(Signed) "Richard Croft."

"November 10th, 1817."

[[373]]COPY OF A LETTER FROM QUEEN CHARLOTTE TO
DR. CROFT.

"We are sensible how much it were to be desired that the obligations provided for could have been traced without the necessity of our writing. But we are yet more sensible how much it is our duty to promote the happiness of our most dear and most beloved son, who so justly deserves the efforts which we make for him. Whatever price will cost our tender love, we shall at least have the comfort, in the melancholy circumstance of this juncture, which our kingdom most justly laments with us, to give to our subjects a successor more worthy of the possession of our crown, either partly or wholly, than the detested daughter of our dearest brother, who, by her conduct, has brought disgrace upon our royal house, and whom now we will, for us, and our descendants, without difference of the substance of blood and quality, that she shall at all events be estranged from us and our line for ever. To this end, we believe the method concerted by our faithful friends at Trieste is the most effectual to ensure it, not by divorce; be it by whatever means which may seem effectual to our friends, to whom

[[374]]we grant full power in every thing, as if we ourselves were present, to obtain the conclusion we so much desire; and whosoever shall accomplish the same shall be placed in the immediate degree with any peer of our kingdom, with fifty thousand pounds, which we guarantee to our worthy friend, Sir Richard Croft, on whom we can rely in every thing,—his services being considered unavoidable on this occasion. And for the better security of all, we promise the bearer hereof, being in every part furnished with sufficient power to write, sign, and secure, by letter or any other obligation, in our name, and which is to be delivered to Sir Richard Croft before his departure from London,—reminding him of his own engagements to the secrecy of this also,—whereunto we put our name, this 12th day of November, 1817.

"Let him be faithful unto death.

(Signed) "C. R."

Who can peruse these letters, and the particulars with which they are accompanied, without being shocked at the dark and horrible crime proved to have been committed, as well as those deep-laid plans of persecution against an innocent woman, which they unblushingly state to have had their origin in the basest of motives,—to gratify the vindictive feelings

[[375]]of her heartless and abandoned husband! It must appear surprising to honourable minds that these atrocities did not find some one acquainted with them of sufficient virtue and nerve to drag their abettors to justice. But, alas! those who possessed the greatest facilities for this purpose were too fond of place, pension, or profit, to discharge such a duty. Queen Caroline, at this period, resolved to ask for a public investigation of the causes and attendant circumstances of the death of her daughter, and expressed her determination to do so in the presence of several noblemen. Her majesty considered these and other important letters to be amply sufficient to prove that the Princess Charlotte's death was premeditated, and procured unfairly. Her majesty also knew that, in 1817, a most respectable resident of Claremont publicly declared that the regent had said, "No heir of the Princess Charlotte shall ever sit upon the throne of England!" The queen was likewise personally assured of the truths contained in the letter signed "C. R." dated 12th of November; for the infamous Baron Ompteda, in conjunction with another similar character, had been watching all her movements for a length of time, and they were actually waiting her arrival at Trieste, at the time before named, while every one knew they had a coadjutor in England, in the person of Souza Count Funshall!!!

Her majesty was also well acquainted with the scheme of the king or his ministers, that the former or the latter, or both conjointly, had caused a work