For the isle that has reared thee shall shield thee from harm.”
Other papers were much more emphatic, not so much in expressing a desire to save the Princess from harm as in an attempt to accuse Cumberland of evil intentions. The Satirist, for instance, published a cartoon showing Cumberland smothering someone in bed, with Queen Adelaide looking on from the doorway. On the bed hangings is embroidered a crown above a large “V,” and beneath the picture are the following lines:
“Can such man live to crush the nation’s choice,
Which after years of blood would now rejoice?
Will a fond people yield their mighty throne
To that base heartless prince, whom all disown?
Blest day, when their loud voices shall decree
This land from such a monster shall be free.”
Elsewhere the Duke is represented in the company of the Bishop of Salisbury, Sir Charles Wetherell, and Billy Holmes,[1] among whom the following scrap of conversation passes:
“Cum. A brother’s brat between me and the Crown!