Memoirs of the Court of George IV | Page 9

my arrival, I found that the Chapter had been postponed; and as
the King goes to Windsor this evening for the Ascot races, I suppose
some days will elapse before the Chapter can take place. I was
informed, however, from good authority, that the King will offer the
Garter to your Lordship.
Sincerely hoping that you will not decline the offer, I shall be anxious
to attend on the day of your investiture; and I should be much obliged
to you if you would apprise me of it as soon as you know it. I shall, of
course, receive the usual summons; but I should grieve to be out of the
way when it might reach this place.
Always, my dear Lord,
Yours most sincerely,
WELLESLEY.
CHAPTER II.
[1820.]

ARRIVAL OF QUEEN CAROLINE AT ST. OMER. HER
DEMANDS. ABORTIVE NEGOTIATIONS. INTERPOSITION OF
MR. WILBERFORCE TO AVERT THE THREATENED SCANDAL.
QUEEN CAROLINE IN LONDON. SHE REFUSES THE
CONCESSIONS PROPOSED BY THE GOVERNMENT AND THE
PROPOSALS OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. UNPOPULARITY
OF MR. WILBERFORCE. POLICY OF THE QUEEN'S ADVISERS.
PUBLIC EXCITEMENT. MOB ROUND THE QUEEN'S
RESIDENCE. DISSATISFACTION OF THE KING.
CHAPTER II.
On the 1st of June, Caroline of Brunswick arrived at St. Omer,
intending to embark at Calais without delay for England. At once she
showed her disposition to carry matters with a high hand. She wrote an
imperious letter to the Earl of Liverpool, to prepare a palace in London
for her reception; another to Lord Melville, to send a yacht to carry her
across the Channel to Dover; and a third to the Duke of York, repeating
both demands, and complaining of the treatment she had received. Two
days later, Mr. Brougham, her chief legal adviser, arrived, and at the
same time Lord Hutchinson, with a proposition from the King, offering
her 50,000l. a year for life if she would remain on the Continent, and
surrender the title of Queen of England. She was in no mood to listen to
reason, and indignantly rejected the offer.
The rumour of the Queen's approach created extraordinary excitement
among all classes in every part of the kingdom. The Lord Chancellor
prophetically says, "If she can venture, she is the most courageous lady
I ever heard of. The mischief, if she does come, will be infinite. At first,
she will have extensive popularity with the multitude; in a few short
months or weeks, she will be ruined in the opinion of all the world."[20]
"One can't help admiring her spirit," observes the moral Wilberforce,
"though I fear she has been very profligate."[21] From such a man there
might have been expected a severer judgment on her immorality, and a
more subdued appreciation of her daring; but this evidence of "spirit"
was an appeal to the English people which many a grave father of a
family found it impossible to resist. Mr. Wilberforce, however, much to

his credit, was earnestly desirous of lessening the threatened scandal,
and diminishing the public commotion it was likely to create. He writes
in his Diary,--"When, therefore, Lord Castlereagh had made a motion
to refer the papers to the consideration of a Secret Committee, I
endeavoured to interpose a pause, during which the two parties might
have an opportunity of contemplating coolly the prospect before them.
Accordingly I sounded the House; my proposition was immediately
adopted, and a pause was made, with a declaration that its purpose was
to give opportunity for a private settlement."[22]
[20] Twiss's "Life of Lord Eldon," vol. ii. p. 3.
[21] "Wilberforce's Life," by his Sons, vol. v. p. 55.
[22] Ibid.
As no Royal yacht was likely to be at her disposal, Queen Caroline lost
no time in embarking, crossed the sea safely, pursued her route to the
metropolis through Canterbury, and, passing through vociferous
crowds, on the 7th, in default of the palace she had ordered, took up her
residence with a City alderman, who had placed himself among the
foremost of her champions. From this time the agitation in the public
mind hourly increased, till it began to assume a most threatening aspect.
Nothing was left undone by the Queen to ingratiate herself with the
people; and, as a natural result, she never appeared publicly without
creating intense excitement. When in the streets, her horses were taken
from her carriage, and she was drawn in triumph, by scores of shouting
adherents, through a clamorous mob. Before the alderman's house in
South Audley Street stood hour after hour a shouting myriad, excited to
a pitch of frenzy to which no description can do justice, by the
appearance on the balcony of a stout lady, in a large hat surmounted by
a plume of feathers.
On the day of her arrival in town, the King sent a message to the
Houses of Lords and