قراءة كتاب Memoirs of the Court of George IV. 1820-1830 (Vol 1) From the Original Family Documents
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Memoirs of the Court of George IV. 1820-1830 (Vol 1) From the Original Family Documents
Ministers while they were at dinner in the house of the Earl of Harrowby, Grosvenor Square, and of a sanguinary conflict of the police and military with the conspirators, when attempting to seize the latter at their place of rendezvous, in an obscure thoroughfare near Paddington, called Cato Street. The history of the Thistlewood Conspiracy,[5] as related in the criminal annals of the period, illustrates in a remarkable manner the diseased state of political feeling then existing in England. It was a small copy of the Irish rebellion,—marked by the same cut-throat policy,—having in view a similar overwhelming revolution, with the same absurdly inadequate means. Fortunately for the United Kingdom, the chief actors in both succeeded only in bringing upon themselves the destruction with which they had menaced a powerful Government.
Thistlewood proposed to slaughter the entire Cabinet at once, when assembled at Lord Harrowby's, which was assented to; "for," said he, "as there has not been a dinner for so long, there will no doubt be fourteen or sixteen there; and it will be a rare haul to murder them all together."[6]
The next communication refers to the same incident, as well as to the various rumours then in circulation:—
MARQUIS WELLESLEY TO MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
Richmond, Tuesday, Feb. 29, 1820.
My dear Lord,
Not having received any commands from you, and having nothing to communicate beyond the rumours of the day, without any authentic information, I have not lately troubled your Lordship with any letter.
It was unnecessary to state that the stories of my being summoned to the King, &c. &c., were all absolutely false. If I had received any such summons, your Lordship would have been fully acquainted with the whole transaction by express from me at the earliest moment.
I believe an attempt was made to confirm the rumours by the circumstance of his Majesty's gracious kindness in answering my inquiries at the moment of his greatest danger, by expresses from Carlton House. My carriage also was in town one day in the highest paroxysm of the supposed squabble; but I happened not to be in it, being confined at home by a cold.
I have not been in town, except to collect some account of the late horrible plot, on the day after the discovery (when I was in the House of Lords about half an hour), for a considerable time, the weather and a cold having concurred to keep me at home.
I know nothing authentic of the quarrel, so much the subject of rumour and noise, nor do I know more of the present designs or future plans. I am at all times at your Lordship's orders, to wait on you whenever you please; the weather is now so much improved, that I can attend you in London any morning that may suit you; but I really have nothing yet to state beyond the contents of my former letters.
Always, my dear Lord,
Yours most sincerely,
Wellesley.
In the spring of the year 1821, their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Clarence lost their only child, the infant Princess Elizabeth. Of this long-forgotten branch of the Royal Family, one who was present at her birth says:—"She is christened by the name of Elizabeth Georgiana. I hope the bairn will live. It came a little too early, and is a very small one at present, but the doctors seem to think it will thrive; and to the ears of your humble servant it appears to be noisy enough to show it has great strength."[7] Her loss affected the King, between whom and the Duke the most lively affection existed; and he wrote to his confidential attendant in the following terms:—
THE KING TO SIR WILLIAM KNIGHTON.
Brighton, March 4, 1821.
My dear Friend,
For God's sake come down to me to-morrow morning. The melancholy tidings of the almost sudden death of my poor little niece have just reached me, and have overset me beyond all I can express to you. Poor William's[8] letter, which is all affection, and especially towards you, refers me to you for all the particulars; therefore pray come to me with as little delay as possible. I have not time to add a word more about myself. You will be a great consolation to me.
Ever your most affectionate friend,
G. R.[9]
The first report of the intention of Queen Caroline, as the Princess of Wales was now styled, to return to England, appears to have taken both the King and the Government by surprise; but the latter, in the conviction that they had an overwhelming case against her, would not believe that she was serious, and took no steps towards putting the result of the Milan investigations into shape.[10]
That everything did not run smoothly between his Majesty and his Ministers, may be inferred from a memorandum made (April 26, 1820) by one of the most influential of them:—
"Our Royal master seems to have got into temper again, as far as I could judge from his conversation with me this morning. He has been pretty well disposed to part with us all, because we would not make additions to his revenue. This we thought conscientiously we could not do in the present state of the country, and of the distresses of the middle and lower orders of the people,—to which we might add, too, that of the higher orders. My own individual opinion was such that I could not bring myself to oppress the country at present by additional taxation for that purpose, and I strictly and firmly acted upon that opinion, when I had every reason to believe that, adhering to it, I should no longer write the letter C. after the name Eldon. I think now the speech, in which he will disavow wishing for any increase, will make him popular, and if times mend, will give him a better chance of fair increase of income than anything else could give him."[11]
The Lord Chancellor, who has not been held in great estimation for disinterestedness or patriotism, is here represented as very nearly making himself a martyr to his sense of public duty; but the cause of Lord Eldon's unusual dissatisfaction with his Sovereign may be gathered from another cotemporary memorandum, dated the following day:—
"The Vice-Chancellor Leach has been trying to root out the Ministry; he has been telling the King that his present Ministers are not standing by him; that he ought to have a divorce. There is a flirtation between Tierney and the King."[12]
The Opposition lost no