Part 20 (1/2)
CHAPTER V.
[1821.]
EFFECT OF QUEEN CAROLINE'S ILLNESS AND DEATH ON THE KING. HIS NARROW ESCAPE IN THE ROYAL YACHT. HIS VISIT TO IRELAND. ENTRY INTO DUBLIN.
POSITION OF THE KING'S MINISTERS. GEORGE IV. ON THE FIELD OF WATERLOO.
THE KING'S VISIT TO HIS HANOVERIAN DOMINIONS. COALITIONS AND DOUBLE NEGOTIATION. POLITICAL GOSSIP. A NEW CLUB. DISMISSAL OF SIR ROBERT WILSON FROM THE ARMY. PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION FOR HIM.
CHAPTER V.
Intelligence of the serious character of Queen Caroline's malady reached the King, as was stated in the last chapter, when his Majesty was making a yachting excursion, and its effect upon his mind may be gathered from the following extract of a letter written by the King soon after the information had reached him:--
”On Tuesday, at noon, as I had heard nothing from my friend Lord Sidmouth, who had pa.s.sed over to the other coast some hours before, we took up our anchorage here. We had reason to know he had heard the report before he left Holyhead, and it was determined, as the best medium line that could be adopted until I could hear from him, that I should proceed for twelve hours to Lord Anglesea's. Accordingly, I wrote to Lord Sidmouth and Bloomfield to acquaint them with the communication I had received respecting the Queen, to account for the delay in my not proceeding to Ireland, and desiring Lord Sidmouth's advice as to what I had best do, and that he would make all the arrangements which might be necessary under existing circ.u.mstances.
”I returned from Plas Newydd to my yacht here about four o'clock on the next day (Wednesday), and found Lord Sidmouth just disembarked, and ready to receive me. He stayed about two hours with me on board, and then again took his pa.s.sage in the steam-boat, having arranged with me that if the accounts from London of the Queen the next day should represent her to be in an improved state, that then we should set sail as quickly as possible, and land at Dunleary, and make my public _entree_ at Dublin on that day (Friday), although he had already taken measures for a private entry if matters should be worse, as it was utterly impossible for me, under any circ.u.mstances, not to proceed now to Ireland, where public notice would be given that I should observe the strictest privacy for some days, until we were acquainted either with the Queen's recovery or her demise, and till after the body should be interred.
”Lord Londonderry fortunately arrived the next morning, after Lord Sidmouth left me--that is to say, yesterday (Thursday), before seven o'clock in the morning--and has remained with me, and will continue to do so till I have set my foot on the Irish sh.o.r.e. He approved of all the arrangements I had made with Lord Sidmouth as the best possible, and with every view I had taken of the whole circ.u.mstance; and it is now determined that, either in the course of the day, or as soon as possible as the wind and weather will permit (but which at present does not appear very encouraging), we are to set sail either in the yacht alone, or by steam to Ireland; to make Howth (about five miles from Dublin), and to proceed, without any sort of show or display, to the Phoenix Park, without entering or pa.s.sing through Dublin at all. My arrival there will then be publicly announced, and that the strictest privacy for a few days will be observed, as far as proper decency and decorum may require; and that after that the day will be announced when I shall make my public _entree_, and when all public ceremonies and rejoicings will commence.”[67]
[67] Knighton's ”Memoirs,” p. 91.
This careful attention to decency and decorum disproves all the reckless allegations that have been put forward of the King's indifference, or, as some writers have a.s.serted, exultation, when intelligence reached him of the serious nature of the Queen's indisposition. It proceeded further than is indicated in the extract just quoted; for, when he put to sea with the intention of returning to England, his Majesty and all the royal suite had a narrow escape from a watery grave. The scene is thus graphically described by his Majesty's hand:
”We sailed again yesterday morning between four and five o'clock, with a most promising breeze in our favour, to make the Land's End. About two or three in the evening the wind s.h.i.+fted immediately in our teeth, a violent hurricane and tempest suddenly arose, the most dreadful possible of nights and of scenes ensued, the sea breaking everywhere over the s.h.i.+p. We lost the tiller, and the vessel was for some minutes down on her beam-ends; and nothing, I believe, but the undaunted presence of mind, perseverance, experience, and courage of Paget preserved us from a watery grave. The oldest and most experienced of our sailors were petrified and paralysed; you may judge somewhat, then, of what was the state of most of the pa.s.sengers; every one almost flew up in their s.h.i.+rts upon deck in terrors that are not to be described.”[68]
[68] Knighton's ”Memoirs,” p. 94.
In this position the Royal yacht and her amateur sailors must have made a study for a marine painter, than which nothing, we believe, more striking has ever appeared on canvas. The King subsequently sailed on his intended visit to the sister island, and arrived off the coast in due course. On his Majesty's landing, the inhabitants of Dublin and of the neighbourhood, says a chronicler of these events, ”escorted him with the most tumultuous acclamations to the vice-regal lodge, from the steps of which he thus addressed them:--'This is one of the happiest days of my life. I have long wished to visit you. My heart has always been Irish; from the day it first beat I loved Ireland, and this day has shown 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 exalted happiness.'”
”These felicitous expressions,” we are told, ”diffused universal enchantment, and combined with the graceful condescension and dignified affability of manner, which the Sovereign knew so well to exhibit when inclined to do so, roused the loyalty of the people to a perfect enthusiasm. For the week that he remained there, his life was a continued triumph.”[69]
[69] Alison's ”History of Europe,” vol. ii. p. 486.
His stay in the island was marked by a series of loyal demonstrations that could not fail of producing in the mind of his Majesty intense gratification. On the 15th of August the King held a private levee at the Lodge in Phoenix Park, Dublin, at which the princ.i.p.al members of the Irish Government were presented. On the 17th was his public entry into the metropolis, when his progress to the Castle was a scene of devotion such as Dublin had never before exhibited. He re-embarked at Kingston on the 5th of September, but did not quit the Irish sh.o.r.e till three days later. After a stormy pa.s.sage, he returned to English ground at Milford Haven on the 13th, and arrived at Carlton House on the 15th of the same month. Some particulars of this memorable visit hitherto unknown may be found in the following letters.
MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
Englefield Green, Aug. 26, 1821.
MY DEAR LORD,
Not knowing in what part of the world a letter would find you, I have not written. I don't know whether you have heard any of the details from Ireland, but the conduct of the Irish is beyond all conception of loyalty and adulation, and I fear will serve to strengthen those feelings of self-will and personal authority which are at all times uppermost in The Mind. The pa.s.sage to Dublin was occupied in eating goose-pie and drinking whiskey, in which his Majesty partook most abundantly, singing many joyous songs, and being in a state, on his arrival, to double in sight even the numbers of his gracious subjects a.s.sembled on the pier to receive him. The fact was, that they were in the last stage of intoxication.
However, they got him to the Park. Lady C---- has been almost constantly at the Phoenix Park, but has not appeared much in public. He was greatly satisfied at the time with the conduct of Lord Liverpool, &c., on the death of the Queen, and it had reconciled him to them. Whether these sentiments will remain is more than I can say. I think her death a great gain to the Whigs; it relieves them from great embarra.s.sment. The officers of the Guards have sent in to the Duke of York a remonstrance against the conduct of Sir Robert Wilson[70] on the day of the funeral. He has been called upon to give in his answer, which I understand he has done. I have no doubt, on the King's return, he will be dismissed the army, which he ought to be. His conduct was most atrocious, leading and directing the mob.
The King is determined to go to Hanover, and has engaged to be there on the 16th. If this holds good, which I have no doubt it will, nothing will take place till after his return from thence. He wrote to the d.u.c.h.ess of Gloucester from Dublin, full of joy and happiness and spirits. Not a soul in Ireland in mourning. The person most talked of to succeed Lord Hertford is Lord Wellesley.
Lord Stewart does not return to Vienna.[71] Heber gains his election, which I am delighted at, for it was an attempt to shake the interest and strength of Lord Grenville in the University.