^ I UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY A III ! UN I I { III |M AA 000 578 395 6 LETTER FROM THE KING TO HIS PEOPLE. THE TWENTY-THIRD EDITION. LONDON: PRINTED FOR WILLIAM SAMS, BOOKSELLEP TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUKE OV YORK; No. 1, St. JAMES'S STREET, SOLD ALSO BY W. BLACKWOOD, EDINBUKGli; J. P- ARCHER, DUBLIN} ^ta ALL OTHER BOOKSELLERS I« THE UNITED KINGDOM. MDCCCXXl. » M Carl fan Palace , l)n.\, \H9A). TO AM, ()I)|{ I.OVlN(J SlilVn-.CTS AND CODNIIIYIVIKN, iiowr.VKii t'.xAi.ri'.n in hank your King, ihc poHsihilily of rcunaiuinfj; itj;iH)r;intor|);issiii/j^ events, or iinuflodcfl hy (he public ji^ilalion : ;il oiio Jind l.lic s.unr l.inic il conveys to nic scnlitJicnls of HUtislciction or ^roiiiids of cotJipljiiiil ; tli(^ promiscul support of tlic (-oMstitiilioDiil, :ind \\ni tlirciit of tlio disaficcted. My such name, that I might enjoy the malicious triumph of erasing it ; thus adding increased harshness to any future sentence. By using the phrase, " and all • the Royal Family, " any future alteration, under any J* circumstances of substantiated guilt or innocence, would be rendered unnecessary. To have inserted the uame of the Queen, with a knowledge such as I pos- . sessed through my legal council, would, in my opinion, have been contrary to the laws of the kingdom; for among other charges which might have been brought forward against the Queen, was, " her pro- bable conversion to the Roman Catholic faith.'* But to postpone the insertion of the name of the Queen, and afterwards to have been called upon to supply L f.the omission, would, to her Majesty, have been a ^^gracious act of acquittal, and restoration to regal t^^honour ; and I had a right to hope that such would be ' ; the result. Besides, the object and intention of the . ipostponement of this insertion, was most certainly, y jiiot with a view to any proceedings against tlTe Queen, '^^ni in anticipation of that continuance of mutual sepa- .-..ration, which the Queen, in her letter of leave, de- .. Glared .to be " necessary to my future tranquillity.'" 24 I will suppose for one moment, the insertion to have been made. Had it been done- under conceal- ment from me, of existing circumstances, my ministers would have been gidlti/ of misprision of treason, and been liable to impeachment. But as it was done with my knowledge ; if ten thousands often thousand tongues were to demand of me, to tarnish the crown of your King, I would abandon it to the people rather than commit so great a crime. Whatever may have been the indiscretions of THE man, the future historian of England shall never record them as connected with THE King. It should not be overlooked, that the alteration of the Liturgy was also to regulate my own public devo- tion, as well as that of my subjects ; should I not then by the special insertion of the name of the Queen, under existing circumstances, have most deservedly subjected myself to a charge of impious and detest- able hypocrisy? " You have been praying yourself specially for the Queen, you Royal Hypocrite! whilst you have w atched her destruction ;" would ha\ e been a just and unanswerable accusation against me; an accusation, which, if well-founded, would have rendered the word of the King unworthy of belief. Those only are the real exclusionists, who do not choose to comprehend the Queen, as implied in the words, " and all the Royal Family." Had either the religious or legal considerations of this important point permitted me conscientiously to have inserted the name of the Queen in the Liturgy of the Church ; all other minor considerations would have had no bearing upon the question ; for that which would have been consistent with religion and law, could not have been contra bonos mores. I dwell 25 not therefore on the subject, as connected with the morals of the country, but in its consideration, and in all its vital bearings, I cannot but have contem- plated the consequences of a Queen charged with high crimes and misdemeanors, sitting upon that' throne so lately occupied by the personification of chastity and matrimonial excellence. Will the virtuous and noble, the high-minded and chaste, the amiable and domestic females of England, adopt the Queen as an example and model worthy of their imitation ? Will they pronounce her faultless ? - Will they compose her court ? If I can place the Queen on the throne of my ancestors upon such terms, I am ready to do so. Upon none other, cang- or ought a Queen to sit upon the throne of pre- eminent England. I proceed now to the offer of an ample allowance offered to the Queen, provided she continued to re-, main abroad in the retirement she had voluntarily adopted ; and the alternative with which that offer was accompanied. I have pointed out this trans- action, and the suspension in the Uturgy, as acts which may appear to have emanated more immediately from my own personal feelings. I have previously remarked, that from the period of my becoming Regent, the differences between the Princess and myself had assumed a political cha- racter, and been treated by many as a party question. The companions of my youth, and the distinguished characters with whom, in my earlier years, I had in- timately associated, had created in the public mind, a widely-extended, and readily believed opinion, that when the sceptre of my Father should descend to me, I should, from among those associates, have 26 chosen the members of my administration. During the discussion of the terms of the regency, I was careful to avoid giving any pledge of the line of policy I might find it expedient to adopt. A short previous administration, composed of those political friends by whom it was conjectured my councils would have been directed, had enabled me to form some opinion of their executive talents ; and notwithstanding^ an overture was made by me to them, to propose an administration. But when I found the conditions required would have reduced me to a mere po- litical automaton, of which they were to possess the key ; that not content with forming the administra- tion, they required also, that I should be surrounded in my household by their adherents, and left to no choice in the appointment of my own attendants ; when with this, I compared the candour and the unequivocal absence of all personal feeling with which the bill creating the Regency was carried by the then ministry ; and above all, the frank, loyal, and respectful regret which was shewn to the cala- mity of my revered Parent ; and the so immediate provision made for the resumption by him of the regal dignity, that it should have pleased Providence so to have restored him, my Royal Father would have awakened as if from a dream, and have found himself unreminded of his affliction ; when to this I added the important consideration, that the flame of free- dom was beginning to glimmer in Spain ; that the then administration were prepared to take advantage of every circumstance favourable to the destruction of the military tyrant of Europe ; and when all these various considerations were upheld by the ^weight, pf.personal character which was contained 27 ■ - • M' tll6 then cabinet ; 1 felt sufficiently jufttifted in hot suffering former prepossessions to stand for one moment in the way of newly-created duties. I felt that an existing experienced executive, was, at such a time, safer than a theoretical cabinet. I had also a doubt in my own mind, whether, during my So- vereign's life, I ought, as Regent, to adopt the principles of those who had been violently opposed to my Royal Father's measures, or pursue a line of policy unchanged, and such as my King would have continued had he remained the active head of the Empire. This was a feeling of the heart ; it was mine. This, my determination, produced two conse- quences; 1. A series of unbroken, glorious, and important victories, attended with such results, as the history of the world, within a similar period of time, cannot produce ; 2. The conversion of my matrimonial differences into a political attack upon my authority. From this moment, then, the Queen, by becoming the tool of party, gave to her cause and her conduct a new feature, and an importance which required the vigilant eye of the government. I have been led into this digression, that the dis- tinction I still endeavoured to uphold between my marital and royal station, might be plainly and easily comprehended. I return now to the consi- deration of the offer made to the Queen, of an allow- ance upon certain stipulations; viz., that the Queen should cease to use the name and style of Queen of England, and remain abroad, where she had volun- tarily seceded. :son£ J The period when this determination was decided 28 upon, must not be Ibrgotten ; it must not only not be forgotten, but it should be allowed its due weight in the decision of so momentous an affair. It appears almost, indeed, to be overlooked, that I met my first parliament in the month of April, at the very period, and while a set of infuriated, mis- guided and unhappy culprits were on their trial for a conspiracy to overturn the constitution and government of these realms, of which the com- mencement was intended to be, the indiscriminate assassination of my cabinet ministers. The general situation of the country, at that precise moment, appears also to have been throv^ni into the back ground. I cannot better recall those unhappy in- auspicious moments, than by repeating again to my subjects the topics addressed to the Lords and Commons in Parliament assembled, upon our first meeting. Ml/ Lords mid Gentlemen, " Deeply as I regret that the machinations and designs, of the dis- affected should have led in some parts of the country, to acts of open violence and insurrection, I cannot but express my satis- faction at the promptitude with which those attempts have been suppressed by the vigilance and activity of the magistrates, and by the zealous co-operation of all those of my subjects whose exertions have been called forth to support the authority of the laws. " The wisdom and firmness manifested by the late parliament and the due execution of the laws, have greatly contributed to restore confidence throughout the kingdom ; and to discountenance those principles of sedition and irreligion, which had been disseminated with such malignant perseverance, and had poisoned the minds of the un\vary and ignorant. '* I rely upon the continued support of parliament, in my deter- mination to maintain, by all the means intrusted to my hands, the v .1 public safety and tranquillity. " Deploring, as we all must, the distress which still unhappily prie- " "' vails among many of the labouring classes of the community, and 33 anxiously looking forward to its removal or mitigation, it is^ in Uia- -^ meantime, our common duty, eflectually to protect the loyal, tiic'"' 29 peaceable, and ihe industrious, against those practices of turbulence and intimidation, by which the period of relief can only be deferred, and by which the pressure of the distress has been incalculably ag- gravated. " I trust that an awakened sense of the dangers which they have incurred, and of the acts which have been employed to seduce them, will bring back by far the greater part of those who have been un- happily led astray, and will revive in them that spirit of loyalty, that due submission to the laws, and that attachment to the constitution, which subsist unabated in the hearts of the great body of the people, and which, under the blessing of Divine Providence, have secured to the British Nation, the enjoyment of a larger share of practical free- dom, as well as of prosperity and happiness, than have fallen to the lot of any nation in the world." If to the pending trials alluded to, and this gene- ral reference to the state of the kingdom, suffering under severe privations in some of its provinces, are added the numerous cases of treason, libel, and minor political offences under the progressive cogni zance of the courts of lav^^ ; I think my subjects and countrymen will admit, that to such previously ex- isting evils no addition was wanting to renew internal agi- tatioti which was beginning to subside. The return of the Queen, under the circumstances which she must necessarily meet, was, of all others, calculated to revive that internal agitation ; and why was it so calculated ? Because the Queen had (as I have pre- viously remarked) given, by her conduct, a political feeling to the differences between us. Had this not been the case, she could not have had, at least she ought not to have had, any motives for her return ; or had she any, she ought to have sacrificed them to the welfare of our country. From 1796 we had been separated, a period now of twenty-four years ; disturbed by an almost constant suspicion of her conduct: the Queen had been estranged from Court, our Royal Daughter was no more ; and her Majesty had but one duty to perform 30 towards me, " the performance of an agreed separa3 tion." /: ' A Queen Consort of England has no political raim; she possesses in ease of the Sovereign, certain inhe- rent prerogatives ; those prerogatives are capable of being enjoyed by her, in her absence ; they required not her presence. The presence of the Queen could neither revive trade (languishing in some of its branches), tranquillize the irritation of distress, ot conciliate the clamour of faction ; and, indeed, many records of English History hand down to us, the impolitic and dangerous counsels, which have ensued from the interference of Queens Consort in the po- litical contests of the times. Although by way of eminent distinction, the word " Queen" is applica- ble only to the King's wife, yet, it originally sig- nifies a wife, or woman. A Queen of England (un- less Queen in her own right,) is a subject of the King, and can claim no political character from the people ; to her, at a coronation, no oath is admi- nistered, and no homage or allegiance offered. Th^' coronation of a Queen is distinct, and subsequent to' that of the King ; it is not at all necessary to the ac*^- cession or title to the throne ; and when performed^ is a ceremony so performed for the greater honour* of the kingly office. It proceeds from the King*. '"'^ If, therefore, I am to define the office or duty of a Queen Consort, I might sum it up in a few wordsj' " To give a tone to the morals of the country.'* Does not the late reign furnish an indisputable proof of the truth of this axiom? =^ Since then the Queen had deprived herself of the •- - — . - -vC,a.-5 ■^ m 0$ nmbrk) m- Taylor', aiory (^ RegaiUif. ■ - ^^^" 31 possibility of performing the duties of her statipn> and her return could produce none of those effects which were so evident during the long reign of my late Royal and revered Parents, could the next ob- ject of my solicitude be otherwise, than an attempt, still to treat the long borne separation, as a personal and domestic transaction ? The Queen was growing old, we are both beyond the hey-day of life, and the levities of conduct attri- buted to her, might now be supposed to have worn or to have been wearing away. Our country re- quired political repose ; and, above all, an internal quietude. Had no charge of adultery at all existed, there were sufficient grounds on both sides, for wish- ing, and for rendering desirable, a continuance of the existing separation. In private life, what would the friends of a mar- ried couple, so long divided as the Queen and myself have been, think of the conduct of a wife, who would wish to return to her husband, under circumstances, such as have occurred between us ? Would any fe- male in England so meanly conduct herself? Would any husband in England so take back a wife ? If he would not, why should your King? If the female would not so return, why should the Queen ? You will tell me, *' To claim her rights." I reply, that the Queen possesses no political rights ; but certain prescribed prerogatives; those prerogatives are legally defined, their value as personal advantages can be ascertained, they can be enjoyed by the Queen, as well absent as present. I have offered her an equivalent. You will tell me, " That sh& chooses to return to our country, and that I have no right to restrain heryV;^ .Xhe Queen has chosen to re- 32 turn, and by the laws of the realm must she now abide ; the Queen Is my subject. If, then, I am asked, '* Why did I offer the Queen fifty thousand pounds a year to remain abroad, and cease to use openly the style and title of Queen of England," I answer, " To purchase the tranquil- lity of my country ; to prevent a recurrence of those acts which had seduced so many of my subjects into danger, and to bring them back to that spirit of loyalty, that due submission to the laws, and that attachment to the constitution, which I hope still subsists in the hearts of the great body of my people;" all which I knew would be endangered by the selfish return of a Queen, who never can, and never will, sit upon the throne of England whilst George the Fourth wears the crown of his forefathers ; until the female nobility shall, in a body, justify him in such act, with their sanction and presence, every other rank of the virtuous and the chaste would coincide. Before I conclude this subject of an offered pen- sion, I cannot but regret extremely, that the chance of cool and dispassionate deliberation which the Queen might have been disposed to have given to my offer and its alternative, was greatly diminished by the neglect of her Attorney-General, in the de- livery of an ultimatum communicated to him in the month of April. Such neglect rendered Lord Hut- chinson's communication so much the more sudden, stern, and unexpected. Of the zeal of that gentle- ■man (her Majesty's Attorney-General) no one can entertain a higher opinion than myself; for his own sake, I may be allowed to say, that nothing disgraced his advocacy, but the threat of per- sonal danger held out to the assembled Peer» 33 Peers of the realm. Otherwise, who would not wish to have a cause so defended ? Had also her Majesty's Solicitor-General omitted one or two similes in his declamation, he had also retired from his duty with more dignity. Upon the grounds of the case I am silent ; but, looking to the conduct of the Lord Chan- cellor, the differences which existed between the members of the cabinet ; the splendid and argu- mentative talents of the Opposition, all tending and working together to elicit truth and produce an im- partial judgment; I may fearlessly ask, if, under such principles and in such an assembly, justice is not to be found ? I ask, fearlessly, where does she dwell upon earth ? I view, finally, the pause which this unhappy affair has taken, as a striking proof of that inflexible adherence to parliamentary avowals, which combines the good man with the great mi- nister; and as the performance of the pledge, that " the Queen should have an equivalent for any and every obstacle which the anomaly of her case pre- sented in the obstruction of her trial." I am now dravv'ing towards the close of this my letter, in the which my faithful subjects and ex- cellent fellow-countrymen will (I trust) agree with me, not only that the difference existing between her Majesty and myself arose out of a domestic cause, and was solely of a domestic nature; but that all the popular feeling which has been excited, has arisen from the political misdirection imposed upon the transaction, a transaction important to the nation only as it can be connected with their wel- fare. How that welfare can be promoted by forc- ing upon a loathing husband an equally loathing wife, appears to me, a problem in government, not J) 34 easily to be maintained in argument, or proved by historical reference. If 1 am unhappily united to a bad wife, or the Queen be under the caprice of a bad husband ; provided those unpleasantries be con- fined within the limits of our personal conduct, and are not mixed up with aifairs of state, I see then no impediment to the due constitutional performance of my duties as King : but on the contrary, if the people disturb my kingly office, and clog its ex- ecutive or dignity with an unseasonable family blister, the chance is that the system of government may become ill executed, greatly obstructed, or completely embarrassed. If such is the aim of the partizans of the Queen, I have then only to declare this my determination, " That if the claims of the Queen can make no impression on me upon their own merits, any political association which she may form to give weight to, or" to disguise such claims, will only call forth from me as your King, a firmer de- fence of my own rights, which are the rights of the constitution under which I, the nobles, and the people, all alike find reciprocal protection." My people will now (I trust) begin to allow themselves more clearly to define, and more ac- curately to preserve the distinction between my conduct as Prince of "Wales, with reference to the purity of the succession to the throne of my fore- fathers, and my behaviour as a separated husband. In the one case, the performance of painful public duties has devolved upon me, but I feel satisfied that their unavoidable performance has not been acr companied by uncourteous or vexatious personal conduct. To the high individual as a separate wife, every attention has been invariably paid, and upon 35 every occasion, money has been at her command for the purposes of comfort, pleasure, or fickleness. Surely, in return for such complete observance of the terms of mutual separation, the Prince of Wales had a right to expect the performance of the only duty remaining to be performed by, and the only one required of, the Princess; namely, " A71 un- questionable arid unequivocal 'proprieti/ of conduct.'" I could not probably fix upon a more convenient or appropriate mode of portraying the conse- quences of the present public effervescence than by anticipating the sentiments which some historian of my reign may hand down to future ages. I will do this in two ways ; First, Upon the supposition, that the Queen (even after what has already occurred,) will be reinstated in all the prerogatives of her rank;" and secondly, " That the Queen will remain estranged from the crown." In THE FIRST CASE, the historian may be supposed thus to express himself: "George the Fourth, after a Regency of nearly nine years, succeeded to the throne of his venerable and most excellent Father, whose eventful reign had extended beyond the period of any other British Monarch. The brilliant events of the Regency of George the Fourth, unparalleled in his- tory, are already recorded ; his reign commenced amidst domestic losses, (his Brother, the Duke ot Kent, having died very suddenly at Sidmouth, in Devonshire, six days only before their Royal Parent) public agitation, and great national distress, attended with all those factious symptoms, which the English History appears almost invariably to record, as a symptom of peace. A month had not elapsed, before a most atrocious conspiracy, aiming no less than at D 2 3G- the indiscriminate assassination of all his Majesty's Ministers during a cabinet dinner,' was detected. On the twenty-first of April, His Majesty met his parliament, and in his Royal Speech upon the oc- casion, alluded to the disquietude and distress of the kingdom, hinted at their cause, and expressed a hope, that in the returning loyalty and legal obe- dience of the people, a remedy for those evils would be found. The atrociousness of the conspiracy alluded to, had opened the eyes of the supine, and alarmed the fears of the timid ; and a more impos- ing public attitude being consequently produced, tranquillity was gradually increasing into confidence. At this moment, it pleased the Queen, (who had now been separated from her Royal Husband twenty -four years, and had estranged herself from England for six years,) to return from the continent under the auspices of one Wood, an Alderman of the City of London. The Queen returned, in the teeth of a proposition from the administration, that she should still continue to remain abroad, and not seek to disturb a connexion so long broken off; and in defiance of a threat, that judicial proceedings would follow her landing. The intrepidity of her conduct was well calculated to please the English Nation, and this daring and inconsiderate step, (a step which her own legal adviser pronounced to be unhappily taken, both as regarded herself, the par- liament, the government, and the country) was ren- dered immediately popular by the epithet of brave. Would any but an innocent woman (said the po- pulace) have thus conducted herself? Whilst the Queen was pursuing her journey from H^^^er, ^^g^the metropolis, a royal message was 37 delivering to parliament ; and papers in sealed bags brought down to both houses. The Queen arrived on the very day on which his Majesty went down to the House of Lords, to give his assent to the first bill passed since his accession. After various in- effectual delays, in the hope of effecting an arrange- ment, by which the Queen might have again left the kingdom ; the House of Lords proceeded to appoint a secret committee, to examine the documents sent down to them (the House of Commons suspending their proceedings,) and shortly made a report on the same, charging the Queen with an adulterous inter- course with a menial of the name of Bergami, or Pergami, on whom she had conferred, or for whom she had procured, certain titles and orders of dis- tinction. A bill of Pains and Penalties was there- upon brought in by the Earl of Liverpool, after long and elaborate arguments upon the propriety and applicability of the proceeding, had taken place in the House of Peers. The case presented an ano- maly, for no statute existed, applicable to a charge of adultery committed by a Queen of England, abroad and with a foreigner. This nice distinction took the offence from within the pale of high treason, for inasmuch as the principal was not amenable to the laws of the country ; consequently, the, particeps criminis could not be judicially recog- nized by the statutes of treason. Every preliminary of this great measure, was discussed to the very letter, with a degree of eloquence and profound learning which reflected unfading lustre upon the House of Peers, and on the individual noblemen, who led both sides of the debates. The question appeared new, and every aspect of its bearing was 38 most minutely and rigidly examined ; great debate more particularly took place on the question of allowing to the illustrious accused, a list of wit- nesses, as in cases of high treason ; when it was at length decided to open the case, produce the evi- dence, and allow the Queen an interval, (such as her counsel should deem requisite) to prepare her defence. Thus her Majesty was not only supplied eventually with a list of witnesses; but had the further guide of their sworn testimony. The At- torney General, (Sir R. Gifford,) opened the case according to his instructions, and by command of the House, with little preliminary remark, and certainly without inflation. Her Majesty's cause was less upheld by the evidence of the witnesses against her, (of whom the popular feeling pronoun- ced a pre-judgment of perjury,) than by a deficiency of refutation on her own part. The Queen was most ably, most zealously, and most eloquently de- fended by Messrs. Brougham, Denman, Lushington and others ; and the House bore the license of their harangues with a noble equanimity of patience. After hearing both the charge and the defence, which occupied forty-five days, the House adjourned two days, before it met to debate the principle of the bill ; which discussion occupied four days. The second reading was carried by a majority of twenty- eight, the numbers being for it 123, against it 95. During the progress of the measure, several pro- tests were entered on the Journals of the House, in one of which the Lord Chancellor and the Prime Minister were directly opposed to each other ; a brother of the King absented himself wholly from the investigation ; a cousin of the King voted against 39 the measure in all its stages ; both the Ministry and the Opposition were divided amongst themselves, and intermingled their votes ; the preamble of the bill underw^ent but little alteration in the com- mittee : and in the clause for pronouncing a divorce as part of the pains and penalties, all the Cabinet Ministers, (nine) voted against it. The divorce clause was however carried by a majority of 67, there being contents 1 29, non-contents 62. Most of the peers who had till this moment contended against the principle of the bill in all its stages, argued (with much plausible appearance of reason) that since the Queen was virtually pronounced guilty of an adulterous intercourse, by the votes of the second reading ; divorce became the natural conse- quence, as part of the sentence of the bill, they therefore voted for it. The third reading of the bill, was carried on the 10th November, by the small majority of nine ; the numbers being for it 108, against it 99 . Lord Liverpool, (who had brought in the bill, as an individual peer, and not as a member of the ad- ministration), immediately moved, that " the bill be read that day six months,'' alleging the smallness of the majority, as the motive *. * Bill [as read a third time,] entitled. An act to deprive her Majesty, Caroline Amelia Elizabeth, of tlie title, prerogatives, rights, privileges, and exemptions of Queen Consort of this realm ; and to dissolve the marriage between his Majesty and the said Caroline Amelia Elizabeth. Whereas in the year one thousand eight hundred and fourteen, her Majesty Caroline Amelia Elizabeth, then Princess of Wales, and now Queen Consort of this realm, being at Milan, in Italy, engaged in her service, in a menial situation, one Bartolomeo Pergami, a foreigner of low station, who had before served in a similar capacity : And whereas after tlic said Baitolomeo Pergami had so entered ihe service of her Royal Highness the said Princess of Wales, a most un- 40 The friends of the Queen received this unexpected reprieve from the bill, after proof of the facts, and admission of their reality, as a total and complete becoming and degrading intimacy commenced between her said Royal Highness and the said Bartolomeo Pergami, and her said Royal Highness not only advanced the said Bartolomeo Pergami to a high situation in her Royal Highness's household, and received into her service many of his near relations, some of them in inferior and others in high and confidential situations about her Royal High- ness's person, but bestowed upon him other great and extraordinary marks of favour and distinction, and conferred upon him a pretended order of knighthood, which her Royal Highness had taken upon herself to institute, without any just or lawful authority : And whereas also her said Royal Highness, whilst the said Bartolomeo Pergami was in her said service, further unmindful of her exalted rank and station, and of her duty to your Majesty, and wholly regardless of her own honour and character, conducted herself to- wards the said Bartolomeo Pergami, both in public and private, in various places and countries which her Royal Highness visited with indecent and offensive familiarity and freedom, and carried on a licentious, disgraceful, and adulterous intercourse, with the said Bar- tolomeo Pergami, which continued for a long period of time, during her Royal Highness's residence abroad ; by which conduct of her said Royal Highness, great scandal and dishosour have been brought upon your Majesty's family and this kingdom. Therefore, to mani- fest our deep sense of such scandalous, disgraceful, and vicious con- duct on the part of her said Majesty, by which she has violated the duty which she owed to your JMajcsty, and has rendered herself un- worth}' of the exalted rank and station of Queen Consort of this realm ; and to evince our just regard for the dignity of the crown, and the honour of this nation : we, your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the lords spiritual and temporal, and commons in parliament assembled, do humbly entreat your Majesty that it may be enacted ; and be it enacted by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the lords spiritual, and tem- poral, and commons, in this present parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, that her said Majesty, Caroline Amelia Elizabeth, from and after the passing of this act, shall be, and is hereby deprived of the title of Queen, and of all the prerogatives, rights, privileges, and exemptions, appertaining to her as Queen Con- sort of this realm ; and that her said Majesty shall, from and after the passing of this art, for ever be disabled and rendered incapable of using, exercising, and enjoying the same, or any of them ; and, moreover, that the marriage between his Majesty and the said Caroline Amelia Elizabeth be, and the same is hereby, from hence- --forth for evfer, -wholly dissolved, annulled, and made void, to all in- tents,instruction3, and purposes whatsoever. 41 acquittal of her Majesty from all charge of crimi- nality; and proclaimed their sense of her inno-- cence by rejoicings and illuminations ; to which the Lord Mayor of London, two days old in office, gave his young countenance. Less riot and disturbance, however, took place than might have been ex- pected ; but this was principally owing to the mo- deration of their antagonists ; who (whatever might be their opinion of the guilt or innocence of the Queen, and did not consider a happy escape in the light of an honourable acquittal) were not disposed to thwart the effect of a delusion which appeared in many of its features to portray great generosity and sympathy in supposed sufferings. The Queen returned thanks in the church of the hamlet of the parish in which she resided, and a second time on the 29th of November, at St. Paul's, escorted by the voluntary association of her friends, and was received with due civic honour at Temple Bar by the young Lord Mayor of London. Immense as was the crowd assembled, judicious regulations, prompted by the high responsibility which the young chief magistrate took upon himself on the occasion, prevented all confusion or accident. The King had previously adjourned both Houses of Par- liament, without a Speech either from the Throne or by his Commissioners, The Speaker of the House of Commons was hissed as he proceeded to follow the Usher of the Black Rod to the House of Peers ; nor did he (there being no Royal Speech, but merely a command to adjourn) again enter the House. This mode of separation appeared to the nation very ungracious, and the disturbed reign of Charles the First was ransacked for precedents. 42 But the King could hardly have avoided reference to the proceedings of the Lords, and the more es- pecially as the Commons had been adjourned, sub- ject to a call of the House, and to meet only for business, in the event of the Bill of Pains and Pe- nalties coming down to them. On the M^hole, then, it appeared better to leave the ungracious mode of adjournment for explanation till the next Sessions, *when men's minds might have acquired greater power of discrimination, a quality very seldom in request on popular occasions. Thus far have I brought down (and, I trust, fairly and dispassionately) the outline of this transaction, as it occurred; and with this outline (which will serve, as far as it goes, for both speculations, that of preceding *'* the restoration of the Queen to all her prerogatives and her court," and that of still *' restraining her from their enjoyment and exer- cise,") I go on, in my assumed character of an his- torian, to observe on the consequences of such op- posite results. First then, the historian may hereafter portray the consequences of the Queen's restoration to her prerogatives and court, in the following manner : — " Whether the ministers mistook the popular cla- mour for the real feeling of the nation, or were un- willing to resign their seals of office ; or whether they were intimidated by the examples of Spain, Portugal, Naples, and Sicily, all at this time changing their form of government, with more or less of violence ; they advised the King to feel no impedi- ment to the public reception of the Queen ; who, having now the vantage ground, insisted upon the insertion of her name in the Liturgy, and the ex* 43 punging from the Journals of the House of Lords, of all the proceedings connected with her case, as pre- liminaries to such reception. The first was readily accomplished ; to procure the second, the Prime Mi- nister and the Lord Chancellor (two of the most able ministers and upright men of the day) having re- tired in disgust, every parliamentary finesse was re- sorted to ; and, at length, with great difl&culty, and amid violent debates and mutual recriminations, the point was carried by a majority of one ; there being for the expunging 91 ; against it 90. Bonfires and illuminations, strong beer and roasted beasts were, for a whole week, the order of each successive day ; and in so great a joy, few troubled themselves to calculate upon futurity. " But short was the delirium, and dreadful the consequences. " The King was laughed at, and pitied as a dupe, the Queen was openly scorned, faction was tri- umphant, no competent administration could be formed, and monarchy was on the wane. Those who had opposed the Queen, not from vindictive motives, but to justify the honour of the crown, felt no longer an attachment to a bauble undignified with the jewel of female chastity. The court was seldom held ; when held, neglected ; official levees supplied its place. The higher and respectable ranks of life withdrew within their own pure and virtuous asso- ciations ; and that intermixture of society which is the true essence of a free government and a virtuous court, no longer existed. Rich, vulgar plebeianism took the lead in public. At foreign courts, the younger branches of the nobility experienced great difficulty of reception, not having chosen to be pre- 44 sented at their own; but when received at such courts, it was considered as a matter of especial favour conceded to their pecuHar situation. Thus was the national character subjected to sarcastic insult ; and thus was the lustre of the Crown of England obscured ; for whatever might have been the personal faults of its sovereigns, as individuals no more exempt from human frailty than the hum- blest of their subjects, but rather more exposed to their commission ; yet the Crown of England had been entitled, for the last century at least, to the homage due to unsullied and unquestionable honour. Such were some of the effects of the Queen's resto- ration. *' The evil, however, stopped not here ; scarcely had sufficient time elapsed to justify inconsistency, than the truth of the original charges against the Queen was loudly revived by that very press which had forced her innocence down the throats of the nation. The levellers and jacobins, who lorded over public opinion, professed to defend their change, by the discovery of some new evidence which (said they), had we known before, would have produced a different opinion. Thus, the very men who had so conspicuously advocated the cause of the Queen; who had poured into her ears ad- dresses of congratulatory exultation; who had headed her processions, and maddened the populace in her behalf; these very men, who had artfully drawn her to the very precipice of rebellion against her husband and King ; these men, from whom she could not but have expected eternal friendship and never-ending adulation, finding her without influence or patronage, became within six months, her scorn- 45 ful foes. These very men, who had provoked the measure of expunging the v^hole transaction from the Records of Parliament, and who would fain have burnt, in one huge pile, every paper and every Journal which contained the adulterous evidence, themselves were the first to direct the same press which had borne down all opposition against her, to insult, remind, and mortify her. The reign of terror had commenced. Such were the effects of this unaccountable delusion ! Such were the con- sequences of excusing and exalting vice on the frail plea of political expediency ! ! ************** I proceed now (still in the character of a propheti- cal historian) to mark the consequences which might follow the Queen's continued restriction from the public exercise of her prerogatives. " On Friday, the 10th of November, this bill of Pains and Penalties passed the third reading, when it was suspended, under the form of being read that day six months, and the Lords adjourned to the 23d, the day on which the Commons were to meet, to pursue (if necessary) this important affair. On the 23d both houses met, and were instantly prorogued by Commission, without any Royal Speech. This hasty procurement of separation gave great offence to the Queen's party ; the House of Commons being summoned at the very moment when the Solicitor General of the Queen was about to communicate to the House, a message from her majesty. ** It was evident that the King could have made no Speech to the Houses of Parliament, omitting all reference to the late momentous transaction. Had his Majesty said, that he regretted the issue of 46 it, he would have committed himself personally, be- sides being guilty of the most unconstitutional error ; that of presuming to know a parliamentary proceeding in transitu, for as yet the bill was not absolutely aban- doned. Had his Majesty, on the other hand, made a Royal Communication, omitting, as he must ne- cessarily have done, all reference to the bill in ques- tion ; it might have been inferred, that future pro- ceedings, in any shape, were abandoned ; besides, the interval of adjournment was but for two months, and not seven or eight, as usually happens, the bill having driven the attendance of both houses to a most unusual lateness. It was deemed therefore most prudent, to encounter the accusation of an ungracious prorogation, for so short a period as two months, rather than be hurried into any hasty avowal. But had there been no such prudent ground for the proceeding, it was sufficiently jus- tified by the subsequent conduct of the Queen ; who assumed to herself an authoritative act of government, having prepared her official adviser with a message to be delivered to the Commons House of Parliament ; a step which might well alarm the servants of the Crown, and indeed the whole nation ; for it aimed, in the shape of a message, at a share of the Monarch's power, which the Queen Consort does not possess, being onhj a subject *. It is a radical error, for a Queen Consort to call the « u The Queen hath also many exemptions and minute prero- gatives. For instance, she pays no toll, nor is she liable to any amercement in any Court. But in general, unless where the law has expressly declared her exempted, she is vpon the same footing with other subjects ; and not his equal : in like manner as in the im- perial law : ' Augusta lesibus sohita non est.' " Blachfone, cap. 4. page 220. 47 King's people, her •people, or for the King's subjects to call themselves the subjects of the King s wife ; it is a fault of misdirected loyalty. We may call our- selves, by way of courtesy, the Queen's most dutiful and affectionate servants ; but legally and constitu- tionally we can only be the dutiful and affectionate subjects of' the King,' " During the interval between the prorogation and the meeting of both Houses, the Queen proceeded to Saint Paul's, continued to receive Addresses of Congratulation, and renewed unsuccessfully her ap- plication for a Royal Residence. But the people had now time to reflect, to compare, to decide. John Bull is never long misled, and now discovered in the case, premature judgments, audacious false- hoods, attempts at intimidation, and unproved asser- tions ; above all, a complete absence of all those pro- mises of refutation, which had been so lavishly and so loudly proclaimed ; and the non-performance of which was the more extraordinary, inasmuch as the persons who might, if they could, have given such testimony, were already in England, and at the Queen's command. " Upon the meeting of Parliament, the Commons desired a conference with the Upper House, and having thereat obtained leave to search the Journals of the Peers, they became constitutionally ac- quainted with the late proceedings. They found therein a sentence of guilt pronounced, which (to say the least of it,) was tantamount to the effect of a true bill by a grand Jury. With this impression upon their minds, the Com- mons soon felt, that the question was now com- pletely in their own hands. The passing of the 48 Civil List bill was exactly the period, when their influence would become apparent : but they previ- ously determined once more to address the Queen, by the same deputation, which had gone up on a former occasion. This address commenced by the firm and dignified assurance of the unshaken attach- ment of the Commons to the throne, the constitution, and the altar, and their determination to preserve them from every attempt of factious anarchy. It proceeded to express great regret for the past, and a hope that by conciliatory measures, all further personal legislation would become unnecessary. It assured the Queen that she might rely upon the continued care and attention of the commons ; should her Majesty, by sacrificing some part of her high claims, be the means of restoring tranquillity to the public mind. It intimated that some points on which the Queen had heretofore insisted, might be the subject of future and favourable consideration ; but that time was necessary to produce a change, which should justify their concession ; and it finally dwelt upon the total impossibility, that even should the Queen gain the object of her wishes, it would (under existing circumstances) be attended to her with happiness or peace of mind." '* In answer to this address, the Queen made but few remarks; but principally dwelt on the utter impossibility of quitting a nation, who had treated her with such unbounded generosity, and espoused her cause with such enthusiastic ardour; and finally proposed, that three friends, appointed by herself, should confer with the deputation of the Commons, and agree upon a basis for a complete adjustment." To this it was objected, that the deputation had no 49 such power of treating; but the difficulty was eventually got over, by their consenting to meet the friends of the Queen as individuals, and subse- quently use their exertions to induce the House to adopt such a course of conduct, as might result from the conference ; after two meetings it was eventually agreed, that the Queen should return to Saint Omers, and find herself 'placed in the same situation, as she would have been, had her legal advisers delivered to her Lord Liverpool's communication of April, pre- viously to that made by Lord Hutchinson. " This departure was accomplished in so unex- pected and in so judicious a manner, as far as the coast, that until the Queen was saluted by the guns at Dover, on her embarkation in a Royal Yacht, it was but just rumoured. The Queen was accom- panied by two of her legal advisers, v/ho were met by two others, on the part of the Crown. The de- parture of the Queen being made known to the Parliament, a most gracious vote of thanks was passed in both Houses ; the Commons renewed their assurances, that they would pay all due attention to her Majesty's interests. The Civil List bill was ex- peditiously passed, and a Royal Message brought down to both Houses by Ministers, in which the King thanked the Commons for the generous pro- vision made for the Queen's future comfort. Her Majesty's Attorney-General, also on his return from Saint Omer's, expressed the Queen's thanks, ac- companied by her regret, on leaving England ; but attributing the step she had taken to a thorough conviction that she could never hope to promote the happiness of the King ; and therefore her next wish was to contribute to the tranquillity of the Kingdom. E 50 He also adverted to the impaired health of the Queen; and the possibility, that she might not again return to the Country of her adoption. Thus ended an affair which could not possibly have happened at a more critical moment, for whilst it was proceeding, military revolutions were follow- ing one another, through the South of Europe ; and that the mania did not extend to England, can be attributed solely to the sound principles of the vast majority of the Kingdom ; principles which were daily and hourly assailed, by a venal press ; and by a system of the most pernicious, irritating, and base political libels, and personal caricatures. But on this occasion the Constitution floated above the passions of the people, safe and unhurt as her Navy rides on the turbulent billow, which dashes against Albion's rocky sides. '* Amidst these internal commotions, it pleased Providence to bless the kingdom with a most abundant harvest; so that the winter passed over with much less proportionate privations to the humbler classes of the community. Indeed it may be rather said, that such heavenly bounty, ad- ministered by charitable hands and feeling hearts, rendered distress unknown. The following Spring found the whole nation, except certain disappointed speculating politicians, in good humour; and the moment was most judiciously seized to administer to the whole United Kingdom, the oath of allegiance. The ceremony was accompanied by every mark of joy and magnificence ; it was indeed a national banquet. On the Tuesday, the magistracy took the oaths in the. county towns. On the Thursday, the population took them in every city, town, and ol village, in the following manner : Lists had been previously signed, and to each list was prefixed a power by deputation to some person therein named, to take the oath publicly for as many persons as were contained in such list; and by its form, all persons therein subscribed were held to be bound by the oath of allegiance, recited also in such instrument. On the Saturday, the Army took the oaths, by regiments, squadrons, and detach- ments, at their individual quarters ; and the Navy by fifties, after the form of the general population. This splendid and national rejoicing seemed to an- nihilate every spark of disaffection. " In the Autumn, the coronation of his Majesty took place, and the first Act of Grace performed im- mediately after, was, * to expunge from the Journals of the Lords all the accusatori/ proceedi?igs connected with the Queen of England.' " This last step was considered an act of oblivion, and a compliment to the crown." The Queen remained abroad during her life, in conformity with her word of honour." * *• ****** And now, my faithful subjects, and well-beloved fellow-countrymen, your King takes his leave, re- commending the alternative to your attention, and praying to the God and Father of us all, that he will so direct your steps, as to lead both to your temporal and your eternal happiness ; praying also that the crown of his forefathers may not be disho- noured on his head, but that mutual love and con- fidence may render happy both King and People. My excellent subjects, may God Almighty bless you«-« — ^FarewclJ. GEORGE. 52 APOLOGY. Should the readers of the preceding Letter, have entertained doubt of its authenticity, the Author and Publisher beg leave to satisfy those doubts, by stating, " That it is one of those literary fictions, which can only be justified by a good cause." Indeed they feel so high a degree of veneration for the sacred name of *' The King," which, (speaking constitutionally), " Never dies ;" and so anxious a desire, that nothing directly or indirectly should appear to trifle with its use ; that, previous to their determination to publish, they submitted the following Question to the opinion of a most eminent Counsel; which question at once proclaimed the author's motive, and the answer subjoined, contains (we trust) our justification. THE QUESTION. Suppose A. writes a letter entitled " A Letter from the King," and having written and published such Letter, states, in a Postscript annexed that such title was adopted to excite curiosity, and extend its political utility ; and that such Letter was neither directly or indirectly written by the King ; will such acknowledgment take the assumption of the King's name, out of any and every statute of premunire ? OPINION. I am clearly of opinion, that such acknowledgment as is proposed, will take the Letter out of the Statutes of />reHije. The term and the offence premunire, are now merely sounds: but I decidedly think, that the Letter proposed, written in the tone and spirit which is sug- gested, will not render the writer responsible to ani/ penalty whatever. Temple, December Mh, 1820. Thus far as to the legality of the act ; but should our most gracious Sovereign chance to see a Pub- lication thus imputed to him ; we beg leave most respectfully to deprecate any sentiment of personal dissatisfaction, which he may feel at our bold as- 53 sumption ; assuring The King, that he does not possess among his people, more disinterestedly loyal subjects, than the Author and Publisher of this Letter. POSTSCRIPT TO THE FOURTH EDITION. The Amanuensis of this Letter has heard many observations made on this bold attempt of imputing to his Sovereign the senlimentsi con- tained therein. He has taken some pains to discover the feelings of the parties raising objections to it ; as well as of those who consider it a timelT/ boldness. He has the satisfaction of finding, that those are most violent against it, who are unable to answer its argument; and those talk insidiously of this abuse of the King's name, who ai-e great admirers and encouragers of caricatures on his person. In some cases, there is also (even among those who think with himself) a scrupulous feeling as to the mode in which his thoughts are conveyed. Such feeling is conscientious and honourable, but on this occasion, over nice. The mode adopted was the only one, capable of producing a dispassionate review of the King's case ; it has succeeded beyond the most sanguine expectation, as four editions within a Fortnight testify. POSTSCRIPT TO THE FIFTH EDITION. From the moment of deciding upon the bold step of publishing this Letter, it was also determined never to notice any reply, attack, or abuse of it. We are most happy to know, that it has convinced many of the most violent advocates of the Royal Tenant of Branden- burg House, of their injustice towards their noble-minded Sovereign. THE END. LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES, Northumberland-court. 1, St. Jameses Street. WILLIAM SAMS, HAS LATELY PUBLISHED THE FOLLOWING WORKS: A LETTER to the HOUSE OF COMMONS, on the Subject of the Litany, and the Allowance to the Queen. By the Author of the King's Letter to his People, 8vo. 2*. THE CITY ADDRESS EXPOSED, In a Letter to the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor. By the same, 8vo. 2*'. OCCASIONAL REMARKS on Mr. TENNYSON'S Obssr^ rations on the Proceedings against the Queen. By Wesley Doyle, Esq., 8vo. is. 6d. A FULL EXPLANATION of the Law respecting Prayers for the Queen and the Royal Family. By Professor Christian. TO-DAY, a POETICAL SATIRE. By Ernestus. Second Edition, 8vo. 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An ADDRESS to the IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT upon tie PRACTICAL MEANS of gradually ABOLISHING tae POOR LAWS, and Educating the POOR systematically; illustrated by an Account of the Colonies of Fredericksoord in Holland, and of the Common Mountain in the South of Ireland. By W. Herbert Saunders, Esq. IN THE PRESS, A LETTER on our AGRICULTURAL DISTRESSES, their Causes and Remedies ; accompanied with Tables and Copper- Plate Charts, shewing and comparing the Prices of Wheat, Bread and Labour, from 1550 to 1821 ; addressed to the Lords and Commons. By William Playfair. 5*. On the 3lst of Mat/ next loill he published y (to be continued monthly,) No. L of BRITISH HONOUR and HUMANITY DIS- PLAYED, and RANK and PROPERTY DEFENDED, as being beneficial to all classes of Society ; containing an account of those Noblemen and Gentlemen who are particularly attentive to the welfare and prosperity of their Tenants, Dependants, and the Poor. Edited by WILLIAM PLAYFAIR. 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