Volume II Part 1 (2/2)

No one was suffered to approach the queen but the king's physicians, _except in their presence_, though her majesty most anxiously asked for William Austin, saying, ”How odd it is that he never comes near me;” in the meanwhile, he was weeping bitterly outside the door, but was always told, either ”the queen is asleep,” or else, ”too ill to see him.” Her majesty's sufferings must have been dreadful, and they seemed to come on periodically, when her cries could be heard in all the adjacent rooms, and then it appeared that the doctors _dosed_ her with laudanum, which, of course, added to the CONSTIPATION of her bowels, as well as rendered her quite insensible when her friends did see her. Her majesty seemed most partial to Dr. Holland, who sat up with her every night, till Sat.u.r.day, when she was a little better; but, being called to town, he left her majesty under the care of Dr. Ainslie, we think. Next morning, being Sunday, her majesty got up and dressed herself, and sat in her chair. Either in the night or in the morning, Dr. Ainslie brought her majesty a draught to take, which the queen dashed out of his hand, in a very marked manner, spilt it, and said, ”I am well; do you not see I am well, Sir? I want no physic.” At which, Dr. Ainslie felt somewhat offended, as well he might.

On the Sunday before her death, her majesty said, ”I should much like to take the sacrament; and I desire that the clergyman who does the duty at Hammersmith may be sent for to administer it.” Application was immediately made; but the gentleman said, ”I cannot administer it, without leave from the rector, who is now at Richmond.” A messenger went to Richmond, and found that the rector had gone to dine in London, and that the clergyman must either go there to him, or solicit permission from the king's ministers! Notwithstanding this unfeeling piece of tyranny, her majesty said, ”I do not doubt but my intentions will be accepted by G.o.d, the same as if I had been permitted to receive it.” The queen was truly an example of patience and resignation, for she never repined, not even in her most agonizing moments. Her majesty, alas! too well knew she must eventually be the VICTIM OF TYRANNY.

Let every thinking being contrast the profession of Christianity with the contemptible procedure set forth in the anecdote just related. At the time her majesty requested to receive the sacrament, she believed herself near death; and, in accordance with the sentiments and doctrines of the Church of England, she very naturally desired to express her reliance on the Saviour by receiving this ordinance; yet even this gratification was denied her, until she was sinking into the embrace of death! This disgraceful circ.u.mstance is almost without a parallel in the annals of persecution. A virtuous and n.o.ble-minded queen, lying on the bed of death, which had been prepared for her by the hand of cruel and ill-judged Malignity, was refused this last comfort of religion; while a felon, who may have imbued his hands in the blood of his fellow-creature, is allowed to receive this emblem of salvation previous to his transition from time to eternity! Here, then, is sufficient to inform ”The Many” of the policy of the ”Established Church.” May we not ask how far the English clergy are removed from Popery? as it is evident that the attentions of a rector or a bishop (under the crown) are equally difficult to be obtained as the Catholics believe those of St. Peter to be!

In contemplating the above exposure of malice, many questions naturally suggest themselves; for instance, What could prevent the curate's _immediate attention_ to the wish of the dying queen? for had even the meanest paris.h.i.+oner desired it, HE MUST have attended to the request.

What was meant by asking leave of ”the rector, or the king's ministers,”

who were at some distance from the abode of sorrow? Was it not intended to add fresh insults to injuries already too deep? Did the ministry think thereby to prevent an _encroachment_ upon his majesty's comforts in the world to come, (as he had declared, that he never again would meet the queen) and, by refusing the outward rites of the church, shut the door of hope in the sufferer's face?

Her majesty, in her agony, frequently exclaimed, ”I know I am dying,--THEY HAVE KILLED ME AT LAST! but I forgive all my enemies, even Dumont,” her maid Brunette's sister, who had done her majesty the greatest injury,--”I charge you (turning to her maid Brunette) to tell her so.” Brunette and her majesty's maitre d'hotel, Hyronemus, wished to marry. Her majesty called them to her, and joined their hands over her body, (one standing on each side of the couch) and charged Hyronemus to be kind to Brunette. Her majesty then told them, she had left them all her linen (by right, belonging to her lady in waiting) and two of her carriages. On Tuesday, her majesty became much worse, and moaned terribly with pain, from four o'clock till ten at night, when she rapidly grew weaker, till Dr. Holland, with the awful watch in his hand, feeling her pulse, at last closed her majesty's eyelids, and declared ”All is over!”

Malice and Crime had now done their worst; the fatal blow had been struck, and Caroline, the injured and innocent Queen of England was for ever relieved from her despicable and heartless persecutors!

”O, what a n.o.ble mind was here o'erthrown!”

Every person now left the room, except Dr. Lus.h.i.+ngton (one of the executors) and Lady Hamilton. Dr. Lus.h.i.+ngton said, ”You, my lady, or Lady Hood, must not quit the body.” Lady Hamilton replied, ”Then, sir, let it be me.” Shortly afterwards, the alderman and Mrs. Wood went into the chamber of death, the alderman offering the services of his wife to a.s.sist in the last sad duties to the lamented queen. In the interval, Brunette, the queen's maid, said that her majesty had desired no one might go near her body except herself; and Dr. Lus.h.i.+ngton complied with the request. Lady Hamilton observed, Brunette was not strong enough to move the body; Brunette, therefore, chose the _housemaid_ to a.s.sist her.

Shortly afterwards, Dr. Lus.h.i.+ngton requested Lady Hamilton's presence again; and, upon her appearance in the gloomy chamber, said, ”Now, you must remain here; and promise me not to lift up the sheet which covers the body, or permit any one else to do so.” Lady Hamilton promised; when very soon afterwards Mrs. Wood went into the room, as she said, ”to have a peep.” Lady Hamilton prevented it, saying, she had given her word, and Mrs. Wood must therefore desist. The body, very speedily after life was extinct, became much discoloured, and, though it was washed and prepared for the grave-clothes in less than two hours after the decease, it exhibited a very great change, as well as being much swollen. The housemaid who a.s.sisted Brunette to prepare her majesty for the grave-clothes, said, the body turned quite BLACK before their task was finished, and swelled exceedingly, and on the following Thursday became quite offensive, when the leaden coffin arrived. On the Monday after, the rooms were lighted up, and hung with black, for her majesty _to lie in state_! Oh! sad mockery to her persecuted remains!

The housemaid, who helped Brunette to lay her majesty out, was quite disgusted at the unfeeling manner in which Brunette performed this sad duty; for she tossed the body about most indecently; and, when remonstrated with for such behaviour, said, ”La! I mind her no more than an old hen!!!” The morning after her majesty's death, Lady Anne Hamilton's own maid went creeping into Brunette's room, expecting to find some show of grief, at least, for the loss of so good a mistress.

What, then, was her astonishment to find her up, dressed, and in the highest spirits! ”I never was so happy,” said she, ”in all my life. I can now get up when I like, go to bed when I like, and do every thing as I like!”

Previous to the funeral, some difficulty arose from an uncertainty _where_ the deceased queen had kept her cash; and, without any ceremony, Mr. Wilde took up her majesty's watch, (the one presented by the inhabitants of Coventry, and which was very valuable) and said, ”I will advance forty pounds, and return the watch when the money is paid!!!”

Yet, at the time of her majesty's death, she must have been in possession of fourteen or fifteen hundred pounds! because Mr. Obequina had advanced the queen, but a few days before her death, the sum of two thousand pounds; and it was an indisputable fact, that not more than four or five hundred pounds had been expended out of this sum. The queen deposited this money where she always kept her trinkets, in a small blue box. In this box also her majesty frequently kept the Coventry watch, (which she seldom wore) as well as two miniature pictures of herself.

This identical box, the executors gave into the care of Lord Hood; but he very properly refused to receive it, until they locked it and took the key. Dr. Lus.h.i.+ngton promised one of the miniatures to Lady Hamilton, and the other to William Austin, the protege of the ill-fated queen; but, up to this period, such promise has not been fulfilled in either case.

It is well known that the queen, in her jocular moments, used to say, ”They did not like my young bones, so they shall not have my old ones;”

and, in her last illness, her majesty unfortunately added, ”and that as soon as possible.” This formed an excuse for the tools of George the Fourth to hurry her funeral beyond all decorum; as, in one single week after her majesty's death, did Lord Liverpool order that all the cavalcade should be ready. The route was chalked out, and strict orders given that, on no account, was the procession to go through the city; but every avenue was so choked up and barricaded by overturned coaches, carts, and rubbish, that they were _obliged_, at Piccadilly, to turn through Hyde Park; and, at c.u.mberland Gate, the scene of bloodshed commenced. We observed a pool of blood in the gateway, and a woman with her face all over blood, and two men lying dead. The people had pulled down the wall and railing for a hundred yards opposite Connaught-place; and the horse-soldiers (the Blues, we think) were pursuing the unarmed mult.i.tude down the park. A spent ball had fallen _very near the hea.r.s.e_, and a gentleman in the retinue got off his horse, picked it up, and said, ”This will be proof against them.” At last Sir Robert Wilson, being a military man, rode up to the soldiers, and contrived to end the combat. The procession was then suffered to pa.s.s quietly along Edgeware and the New Roads till it came opposite to Portland-road, when the same obstructions of overturned carts, waggons, &c., prevented the cavalcade from continuing along the City-road, or turning into _any street_ eastward, until it arrived at Temple Bar, when it turned into the city, to the great joy and acclamations of the millions of people who had followed, and who had lined the streets, windows, and tops of houses, although it rained in torrents, and the well-dressed women who attended were ancle deep in mud; nor did the people gradually drop away till the procession had entirely left the suburbs of London.

Sir George Naylor, king at arms, had his instructions where they should rest each night. The delays in London had been so many, that they were obliged (to fulfil orders) to travel at _full trot_ to Ilford, where the procession arrived a little after six o'clock in the evening, having been more than twelve hours in performing this first stage of the journey. We pa.s.s over the insulting orders of Lord Liverpool, in their _minute detail_, and only advert to that part of them wherein he states to Mr. Bailey, the undertaker, that the body was to reach Harwich the second night. Various disgraceful altercations took place during the several stoppages on the road; and the mourners were treated similarly to their departed mistress. At length the sea opened upon their view; and the most prominent object upon it was the ”Glasgow” frigate, stationed at some distance from Languard Fort. The procession arrived at Harwich, on Thursday, at half-past eleven, at which place, not even a single hour was allowed for retirement or repose; for the order was almost immediately given, that the coffin should be taken to the quay, and from thence lowered by a crane into a small barge. This was not accomplished without great difficulty, the coffin being extremely heavy.

Four men rowed the boat to the side of the ”Glasgow,” which was waiting to receive the remains of England's injured queen. Sir G. Naylor and his secretary, with Mr. Bailey, accompanied it, and added the sad mockery of laying a paltry crown upon the coffin. The ladies and the rest of the suite followed in boats. At this moment, the first gun was fired from the fort. Such was the indelicate hurry and rude touch of the persons engaged in the removal of the royal coffin, that before it was received on board the ”Glasgow,” the crimson velvet was torn in many places, and hung in slips. When the boat reached the ”Pioneer” schooner, the coffin was hoisted on board, the crown and cus.h.i.+on were laid upon it, and the pall was thrown out of the boat to a sailor on deck, by one of the three gentlemen who had it in charge, with no more ceremony than if it had been his cloak. Before it could possibly be announced that the corpse was safe on deck, the sailors were busily employed in unfurling the sails, and in less then ten minutes the ”Pioneer” was under sail, to join the ”Glasgow” frigate. The body and the mourners were at length received on board the ”Glasgow,” and here followed perplexity upon perplexity. The captain had not been informed of the probable number in this melancholy procession, and was incompetent to set before them sufficient food, or furnish them with suitable accommodation. Corn beef was therefore their daily fare; and hammocks, slung under the guns, were the beds a.s.signed to the gentlemen, while the ladies were very little better provided for in the confined cabins. The coffin was placed in a separate cabin, guarded by soldiers, and with lights continually burning. On the 19th of August, the ”Glasgow” appeared before the port at Cuxhaven; and, as she drew too much water to get up the Stade, she resigned her charge to the ”Wye,” commanded by Captain Fisher.

On Monday evening, the 20th, the remains of the Queen of England were landed at Stade. The coffin, _without pall_, or _covering of any kind_, was brought up the creek, a distance of three miles, the mourners following in boats. On their arrival at the quay, no preparation had been made for receiving the body on sh.o.r.e, and had it not been for the sympathy of the inhabitants of the place, the coffin must have been laid upon the _earth_; but they were so impressed with the necessity of paying regard to decency, and so incensed against the heartless and abominable conduct manifested towards the queen, that they, as if by one consent, brought out their tables and chairs, to afford an elevation for the coffin from the ground; and thus a kind of platform was raised, on which it was protected from further injury. After a short delay, arising from want of due notice having been given of the arrival of the procession, the citizens of the town, headed by the magistrates and priests, proceeded to meet it. The coffin was then taken up, and carried into the church, which was lighted, and partially hung with black. A solemn anthem was sung, accompanied by the deep-toned organ; after which the numberless crowd retired, leaving the royal corpse to the care of those who were appointed to watch over it. Early the next day the procession departed for Buxtehude. About a quarter of a mile from this town, it was met by the citizens and magistrates, who attended it, bareheaded, to the church, where the royal remains were deposited for the night. On the ensuing day, the 22nd, the procession was met on its entrance into Saltan, by the authorities, in the same manner as before named. On the 23d, it reached Celle, where the coffin was carried into the great church of the city, and placed upon the tomb of the unfortunate sister of George the Third, Matilda, Queen of Denmark. On the 24th, the procession was met at Offau, by Count Aldenslaben, the grand chamberlain of the court, and arrangements were made, that the funeral should take place at midnight. The mourners were immediately to proceed to Brunswick, and the funeral procession to follow, so as to arrive by ten the same night at the gates of the city, there to be met by the mourners; but further delay of interment than this was strictly forbidden. At the appointed hour, the last stage of the cavalcade commenced. On a near approach to the church, whose vaults were to receive the remains of this royal victim, the children of a school (founded and supported by a lady of truly patriotic principles) walked before the hea.r.s.e, strewing flowers on the road. Arriving at the church, the Brunswick soldiers demanded the privilege to bear the remains of their beloved princess through the church to the vault, in which were deposited those of her ill.u.s.trious ancestors. This being granted, the corpse was borne by as many of them as could stand under the coffin into the abode of death. It was then placed upon an elevation in the centre of the vault, which had previously been prepared for its reception, and where it will remain until another occupy its place; her majesty's coffin will then be removed to the s.p.a.ce appointed for it.

After an oration had been delivered in German, the curtain was drawn over our persecuted and destroyed queen. The mourners retired, and the a.s.sembled crowds dispersed, shortly after two o'clock.

It may possibly be asked, ”Did not the nephew of the queen (the son of her brother, the late duke) meet the funeral, and follow it to the last abode of royalty?” To the eternal disgrace of George the Fourth, this youth was not permitted to do so. The kingdom of Brunswick was governed by two commissioners, under the controul of the King of England, and the young prince had been commanded to leave Brunswick previous to the ceremony of the interment of his aunt! The inhabitants of Brunswick had also been ordered to keep within their houses, to shut their windows, and not to appear upon the occasion. This imperious order was generally attended to. One gentleman, however, was independent and n.o.ble-minded enough to furnish flambeaux to be carried before and on each side of the procession, until it had reached the church. Every expression of the inhabitants indicated how much they were attached to the Princess of Brunswick, and the more superior and well-informed part of the community mourned that her days had been blighted by the delusive prospects held out to her family, in her alliance to the heir-apparent of England. The Brunswickers were afraid to express their sentiments in public companies; but, privately, they could not suppress their opinions, that ”it was very strange not the least notice of the funeral had been communicated to them until the evening previous to the ceremony.”

These unconst.i.tutional and vindictive arrangements for the queen's funeral will ever be considered an indelible stain on the characters of those who concocted them. The law enacts that the dead shall be carried the nearest way to the place of interment; but the ”notorious government” laid all possible restrictions in this case, and, in short, offered every indignity to the departed. If the English people had been resolute, and the lord mayor but consented, the body might have been taken into the Mansion-House, and the corpse EXAMINED, previous to its being taken from London, as considerable suspicion was caused by the unusual privacy and secrecy required immediately after her majesty's demise. The lord mayor (Thorpe) was the acknowledged friend of the queen, and ought not to have demurred to the generally-expressed opinion upon this subject.

It was rather a peculiar circ.u.mstance that George the Fourth should have _contrived_ so well to be out of the way of death, both in his daughter's and his consort's case! But the prerogatives of royalty are numerous as well as _unnatural_, particularly when exercised by DESPOTIC PRINCES, who live only for their own gratification, and with whom the good of the people is an unimportant consideration. When the tidings of her majesty's death were communicated to her heartless husband by Lord Londonderry, the royal yacht was lying in Holyhead roads. Etiquette prevented the landing of the king while the unburied remains of his consort were upon English ground; therefore, despatches were forwarded to cause the first lord of the Treasury to press for an early removal of the body of the queen, in order that facility might be given to the landing of the king in Ireland.

After paying this _formal_ attention to the awful intelligence he had received, his majesty landed at Howth, and, as soon as he had reached the viceregal lodge, addressed the gaping mult.i.tude in the following _eloquent_ speech:

”_My Lords and Gentlemen, and my good Yeomanry_,

”I cannot express to you the gratification at the kind and warm reception I have met with on this day of my landing amongst my Irish subjects. I am obliged to you, _very much_ obliged to you; I am _particularly_ obliged by your escorting me to my _very_ door. I may not be able to express my feelings as I wish. I have travelled far; _that is_, I have made a long _sea voyage_; I have sailed down the English Channel, and sailed up the Irish Channel; and I have _landed_ from a _steam boat_; besides which, _particular circ.u.mstances_ have occurred, known to you all, of which it is BETTER, at present, _not to speak_ (alluding to the queen's sudden death) upon these subjects. I leave it to your DELICATE and _generous hearts_ to APPRECIATE MY FEELINGS! However, I can a.s.sure you that THIS IS THE HAPPIEST DAY OF MY LIFE! I have long wished to visit you; my heart has always been IRIs.h.!.+ From the day it first beat, I have loved Ireland. This day has shewn me, that I am beloved by my Irish subjects. _Rank, station, honours, are nothing_; but to _feel_ that I _live_ in the hearts of my _Irish subjects_ is, to me, the most _exalted happiness_!

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