The Greville Memoirs - Volume I
|
A
JOURNAL
OF THE
REIGN OF KING
GEORGE THE FOURTH
Queen Charlotte - Duchesses of
Cumberland and Cambridge -Westminster Election - Contest between Sir
Francis Burdett and Sir Murray Maxwell - London Election-Oatlands - The
Duke of York - Duchess of York - Ampthill -Tixall - Mr. Luttrell - Lady
Granville -Teddesley - Macao - Burleigh - Middleton - Lady Jersey -The
New Parliament -Tierney and Pitt - Princess Lieven -Madame de Stael on
the French Revolution - Westminster Election - Hobhouse defeated -
Scarlett's Maiden Speech - Influence of Party - Play - The Persian
Ambassador at Court -Prince Leopold - Woburn - Anecdote of the Allies -
Death of George III. - Illness of George IV. - Queen Caroline - Fleury
de Chabaulon - The Cato Street Conspiracy - George IV. at Ascot
-Marchioness of Conyngham - Queen Caroline in London - Message to
Parliament - Debates - Insubordination in the Guards -Wilberforce's
Motion - Proceedings against the Queen -' Les Liaisons dangereuses' -
The Queen's Trial - The Duke of Wellington on the Battle of"Waterioo
and the Occupation of Paris.
I BEGAN to keep a Joumal some time ago, and, after continuing it
irregularly, dropped it entirely. I have since felt tempted to resume
it, because, having frequent opportunities of mixing in the society of
celebrated men, some particulars about them might be interesting
hereafter .
June 7th, 1818.---The
dissolution of Parliament is deferred on account of the mistakes which
have been made in passing the Alien Bill. On Friday night the
exultation of the Opposition (end of page 1)
was very great at what they deemed a
victory over the Ministers. It is said that there will be 100 contests,
and that Government will lose twenty or thirty members. The Queen was
so ill on Friday evening that they expected she would die. She had a
severe spasm.(1)
The Duchess of Cambridge(2)
has been received in a most flattering manner here, and it is
said that the Duchess of Cumberland is severely mortified at the
contrast between her reception and that of her sister-in-law. On the
Sunday after her arrival the Duke took her to walk in the Park, when
she was so terrified by the pressure of the mob about her that she
nearly fainted away.
The Regent drives in the Park every day in a tilbury, with his groom
sitting by his side; grave men are shocked at this undignified
practice.
June 21st.---
l dined at
Holland House last Thursday. The party consisted of Lord Lansdowne, Mr.
Frere, and Mrs. Tierney and her son. After dinner Mr. Frere repeated to
us a great deal of that part of 'Whistlecraft' which is not yet
published. (3)
I laughed whenever I could, but as I have never read the first part,
and did not understand the second, I was not so much amused as the rest
of the company.
On Friday 1 went to the Stud-house, where a great party (end of page 2)
was assembled to see the stock
and buy them. After visiting the paddocks, Bloomfield(4)
gave a
magnificent dinner to the. company in a tent near the house; it was the
finest feast I ever saw, but the badness of the weather spoilt the
entertainment.
The Queen's illness was occasioned by information which she received of
the Duchesses of Cumberland and Cambridge having met and embraced. This
meeting took place as if by accident, but really by appointment, in Kew
Gardens; and the Duke of Cambridge himself informed the Queen of it.
She was in such a rage that the spasm was brought on, and she was very
near dying.
June 24th.--- The elections are carried on
with great violence, and
every day we hear of fresh contests being in agitation. The disgraceful
scenes which have taken place in Westminster excite universal shame and
indignation. The mob seem to have shaken off the feelings and the usual
character of Englishmen, and in the brutal attacks which they have made
on Captain Maxwell have displayed the savage ferocity which marked the
mobs of Paris in the worst times. He has been so much hurt that his
life is now in danger. Sir F. Burdett told me this morning that as soon
as he was at the head of the poll he thought he should appear upon the
hustings and thank the people for having raised him thus high. It is
supposed that Burdett has laid out 10,000l. on this election, though
his friends do not acknowledge that he has spent anything. It is clear
that the open houses, cockades, and bands of music we have seen these
three days were not procured for nothing.
Lord Castlereagh went to the hustings, and voted for Sir Murray
Maxwell; he was hooted, pelted, and got off with some difficulty. His
Lordship's judgement was not very conspicuous (end of page 3)
on this occasion; both Sir Murray's friends and enemies are of opinion
that Lord Castlereagh's vote did him a great deal of harm and turned
many men against him. The severest contests will be in Wiltshire,
Herefordshire, Devonshire, and Lincolnshire. The elections are going
against Government generally; in London particularly, as the Ministers
lose one seat in the Borough and two in the City. This last election is
the most unexpected of all. Curtis has been member for twenty-eight
years, and has been used to come in very high on the poll. On this
occasion the contest between him and Alderman Thorpe was severe, but
Curtis would have carried it had not Wood and Waithman coalesced with
Thorpe the last day, and thrown their spare votes over to him; this
determined the election in his favour.(5)
June
3oth.---There was an affray yesterday afternoon in Covent
Garden. Sir Murray Maxwell's people paraded about· a large boat
drawn by six horses. Burdett's mob attacked and demolished the boat,
and this action having raised their spirits, the contest continued. The
consequence was that a large party of Horse Guards were marched into
Covent Garden, and paraded there during the rest of the night. The
people expressed their discontent by cries of 'This is what they call
freedom of election!' 'Burdett for ever !' &c.(6)
August 4th.-I
went to Oatlands(7)
on Saturday. There was a very large party --- Mr. and Mrs. Burrell,
Lord Alvanley, Berkeley Craven, Cooke, Arthur Upton, Armstrong, Foley,
Lord Lauderdale, Lake, Page, Lord Yarmouth. We played at whist till
four in the morning. On Sunday we amused ourselves with eating fruit in
the garden, and shooting at a mark with pistols, (end of page 4)
and
playing with monkeys.
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Footnotes
(1)
[Queen
Charlotte, consort of George III., died on the 17th of November of this
year, 1818.]
(2)
[Prince Adolphus Frederick, Duke of Cambridge, seventh
son of George III., married on the 7th of May, 1818, Augusta Wilhelmina
Louisa, Princess of Hesse, youngest daughter of the Landgrave of
Hesse-Cassel. Ernest, Duke of Cumberland, the King's fifth son, married
on the 29th of August, 1815, at Strelitz, the Princess Frederica, third
daughter of the Duke or Mecklenburg-Strelitz. This lady had been twice
married before, first to Prince Frederic Louis Charles of Prussia, and
secondly to the Prince of Salms-Braunfels. As the Duchess of Cumberland
had been divorced from her last husband, the Queen received her with
great coldness; and the position in which she was placed contrasted
strongly with that of the Duchess of Cambridge on her marriage.]
(3)
[The whole poem of
'Whistlecraft' has since been republished in the collected works of the
Right Hon. Hookham Frere.]
(4) [Sir Benjamin Bloomfield filled the
offices of Marshal and Chief Equerry to the Regent, and in 1817 he
became Receiver-General of the Duchy of Cornwall and Keeper of the
Privy Purse to the Prince. The Stud-house of Hampton. Court had been
given him as a residence. He was raised to the peerage in 1825.]
(5)
[Sir William Curtis was the Ministerial candidate in the City of
London: he was thrown out, and Messrs. Wood, Waithman, Wilson, and
Thorpe were returned.]
(6)
[The Westminster election
terminated as follows:--- Sir Samuel Romilly, 5,339; Sir Francis
Burdett, 5,238; Sir Murray Maxwell, 4,808; Henry Hunt, 84.]
(7)
[Oatlands Park, Weybridge, at that time the residence of the Duke of
York.]
[SECTION 2]