But the reception accorded to 'the Warrior of the West' by his native town, after the battle of Waterloo, should not pass unnoticed. Towards the latter part of July (the 27th was, I believe, the day) Vivian returned home for a short time; and when it was known that he was approaching Truro, which was en fête on the occasion, numbers of the inhabitants went out to meet him, and, taking the horses out of his carriage, dragged it in triumph through the streets. Several of the townsfolk had assembled at Mr. Vivian's house, to greet the victorious hero on his return. Amongst them was the writer's mother—then quite a young girl—whom the tall, strong man lifted up in his arms as if she had been an infant, and embracing her, exclaimed to those around him, 'There! believe me, that's the first kiss I've had since the battle of Waterloo!' His speech to the populace on this occasion could not be reported, for the air was rent by their shouts; and I should judge, from the contemporary accounts, that a similar enthusiasm prevailed on the occasion of the public dinner which was given to him at the Truro Assembly Rooms on the 31st July.
The army returned to England in 1818; and with it Vivian, who now found himself, for the first time in twenty-three years, unemployed. Great reductions in the military establishments, of course, took place; and on the 10th September, 1821, the 18th Hussars was, amongst other regiments, disbanded. On this occasion he was presented by the soldiers with a silver trumpet purchased out of the proceeds of the sale of horses which had been captured by the regiment during the Peninsular campaign.
It seems hardly necessary to dwell upon the facts of his having been despatched in 1819 to Newcastle-on-Tyne, and thence to Glasgow, for the purpose of quelling riots which had broken out at those places; it will suffice to mention that the service was promptly and efficiently performed.
The University of Oxford in the following year accorded to him the high honour of the degree of D.C.L., which, however, for some reason, he does not seem to have taken until fourteen years afterwards. In 1820 he was elected a Member of Parliament for his native town, and represented it for five or six years.
In 1827 he received a Colonelcy of the Life Guards; and in the following year he was created a baronet—a coat of arms full of heraldic allusions to his distinguished career being at the same time granted to him.
For the five years, 1825-30, Vivian represented Windsor in the House of Commons; but the failing health of Lady Vivian, and his appointment to the command of the forces in Ireland, caused him to retire from Parliament. It is said that during this period he was offered the post of Secretary-at-War, but that he declined it on account of his preference for the more active duties of his profession. Whilst in Parliament he seldom failed to speak on all military questions; he also took part in the debates on Catholic Emancipation (of which he was a supporter), and on the distress which prevailed in the country in 1830. Polwhele thought highly of his fluent eloquence; and I am told by Mr. H. S. Stokes that Vivian was remarkably successful in his addresses to election mobs. In this year he attained the rank of Lieutenant-General; and about the same time William IV. made him a Grand Cross of the Royal Hanoverian Order of Guelph.
In 1833 (the first Lady Vivian having died) Vivian married a second time; the lady of his choice being Lætitia, third daughter of the Rev. J. A. Webster, by whom he had one daughter, Lalage. Four years afterwards he again entered Parliament, this time as a representative of the Eastern Division of Cornwall; having, however, been previously made a Privy Councillor in 1834, and having filled, with distinction, for four or five years the historic post of Master-General of the Ordnance.
Little remains to be told of his history. On his retirement from the above post, he was created a peer, and took his seat in the Upper House as Baron Vivian of Glynn and Truro, the patent being dated 11th August, 1841. His last-earned honour he did not enjoy for more than a year; for, on the 20th August, 1842, he died suddenly at Baden-Baden.