CHAP. 1786. March 29. the Prince's 66 that the marriage ceremony had really been performed by a Popish priest; and one well-known writer on political subjects maintained, that the lady was, “in all respects, legally, really, worthily, and, happily for "the country, her Royal Highness the Princess of "Wales." To maintain this doctrine, it was necessary that the royal marriage act should be annulled; and this was performed in the easiest and most compendious manner, by acknowledging it to be an act of Parliament, but denying it to have the force of law*. Such arguments produced very little effect; indeed, had they been admitted, another consequence was distinctly to be apprehended; the forfeiture of the Prince's title to the throne, under the act of settlement; for, as in the Romish church matrimony is a sacrament, it would have been difficult to maintain that receiving it, at the hands of a priest in orders, was not holding communion with that church. But these were the mere speculations, which, in some degree, influenced the political and popular opinions of the day; the fact was never established by the slightest proof; it was denied by those most honoured with the Prince's confidence, and, indirectly, if not explicitly, by the Prince himselft. When his Majesty's message respecting the arrears Parliament of of the civil list came to the House of Commons, occasion was taken to introduce the embarrassments of the heir apparent. Mr. W. Stanhope intimated that £50,000 a year, out of the civil list, was amply suffi embarrass ments. Letter to a Friend on the reported Marriage of his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. By John Horne Tooke. 666 On this subject, Mr. Wilkes relates the following anecdote :-The Bishop of B. told me that a most respectable lady, of his particular friendship, said to him, "The Prince came in here yesterday, overjoyed, saying, I never did better "in any thing; I behaved incomparably well; I could not have thought it, as "the case was quite new to me.' The lady answered, 'Your Royal Highness always behaves well; what was the case that was quite new to you?' The "Prince replied, 'I was at a marriage, and gave the bride away.' The lady said, "Was your Royal Highness never before at a marriage?' The Prince answered, laying his right hand with eagerness on his breast, Never, on my honour.' ”— Wilkes's Letters to his Daughter, vol. iii. p. 299. All the topics relating to the Prince were discussed in three pamphlets, of no great ability, although they obtained a temporary reputation, called, A Short Review of the Political State of Great Britain;-The People's Answer to the Short Review;-and a Reply to both. 66 cient for the Prince; and if he had engaged in building a more expensive palace than his income would afford, the deficiency might be supplied by the sale of some manors in Cornwall. Mr. Sheridan endeavoured to raise an inference from some words uttered by Mr. Pitt, that if the income of his Royal Highness were found too small, application should be made to the House for an augmentation and payment of the debts already incurred; but Mr. Pitt declined entering into any such engagement, or even expressing an opinion; he contented himself with observing, that he had no instructions on the subject. CHAP. LX. 1786. motion on the subject. 1787. April 20th. This state of things continued about nine months, Express when Alderman Newnham asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether it was intended to make any proposition to rescue the Prince from his present embarrassed situation, intimating that it would depend on the answer whether or not he should move a parliamentary proceeding. Mr. Pitt said it was not his duty to bring forward such a matter without a command from his Majesty, which he had not received; and the Alderman gave notice that, on an early day, which he fixed, he would make a motion. During the interval, it is said, great exertions were made to combine a party in the Prince's favour, and with so much success, that the minister felt uneasy*. Before the day mentioned by the Alderman 24th. had arrived, Mr. Pitt, seeing a full house, intimated the impropriety of introducing by surprise a matter of so much novelty and importance, and expressed a desire that Parliament should be apprized of the specific object, scope, and tendency of the intended proposition. Alderman Newnham said he had not decided on the exact form, but the object of his motion would be the rescue of his Royal Highness from his present embarrassed situation. Mr. Fox, observing that the subject was one of peculiar delicacy, hoped something might be done in the interim which would render the worthy magistrate's motion unnecessary. * So stated in the Annual Register, vol. xxix. p. 125. Mr. Pitt, who had before observed on the singularity of a member's giving notice of a motion before he had determined what it should be, said, in answer to Mr. Fox, that the principal delicacy of the question would lie in the necessity of inquiring into the causes of the circumstances which were proposed to be brought into discussion; and, for that reason, he would, from his profound respect for every part of the royal family, wish, if possible, to prevent discussion. If the honourable magistrate should determine to proceed, he would, however distressing it might be to him as an individual, discharge his duty to the public, and enter fully into the subject; but he still hoped that, on further reflection, he would forego his intention. On several subsequent days, much irresolution and hesitation were shewn on both sides. To prevent any surmise of mistake, Alderman Newnham disclosed to the House the probable form of his motion. Mr. Pitt, while he professed the utmost good-will toward his Royal Highness, declared that, by the perseverance of the honourable member, he should be driven, though with infinite reluctance, to the disclosure of circumstances which he would otherwise think it his duty to conceal, and avowed his determined and fixed resolution to meet the proposition with an absolute negative. Mr. Rolle, member for Devonshire, had declared, early in the debate, that the intended motion was one of peculiar delicacy, as the discussion would involve a question immediately affecting the constitution in church and state. As the meaning of this intimation could not be misunderstood, Mr. Sheridan expressed the earnest wish of His Royal Highness that no part of his conduct, circumstances, or situation, should be treated with ambiguity, concealment, or affected tenderness; but whatever related to him should be discussed openly, and with fair, manly, and direct examination. He had expected that, long before this, the awkwardness of discussion would have been prevented by relief from another quarter. Some expression used by Mr. Pitt having been construed into an allusion to the matter pointed at by Mr. Rolle, the minister, while he earnestly deprecated the proposed discussion, declared that the particulars to which he referred, related only to the pecuniary situation of the Prince, and to a correspondence which had taken place on that subject, and had no connexion with any extraneous circumstances. Yet every one must be sensible that this correspondence, in itself, must contain matter of a nature too delicate to be a fit subject of public discussion, if it could be avoided. CHAP. LX. 1787. denied by Mr. Fox was absent during this debate; but, when 30th. the Alderman again claimed the attention of the Explicitly House, he asserted, with direct authority from the Mr. Fox. Prince, that there was no part of his conduct, relating either to his debts, or to a late private correspondence, which he wished to be treated with any reserve. With respect to the intimation given by Mr. Rolle, as it was not distinctly explained, it was impossible to say, with any certainty, to what it referred; but he supposed it must be to that miserable calumny, that low, malicious falsehood which had been propagated without doors, and made the wanton sport of the vulgar. In that House, where it was known how frequent and common the falsehoods of the times were, he hoped a tale only fit to impose on the lowest order of persons in the streets would not have gained the smallest portion of credit; but, when it appeared that an invention so monstrous, a report of a fact which had not the slightest foundation, a report of a fact actually impossible to have happened, had been circulated with so much industry as to have made an impression on the minds of members of that house, it proved, at once, the uncommon pains taken by the enemies of his Royal Highness to propagate the grossest and most malignant falsehoods, to injure him in the opinion of his country. Mr. Rolle, expressing a doubt whether Mr. Fox's denial meant more than that, under existing laws, the marriage could not effectually have taken place, Mr. Fox said he did not so deny the calumny, but denied it in toto, in point of fact as well as law. It not only never could have happened legally, but never did happen in any way, and had, from the beginning, been a base and СНАР. 1787. Message from the King. May 4th. 21st. 24th. Address voted. malicious falsehood; and he added, that he spoke ungenerous. Shortly after this debate, it is said that Mr. Fox had an interview with the King, and some correspondence took place between the Prince and Mr. Pitt, with the knowledge and approbation of his Majesty*; and Alderman Newnham declined proceeding, as his motion was no longer necessary. Mr. Pitt declared that he had always considered it unnecessary, but did not see that it was more so at that time than when the notice was given. At length the Chancellor of the Exchequer presented a message from the King, in which he appealed to their liberality and attachment of Parliament. He could not, however, expect or desire assistance, but on a well-grounded expectation that the Prince would avoid contracting new debts. had directed an additional sum of £10,000 per annum to be paid to him out of the civil list; and the Prince had given him the fullest assurances of his firm determination to confine his future expenses within his income; and had settled a plan for arranging them, and fixing an order for payment of his arrears. He On the motion for an address, Mr. Pitt recapitulated the King's assurances, submitted to the House a state of the Prince's affairs, and trusted that, for reasons of feeling and respect, gentlemen would not institute any very strict scrutiny into the detail and nature of that account. By an unanimous vote, the House expressed a full reliance on the assurances which his Majesty had received, and desired him to direct the issue of £161,000 out of the civil list, for payment of From private information. Something on the subject is stated in the Parliamentary History, vol. xxvi. p. 1078. n. ; but no authority is given, nor is it there traced to any authentic source. |