FOOTNOTES:
[64] For details of the riots see Annual Register, lviii. (1816), 60-73. They were particularly numerous in May, 1816, and in the counties of Cambridge, Essex, and Suffolk. At Littleport in Cambridgeshire, on May 24, it was found necessary to fire on the rioters. Two men were killed and five were afterwards executed.
[65] Greville, Memoirs, i., 2; Walpole, History of England, i., 392, 393.
[66] The curious may be interested in the following list of the names and ages of the persons who stood next in order of succession to the crown after the death of Princess Charlotte. It will be observed that of the fourteen who stood nearest the throne, not one was under forty years of age, and not one had a legitimate child:—
| Age. | Relation to king. | ||
| 1. | George, Prince Regent | 55 | Son. |
| 2. | Frederick, Duke of York | 54 | Son. |
| 3. | William, Duke of Clarence | 52 | Son. |
| 4. | Edward, Duke of Kent | 50 | Son. |
| 5. | Ernest, Duke of Cumberland | 46 | Son. |
| 6. | Augustus, Duke of Sussex | 44 | Son. |
| 7. | Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge | 43 | Son. |
| 8. | Charlotte, Queen-Dowager of Würtemberg | 51 | Daughter. |
| 9. | Princess Augusta | 48 | Daughter. |
| 10. | Princess Elizabeth | 47 | Daughter. |
| 11. | Mary, Duchess of Gloucester | 41 | Daughter. |
| 12. | Princess Sophia | 40 | Daughter. |
| 13. | William, Duke of Gloucester | 41 | Nephew. |
| 14. | Princess Sophia of Gloucester | 44 | Niece. |
| 15. | Charles, Duke of Brunswick | 13 | Great nephew. |
[67] See, however, the Creevey Papers, i., 268-71, 284.
CHAPTER IX.
THE LAST YEARS OF LORD LIVERPOOL.
The only important events of domestic interest in the year 1820, after the death of George III., were the Cato Street conspiracy, and the so-called trial of Queen Caroline. For the accession of the king, who had so long exercised royal functions as regent, produced no visible effect either on the personal composition or on the general policy of the government. Immediately after his proclamation he was attacked by a dangerous illness, but on his recovery he promptly raised two questions which nearly involved a change of ministry. One of these was a proposal to increase his private revenue, which he was induced to abandon for the present. The other was a demand for a divorce, which the ministers firmly resisted, though they ultimately agreed to a compromise, under which the divorce question was to be deferred, so long as the queen remained quietly abroad, but action was to be taken in case she returned to assert her rights.
THE CATO STREET CONSPIRACY.