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these in her name; but royal servants ought to be considered as mere automatons.

The Princess expected Mr. Brougham to-day, but he did not come. In the evening, amongst other topics of conversation, she said to me, "oh, my dear [——], if you were to see all the curious papers I have !-I have a correspondence that passed between Bonaparte and Prince Louis Ferdinand, before the first was Emperor. It would make the world stare; and, if it had not been for that, the King of Prussia, Prince Louis would now have been king of France. The fact was, Prince Louis was the cleverest and the first man in the world; and Bonaparte, at that time, did not want to be Emperor -he only wanted to choose a proper king. Well, the King of Prussia, from his foolish notions about the Bourbons, seized upon and locked up Prince Louis. Oh, my dear, how different would have been my fate, and that of all Europe, if this had not been the case! How far the above is true, Heaven knows; but it is curious.

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Thursday, 21st.-Mr. Brougham arrived his manner seems to awe the Princess; and it is lucky, I think, from all the little circumstances, known only to myself and one other person, that he never meant to dash in so far as he has been obliged to do in this business. He only intended, I believe, to place the ladder against the wall, on which to mount when it was safely held; but not to find himself, as he does now, half way up while it is tottering;-to make her a tool of his party-yes, and not to act dishonourably either-but certainly not to run any risks for her sake. Unhappy kings, queens, princes, and princesses, ye are seldom served with any better feeling than this.

He told the Princess, that he and Mr. Whitbread both agreed in thinking that it was a most fortunate

circumstance for her that the Regent had refused to read or receive her letter; and that it must go, failing all other ways, in the shape of a petition to himlast of all as a petition to Parliament. "But they are frightened to death," said Mr. Brougham, "I know; for Lord Moira has been sent to Whitbread to tell him that the Regent, being afraid he may have been led into error respecting the Princess, wished to submit some papers to him." This message by the bye came from Sheridan, who came from Lord Moira. Mr. Whitbread said he could not then stay in town to read papers, but that he should return in a few weeks, and that if they thought it worth their while they might then give him the papers, but he was sure they contained nothing but what he knew already.-Sheridan began explaining, and in fact, Mr. Brougham said, the papers by his account were merely those which the Princess has in her possession.-Another circumstance is, that Mr. Conant, the police magistrate, went to Messrs. Longman and Rees, and asked what they meant by the paragraph they had put in the newspapers, concerning a publication of letters. Messrs. Longman and Rees replied, that they meant what the paragraph specified.— Upon which Mr. Conant threatened them with the law, and foretold their ruin, and the Lord knows what. But Messrs. Longman and Rees replied, they should take care not to publish any thing actionable; and, as for the rest, they should follow their trade.

Mr. Brougham then went over the old ground, but said positively that till the Princess Charlotte was one and twenty, the Prince might even lock her up, if he chose, and had absolute power over her. How far the country would allow of such treatment, is another question. I thought to myself, as to that, it is the interest of all those in power to vest as much as they can in the Regent's hands, and, consequently, I have but a hopeless kind

of view of the whole of this business.

In as far as the Princess of Wales is concerned, they will not dare to do any thing outrageous against her, but they will keep the extinguisher over her. Mr. Brougham staid a couple of hours, and went away. The Princess is never satisfied, till she has drained a subject dry; so she was very angry at his going so soon ;-but I perceive he keeps her in order-how fortunate!

Extract from a Letter.

Friday, January 22nd, 1813.

I am indeed anxious on the subject of this unfortunate business, and hope that the Princess will be well advised, before things are brought to extremity. Ministers, it is clear, will not bring forward any thing that is not agreeable to the Prince Regent, and, if opposition should attempt it at this time, it would be easy to give the whole the turn of a party question. This I have little doubt but that the ministry would do, and would succeed in, and then things would remain where they are, with the additional stigma of having been attempted to be redressed in vain. I am not saying what ought to be, but what I fear would be. Indeed, I have lived long enough in the world to have learnt, that how others will consider an object, is the question in all public matters where their concurrence is required, not how we ourselves see it, however truly. Tell me, if you know, what is to be done about the drawing-room on the 4th,-and what the paragraph means, saying that the Princess Charlotte is to be presented by the Princess of Wales. I think she can be presented by no other person than her mother, and I suppose that therefore she will not, this time, be presented at all:-am I right? It is the general voice that the Princess Charlotte feels all the duty and affection that she ought to feel towards her mother; also, that she declared unless she is presented to the Queen by her mother, she will not be presented at all.

Saturday, 23rd.-Yesterday, I went to see [-]; all was well, even to her animals. What cause of thankfulness!-The vacuum in my existence, which one only circumstance can fill, still exists, and a low languor

enfeebles body and mind.-But I hope-nay, I am not ungrateful for the blessings given.-The Princess received a letter of twenty-eight pages, from the Princess Charlotte, which looked like the writing of a chambermaid, and appeared to me wholly illegible; but she said she could decipher it, and so she did in regard to understanding the general meaning, but I defy her powers or her patience to have made out literally, what those twenty-eight pages contained. The whole of the matter was, that Princess Charlotte was to remain in town, from Saturday to Wednesday; from which the Princess of Wales concluded, that she is to go to the Opera to-night, and intends, if she does, to go also. There came likewise accounts of Miss Knight's having accepted the place of sub-governess, which the royal mother and daughter are very glad of. The same post that brought all this intelligence, brought a letter also from Lady Oxford, and the Princess decided upon setting off immediately to go to Mortimer House. Accordingly, though her Royal Highness had not been out for a fortnight, off she went, and her lady-in-waiting told me that when they arrived they found, as the Princess predicted, no one, except Lord Byron. 'Tis sickening to hear of and see the ways of the world. The Princess immediately retired with Lord Byron and Lady Oxford, and her lady staid with Lady Jane. The latter is a good musician, but sings dreadfully out of tune. Lady [-] told me that she thought Lord Byron was exceedingly wearied, and endeavoured to listen to the music, and escape from her Royal Highness and Lady 0 [---]; but the former would not allow him to do so, and he was desired to "come and sit "; and, upon the whole, the Princess was not pleased with her visit.

Sunday, 24th.-Yesterday, the Princess went to meet the Princess Charlotte at Kensington. Lady [-] told

me that when the latter arrived she rushed up to her mother, and said, "for God's sake, be civil to her-" meaning the Duchess of Leeds, who followed her. Lady [-] said she felt sorry for the latter, but when the Princess of Wales talked to her, she soon became so free and easy that one could not have any feeling about her feelings. Princess Charlotte, I was told, was looking handsome, very pale, but her head more becomingly dressed, that is to say, less dressed than usual. Her figure is of that full round shape which is now in its prime; but she disfigures herself by wearing her boddice so short, that she literally has no waist. Her feet are very pretty, and so are her hands and arms, and her ear and the shape of her head. Her countenance is expressive, when she allows her passions to play upon it, and I never saw any face with so little shade express so many powerful and varied emotions. Lady [-] told me that the Princess Charlotte talked to her about her situation, and said, in a very quiet, but determined way, she would not bear it, and that as soon as Parliament met, she intended to come to Warwick House, and remain there; that she was also determined not to consider the Duchess of Leeds as her governess, but only as her first lady. She made many observations on other persons and subjects, and appears to be very quick, very penetrating, but imperious, and wilful. There is a tone of romance, too, in her character, which will only serve to mislead her.

She told her mother, that there had been a great battle at Windsor, between the Queen and the Prince; the former refusing to give up Miss Knight from her own person, to attend on Princess Charlotte as sub-governess; but the Prince Regent had gone to Windsor himself and insisted on her doing so, and the "Old Beguin "'* was

* In 1788, George Selwyn writes of the Queen : "Old Beguin, as they call her, is more absurd, I hear, than ever."

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