come from a poor parson, who had been at school with him-but without signing his name-merely dated it, "No. 2 Charlotte Street, Pimlico." Thus it began:— "Hear, generous lawyer! hear my prayer, In hailing you, Jack Scott! Tho' now upon the woolsack placed, "Say, by what name the hapless bard Plain Jack?-Sir John ?-or Eldon? The world will cry out Well done!' "In vain, without a patron's aid, I've pray'd and preach'd, and preach'd and pray'd,- Such vain éclat let others share; Alas! I cannot feed on air, The Chancellor himself went to Charlotte Street, Pimlico, to inquire after the writer, but could find neither poet nor parson in those regions.* We must now attend to much graver matters. While Parliament was sitting, in February, 1804, deliberating upon the measures necessary to be taken for the military defence of the country, in consequence of the renewed hostilities with Napoleon, now become Emperor,-afflicting rumours were spread of a return of the King's malady; and there can be no doubt that he was then attended by Dr. Willis, [FEB. 27, 1804.] and kept under restraint. A question upon the subject being put in the House of Commons, Mr. Addington very guardedly answered that "there was not at that time any necessary suspension of such royal functions as it might be necessary for his Majesty then to discharge." Two days after, Lord Hawkesbury having held the same vague language in the House of Lords, Lord King and Lord Fitzwilliam urged that more explicit information should be given by the noble and learned lord on the woolsack, who, as keeper of the Great Seal, was peculiarly and personally responsible. Lord Eldon: "I can assure the noble lords who have personally alluded to me in such pointed terms, that I am fully sensible of the responsibility which attaches to me in particular. I have considered-and that deeply-the duty which is incumbent upon me at this trying crisis. I am aware that, while I am, on the one hand, constantly to keep in view what is due from me in point of delicacy to my Sovereign, I ought, on the other, never to forget that I have a duty to perform to the legisla[MARCH 1, 1804.] ture and to the public. I have settled in my own *The poem is said to have originated in an assertion by the Chancellor, that his son could not disguise his handwriting so as to deceive him. † 1 Parl. Deb. 1134. mind what line of conduct I ought to pursue on this occasion, and that line I have pursued. I am anxious that there should be no misapprehension on this subject, and therefore I declare that my noble colleague has correctly stated the convalescence of his Majesty. Delicate as this subject is, I certainly would not have mentioned this much if I had not been compelled to it; but, as I have been compelled to it, I will state, that, at this moment, there is no suspension of the royal functions."* Lord Grenville complaining that the noble and learned lord had conveyed no information to the House, Lord Eldon added: "From that attachment and duty which I owe to his Majesty, no consideration shall make me swerve so far as to go into what I conceive an unnecessary and improper explanation."+ The country was now in a most perilous situation. The Mutiny Act was about to expire in a few days, and unless it were renewed, the army could not lawfully be kept on foot. A bill to renew it had passed both Houses along with several other bills, which, for the public safety, ought to receive the royal assent without delay. Lord Eldon boldly, and I think excusably, obtained the King's signature to a commission for passing these bills, at a time when it is quite clear that, if his Majesty had [MARCH 9, 1804.] been a private person, any deed or will executed by him would have been adjudged to be a nullity. The Commission being produced in the House of Lords, Lord Fitzwilliam said, "he entertained doubts as to the state of his Majesty's mind,-which induced him to call upon the Lord Chancellor for further information, before the very important exercise of the prerogative which had been announced was carried into effect." Lord Eldon. "I can assure the noble Earl and the House, that in every thing connected with so grave, important, and momentous an occasion, I have proceeded with all due delicacy, deliberation and caution; even with fear and trembling. Not satisfied with the reports of the medical attendants of his Majesty, I have thought it proper and necessary to have a personal interview with the Sovereign, when due discussion took place respecting the Bills offered for the royal assent, which assent was fully expressed. I would sooner suffer my right hand to be severed from my body, than act in such an instance upon light or superficial grounds; and I have no hesitation to aver, that the result of all which took place on the occasion amply justifies me in announcing his Majesty's assent to the Bills specified in the Royal Commission. I know and feel with gratitude my obligations to the best of Sovereigns, and to his person I bear the warmest affection. But I can most conscientiously say, that no considerations whatever, not even those to which I have alluded, shall ever induce me to break that sacred covenant which I have made with myself not to suffer that any thing shall warp my judgment, or bear me from the rule of strict duty and rectitude. I am fully aware of the high responsibility under which I stand, and with reference to which I act on this occasion." * 1 Parl. Deb. 639. † 1 Parl. Deb. 641. 1 Parl. Deb. 808. It will be observed that his Lordship on this occasion avoids making any assertion as to the competence of the Sovereign-does not at all disclose what the rule of rectitude and duty was which he had covenanted with himself to observe-nor exclude the possibility of his having obtained a release from the covenant-which it is so easy to obtain when covenantor and covenantee happen to be the same individual. How 66 ever, the clerk having read the commission, concluding with the words, By the King himself-signed with his own hand," and "Le Roy le voet," being pronounced over each of the Bills, they all became law. The following is an account of this transaction, written by Lord Eldon many years after; and, even assuming that he has neither coloured nor suppressed any of the circumstances of the interview, it is plain that he relied mainly upon what he considered "the competency of the King as king, notwithstanding his indisposition," and that he would by not means have become witness to the act and deed of a private individual in such a state of mind: 6 "During one of his Majesty's indispositions, and when there was a doubt whether he was sufficiently recovered to make it fit to take his royal sign-manual to a commission for passing Acts of Parliament, the time approached when, if the Mutiny Bills were not renewed and passed, the establishments of the army and navy, in the midst of war, must be broken up. It became, therefore, absolutely necessary to have his royal sign-manual to acts for continuing those establishments. The Chancellor is the minister responsible for that. I waited upon his Majesty, and carried with me the commission, and a brief abstract of the several intended acts, but in much more of detail than the previous statements made upon such occasions. I began reading that abstract—a caution not usual when the King was well; and he said, My Lord, you are cautious.' I entreated his Majesty to allow that, under the then circumstances. Oh!' he said, 'you are certainly right in that; but you should be correct as well as cautious.' I said I was not conscious that I was not correct. 6 No,' said he, you are not: for if you will look into the commission which you have brought me to sign, you will see that I there state that I have fully considered the bills proposed to receive my sign manual to be correct; therefore, I should have the bills to peruse and consider.' I stated to him that he never had had the bills whilst I had been Chancellor, and that I did not know that he had ever had the bills. He said, during a part of his reign he had always had them, until Lord Thurlow had ceased to bring them; and the expression his Majesty used was, that Lord Thurlow had said it was nonsense his giving himself the trouble to read them. I said his Majesty had satisfied me that I had used caution enough, took the sign-manual and went to the House of Lords; and when about passing the commission, Lord Fitzwilliam rose and said, 'I wish to ask whether the Chancellor declares his Majesty is equal to the act of signing the commission with full knowledge upon the subject,' or to that effect. I answered, Your Lordship will see the commission executed immediately.' "I have committed this to paper, having been much abused on ac count of this transaction, and for the purpose of stating that it was my determination, if I thought his Majesty sufficiently well as an individual to give his assent, to take the royal sign-manual to the commission, and execute it without making observation; if, on the other hand, I did not think him so well as an individual-inasmuch as the competency of the King, as king, was what the law authorized me to consider as belonging to him, notwithstanding his indisposition-I determined to take the royal sign-manual to the commission, and, after executing it, to state to the House in what condition of his Majesty I had taken this step, and to throw myself on Parliament's consideration of my case, and my having so acted, in order, in a most perilous period, to prevent the establishments necessary for the defence, and indeed the existence, of the country from going to pieces. Many thought I acted too boldly in this proceeding; but I could not bring myself to think that I ought to countenance the notion that the King's state of mind, considering him as an individual, was such as I in my conscience did not believe it to be; and I did think that it was my duty to expose myself to all that might happen, rather than give a false impression of the actual state of my Sovereign and Royal Master to his people. "God grant that no future Chancellor may go through the same distressing scenes, or be exposed to the dangerous responsibility which I went through, and was exposed to, during the indispositions of my Sovereign! My own attachment to him supported me through those scenes. Such and so cordial was the love and affection his people bore to him, that a servant meaning well, and placed amidst great difficulties, would have been pardoned for much, if he had occasion for indemnity. “When I went to take the King's sign manual, some other ministers wanted it in their department. They sent the papers to me, instead of coming themselves to support me by their acts. I refused to tender any of them to the King."* Lord Eldon told the following anecdote, referable to the same period:: "In one of his Majesty George III.'s illnesses, when he was at Buckingham House, it was conceived to be my duty as Chancellor to call at that house every day. This was constantly done, to the interruption of the business of my Court to a great extent, for which the public opinion made no allowance. Upon one day, when I went to make my call of duty, Dr. Simmons, the medical attendant constantly there, represented to me the embarrassment he was exposed to, being persuaded that if his Majesty could have a walk frequently round the garden behind the house it would be of the most essential benefit to him; that, if he took his walk with the doctor, or any of his attendants, he was overlooked from the windows of Grosvenor Place, and reports were circulated very contrary to the truth respecting his Majesty's mental health; that, on the other hand, his Majesty's family were afraid of accompanying him: and that he, the doctor, did not know how to act, as * Twiss, i. 285. the walk was of vast importance to his Majesty's recovery. It was to me plain that he wished that I should offer to attend his Majesty, and walk with him in the garden. I offered to do so, if he thought it likely to be useful to the King. He then went into the next room, where the King was, and I heard him say, Sir, the Chancellor is come to take a walk with your Majesty, if your Majesty pleases to allow it.' With all my heart,' I overheard the King say, and he called for his hat and cane. We walked two or three times round Buckingham House gardens. There was at first a momentary hurry and incoherence in his Majesty's talk, but this did not endure two minutes; during the rest of the walk there was not the slightest aberration in his Majesty's conversation, and he gave me the history of every administration in his reign. When we returned into the house, his Majesty, laying down his hat and cane, placed his head upon my shoulder, and burst into tears; and, after recovering himself, bowed me out of the room in his usual manner. Dr. Simmons told me afterwards that this had been of infinite use towards his recovery." The wary Chancellor, when in a communicative mood, also related that the King complained to him that a man in the employ of one of his physicians had knocked him down. "When I got up again," added the King, "I said my foot had slipped, and ascribed my fall to that: for it would not do for me to admit that the King had been knocked down by any one." His Majesty continued in this unsatisfactory state of mind till the month of June following, some members of the Cabinet not having nerve to transact business with him: but, during this period, Lord Eldon not only obtained his assent to acts of state, such as giving the royal assent to bills that had passed both Houses of Parliament, but actually induced him to dismiss Mr. Addington, and to take back Mr. Pitt as his Prime Minister. The Sovereign being sometimes better and sometimes worse, and occasionally appearing to talk and to write rationally, and the physicians all agreeing that he was likely to recover soon-although, if a private person in the care of a committee under the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery, it is quite clear that he would not have been restored to liberty-perhaps Lord Eldon did well in continuing to treat him as competent fully to exercise all the prerogatives of the crown. Not being completely disabled, as he was in 1788 and in 1810, any proposal to suspend his functions, or to supersede his authority, might have led to a public convulsion; and the smaller evil to be chosen might be to consider his legal competence as unimpaired-there being advisers for every act that was done, responsible to Parliament and to the country. But I can by no means offer so good a defence to another charge against Lord Eldon-that, in the intrigue by which the change of Government was effected, he betrayed his political chief. This charge, which has been several times advanced, is reiterated in the recent Life of Lord Sidmouth, by Dr. Pellew; and, I am sorry to say, I think it is completely established. When Mr. Pitt, not pleased to see those whom he considered his own |