Memoirs of the Court of George IV | Page 5

a guinea a-day till she comes, so sure are these that she will come within fifty days; others, again, are taking less than fifty guineas, undertaking to pay a guinea a-day till she comes, so sure are they that she will not come; others assert that they know she will come, and that she will find her way into Westminster Abbey and Westminster Hall on the Coronation, in spite of all opposition. I retain my old opinion that she will not come, unless she is insane."[13]
[13] Twiss's "Life of Eldon," vol. ii. p. 5.
A change of Ministry, Lord Dudley[14] assures us, was talked about more than usual; but, as the Opposition were obliged to confess that they would find great difficulty in establishing a Government, the existing Administration held a tolerably secure tenancy.
[14] "Letters," p. 251. Alison states that attempts were made to form a new Ministry, with Lord Wellesley at the head--"History of Europe," vol. ii. p. 457. This, however, as has been shown (ante p. 9), is incorrect.
An Order in Council was issued for omitting the Queen's name from the Church Service, and other signs appeared, indicating a desire to withhold from her her queenly title. This made a temper, never remarkably tractable, not to be controlled by the dictates of prudence; the old spirit manifested itself in its most spirited form; and she lost no time in letting the world know that she was returning to England to obtain justice for her wrongs. Those who thought they knew her best, considered that vindictive feelings influenced her resolution, and that, with a full knowledge of the inflammable state of public opinion in the British Empire, she had determined on some great work of mischief against the peace of the kingdom and the security of its ruler.
At this period there were many elements of discord in the social community that were acting upon a large and dangerous portion of it, to the prejudice of the Government.[15] Besides the Thistlewood gang, justice was about to dispose of Mr. Orator Hunt and his myrmidons, then awaiting their trial. Sir Charles Wolseley, a baronet, and Joseph Harrison, a preacher, were under prosecution for uttering seditious speeches.[16] Sir Francis Burdett--a more popular tribune--was also at variance with the laws for a scandalous attack on Ministers; in short, every day seemed to bring to light some source of mischief which could not fail to add to the uneasiness of the responsible servants of the Crown. A general election stirred up other noxious ingredients, and during the spring of the year everything seemed to betoken a coming convulsion. At this time the following communication was written:--
[15] Lord Sidmouth's intelligence led him to expect daily a revolutionary movement.--"Life," by Dean Pellew, vol. iii. p. 325.
[16] The minister of religion exceeded the democratic baronet in the violence of his denunciations of the ruling powers, a fair example of which may be found in the following morceau:--"Kings, princes, dukes, lords, commons, parliaments, archbishops, bishops, prelates, rectors, high-constables, constables, sheriffs, deputy-constables and bailiffs, are all corrupt, and the time is near at hand when they will be upset. The people should rise en masse to suppress such a tyrannical Government as the one of this country, and it will not be long, but very soon, that it shall be overturned, and many a bloody battle may be fought, and many a one incarcerated in prison, before it shall be accomplished."
LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
March 29, 1820.
Hunt's conviction is beyond my hope, though it would certainly have been no easy matter for any jury to acquit him, even under the charge such as it is. His motion for a new trial is, I imagine, nothing more than the sort of last resource at which defeated men, whether at elections or trials, always love to catch. It would have been a dreadful thing indeed if it had been established by the result of that trial that the Manchester meeting was, under all its circumstances, a legal assembly.
Alarming as might be considered the aspect of domestic affairs, the Government, so far from betraying apprehension, carried on the business of the country with untiring vigilance and decision. Hunt and five of his associates, after a long trial, were on the 23rd of March, at York, found guilty of unlawfully assembling and inciting to hatred of the Government. On the same day, Sir Francis Burdett was found guilty of uttering a seditious libel. On the 10th of April, Sir Charles Wolseley and Mr. Joseph Harrison were also found guilty of sedition. The most guilty of the Cato Street heroes made their last public appearance at the Old Bailey on the 1st of May; the remainder were expatriated to New South Wales. Thus the supremacy of the law was vindicated; but there still