonds are good, and ^650 
 or d680 would be very acceptable for them indeed. I am 
 quite ashamed of giving you all this trouble, but believe me, 
 
 "Yours."
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 207 
 
 It is much to be rearretted that the Princess should have 
 conceived such a hatred against a person she ought to have 
 respected, — whose whole life, as it appeared to the world in 
 general, was to be venerated and admired — and still more is 
 it to be lamented that she should ever have expressed her 
 sentiments : — but the reasons the Princess alleged, though 
 probably groundless, and the mere devices of mischievous 
 persons, were in themselves sufficient to have justified her 
 Royal Highness's dislike, had they been true. 
 
 In the first place, the favorite of her husband was sent for 
 to escort her to this country, (some say by consent of the 
 
 Q ,) and it is further said she gave the Princess the most 
 
 insidious advice. On a particular occasion, after the birth ol 
 Princess Charlotte, she contrived, by a most unfeminine 
 manoeuvre, to render the Prince's first visit to his wife after 
 her lying-in most unpleasant and disrespectful to his feelings. 
 At Brighton all sorts of tricks, it is alleged, were played oft" 
 upon the Princess. Spirits were mingled with her beverage, 
 and horses were given her to ride, which were dangerous for 
 her to manage, and made her appear ridiculous. — Lastly, 
 there was undoubtedly a letter of her Royal Highness's, ad- 
 dressed in confidence to her motiier the Duchess of B k, 
 
 which was opened surreptitiously and carried to the Q , 
 
 who read the same and acted upon its contents. Many other 
 stories are related of the same nature, and of a blacker dye. 
 A belief in these, however devoid of truth in reality, it must 
 be confessed was quite sufficient to excite an inimical feeling 
 between the Royal mother-in-law and her son's wife. 
 
 No. VII. 
 
 " The intention of Mr. Whitbread is, that some few ques- 
 tions will arise in Parliament this week concerning my busi- 
 ness, and he has just given me the advice not to go to the 
 Opera this week ; for which reason I lose no time in inform- 
 ing you, my dear Lady that I shall not go this 
 
 week. 
 
 " I am in great haste, but believe me ever, 
 
 " Your aflectionate C. P." 
 
 " March 15. 
 
 *' You are at liberty, my dear , to make any use 
 
 of my box that you please." 
 
 Since "trifles form the sum of human things," it may be 
 remarked in the Princess's favour, that she was perpetually 
 balked in all the minor occurrences of daily life ; and those
 
 208 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 who had most constant access to her person knew that, 
 generally speaking, she bore these teazing circumstances 
 with great good temper; — the perpetual recurrence of trivial 
 contradictions is more difficult to endure with equanimity, 
 than any disappointment of a more serious kind. In the latter 
 case, there is a defence prepared, either by philosophy or 
 religion; in the former the thing is unexpected, and, when 
 often repeated, becomes exceedingly lacerating. 
 
 No. VIII. 
 
 " MY DEAR , 
 
 " Pray make any use you like of my Opera box as long as 
 you remain in town, as I have no inclination to go at present. 
 Pray tell me what you heai, and what the general opinion of 
 the world is about all my affairs, 
 
 " I am very angry with Miss B., that she has refused my 
 invitation. C'est dans les moments (Padversite that you 
 know your real friends ; but I must honestly confess, I begin 
 to have a great contempt for the world. 
 
 " Pray my dear if you can, call on Lady , who 
 
 leaves London at the beginning of next week — and even 
 England I may say — perhaps for ever. She will take it very 
 kind of you, and I shall never forget the pleasant moments 
 and hours I have passed at her house — -the only ones I ever 
 passed in England. 
 
 "The enclosed letter whicli you sent me of the unknown 
 lady, who offers herself to come forward with any deposition 
 and document, lias also written to Mr. Whitbread, which 
 tempted me to send the letter you enclosed to Mr. Brougham, 
 a-s he is upon the spot, and in a few days 1 shall inform you 
 what the result of this inquiry has been. 
 
 "I trust your health is good, that you may enjoy all the 
 amusements which waltzing and suppers may off"er you. 
 
 " With these sentiments I glory in subscribing myself 
 " Your most truly affectionate, C. P." 
 
 The constant restlessness of persons immersed in the 
 cares of this life, to know what others are saying of them, 
 what others are thinking of them, and the ineffrcacy of this 
 knowledge, even when it meets their expectations, to produce 
 peace or even pleasure, form one of the most striking illus- 
 trations of the Preacher's word — "Vanity of vanities, all is 
 vanity." There is every now and then, in the Princess's 
 notes and letters, as there was in her conversation, an under 
 current of acute feeling and melancholy, whicli required
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 209 
 
 only to have had more permanency, and more justice and 
 legitimacy of cause, to have been as respectable as it was 
 touching: but with her Royal Highness one circumstance 
 drove out another, and the habit of catching at straws for 
 diversion, or for succour, (as the emergency of the moment 
 might demand,) rendered the efforts of her best friends, to 
 serve or save her, fruitless. — " Whom the gods design to ruin, 
 they blind." 
 
 Lady was, it must be allowed, an improper person to 
 
 have been admitted to the Princess's intimacy ; and afterwards, 
 when it was too late, her Royal Highness was made to feel 
 thii? truth. — At Naples, the lady in question being reduced to 
 great pecuniary difficulties, drew largely upon her Royal 
 Highness's generosity, and when the latter had no more to 
 bestow-^ — having literally sold some diamonds or pearls to the 
 Duchess of Bracciano, at Rome, to enable her to do this act 
 
 of kindness, — Lady turned upon her benefactress, and 
 
 became one of her most vile detractors ! But the besom of 
 
 destruction has swept the family to the winds, and the 
 
 betrayer and the betrayed are alike beyond the praise or 
 censure of this world's applause or blame. 
 
 No. IX. 
 
 "MY DEAR , 
 
 "I will not dwell upon all the subjects which you must 
 have read over and over again in the newspapers, pro et 
 contra, and you see now how prudent and wise it was in my 
 friends, not to have published the other ' letters in question,' 
 till the mind of the public was ripe for the conception of all 
 their infernal tricks. The only punishment which has for, 
 the present been inflicted upon me is that Princess Charlotte 
 has received orders not to come at all ; which, of course has 
 occasioned a very delightful letter, dictated by me, to the 
 skilful pen of Lady Anne Hamilton, to Lord Liverpool. Mrs. 
 Lisle, as one of tlie valuable witnesses of theirs, has been 
 sent for, and with her usual grace and elegance, siie will try 
 to give herself some consequence, making it believed that 
 she was one of my confidential friends, though she never had 
 that honour. 
 
 *' There has been a letter forwarded to me, which I beg of 
 you to send to Lisbon ; but, as one of Miss Knight's cousins 
 goes by Thursday, if you would enclose it yourself, with a 
 few lines addressed to Miss Knight, Warwick House, it will 
 
 18*
 
 210 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 reach completely. But I beg of you to mention.it as your 
 own letter, and not a commission. 
 
 " I shall come in the morning of Thursday or Friday, afteir 
 my luncheon, which is four or five o'clock, — and, by that 
 time I trust I shall liave something more interesting to com- 
 municate to you. In the mean while, believe me, your's 
 afiectionately, C P." 
 
 The assumed tone of jocularity, and a straining after wit, 
 or what her Royal Highness conceived to be such, which are 
 discernible in this letter, cannot deceive any one ; nor con- 
 ceal the worm that gnawed her heart — but the constant irrita- 
 tion in which the Princess and the R 1 contrived to keep 
 
 each other, was a perfect game of battledore and shuttlecock ; 
 and if the latter ever fell to the ground, there was always 
 some by-stander ready to pick it up again, and thus the game 
 of torment was renewed, and lasted to their lives' end. It is 
 difiicult, at this distance of time, to ascertain what letters her 
 Royal Highness alludes to, as having been prudent on the 
 part of her friends not to publish. 
 
 Poor Lady A. H. has been very unjustly condemned — for 
 she intended to do right — though she was always doing 
 wrong. A spirit of intrigue and petty concealment, and a 
 false idea of prudence, prevented that open uprightness of 
 character, which walks erect through the world and defies 
 slander, because it has no little mean interests to serve. 
 Nevertheless, it will be told of this lady hereafter, that she 
 underwent all the contumely and all tlie opprobrium of the 
 last public scenes of her unfortunate and misguided mistress, 
 and never left her person in life, or her insulted remains, till 
 they were deposited in the grave, where all things are for- 
 gotten. This moral courage on the part of Lady H., by 
 which she could get little or nothing to compensate for the 
 odium it entailed upon her, will be done justice to at last, and 
 will cover a thousand little defects of meaner kind, the 
 growth, it may be, of timidity, of a false idea of doing good 
 — que scai-je? of a littleness of conception, which, after all, 
 was strangely contrasted in the same character with a great- 
 ness, during the last scenes of the historic tragedy in which 
 she was a figurante — that will ultimately reverse the judg- 
 ment which has been too hastily pronounced upon her: — 
 metis tot ou tard tout se scait ; and the public award is gene- 
 rally just at the last — though often too tardily so, to affect 
 beneficially the happiness of the person on whom sentence is 
 passed.
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 211 
 
 No. X. 
 
 " A thousand thanks, dear , for the beautiful 
 
 gowu ! worked by the most beaulful and delicate lingers. I 
 
 trust you iiave been amused at the , where you found 
 
 the family, and particularly the Marquis, in high spirits. 
 
 " Pray, any day, when it is convenient to you, let me 
 have a line, to iiiibrm me, if you have an answer from Mr. 
 '; as suspense is worse than misfortune. 
 
 " Concerning ' Jeanne d'Arc' and myself, we go on in a 
 humdrum way. I have been so fortunate to have contrived 
 that we have not been one whole day alone togetlier. The 
 only news I have heard is, that Paddy has, very near Staines, 
 a cottage for the ©owoger Lady — — . The sign for the 
 house will be ' Le beau Lleon et la belle Javotte,' in case any 
 body (falls on them. 
 
 " I have heard of nothing but merriment and liigh spirits 
 of the royal family — that 1 am afraid that my prospect of in- 
 tended journey and travels are put a little far back. But I 
 will not trespass longer upon your time willi all my Jere- 
 maides. I will, therefore, only conclude with assuring you, 
 
 that I remain for ever, my dear , 
 
 " Your most sincere and aflectionate C. P." 
 "Sept. 17th." 
 
 Any person who knew the parties, must guess that the 
 Princess designates Lady A. H. as Joan of Arc — there was a 
 comicality in thai idea which might be called happy. Who 
 Paddy is, and who Lady J., remains a mystery. The 
 
 " high spirits" of the one party of the r 1 family, always 
 
 seemed to have given comparatively low spirits to the poor 
 Princess. The German clocks, where the husband andwife 
 alternately come forth or retire, are illustrative of this fact : 
 and one instance may serve for all — but this is not a circum- 
 stance confined to any one c^urt or clime, 'i'urn over the 
 records of the past, look to the families of the present dynas- 
 ties of Europe. How fares it with them ? — even so : la res- 
 semblance et la difference, may be read in all, leaving the 
 foundation the same. 
 
 No. XL 
 
 " Sunday Morning. 
 " MY DEAR , 
 
 " I sijall send the postchaise in time to-morrow morning, 
 as you must be at Blackheaih at half past len o'clock, for it
 
 -212 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 is absolutely necessary thai 1 am at Kensington at twelve 
 
 o'clock, for which reason I beg of you, my dear , to be 
 
 exact. I intend to dress at Kensington, so you may take 
 your little parcel with you to be quite smart. 
 
 " You will have read the * * * of this morning, and, to- 
 morrow, there will be a very excellently written contradic- 
 tion by Mr. VVhitbread, and a Mr. Holt, in all the morning 
 
 papers of Monday, as Mr. M is this moment in custody 
 
 under Dr. Warburton again ; of which the editor of the * * * 
 is perfectly aware, but still he has obstinately insisted in his 
 intention, and, therefore, he must be prosecuted, and nobody 
 will ever like to take his paper again, which is a very just 
 punishment for his impudence. 
 
 " The ' gentil Troubadour' I shall give you to-morrow 
 back, as the copy, and all the verses which belong to it, I 
 find, are not in your possession. 
 
 " I will not detain you any longer — don't take the trouble 
 to write a single line — but only be ready in time to-morrow 
 morning, and believe me ever, 
 
 "Your sincere and aftectionate C. P." 
 
 " You will have read the * * * of tliis morning," &c., &c. 
 There was a curious story current at the time to which the 
 
 paragraph refers, of Mr. M 's having been employed by 
 
 Lady E 1 to write violent, ill-judged articles for the * * *, 
 
 which I think I remember to have heard were libellous, and 
 in consequence of which Mr. M. was taken into custody, not 
 for madness, but for scurrility ; and he, to defend himself, 
 declared that he had put in the paragraph by order of the 
 Princess. Then came an examination of the man, and a de- 
 fence of her Royal Highness, and more attacks. How the 
 matter ended I forget; but the probability of the story is, that 
 
 Lady E 1 was the contriver and plotter of the whole ma- 
 
 nojuvre, which did a great deal of harm to the cause of her 
 Royal Highness. It was the misfortune of the Princess to 
 be surrounded by intriguing people. Perhaps this is more or 
 less the misfortune of all princes. If they do not detect it, 
 they fall into the snare — if they do, they become suspicious, 
 and hardened, and unnatural; like a baited animal, they are 
 driven, as she was, to despair and death ! 
 
 No. XII. 
 
 " MY DEAR , 
 
 " I hope you have been amused at the Opera yesterday. 
 " Pray, if you hear any news, be so kind to communicate
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 213 
 
 them to us. I am to see Mr. Whilbread to-day, on what 
 further proceedings in the business will be necessary. I hear 
 the Grand Mufti is furious against the House of Commons. 
 
 Sir J D passes his days, instead of Newgate, at 
 
 Carlton House. 
 
 " I have not yet seen Princess Charlotte, except by chance 
 in the Park, which was on that day five weeks. 
 
 " I send you a letter, which if you can get a frank for, so 
 much the better; if not, you are so kind to send it to the 
 general post as soon as possible. 
 
 " If you hear and see any thing of the Sapios, send them 
 this paper, and desire to know how soon the money is to be 
 paid : it contains sabscribers to his concert. 
 
 " My best compliments to Mrs. D , and my love to 
 
 Miss B : ask her what she now thinks of the House of 
 
 Commons ; and believe me, my dear , ever 
 
 " Your sincere and affectionate C. P." 
 
 « March 10th." 
 
 Sir J. was the husband of that Lady , who 
 
 proved herself to be a most unworthy person, and who acted 
 a principal part in that notoriously dirty job, the investigation 
 of the Princess's conduct by private commission, instituted 
 against the Princess of Wales some years previously to the 
 date of this letter: — a transaction which will always remain a 
 blot on the page of English history, and which every name 
 of note that was implicated in that unconstitutional measure, 
 must wish erased for ever from the records of their country. 
 But if they were erased at an earthly tribunal, they will re- 
 main still graven on a higher one. 
 
 No. XHI. 
 
 " Friday, April 23d. 
 
 " MV DEAR , 
 
 " As you like sometimes high treason, I send you a copy 
 of the verses written by Lord Byron on the discovery of the 
 bodies of Charles the First and Henry the Eighth: you may 
 communicate it to any of your friends you please. 
 
 " The liord Mayor and Aldermen, &c., &c., are to come 
 on Wednesday at one o'clock, to Kensington, for which rea- 
 son I shall send you my post-chaise, to bring yoH here at 
 half-past nine, as I must set off at ten o'clock precisely, to 
 prevent a crowd. I hope you are better, and that there will 
 be no impediment to prevent your being at this great show. 
 " Believe me, yours affectionately, C. P."
 
 214 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 " As you like sometimes high treason." The person thus 
 addressed must have been doubtless astonished at this asser- 
 tion, being one of the most loyal in the land. The scene 
 alluded to, of the Lord Mayor and Aldermen coming with a 
 congratulatory address to her Royal Highness, was one of 
 those extraordinary triumphs, which, had they effected a 
 corresponding demeanour on the part of her whom they ought 
 to have warned and encouraged, might have been productive 
 of great changes in public affairs, and have lifted her up to 
 the station siie had a rijjht to hold in the land. But the same 
 levity and injprudence, which seem to have been her curse 
 throughout, turned all these expressions of attachment and 
 respect towards her person into a farce. And even those 
 whom her benefits and kindness had endeared her to, could 
 scarcely avoid feeling these demonstrations of admiration and 
 respect to be ill-placed. It is possible to render our best 
 friends ashamed of us. 
 
 No. XIV. 
 
 " Wednesday, 5th of May. 
 " I shall in future be called ' Qij^en Margaret in her 
 
 sequestered bower,' my dear , and you will be the fair 
 
 Rosamond living with me in that bower. The short and the 
 long of this is, blessed dear old Lady Reid be, for her good 
 taste ! I think her house perfection, and to-day, I believe, 
 the contract will be signed. Some of the rooms which I 
 have chosen for my own use are extremely dirty ; but with 
 soap and water and brushing, and a little painting, I shall 
 make tliem look well. The two drawing-rooms and the 
 dining-room are truly magnificent old r£)oms, which would 
 do credit to any old manor-house in Scotland. I have taken 
 it for seven years, as it was impossible to take it for less ; but, 
 in case my situation should change before that period, I can 
 let it whenever I please. It is no more than eight hundred 
 pounda a year, which is extremely cheap: it is like a com- 
 plete villa in the midst of town, as you know that Curzon 
 Street, May Fair, is close to Stanhope Gate, and tlie other 
 to Piccadilly, which will make it very easy for my friends 
 to come. I hope in ten days I shall be able to live in it : 
 though I may not be immediately quite comfortable, it ys the 
 only means to make the workmen be more speedy. 
 
 " The only news I heard on my return from my land of 
 discovery to Kensington is, that the Regent had the impu- 
 dence to plan to give a ball to the Queen and royal family
 
 TIMES OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. 215 
 
 to-morrow at Carlton House, but his friends advised him not 
 to do such a foolish thing. 
 
 " What do you think of the Queen's attack by a mad wo- 
 man ? I suppose the true courtiers would wish that now an 
 address should be presented to her Majesty, as her life, and 
 for what Heaven knows, perhaps her honour, might have 
 been in danger. • 
 
 " The city is now busy about an address to tlie Regent. 
 It is to be hoped that it will be carried. I also hear that 
 Lord Yarmouth is to leave England in course of a month. 
 I am now in great haste to receive the address from Canter- 
 bury, — and have only to add that I remain for ever, 
 
 » " Yours affectionately, C. P." 
 
 s 
 
 This, house of Lady Reid's was a thoin in the Princess's 
 ide, and she firmly believed, perhaps with reason, tliat she 
 was prevented from obtaining possession of it by persons 
 inimical to her living in London. 
 
 The tide of public favour was with her at that moment: 
 she might have sailed in with the favouring gale to fortune's 
 highest honours; but how widely she departed from all the 
 common rules of prudence ; and how mournful was her fate ! 
 Whatever her faults and foUies were, when lier previous life 
 is taken into consideration — the education she received — the 
 example set before her from her earliest years — the actual 
 contemplation of the life of those who persecuted her — will 
 not posterity draw a parallel which will silence too severe a 
 judgment, and record her follies with a lenient hand ? 
 
 No. XV. 
 
 " Saturday Morning, 
 " MY DEAR , 
 
 " Whoever is in your agreeable society must forget all 
 matters of business, for which reason I must now take up 
 my pen to trouble you with these lines, and trespass upon 
 your leisure hour. I wish you would be kind enough to 
 write to Lord Melville in my name, to represent to him the 
 very melancholy situation poor Lady Finlater has been left 
 in, since the demise of the Duchess of Brunswick. She has 
 literally no more than £.300 a year, which is all that she 
 possesses in the world. The Duchess gave her £250 a year, 
 and made her besides an allowance for candles and coals, and 
 the rent for a small lodging-house in Manchester or Baker 
 Street (I believe) ; and, if Lord Melville would espouse her
 
 216 MEMOIRS OF THE 
 
 cause, to get her a pension of ^'500 a year, without deducting 
 the income-tax, it would make the latter moments (wliich can 
 only now be moments) of this poor, blind, and infirm woman, 
 at least comfortable — and particularly coming through the 
 channel of Lord Melville, whose father has always been her 
 best and most steady friend. I leave all the rest, my dear 
 
 Lady , to your skilful imagination, and the pathetic for 
 
 your excellent heart ; and no one is more able to express 
 right and amiable feelings than you. 
 
 " By universal applause, the address has been carried in 
 the city, and I expect the Sheriffs this morning. But, of 
 course, a very civil answer will be given, that I cannot 
 receive them, having no establishment suitable to receiving 
 the Lord Mayor and city; and besides, being in deep mourn- 
 ing on the melancholy event of my mother's sudden death. 
 
 " Lord Moiia has given a very satisfactory answer to 
 Mr. Whitbread, which arrived last night, (before he leaves 
 this country,) about the private examinations in his house — 
 and a copy of it I shall send you of his ' reminiscences,' and 
 I say ' mieux tard que jamais.' I send you also enclosed, a 
 letter for Miss Rawdon, to send to Mrs. Grethed, as I do not 
 know her proper direction. Heaveiv bless you, and believe 
 me for ever yours. C. P. 
 
 55 
 
 The Princess was always inclined to do kind and noble 
 things. She was decidedly liberal, and liked every thing 
 upon a grand scale. When she gave a shabby present, as 
 she frequently did, it was from ignorance, not from parsi- 
 mony. Sometimes, it might be, she had nothing better at 
 the moment to give away ; and she would take up any thing 
 which happened to lie about her room, (in which there was 
 a sufficient quantity of trash,) and present it to a friend. 
 The feeling which prompted the deed was genuine kindness; 
 and she would as readily have given away an article of costly 
 price as one of a trumpery kind, had it lain in the way. She 
 was singularly ignorant of all works of art, and totally devoid 
 of taste, though she fancied she was precisely the reverse. 
 Imitations pleased her as much as realities, and she fancied 
 that others were like herself. She once said with some as- 
 perity, " De English are all merchants — de first question 
 they ask is the value of a gift in money." There was a 
 wrong and a right side in many of her sayings ; but she saw 
 most things through a distorting medium. 
 
 END OF VOL. I.
 
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