1807

commenced with selfish men in office, who contrived

[[144]]selfish measures for the continued purposes of corruption.

The king now became very imbecile; and the queen and the Prince of Wales intimidated him from acting honourably towards the Princess of Wales, as he had so committed himself by his fatal act of BIGAMY. As his mind became proportionately depressed by the perplexities of his situation, so did his conduct become more influenced as they desired it; until, at length, he proved a mere automaton, to be moved at their pleasure!

In any case of vital importance to character, delay is dangerous; because it causes suspicion, suspicion begets mistrust, and so on do these injurious sentiments proceed, until, ere the time of trial arrives, the injured party has suffered unjustly in a two-fold way. Thus it was in the case of the unfortunate Caroline. To oblige the queen, his majesty postponed seeing his daughter-in-law as long as it suited the views of the designers against her happiness.

From the active part which Mr. Perceval had taken in defence of the princess, especially in his book, which made much noise in the world at this time, the queen thought it prudent to advise his being accommodated with office. She made her will known to the prince, who was very happy to concur in the suggestion, but only feared an obstacle in Mr. Perceval's rigid virtue. This, however, was not insurmountable, and Mr. Perceval was made "Chancellor of the Exchequer;" Mr. Canning, "Secretary

[[145]]for Foreign Affairs;" and Lord Castlereagh, "Secretary for the Department of War and the Colonies." Thus were two of the former advocates of the Princess of Wales enlisted under the banners of her most deadly enemies! As to the honor they derived from their base desertion of the cause of innocence, we leave our readers to judge.

The Prince of Wales, at this juncture, made no secret of his diabolical intentions; for we well know that he has frequently raised the goblet to his lips, and drank "TO THE SPEEDY DAMNATION OF THE PRINCESS." It was very perceptible that the royal party were well aware of the injustice practised towards the princess; but, charity being a virtue of little worth in their ideas, they resolved to carry their plans into execution, no matter at what cost.

The least the late friends of the princess could do was, to remain silent; but human beings can articulate sounds, and be oppositely communicative with their optical faculties. An individual, who accepts place amongst those whom he formerly professed to despise, renders himself an object of suspicion, if not of detestation.

For the present, we abstain from further remarks upon these two late principal friends of the persecuted Princess of Wales.

Upon hearing of the Duke of Brunswick's death, the king could do no less than solicit the duchess, his sister, to visit England. As the country around her was in a deplorable state, and feeling desirous to see her daughter, she determined to accept the

[[146]]invitation, and arrived at the house of the Princess of Wales, at Blackheath, on the 7th of July, in one of her royal highness' carriages.

The injured Caroline was so overpowered at this interview as to cause the duchess much serious disquiet; for she plainly saw that her daughter had great cause for sorrow, the particulars of which she was yet ignorant. The princess afterwards appeared soothed; and this short interview, cheered by a fond mother's presence, proved a solace to her lacerated heart.

The king went from Windsor to see his sister, and the queen also from St. James' Palace; the Princess Charlotte, and several other members of the family, paid their respects to the duchess.

Thus, though common or decent attention was refused the daughter, while mourning over her early misfortunes and recent losses, yet, when her mother arrived, some little regard must be paid to etiquette, although the daughter was to receive the visiters. But so it was. Poor Queen Charlotte, how hard it was for her to vouchsafe or condescend to let fall one smile upon Caroline!

After the opportunity this visit afforded the Princess Charlotte, the mother and daughter were of necessity explicit, and they mourned over the seeming hard destiny each was doomed to experience.

During the remainder of this year, the king became more and more incapacitated for business of any sort; he could not even distinguish any object by either its colour or size, and was led from one

[[147]]place to another as if in the last stage of blindness. The long-continued distractions of his mind, and the anxiety yet remaining, caused his rational moments to be most gloomy. His favourite daughter was incurably diseased with a scrofulous disorder, from which she suffered dreadfully, and nature seemed fast declining. Throughout the whole of his family, the poor monarch had but little gratification, as every individual composing it was separately under her majesty's controul. To have contradicted her order or command would have been attended with no very pleasant consequences. Her look was sufficient to frighten every one into obedience!

We now enter upon the year