I waited till the last moment to see if I could pick up anything for you. Hume was cut off in the middle of his speech. The Queen certainly means to come to the Royal box at the Coronation, and it is now said the Cabinet have decided on providing her a seat. Whether this is true or not I cannot say; but they are mad if they leave her to fight the battle in the street, which she will certainly do. The peerages are delayed on account of the question of titles. Forester can't be Lord Forester or Wenlock, the latter claimed by Lawleys, the former possessed at present by Lord Verulam. Forester out of town, and expresses going to settle this. The list of Peers has given great offence to the friends of Government; and, to be sure, if England had been looked through for pretensions, there could hardly [have] been found a set of men who had so little claim. Lord Donoughmore (the Opposition say) is to take the title of Alexandria in honour of his brother, who was made a Peer for his conquests there. Old Foster is to be one of the new Peers; he was not before named. I do not hear any confirmation of Lord Lansdowne's appointment as High Constable of Ireland, and I therefore doubt it. Lady Conyngham dined a few days ago at Lord Gwydyr's; among the party was Brougham, who had pleaded in the morning before the Privy Council for the Queen. The report of the Queen's attending the Coronation has given such an impression of riot, that the seats have fallen to nothing, and, though they are preparing accommodation for thousands and thousands, the sale of tickets is very heavy indeed. I am frightened for the yeomanry, and hope Lord Temple will be able to get them well back without a row. I am sorry I shall not see you, for I must go on Saturday, and have a long appointment for Monday on public business in the country. You have no idea of the million of reports which are hourly propagating here on the subject of the Government and Lady Conyngham, and the Coronation, &c. &c. The town is absolutely in a ferment. You shall hear to-morrow from me.
Ever truly yours,
W. H. F.
The day appointed for the imposing pageant, the Coronation, came at last. The Queen had made several vain efforts to obtain a recognition of her right to be crowned at the same time as the King; but the Privy Council decided against her on the 10th of July. Nothing daunted, the day following she wrote to Lord Sidmouth to inform his Lordship of her intention to be present, and a few days later published a protest against the decision of the Privy Council. On the 16th, Lord Hood, at her desire, wrote to the Earl Marshal, informing the Duke (of Norfolk) of her Majesty's intention to be present at the approaching ceremony on the 19th, and desiring that persons should be in attendance to conduct her to her seat on her arrival at the Abbey. The day arrived, and so did the Queen; but though she tried, with Lord Hood's assistance, to gain admission at more than one door, her entrance was opposed. She was not only obliged to endure this repulse, but sounds assailed her ears as soon as she was recognised by the spectators in the galleries, that declared how completely she had fallen in public estimation. Mortified and humiliated, she at last returned to her residence; and, though a mob of disorderly boys broke the windows of mansions belonging to noblemen known to be opposed to her, the intelligence failed to afford her sufficient solace. Lord Eldon thus describes her Majesty's final exhibition of spirit: "It is all over, quite safe and well. The Queen's attempt to make mischief, failed. She sent a message to say that she would be at the Abbey by eight o'clock. To take the persons there by surprise, she came between six and seven. After trying every door of the Abbey in vain, she came to the Hall; there she was also denied entrance. A few of the mob called 'Queen for ever!' I am informed that, on the other hand, there was great hissing, cries of 'Shame, shame! go to Bergamo!' and a gentleman in the Hall told us that when her Majesty got into the carriage again, she wept."[66] ]
She felt the crushing nature of this disappointment, and though she made an effort—a vain one, of course—to induce the Archbishop of Canterbury to crown her a day or two later, she was so thoroughly overwhelmed by this complete downfall of her hopes, that she became seriously ill, and died on the 7th of August—a week after the King had left Carlton House for Ireland. The suddenness of her death created to some extent a reaction of public opinion in her favour, particularly among the lower orders, and riots of a serious nature attended the passage of her remains through the metropolis, on their way to Brunswick; but the nine days' wonder had scarcely lived out its brief reign, when the town was entertaining itself with accounts of the King's amazing popularity in Ireland, in a manner that betrayed its eagerness to get rid, as soon as possible, of a disagreeable subject. Thus passed away Caroline of Brunswick—a character variously represented by that very unsatisfactory photograph, Party; but, though the likeness has often been idealized by those whose credit was likely to suffer by too natural a resemblance, sufficient physiognomical likeness has remained to show that she was far from being the sort of woman a sensible man would court for a wife, or the kind of Princess that would confer any distinction on the nation that would accept her as a Queen.
CHAPTER V.
[1821.]
EFFECT OF QUEEN CAROLINE'S ILLNESS AND DEATH ON THE KING. HIS NARROW ESCAPE IN THE ROYAL YACHT. HIS VISIT TO IRELAND. ENTRY INTO DUBLIN. POSITION OF THE KING'S MINISTERS. GEORGE IV. ON THE FIELD OF WATERLOO. THE KING'S VISIT TO HIS HANOVERIAN DOMINIONS. COALITIONS AND DOUBLE NEGOTIATION. POLITICAL GOSSIP. A NEW CLUB. DISMISSAL OF SIR ROBERT WILSON FROM THE ARMY. PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION FOR HIM.
CHAPTER V.