giving the questions as well as the answers-so that the exact effect of their testimony could not be accurately judged of.* The unhappy lady, when she heard from rumour of what was going on against her, applied for advice and assistance to the ex-Chancellor, who was delighted to become her patron; for he thought that he might thereby please the King, who he believed secretly favoured her, although his Majesty had sanctioned this investigation; he was pleased to thwart the Prince, whom he regarded as a political enemy;—he expected that an opportunity might arise for censuring the conduct of the Ministers, and bringing unpopularity upon them for their attack upon the persecuted Princess; and let us charitably suppose, that, convinced of her innocence, he had something of a disinterested desire to see her righted.† Accordingly, a very intimate intercourse, both by visits and letters, was established between him and her Royal Highness. "Lord Eldon at that period would often dine with her at Blackheath ; and to him she used to assign the seat of honour on her right hand. In Germany it had not been the custom for gentlemen to help the ladies near them to wine; but each sex fill their own glasses at their option. The Princess, however, as Lord Eldon related, used to reverse in some sort our old English fashion in his favour; for she would quietly fill his glass herself, and so frequently, that he seldom left her house without feeling that he had exceeded the limits of discretion. Those indeed who recollect the proverb, 'that though one man may take a horse to the well, ten men cannot make him drink,' will moderate their commiseration for the hard lot of the ex-Chancellor." The following are two of the letters which she addressed to him, before she heard of the result of the "Delicate Investigation." "MY DEAR SIR, "Blackheath, June 24th, 1806. "I must mention to your Lordship that the two letters from Lady Douglas to Mrs. Fitz Gerald, which your Lordship saw on the occasion, never to enter again to my house, (which would have been very great proofs against Lady Douglas, and show her true character,) have been taken out of my drawers, in which all the papers were, and upon each was written what were the contents of each different parcel. Yesterday, to my greatest astonishment, I missed that parcel. Every search in the world has been made, in case my bad memory had led me to put it in some other place; but I have not succeeded to find them, and am led to believe, that the same person, who was able to take a hundred pound note from Carlton House, could easily take this parcel, * See Sir S. Romilly's Memoirs, iii. 92. † It requires a considerable effort to make us ascribe to him much of good motive in his treatment of Caroline of Brunswick. Although at this time he maintained that she was the chastest and most injured of her sex, he afterwards said, in confidence to Lord Grey, in reference to the charge now brought against her,"My opinion is, and always was, that though she was not with child, SHE SUPPOSED HERSELF TO BE WITH CHILD."-Romilly's Memoirs, iii. 104. # Surtees, p. 116. which was so great a proof against Lady Douglas's character. No step has been taken by me to find out if he is the guilty one. In case you wish to see me, I shall be very happy to receive you to-morrow, or on Thursday morning, at any hour, and I beg to entreat of your Lordship, to take it well into consideration, that it is quite impossible for me to remain any longer silent upon this subject, in which my honour is so much implicated, and which is so much the talk of the public at this moment, that I hope your Lordship will take it in the most serious light, and to take some steps which will lead to my conclusion, whatever it may be. My health, as well as my spirits, suffer too much to be left any longer in suspense; and you, who have always shown yourself as a sincere friend to me, will feel as I do upon this subject. I remain for ever, with the truest sentiments of high regard, esteem, and friendship, "Your Lordship's sincere friend." "Blackheath, July 25th, 1806. "The Princess of Wales entreats and desires Lord Eldon to go as to-morrow to Windsor, and ask an audience of his Majesty, and deliver to his Majesty the enclosed letter. The Princess is under very great apprehension, that the report made from the examination, to his Majesty, has not been fairly and literally delivered to his Majesty. She wishes for that reason that Lord Eldon should verbally explain, and open his eyes on the unjust and unloyal proceedings of his Ministers. The Princess cannot help thinking that his Majesty has been led into error, otherwise he would have by this time shown his usual generosity and justice, by declaring the princess's innocence. The Princess is quite resigned to her cruel fate, from the period that her honour was in the hands of a pack of ruffians, and who are only devoted, and slaves, to her most inveterate enemy. The Princess hopes that on Sunday Lord Eldon will be able to give her a satisfactory account of the reception he received of his Majesty, and the Princess has been now for seven weeks in the most dreadful and tormenting suspense. The Princess will be very much obliged if Lord Eldon will do her the favour of losing no time for setting off for Windsor and of seeing the King. The Princess sends to his Lordship the letter to the King for his perusal. If he should wish to alter any part in the letter, the Princess desires that Lord Eldon would mark it down and send it back; the Princess would in less than an hour send it to him again. “The Princess remains, with the highest esteem and regard, his Lordship's most sincere friend, "C. P." The Report of the Commissioners to the King, dated the 14th of July, 1806, acquitted the Princess of the charge that she had given birth to a child long after her separation from her husband, but stated "that evidence had been laid before them of other particulars respecting the conduct of her Royal Highness, such as must, especially considering her exalted rank and station, necessarily give occasion to very unfavour able interpretations."* On the 11th day of August a copy of this Report was sent to her by Lord Chancellor Erskine, with an intimation that "she was to be admonished by his Majesty to be more circumspect in her conduct." Under Lord Eldon's advice, she several times wrote to the King, complaining of the manner in which the proceeding against her had been conducted by his Ministers; solemnly denying the levities which the Report imputed to her, and praying "that she might again be admitted into the presence of her uncle-her father-in-law and her Sovereign-who had ever hitherto proved her friend and protector.” The King, melted by these expressions, and still exasperated against his son, was supposed to be favourably inclined towards her, although, as her conduct had been made an affair of state, he could not now, against the advice of his Ministers, receive her at Court as if free from blame. Lord Eldon was prudent enough not to commit his sentiments on this subject to writing. The two following are the only other letters to him from the Princess which have been allowed to see the light: "Blackheath, Oct. 13th, 1806. "The Princess of Wales, with the most grateful sense, is most sincerely obliged to Lord Eldon for his kind inquiry through Lady Sheffield. "Her body as well as her mind have naturally much suffered from the last melancholy catastrophe, having lost in so short a time, and so unexpectedly, a most kind and affectionate brother and a sincere friend. The afflictions which Providence has sent so recently to her are very severe trials of patience and resignation, and nothing but strong feelings of religion and piety could with any sort of fortitude carry the Princess's dejected mind through this. She puts her only trust in Providence, which has so kindly protected her in various ways since she is in this kingdom. "The Princess also has the pleasure to inform his Lordship that the Queen has twice made inquiry, by Lady Ilchester, through Lady Sheffield, about the Princess's bodily and mental state. The Duchess of York, through her lady to Lady Sheffield, and the Duke of Cambridge in the same way, made their inquiries. The Duke of Kent wrote himself to the Princess, which of course she answered herself. The Duke of Cumberland, who has twice been with the Princess after the melancholy event took place, desired her to announce, herself, to his Majesty the unexpected event of the death of the Prince Hereditary of Bruns * Sir S. Romilly says,-"The result of this examination was such as left a perfect conviction on my mind, and I believe on the minds of the four Lords, that the boy in question is the son of Sophia Austin; that he was born in Brownlow Street Hospital, on the 11th of July, 1802, and was taken by the Princess into her house on the 15th of November in the same year."-Mem., ii. 144. Yet, although there is no pretence for the notion that "Billy Austin" was the son of the Princess of Wales, or that she was ever in a state of pregnancy after the birth of the Princess Charlotte, it is now ascertained that he was of totally different parentage, and born in Germany. wick. She followed his advice, and the letter was sent through Lady Sheffield to Colonel Taylor. The answer was kind from his Majesty, and full of feeling of interest for the severe loss she has sustained in her brother. Lady Sheffield's health did not allow her to stay longer with the Princess. Mrs. Vernon, one of her ladies, is now at Montague House, in case his Lordship wished to write by her to the Princess. "The Princess trusts that soon she will have comfortable and pleasing tidings to relate to Lord Eldon. She has, till that moment, nothing further to inform him of, than to repeat her sentiments of high regard, esteem, and gratitude, with which she remains for ever, his Lordship's most sincere friend, "C. P." "Blackheath, Nov. 16th, 1806.” "The Princess of Wales makes her apology to Lord Eldon for her unfortunate mistake. The letter which was intended for his Lordship is gone to Altona to the Duke of Brunswick. The contents of the letter consisted in desiring his Lordship to agree to the request of the Princess to discharge the three traducers and slanderers of her honour from her household, of which some are even yet under the Princess's own roof at this present moment. The Princess, by not having yet discharged them, is liable to receive great affronts from them, which Mr. Bidgood has tried in all means by hurting the Princess's feelings. The pew at church, which is only appropriated for the Princess's servants, is close to her own at Greenwich, where she constantly goes, if no illness prevents her. Mr. Bidgood shows himself there every time, and even had not the proper attention of appearing lately in mourning, which all the servants of the Princess are accustomed to be as long as their Royal Mistress is in deep mourning. "The Princess begs Lord Eldon to take all these matters into consideration. Mr. Perceval, who is also informed on the same subject, is perhaps more able to explain the whole circumstance to his Lordship than the Princess can. The Princess flatters herself that his Lordship will do her the honour and pleasure to come on Tuesday at six o'clock to dinner to meet Sir William Scott."* Lord Eldon and Mr. Perceval then set their wits to work and (as it was supposed with the assistance of Mr. Plumer, afterwards Solicitor General, Vice-Chancellor, and Master of the Rolls) composed and printed "THE Book," long so mysterious in its origin, its nature, and its history. This was to be used not only as an instrument for the restoration of the Princess, but for the ruin of the Ministry.t * Sir William became such a favourite with her Royal Highness as to be the subject of a good deal of raillery among his friends; and after the Queen's trial, being questioned respecting the footing on which they had lived together, he would give no other answer than "Non mi ricordi."-Though the most moral of men, he would indulge in a little free badinage,-insomuch that, being asked by a Duchess "what would happen if he, the supreme Ecclesiastical Judge, should himself be guilty of a peccadillo ?" he replied, "I have been considering that ever since I became acquainted with your Grace." † Sir S. Romilly, under date 27th Nov., 1806, says of this production,-"Instead of the dignified defence of an injured and calumniated Princess, it is a long, Her Royal Highness now intimated to his Majesty, that "unless she were relieved from further suspense, her case must be immediately laid before the public." This threat so far operated, that in the end of January, 1807, Lord Chancellor Erskine transmitted a message to her, by order of the King, acquainting her that "his Majesty was advised it was no longer necessary for him to decline receiving her into the royal presence. The Prince of Wales then interposed; and Lord Chancellor Erskine, from ancient attachment, taking his part, and believing that, although there was no proof of the Princess having broken her marriage vow, her levity of manner should be seriously discouraged, the King consented to her restoration being deferred. This was good news for Lord Eldon and Mr. Perceval, and by their advice she wrote again to the King, "that unless justice were speedily done to her, she should appeal to the public, and make a disclosure to all the world of the infamous charge against her, and the irrefragable evidence by which they were repelled." There was thus every prospect of "The Book" being published; and although it might have brought much discredit on the Royal Family, and must have been injurious to the morals of the people, it probably would have answered the purpose of the authors, and would have caused a rupture between the King and his Ministers. The return of the Tory Opposition to power was effected, however, -not, as had been projected, by a cry of "The injustice of the Delicate Investigation," but by the cry of "The Church is in danger."-We must now attend to the proceedings of the new Parliament. The session opened very auspiciously for the Whig Government. After a little grumbling at the dissolution, the Address being carried in both Houses without a division, and thanks being voted for the battle of Maida, Lord Grenville introduced his [JAN. 1807.] Bill to abolish the Slave Trade. This was strongly opposed by Lord Eldon, who cavilled at its title,* and contended that, admitting the trade to be contrary to justice and humanity, the circumstances, the mode, and the time of its abolition were proper matters of consideration. He said he did not believe the measure now proposed would diminish the transport of negroes, or that a single individual would be preserved by it; at the same time, that it would be utterly destructive of the British elaborate, and artificial pleading of an advocate; and no person, as much accustomed as I am to Plumer's manner, can doubt that he is the author of it. As a pleading, however, it is conducted with great art and ability. It is manifestly intended to be, at some time or other, published, and is likely, when published, to make a strong impression in favour of the Princess." He adds in a note, that he had afterwards ascertained that, although Plumer had altered and corrected it, it was drawn up by Perceval, and printed under his superintendence. He does not specify the hand which Lord Eldon had in it,-being always rather chary of the reputation of the Chief of his Court. But there can be no reasonable doubt that Lord Eldon was privy to the whole transaction. Mr. Surtees says that "Mr. Perceval had the sanction of Lord Eldon, of the Duke of Cumberland, then in confidential communication with his Majesty and Lord Eldon, and of (it may hence be fairly inferred) a still more exalted personage." (P. 117, 118.) See 24 Parl. Deb. 1132, 1144; Edinburgh Review, No. cxxxv. 29, 32. * 8 Parl. Deb. 257. |