CHAPTER XXXII.

{GEORGE IV. 1820–1821}

Accession of George IV...... Declaration of the King, &c. Dissolution of Parliament..... Cato-Street Conspiracy..... Meeting of Parliament..... Bills for amending the Criminal Code..... Education Bill..... Motion for a Committee on the Corn Laws..... Motion for a Committee respecting Free Trade..... The Civil List, &c. Message respecting the Queen..... Trial of the Queen.

ACCESSION OF GEORGE IV.

{A.D. 1820}

GEORGE IV. had long governed the empire, so that the acquisition of the crown effected no other change than that of the title of regent to king. The assumption of this new dignity, however, was followed by perplexities of great magnitude. He had long repudiated his wife, now Queen Caroline, and she had been living in foreign lands as an exile. This step had alienated the affections of his people from him; and at his accession to the throne, when he was induced to extend the limits of the hostility he had displayed towards his consort, they became, out of sympathy for an injured and helpless female, still more embittered against him. His accession to the throne, however, gave Caroline an opportunity of retaliation, which, as will be seen, she was not backward in exercising.

DECLARATION OF THE KING, ETC.

The first public act of the new king was to summon a council, at which the emblems of office, having been surrendered by the officers of the crown, were immediately restored to their former possessors. His majesty then made a declaration, in which, after having alluded to the demise of his father, and his own long exercise of the royal prerogative, he remarked that “nothing but the support which he had received from parliament and the country, in times most eventful and circumstances most arduous, could inspire him with that confidence which his present situation demanded.” He added, that he trusted the experience of the past would satisfy all classes of his people, that it would ever be his desire to promote their prosperity and happiness, as well as to maintain unimpaired the religion, laws, and liberties of the kingdom. This declaration, at the request of the council, was made public; and on Monday, the 31st of January, the king was proclaimed, first, under the portico of the palace, and then at various stations throughout his good city of London. On the same day the members of parliament were sworn in, and they adjourned to the 17th of February. In the meantime, however, alarming reports arose concerning his majesty’s health. He was attacked by a severe inflammation of the chest, which had lately proved fatal to his brother; and his physicians were in doubt about the result. Their forebodings, however, proved groundless; after the lapse of a week he was declared out of danger, although it was a considerable time before his health was re-established.

DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT.

According to the principles of the British constitution, the demise of the crown is followed by a dissolution of parliament within the next six months. On the meeting of parliament a royal message announced an immediate design of calling a new parliament, and invited them to concur in the necessary arrangements for carrying on the public service during the interval, Loyal addresses, suitable to the occasion, were voted _nem. con._; and next day ministers obtained a pledge that the desired measure for the wants of government should be adopted. When the requisite votes of money were proposed, however, Mr. Hume, that pertinacious interrogator, took occasion to ask a very embarrassing question. In the necessary alteration of the form of prayer for the royal family, by his majesty’s command, the name of the queen was omitted. Mr. Hume desired to know whether any provision was to be made for her as queen? As Princess of Wales, her former allowance had of course ceased on the death of the late king: was she, as Queen of Great Britain, to be left to wander in beggary through foreign lands? or would parliament make a suitable provision for the maintenance of her dignified station? Lord Castlereagh endeavoured to evade this subject, and to elude an acknowledgment of the queen’s title, by stating that the “exalted personage” should suffer no pecuniary difficulties. In reply, Mr. Tierney, by commenting on the omission of her majesty’s name from the liturgy, on the rumours in circulation against her character, and on the report of a commission sent abroad to collect evidence against her, strove to force ministers into a direct consideration of the question; but they still preserved a cautious silence. Other members also endeavoured to provoke them to a discussion on the question; but they still adhered to their text—the required supplies, and these were suffered to pass without a division. This done, parliament was dissolved by commission on the 28th of February.

CATO-STREET CONSPIRACY.

In his speech on the occasion of the dissolution of parliament, the lord chancellor referred, in vindication of their late enactments, to a sanguinary conspiracy which had just been detected, and which, he said, was sufficient to open the eyes of the most incredulous to the dangers of the country. The conspiracy referred to was one of the most desperate that could have been conceived by the perverse mind of man. It had for its object the overthrow of the government, and the irremediable confusion of national affairs, by the assassination of the whole cabinet. The chief leader of this plot was Arthur Thistlewood, who had once served as a subaltern in the West Indies. He had imbibed republican principles in America, and these had been confirmed by a residence in France during the darkest period of the revolution. He had recently been tried as an accomplice of the elder Watson; and when he was acquitted he sent a challenge to Lord Sidmouth, for which offence he was sentenced to a fine and imprisonment. On his liberation he determined to take revenge, and that of the most ample nature. For this purpose he gathered around him men of bold daring and reckless characters. The principal of these accomplices were, Ings, a butcher; Davidson, a Creole; and Brunt and Tidd, shoemakers. After a series of meetings the united band of these desperadoes determined to destroy his majesty’s ministers. Their plan was this:—that forty or fifty of them were to commit the tragical act under a pledge of forfeiting their own lives should their resolution fail them; and that other detachments were to seize on the field-pieces at the artillery-ground, and at the London Station in Gray’s Inn, and then to occupy the Mansion-House and the Bank, and to set fire to the buildings of the metropolis at different places. This plot was determined upon on, Sunday, the 20th of February; and it was to be put into execution on the following Wednesday, when there was to be a cabinet-dinner at Lord Harrowby’s, in Grosvenor Square. It was agreed that a single conspirator should go to Lord Harrowby’s with a note addressed to his lordship; that when the outer door should be opened others should rush in; and that while some proceeded to bind the domestics, the rest should perpetrate the horrid massacre. The heads of Lord Sidmouth and Castlereagh were to be brought away as trophies of their success. The whole of the Wednesday was passed in preparations for this fearful tragedy. Arms and ammunition were provided; proclamations were written, ready to be affixed to those edifices which were devoted to the flames; and strict watch was kept on Lord Harrowby’s mansion, in order to ascertain whether any of the police or military entered it or were concealed in its vicinity. Towards the evening the conspirators crept towards their place of rendezvous, and by six o’clock all had assembled. The place of rendezvous was a stable in Cato-street, near the Edgeware-road; a building which consisted of two upper rooms, the ascent to which was by a ladder. In the largest of these rooms the conspirators were seen, by the glimmering light of one or two small candles, making ready for their bloody enterprise. They were rejoicing in the speedy prospect of revenge; but their projected crime had been unfolded. Among them was one Edwards, who, though a pretended colleague, was a spy. This man had given them the information of the cabinet-dinner, and then gave the cabinet information of all the proceedings of the conspirators. Every precaution was adopted by ministers to lull suspicion; and the preparations for dinner had been going on as though the ministers would really assemble. By this means the conspirators were detected with arms in their hands. Their capture was effected by a party of police, headed by Mr. Birnie, the magistrate, and supported by a detachment of the Coldstream Guards. The conspirators were on the point of starting for Grosvenor-square, when on a sudden the police entered the room in which they were assembled, and called upon them to surrender. Smithers, an active police-officer, rushed forward to secure the ringleader; but he was pierced through with the desperado’s sword, and fell. The lights were now extinguished, and the conflict became general, while some of the gang endeavoured to make their escape. Although, indeed, the police were soon aided by thirty soldiers of the Coldstream Guards, nine of the conspirators only were taken. Thistlewood himself escaped; but, in consequence of £1,000 being offered for his apprehension, he was seized next morning in bed. Others were apprehended also during the two following days; and on the 27th of March true bills, on a charge of high-treason, were returned against eleven of the prisoners. Thistlewood, Ings, Tidd, Brunt, and Davidson were severally tried and condemned, the other six being permitted to withdraw their plea and to plead guilty; five of them received sentence of transportation for life, and the other, who appeared to have been ignorant of the destined purpose of the meeting in Cato-street, received a free pardon. Thistlewood and his condemned associates were brought to the scaffold; and he, with three of them, died with great hardihood, glorying in their purpose, regretting its failure, and declaring themselves martyrs to the prostituted name of liberty.

MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.

Although the country was still in a disturbed state, and seditious meetings were held on every hand, yet the elections proceeded without any acts of outrageous violence. The result of the elections was that opposition gained a slight accession of strength; but the new parliament appeared to take the complexion of that by which it had been preceded. Its members began to assemble on the 21st of April; but the session was not opened until the 27th of that month. On that day the king declared in his speech that he should follow the example of his father in solicitude for the welfare of the nation, and that the regal dignity should be supported without any additional burdens on the people. He expressed a determination to maintain public peace and tranquillity, lamented the pressure of distress and the prevalence of sedition, and concluded with a hope that the misguided multitude might be brought back to a sense of their errors. The usual addresses were carried unanimously.

BILLS FOR AMENDING THE CRIMINAL CODE.

Early this session Sir James Mackintosh moved for leave to bring in six bills, founded on the suggestions of the committee appointed by the last parliament to consider the important subject of the amendment of our criminal code. Three of these bills passed into law. The first of these was to repeal the act by which private stealing in shops, to the amount of forty shillings, was made punishable with death; the penalty, however, was still retained against those who should so steal to the amount of ten pounds and upwards; by which it would appear that our legislators conceived that a man’s life was not equal in value to such an amount. The second went to repeal certain acts which denounced death to any Egyptian who should remain in England one year, on all notorious thieves who should take up their residence in Cumberland or Northumberland, and on every one who should be found disguised in the mint, or injuring Westminster Bridge. The third repealed various clauses in certain acts, which constituted the offences specified in them capital, and which were converted into simple felonies. Among the offences thus modified were, that of taking away any woman, whether maid, wife, or widow, for the sake of her fortune; the receiving of stolen goods; the destroying of trees, breaking down banks of rivers, and wounding of cattle; the sending of threatening letters; and all the capital offences created by the marriage act and laws of bankruptcy. For these offences, transportation, imprisonment, or hard labour were substituted for death, at the discretion of the judges. Thus the statute-book of England was purified from many grievous stains; but it was still blotted by many imperfections, and even to this day it contains much that requires purging by enlightened legislators.

EDUCATION BILL.

After having rendered important service to his country by his efforts to establish a system for detecting and remedying abuses in charitable funds and establishments, Mr. Brougham brought forward his plan for the education of the poor. This subject, however, was not destined to receive the concurrence of parties at this period, though the object in view was generally admitted to be desirable. The chief difficulty, and that which induced Mr. Brougham to abandon the bill, arose from the dissenters. They opposed it because they conceived that some of the enactments originated in imperfect information respecting the dissenters in this country, and because, overlooking their numbers, property, and intelligence, and religious character, the whole affair was to be under the management of the clergy of the established church. The consequence of this opposition was that, after the first reading of the bill on the 11th of July, it was abandoned. But this failure only seemed to give an additional incentive to the zeal of Mr. Brougham, and he subsequently reaped the fruit of his labours.

MOTION FOR A COMMITTEE ON THE CORN-LAWS.

During this session Mr. Holme Sumner moved for a select committee to take into consideration the agricultural state of the country. The table of the house was loaded with petitions on this subject from all quarters. The petitions complained of distress; and their general prayer was for additional restrictions, fora high permanent duty in place of a limited prohibition, The debates arising from the motion occupied much time and attention. It was seconded by Mr. Western, and supported by Mr. Gooch, who repeated the statement, that without protection the agriculturists of this country were unable to compete with foreign growers; that the act of 1815 afforded no protection; and that measures more effectual were indispensable. Mr. Robinson, president of the board of trade, in reply, deprecated the motion as tending to excite hopes which could not be realized. He was followed by Messrs. Baring and Ricardo, the latter of whom entered into a luminous exposition of the principles of political economy, and condemned all restrictions on the freedom of the corn-trade as injurious in their tendency. The landed interests, however, prevailed, and the motion for the committee was carried. On the following evening, however, ministers succeeded in neutralizing its effects, by proposing that its inquiries should be limited to the best mode of ascertaining the weekly average of corn prices. This was opposed as a trick of state; but it passed by a large majority, and every material alteration of the corn-laws was deferred till a more convenient season.

MOTION FOR A COMMITTEE RESPECTING FREE TRADE.

A commercial question of still greater importance than that of the corn-laws was also, during this session, introduced into parliament. Petitions from the city of London, and from Glasgow, prayed for free trade; and Mr. Baring, who presented that of the London merchants to the commons, insisted that freedom from restriction is calculated to give the utmost extension to foreign trade, as well as the best direction to the capital and industry of the country. No formal motion was made in the commons on this subject; but in the lords, on the 26th of May, Lord Lansdowne moved for a committee of inquiry concerning the foreign trade of the empire. This proposal elicited a speech from the Earl of Liverpool, in which his lordship, as head of the administration, declared his assent to the principles of free trade, expressing his conviction that it would have been better for the world had such principles always been acted upon, and advising the recognition of such exceptions only, as the policy of the world and the laws of the country dictated. The motion was carried unanimously.

THE CIVIL LIST, ETC.

The civil list was settled at £1,057,000; and on the 19th of June the chancellor of the exchequer produced his financial statement. There was an increase both in the army and navy estimates, owing to the augmentation of force, necessary from the peculiar state of the country. The sum total for the service of the year, including the interest of the debt, was estimated at £50,500,000. The ways and means proposed to meet this large expenditure were, exclusive of permanent revenues, a continuation of the usual annual taxes; the sum of £2,500,000 from the produce of the temporary excise duties, which had remained in force during the war; £240,000 arising from the lottery; £260,000 from old naval stores; exchequer bills for £7,000,000 to be funded; and £12,000,000 from the sinking-fund. But all questions, whether financial, commercial, or political, were swallowed up in one absorbing topic—this was the arrival of Queen Caroline from Italy.

MESSAGE RESPECTING THE QUEEN

Queen Caroline had retired to Italy to avoid persecution in 1814, by the advice of Mr. Canning. The persecutions to which she had been subjected arose in a quarter from which she least expected it—from her husband, the regent. Her name was not often mentioned in England during her absence; but though the public seemed regardless of her existence, subsequent disclosures showed that she had not been forgotten by her persecutors. Spies had been sent into Italy to watch her conduct; and the result was that she was finally charged with living in open adultery with an Italian courier, named Bergami, a man whom she had raised from that station to the first office in her household. In consequence of these movements, Mr. Brougham, her legal adviser, made a proposal, in June, 1819, to Lord Liverpool, that the income of £35,000 per annum enjoyed by her royal highness, but which was to expire on the death of his majesty, George III., should be secured to her for life, provided she consented to remain abroad without assuming the title of Queen of England. This singular proposition was stated at the time to be made without the knowledge of the princess; and the reply given was, that when the king came to give attention to the subject, there would be no indisposition to acquiesce in such terms, provided she would give her consent. Thus matters rested till she became Queen of England. Government then thought it necessary that some line of conduct should be taken regarding her, which might prevent disclosures that were on all accounts to be deprecated, and a compromise, founded on Mr. Brougham’s former proposal, was transmitted to her: she was to receive £50,000 on condition of renouncing the royal title, and residing in foreign lands. She had heard of the death of her father, and the accession of her husband in February, while at Rome, and she immediately assumed the royal title, and demanded a guard of honour from the papal government. This demand was not complied with, because no official communication had been received from the king or his ministers on the subject: his holiness, indeed, represented that he did not know whether the Queen of England was in Rome or not. Incensed at this reply, her majesty drew up a narrative, dated Match 16th, relating her wrongs, and in which she stated her determination to repair to England. This document, together with a letter written by her to Lord Liverpool, demanding that her name should be inserted in the liturgy, and that a palace should be prepared for her on her arrival, appeared in the papers about the middle of April, and a general idea prevailed that she was rapidly proceeding towards England. Various reasons, however, concurred which induced her to prolong her sojourn at Rome, so that she did not arrive at Geneva till the 9th of May. From Geneva she dispatched a letter to Mr. Brougham requiring his attendance either there, or at one of the sea-ports. In consequence of this communication, Messrs. Denman and Brougham, with other friends of the queen, held a consultation, in which they agreed to request her to repair to Calais without loss of time. Her majesty quitted Geneva instantly on receiving this advice, and in her route thither she was joined by Lady Anne Hamilton, who had formerly been in her service, and by Alderman Wood, one of the representatives of the city of London. On the 20th she arrived at Villeneuve le Roi, whence she wrote two letters, one to the Duke of York, and the other to Lord Liverpool, declaratory of her intention, to be in London within five days, reiterating also her demand for a palace, and requesting that a royal yacht might be in readiness at Calais to convey her to England. At St. Oroers she was met by Mr. Brougham, and Lord Hutchinson, a personal friend of the king, who was entrusted with a confidential communication. The fact is, ministers had determined, from the evidence in their possession, that the queen could not be received in England with the honours due to royalty, and Lord Hutchinson was sent to intimate this, and to make a similar proposition to that which had before been made. Ministers proposed to settle £50,000 per annum on her for life, subject to such conditions as the king might impose; which conditions Lord Hutchinson stated he had reason to believe, were, that she was not to assume the style and title of Queen of Great Britain, or any other title attached to the royal family of England; and that she was not to reside in England, or even to visit that country: the consequence of such a visit would be an immediate message to parliament, and an entire end of all compromise or negociation. The threatened message to parliament was understood by the queen and her counsellors to signify that a public charge of adultery would be exhibited against her; and, indignant at such treatment, the proposal was rejected as one that could not be listened to for a moment. Lord Hutchinson still made attempts at negociation, but they were all vain; nothing could induce her to change her purpose. Irritated by studied insults abroad; incensed by threats of ministerial vengeance; brooding over the wrongs she had endured from one who had promised before the altar of God to love and cherish her through life; and, above all, assured of the popular support, she pursued her way; and she reached the shores of England on the 6th of June. Although government had made no preparation for her reception, the people’s hearts gave her a ready welcome. Multitudes met her on the beach at Dover, with loud acclamations, banners, and every sign of popular enthusiasm. Her progress to London resembled a triumphal procession, and she was met in the metropolis by 200,000 persons, all shouting her welcome at the top of their voices. They would have conducted her at once to Carlton House, but she was induced to go to Alderman Wood’s mansion in South Audley Street, there to wait the issue of the matter.

The king was now obliged to take the field against a woman in, whose favour the British people were generally interested. On the 6th of June a message was read from the woolsack, communicating certain papers relative to the conduct of her majesty since her departure from England, which the king recommended to the immediate and serious attention of their lordships. A similar message was also delivered to the commons: and in both houses ministers expressed their intention of moving for an address to the king, and a reference of the papers to a secret committee on the following day. In the commons the minister was anticipated on the 7th by Mr. Brougham, who presented a communication from her majesty, setting forth that she had returned to England for the purpose of maintaining her innocence and rights; protesting against any secret tribunal appointed by her accusers; complaining of the insults received from foreign courts, influenced by that of Great Britain; and appealing to the justice of the commons of England. In reply, after the cheers with which this document was received had subsided, Lord Castlereagh said that ministers were neither persecutors nor prosecutors: the king’s message was most gracious; and the secret committee was only a preliminary step to ascertain whether there was any case to proceed with. The trial should be, he added, if there was any trial, open and honourable, Mr. Brougham strongly resisted the appointment of the committee, since although not final, it must deeply affect her majesty’s character. Mr. Canning vindicated the conduct of ministers, and Mr. Wilberforce recommended delay, that, if possible, some compromise might be entered into. In consequence of this suggestion of Mr. Wilberforce the house adjourned to the Friday following; and in the interval the queen, on the advice of her friends, made a communication to Lord Liverpool, through Mr. Brougham, in which, deferring to the expressed opinion of the house of commons, she declared herself ready to take into consideration any arrangement consistent with her dignity and honour. In reply, Lord Liverpool referred her to the memorandum placed in the hands of her own attorney-general and the queen declared that this document, which had been superseded by Lord Hutchinson’s proposition, was now submitted to her for the first time. She added that the recognition of her rank and privileges must form the basis of any arrangement. In reply, ministers declared that any proposition on the part of the king must have for its basis the queen’s residence abroad. To this her majesty rejoined, that she was willing to leave her cause in the hands of any person or persons of high station and character, whom both parties might select; their decision being subject to the approbation of parliament. This proposal was accepted. On the part of the king the Duke of Wellington and Lord Castlereagh were appointed, while Messrs. Brougham and Denman were appointed on behalf of the queen. Meanwhile parliament, to give time for their negociations, was further adjourned. The referees met on the 15th of June; but it was all to no purpose. The protocol set forth that “the queen must not be understood to admit nor the king to retract any position,” with which insuperable barrier before them the negociations finished as they had commenced: it was contended _in limine_, on her majesty’s behalf, that her name should be inserted in the liturgy, and as this was refused by the king, the conference was broken up. This failure in negociations was reported on the 19th; but on the following day Mr. Wilberforce asked and obtained further delay, in order that he might make a proposition, which he conceived might set the matter at rest. This proposition was made on the 22nd, and it consisted of two resolutions; one regretting the recent failure of negociation, and the other soliciting her majesty to gratify the house by conceding a few points, for the sake of an amicable arrangement. Lord Archibald Hamilton moved as an amendment that the queen’s name should be inserted in the liturgy, which was ably supported by Sir Francis Burdett, who delivered a speech, censuring ministers, which produced a great sensation in the house. In reply, Mr. Canning stated, that, however much provoked by the honourable baronet’s speech, he should abstain from entering the lists with him till a future day; which determination produced a sarcastic retort from Mr. Tierney, who observed, that, “as the better part of valour was discretion, he commended Mr. Canning’s prudence, in postponing his defence of ministers till the effect of Sir Francis’s speech was done away: the fact proved that it was unanswerable.” Mr. Wilberforce’s motion, however, was carried by three hundred and ninety-one against one hundred and thirty-four. A deputation waited on the queen with the message of the commons; but she peremptorily rejected their advice, and its members were, on their return, hissed and hooted by the populace. Every hope of conciliation being now at an end on the motion of Lord Castlereagh, the commons voted a further adjournment, in order to leave initiatory proceedings to the house of lords. But though the commons waited quietly till their lordships made a further movement in the matter, the country did not. The whole kingdom was turned into one great arena of disputation, in which the innocence or the guilt of the queen was advocated according to the different views of the people. Addresses were sent to the queen from all quarters; and in answer to that presented by the common-council of London, she made this declaration,—“In the many and deep sorrows and afflictions with which it has pleased Providence to visit me, I have derived unspeakable consolation from the zealous and constant attachment of this warm-hearted, just, and generous people; to live at home with, and to cherish whom, will be the chief happiness of the remainder of my days.”

The secret committee made their report on the 4th of July. This report stated that the charges appeared calculated so deeply to affect, not only the honour of the queen, but also the dignity of the crown, that in the opinion of the committee it was necessary they should become the subject of a solemn inquiry, which might best be effected in the course of a legislative proceeding. This was followed, on the 6th of July, by a motion in the lords, moved by the Earl of Liverpool, for a bill of pains and penalties; or an act which, according to precedents in former ages, might pronounce the queen guilty of an adulterous intercourse; degrade her from her exalted station; and dissolve the marriage between her and the king. This bill was read a first time as a preliminary step to the introduction of evidence, and then a copy of it was sent to her majesty by the usher of the black rod. The day fixed for the second reading was the 17th of August, on which day counsel appeared in support of the bill and on behalf of the queen.

In the meantime addresses were presented to her from cities, towns, and villages in every part of the United Kingdom. Encouraged by the popular support, the queen took a house at Hammersmith, on the banks of the Thames, and thither processions went every day, except Sundays, numbering on an average 30,000 people. Eventually she was obliged to appoint certain days in the week for receiving them: the other days were employed in riding about the city and its environs, in which she was always followed by a vast concourse of people. The king was, also, compelled to endure some noise and bustle. In their processions to and fro, the people generally stopped opposite his palace, but it was only to show him the bitter feelings which they entertained towards him. So unpopular had he become by this persecution of his wife, that he was compelled to go from London to the cottage, and from the cottage to London under cover of the night; and even then the people were on the watch to salute him roughly as he passed.

TRIAL OF THE QUEEN.

On the 17th of August mobs of the most terrific description surrounded the two houses of parliament, and filled every street in the vicinity. In this state of things the lords took their places to try the queen: the judges being requested to assist at the deliberations. The names of the peers having been called over, Lord Liverpool moved the order of the day for the second reading of the bill of pain and penalties. The Duke of Leinster moved as an amendment that the order should be rescinded; but this was negatived, and the Earl of Liverpool then moved that counsel be called in and heard in support of the preamble of the bill. On the appearance of the counsel Mr. Brougham obtained leave to state his objections to the principles of the bill in its present state of progress, which he did in a speech of great length, and with extraordinary talent. Taking advantage of the popular feeling he concluded in these terms:—“True it is, that your committee has reported in favour of the bill, but that cannot pledge the house: and he is the greatest of all fools who consults his apparent consistency at the expense of his absolute ruin. The sooner you retrace the step into which you may have been led at an unwary moment, the greater will be the service you render to the country. If you decide that this bill ought not to proceed, you will be the saviours of the state.” Mr. Denman followed on the same side with a speech of great eloquence; and the speeches of the queen’s counsel were answered by the king’s attorney and solicitor-general. Mr. Brougham replied: urging a variety of arguments in favour of his original proposition, and showing the impolicy of the principle contended for by ministers. Successive attempts were made by Lords King and Grey to stop all further proceedings; but their motions were negatived, and the attorney-general was ordered by the lord chancellor to state his case. His statement occupied two days, and the examination of witnesses engaged the attention of the peers to the 6th of September. The evidence in support of the bill was summed up on the 7th of September, and on the 9th an adjournment took place to the 3rd of October, in consequence of an application from her majesty’s counsel. On that day Mr. Brougham entered on the defence in a speech of great power; and he was followed by Mr. Williams, who declared that he should be able to rebut many of the prominent points sworn to in the prosecution by the clearest testimony. The examination of the witnesses for the defence lasted from the 5th of October to the 24th, and Mr. Denman proceeded to sum up the evidence. At the conclusion of his speech he remarked:—“We have fought the battles of morality, Christianity, and civilized society throughout the world; and in the language of the dying warrior I may say:—

‘In this glorious and well foughten field We kept together in our chivalry.’

“While he (Mr. Brougham) was achieving the immortal victory, and the illustrious triumph, protecting innocence and truth by the adamantine shield of his prodigious eloquence, it has been my lot to discharge only a few random arrows at the defeated champions of this disgraceful cause.” Dr. Lushington followed on the 26th of October, with a luminous view of the case, and the king’s attorney and solicitor-general replied. The peers then debated, and on the 6th of November divided on the second reading of the bill, Which was carried by one hundred and twenty-three against ninety-five. Many peers entered strong protests; and a protest was read from the queen by Lord Dacre, in which she made the most solemn assertions of innocence. In this protest it was observed, that “unless these unexampled proceedings should bring the bill before the commons, the queen would make no reference whatever to the treatment experienced by her during the last twenty-five years.” This _innuendo_ produced its effects. The lords, indeed, now evidently began to tremble, lest they should be precipitated into the gulf which by their recent vote they had approached. It was felt, moreover, that the king did not come into court “with clean hands;” and therefore when the divorce clause came under discussion several peers, and among them several bishops, who considered the queen guilty, declared their aversion on religious scruples, to vote for it. The partisans of the queen, headed by Earl Grey, seized the advantage offered to them by this difference of opinion among her opponents, and they gave their strong support to it, and the clause was carried. But by this movement the fate of the bill became evident. It was read a third time by a majority of nine on the 10th of November; but there was yet one question to be put,—“that this bill do now pass,” and ministers shrunk from the point. The queen petitioned to be heard by counsel against this final step; but Lord Liverpool, in reply, declared that with so small a majority, in the actual state of public feeling, he, and his colleagues felt bound to abandon the bill. A motion was made that the question should be put off to that day six months, which was carried; and thus ended, in defeat and disgrace, the domestic war which George IV. had been carrying on for twenty-five years against his consort. On the 29th of November, her majesty went in state to St. Paul’s to return public thanks, on which occasion she was surrounded by such multitudes as to make it difficult for her to reach the cathedral. The general joy was also manifested by illuminations, ringing of bells, firing of cannon, and the presentation of addresses of congratulation. But Queen Caroline was soon destined to see her popularity wane. Tired with the constant rout, orders were given that addresses should only be presented on one day of the week; and she gradually withdrew herself from the leaders of the whig party. This was the signal for the desertion of her cause. What Queen Caroline was doing soon became as indifferent to the people as what other members of the royal family were doing, and her final fate an object of curiosity more than of interest. At the close of the trial of Queen Caroline, parliament was prorogued to the 23rd of January.