Volume I Part 21 (2/2)
Leopold now (in July) called upon her majesty, for the first time since her return to this country. His serene highness was announced and ushered into the presence of the mother of his late consort. The queen appeared exceedingly agitated, though her majesty did not urge one word of complaint or inquiry at the delay of the prince's visit. Previous to the departure of Leopold, the queen appeared much embarra.s.sed and affected, and, addressing the prince, said, ”Do you not think that the death of my Charlotte was too sudden to be naturally accounted for? and do you think it not very likely that she died unfairly?” The prince replied, ”I also have my fears; but I do not possess any PROOF of it.”
He then said, ”My suspicions were further excited by the _EXCESSIVE JOY_ the royal family shewed at her death; for the Regent and the Duke of York got DRUNK upon the occasion.” These, we pledge ourselves, were his highness' OWN WORDS, _verbatim et literatim_.
About this time, when the coronation was expected to take place in a few days, her majesty, in writing to one of her firmest friends, said,
”I do not foresee any happy result likely to ensue from my attempting to get into the Abbey; for my own part, I do not think it a prudent step.
My enemies hold the reins of power, and _most_ of my professed friends appear rather shy; so I fear the advice I have received upon the subject. Alderman Wood intends to go in his civic capacity, which, to me, is very unaccountable indeed; for certainly, if I ever required the a.s.sistance and presence of my _real_ friends, it is most probable I shall need both at such a period. I can unbosom myself to you, for _I know you to be my real friend_; believe me, I do not a.s.sure myself that I have another in the whole world! To _you alone_ can I speak freely upon the death of my child and her infant, and I dare tell _you_, I yet hope to see the guilty murderers brought to condign punishment. I say, with Shakespeare,
”'Blood will have blood!
Stones have been known to move, and trees to speak, To bring forth the secret man of blood.'
”Such is my earnest hope; may it yet prove true in the case of my lovely departed daughter. While her remains are dwelling in the gloomy vault of death, her father and his a.s.sociates are revelling in the most abominable debauchery, endeavouring to wash that,--THE FOUL STAIN, THE ETERNAL STAIN,--from their remembrance. Still I live in expectation that the dark deed will be avenged, and the perpetrators meet with their just reward.
”The deep-rolling tide of my enemies' success against me will find a mighty barrier, when all shall be explained, in the simple and unaffected language of truth. Weak and presumptuous as my Lord Liverpool is, I did not believe he would dare to promise one thing, and act the reverse before the world. I did think he was too anxious to retain A NAME for honour, if he merited it not; but I am deceived, and very probably not for the last time. You will sympathize with me; I labour under the pressure of many heavy misfortunes, and also under the provocation of great and acc.u.mulated injustice. Yes, and though so unfortunate, I am scarcely at liberty to lament my cruel destiny. These things frequently hang heavy, very heavy, upon my heart; and I sometimes reflect, with inexpressible astonishment, upon the nerve with which I still bear up under the trying burden. For more than fourteen years I have been a victim to perjury and conspiracy; my enemies were in ambush in the shade, but they aimed at me poisoned arrows; they watched, most eagerly watched, for the moment in which they might destroy me, without its being known who drew the bow, or who shot the shaft. You, my friend, know that I delight in disseminating happiness. My bliss is to diffuse bliss around me; I do not wish misery to be known within the circle of my influence. I covet not the glory arising from the carnage of battle, which fills the grave with untimely dead, or covers the earth with mutilated forms. I wish you distinctly to understand me upon these several subjects. I have not any personal feelings against the king, in my own case. I do a.s.suredly pity his majesty, that he should allow himself to be a tool in the hands of a wicked ministry; but my cause for sorrow is, that he should leave this world without exposing the base schemes formed against the SUCCESSION and LIFE of his royal daughter. If his majesty will make rest.i.tution upon this point, my anxieties would be in some degree relieved, although nothing on this side the grave will ever make any atonement for the loss of such an amiable and well-formed mind. Well indeed may his majesty be afraid to be left alone; well may he discharge all persons from naming the departed child he ought to have protected; at this I do not wonder, for guilt produces terror and dismay.
”I cannot conclude this without adverting again to the pecuniary difficulties I have to endure. For nearly eight years, I have given up fifteen thousand pounds per annum out of the annuity allowed me by parliament. This amounts now to above one hundred thousand pounds; yet, notwithstanding this, I am refused means to live in a respectable style, to say nothing of regal state. All the royal family have had their debts paid, and the Duke of Clarence received his _arrears_. The chancellor of the Exchequer promised I should receive an outfit, if the prosecution against me failed. It did fail; but I have received no outfit at all,--not even the value of one s.h.i.+lling,--so that, of necessity, I am involved in debt to the amount of thirty thousand pounds. How differently was the late Queen Charlotte situated; and, since her demise, more than twenty thousand pounds per annum have been paid in pensions to her numerous and already wealthy household! while I am incapable to acknowledge my real sentiments to those who have been generous to me, even at the expense of being unjust to themselves, unless I do it from borrowed resources.
”You will not feel surprised at these remarks. Alas! I wish it were not in my power to make more serious ones; but I will await, with firmness, the coronation.
”Believe me ever, ”Your faithful and grateful friend, ”C. R.”
Nearly at the same time, the following letter was forwarded to the same friend of the queen, by a professional gentleman, who had for some time been employed to arrange some of her majesty's affairs:
”You may indeed rest a.s.sured that no consideration shall induce me to give up 'The Doc.u.ments' I hold, relative to the queen and her lost, though lamented, daughter, unless you require me to return them to her majesty, or to entrust them into your own care. For, as I obtained them from no other motive than to serve the queen, so I will certainly retain them and use them in this n.o.ble cause, without regard to any personal consideration, or convenience, until that object be fully accomplished; and feeling (as you do) the very great importance of such proofs, I will defy all the power of the enemy to dispute the matter with me. Yet, at the same time, I am very candid to acknowledge, that it is my confident opinion every effort will be used to suppress all testimony which may have a tendency to bring THE FAMILY into disgrace. With whom to trust this business, I am at a loss to determine, as it would no doubt be considered rather a ticklish affair. I have thought of Dr. Lus.h.i.+ngton; but, as you are better acquainted with this learned gentleman's sentiments and opinions upon her majesty's case than I am, I beg to submit the suggestion for your serious deliberation. No time ought to be lost; every thing that CAN be done OUGHT to be done, without delay. The queen is placed in the most serious situation. You ought not to forget, for one moment, that her enemy is her sovereign; and such is the utter absence of principle manifested to this ill.u.s.trious lady since her left-handed marriage with the son of George the Third, that every person must fear for her safety, unless their hearts are hard as adamant, and themselves actors in the villanous tragedy.
”I give my opinion thus boldly, because I know your fidelity to the queen to be unshaken, even amidst all the rude and unmanly clamours raised against her friends by the agents of her tyrannical husband. This is, and ought to be, your satisfactory reflection,--that you have been faithful to this innocent and persecuted queen, from _principle alone_.
'Honourable minds will yield honourable meed,' and to such you are justly ent.i.tled. To-morrow evening, I intend to give you further intelligence, as I am now going out for the purpose of meeting an especial enemy of her majesty, by whose rancour I may judge the course intended.
”I have the honour to be,”
&c. &c. &c. ******.
Continuation from the same to the same, two days after the foregoing.
”I am sorry to say my fears were not groundless, as I learn, from the first authority, that the king has changed his opinion, and the queen will not be allowed to enter the Abbey. The seat provided is otherwise disposed of. If her majesty's attorney and solicitor generals would _now_, without any loss of time, press 'The Doc.u.ments' upon the notice of the ministers, either by pet.i.tion or remonstrance, I think the ceremony would be postponed, and justice be finally administered to the queen. But if they delay this, they may a.s.sure themselves the cause of their royal mistress will be lost for ever. Her majesty's proofs are too astounding to be pa.s.sed over in silence; they would forcibly arouse the guilty, and SUCH FACTS at SUCH A TIME ought to be instantly published. I should not express myself with such ardour upon these solemn points, if I had not made myself most minutely acquainted with every bearing of the subject; and I give you my decisive _legal opinion_, that 'The Doc.u.ments' in question contain a simple statement of facts, which no judge, however instructed, and no jury, however selected, or packed, could refute. If, however, fear should get the better of duty, I do not doubt sooner or later the country will have cause to repent the apathy of those individuals who were most competent to do, or cause justice to be done to this shamefully injured queen.
”I have not entered upon these opinions from interested views, and I am well convinced your motives do not savour of such baseness; but as disinterestedness is a scarce virtue, and so little cultivated in this boasted land of liberty, I warn you to avoid the ensnaring inquiries of those by whom you may most probably be a.s.sailed.
”I also must remind you that, at the present moment, her majesty is watched in all directions. Major Williams is employed by the government to be a spy upon all occasions, and drove his carriage with four grey horses to Epsom last races, and remained upon the ground until the queen drove away. At this time, he occupied an elegantly furnished house in Sackville-street. P. Macqueen, M. P., a protege of Lord Liverpool's, was doubtless the person who arranged the business with the premier. If this be considered dubious information, I will forward you PROOFS which will set the matter at rest.
”I scarcely need tell you that the case of her majesty is one unprecedented in history, and unheard of in the world. The king and his ministers have resolved upon her destruction, and if the royal sufferer be not destroyed by the first plans of attempt, I indeed fear she will fall a victim to similar plans, which, I doubt not, are in a forward stage of preparation against her; and how can the queen escape from the grasp of such powerful and dishonourable a.s.sailants? All their former arrangements and stratagems, to which they subscribed, failed, decidedly failed; but the malignity which instigated those plans will, without any question, furnish materials for new charges, and supply the needful reserve to complete the destruction of a lady, whose talents are envied, whose knowledge of affairs in general is deemed too great, and whose information upon FAMILY SECRETS render her an enemy to be feared.
”I see in this mysterious persecution against the queen, the intended annihilation of the rights and privileges of the nation at large; and I, therefore, protest against the innovation. I argue, that which was unconst.i.tutional and unprincipled in William the Third is equally dangerous and unconst.i.tutional in George the Fourth! If such unprecedented injustice be allowed in the case of her majesty, where must we look for an impartial administration of justice? and how may we reasonably expect that violence will not be offered, if other means fail, to accomplish the intended mischief? In case of indisposition, what may not occur! May not the life of her majesty be in the greatest jeopardy, and may not a few hours terminate her mortal existence? These are questions of vital importance; they do not only materially affect the queen, but, through the same medium, they most seriously relate to every individual of the community; and, if the const.i.tution is not to be entirely destroyed, the queen must be honourably saved from the overpowering grasp of her relentless oppressors. Her majesty reminds me of the words of Seneca: 'She is struggling with the storms of Adversity, and rising superior to the frowns of Persecution; this is a spectacle that even the G.o.ds themselves may look down upon with envy.'
”I verily believe that bold and energetic measures might set this question at rest for ever, but time lost is lost for ever; and, in my opinion, retribution can only slumber for a short period. I beg and entreat you not to be subdued or deterred by the arrogance of inconsistent power. The nation is insulted, the independence of the country is insulted; its morality and patience have been outraged!
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