son who attended him in two fits of insanity excites, have conspired to make him do an act unjust to himself. I consider it as a fatal and final blow to the hopes of many, who have every good wish of mine. As to myself personally, looking at matters on all sides, I think the Chancellorship would never revert to me, even if things had taken another turn, and it is not on my own account I lament the turn they have taken. As to any other office, I could have no motive, on my own account, to wish for any, and, with a disposition to co-operate for the good of others who have public objects, I have only to pray God to continue me, if it be His pleasure, the other sources of happiness of a private kind. I have had a letter from Lord Redesdale, also very dismal, and, in its contents about the Prince, like yours. The Duke of Cumberland sent me a military express to inform me of the dissolution. Ever yours, affectionately,

"ELDON."

Can any one who reads this letter doubt that, if the Whig Government had stood, George III. steadily supporting it, Lord Eldon would, ere long, have personally assailed him; and, if his "dear old master" had been reduced to the same situation in which he was in 1801 and 1804, would have denied his capacity to govern?

The ex-Chancellor had about the same time, probably in more guarded language, unburdened his mind in a letter to the Duke of Portland. Fortunately, his Grace's answer is preserved :

"Bulstrode, Nov. 26, 1806.

“I will add little to the length of this letter, except to contradict the rumours you have heard of any intimation having been made to me, either directly or indirectly, of H. M.'s sentiments upon any political subject whatever. H. M. was pleased to come to this place on the Saturday before the dissolution of Parliament, accompanied only by the Queen and Princesses, and the Dukes of York and Cambridge; but not a syllable, or even allusion, to the present state of things, or to the event then impending, (with which, however, I have some reason to think he was at that time unacquainted,) except, if it can bear such an interpretation, his repeatedly, for three or four times, expressing his regret at having a good memory, and lamenting it as a serious misfortune. Believe me, my dearest Lord, nothing can relieve my mind so much as unburdening it to you in the present crisis. The friendship I have for so many years experienced for you, teaches me to believe that I cannot use any argument so likely to induce you to gratify my wishes. I therefore conclude, with the most cordial assurances of regard and attachment. Your Lordship's most faithfully, ever, "PORTLAND."

The elections went strongly in favour of the Whigs, and Lord Eldon really was in despair. Yet he judged it good policy that he should not appear dejected, and that active preparations should be made for opposing the Government. In a long letter to Lord Melville, he says:—

"I had also for twelve months past, observed, not without grief, that all my exhortations to plan, to union, to system, had been thrown away upon every body here. If they had not, I think I should at this moment have seen a very different state of things. I certainly did express strongly, at the Priory, my fears that the opinion expressed by your Lordship (to which so much respect would be paid because it was due to it) upon this measure, would greatly augment the panic that existed, whilst it did not appear to me that it could do any good. Upon the matter of fact (what this dissolution does prove as to the mind or intention of any body concerned in it) we may live to converse together;* but whatever my belief of the actual mind and intention of any person concerned in it may be, though you know I am no politician, I should be deservedly thought an idiot, if I did not feel with what universality it will be deemed to import that mind and intention which you think it imports, and how impossible it is to give weight, generally, to any grounds of belief to the contrary, unless they are furnished by acts or declarations, for which it cannot be reasonable to look. That mischief, great mischief, has been done, let the truth of the case be what it may be, cannot be doubted. My poor opinion is, that it will be augmented, and unnecessarily, if we act upon the supposition that it will not bear dispute what the truth of the case is."t

But Lord Eldon placed all his hopes upon a scheme which had been actively going on for some months, but which, being confined to a small. junto, he did not venture to state or hint at to Lord Melville, who probably would have strongly condemned it.

The Prince of Wales having laid certain charges, of a very serious nature, touching the honour of his wife, before the King, four members of the Cabinet, Lord Chancellor Erskine, Earl Spencer, and the Lords Grenville and Ellenborough, were appointed commissioners to inquire into the charges, with Sir Samuel Romilly, the Solicitor General, as their secretary. They conducted the proceeding with a sincere anxiety to arrive at the truth, but not very regularly or discreetly, for they gave the Princess no notice of what was alleged against her, and she had no opportunity to contradict or to explain the evidence, which placed her conduct in an equivocal point of view. It likewise turned out that, in taking down the examination of the witnesses, they only stated the substance of what each was supposed to have sworn-not

* A very cautious but significant allusion to the King.

He afterwards goes on to blame, very severely, Mr. Pitt's attempts to bring in Mr. Fox. Lord Melville wrote him back a very manly answer, in which he justifies what Mr. Pitt did; and having shown that no evil could have arisen if the King had taken his advice, thus concludes:-"Compare that state of the King and country with the state of both now, and then judge of the wisdom and rectitude of Mr. Pitt's views!"-January, 1807.

This investigation originated in the advice of Lord Thurlow. See Sir Samuel Romilly's Memoirs, ii. 140, 142, 144.-Lord Grenville thought that the alleged birth of a child "would render it impossible to avoid making the matter public, and the subject of a parliamentary proceeding.”

giving the questions as well as the answers-so that the exact effect of their testimony could not be accurately judged of.*

The unhappy lady, when she heard from rumour of what was going on against her, applied for advice and assistance to the ex-Chancellor, who was delighted to become her patron; for he thought that he might thereby please the King, who he believed secretly favoured her, although his Majesty had sanctioned this investigation;-he was pleased to thwart the Prince, whom he regarded as a political enemy;-he expected that an opportunity might arise for censuring the conduct of the Ministers, and bringing unpopularity upon them for their attack upon the persecuted Princess;-and let us charitably suppose, that, convinced of her innocence, he had something of a disinterested desire to see her righted. Accordingly, a very intimate intercourse, both by visits and letters, was established between him and her Royal Highness. "Lord Eldon at that period would often dine with her at Blackheath ; and to him she used to assign the seat of honour on her right hand. In Germany it had not been the custom for gentlemen to help the ladies near them to wine; but each sex fill their own glasses at their option. The Princess, however, as Lord Eldon related, used to reverse in some sort our old English fashion in his favour; for she would quietly fill his glass herself,-and so frequently, that he seldom left her house without feeling that he had exceeded the limits of discretion. Those indeed who recollect the proverb, 'that though one man may take a horse to the well, ten men cannot make him drink,' will moderate their commiseration for the hard lot of the ex-Chancellor."‡

The following are two of the letters which she addressed to him, before she heard of the result of the "Delicate Investigation."

"MY DEAR SIR,

"Blackheath, June 24th, 1806.

"I must mention to your Lordship that the two letters from Lady' Douglas to Mrs. Fitz Gerald, which your Lordship saw on the occasion, never to enter again to my house, (which would have been very great proofs against Lady Douglas, and show her true character,) have been taken out of my drawers, in which all the papers were, and upon each was written what were the contents of each different parcel. Yesterday, to my greatest astonishment, I missed that parcel. Every search in the world has been made, in case my bad memory had led me to put it in some other place; but I have not succeeded to find them, and am led to believe, that the same person, who was able to take a hundred pound note from Carlton House, could easily take this parcel,

See Sir S. Romilly's Memoirs, iii. 92.

† It requires a considerable effort to make us ascribe to him much of good motive in his treatment of Caroline of Brunswick. Although at this time he maintained that she was the chastest and most injured of her sex, he afterwards said, in confidence to Lord Grey, in reference to the charge now brought against her,"My opinion is, and always was, that though she was not with child, SHE SUPPOSED HERSELF TO BE WITH CHILD."-Romilly's Memoirs, iii. 104.

Surtees, p. 116.

which was so great a proof against Lady Douglas's character. No step has been taken by me to find out if he is the guilty one. In case you wish to see me, I shall be very happy to receive, you to-morrow, or on Thursday morning, at any hour, and I beg to entreat of your Lordship, to take it well into consideration, that it is quite impossible for me to remain any longer silent upon this subject, in which my honour is so much implicated, and which is so much the talk of the public at this moment, that I hope your Lordship will take it in the most serious light, and to take some steps which will lead to my conclusion, whatever it may be. My health, as well as my spirits, suffer too much to be left any longer in suspense; and you, who have always shown yourself as a sincere friend to me, will feel as I do upon this subject. I remain for ever, with the truest sentiments of high regard, esteem, and friendship,

"Your Lordship's sincere friend."

"Blackheath, July 25th, 1806.

"The Princess of Wales entreats and desires Lord Eldon to go as to-morrow to Windsor, and ask an audience of his Majesty, and deliver to his Majesty the enclosed letter. The Princess is under very great apprehension, that the report made from the examination, to his Majesty, has not been fairly and literally delivered to his Majesty. She wishes for that reason that Lord Eldon should verbally explain, and open his eyes on the unjust and unloyal proceedings of his Ministers. The Princess cannot help thinking that his Majesty has been led into error, otherwise he would have by this time shown his usual generosity and justice, by declaring the princess's innocence. The Princess is quite resigned to her cruel fate, from the period that her honour was in the hands of a pack of ruffians, and who are only devoted, and slaves, to her most inveterate enemy. The Princess hopes that on Sunday Lord Eldon will be able to give her a satisfactory account of the reception he received of his Majesty, and the Princess has been now for seven weeks in the most dreadful and tormenting suspense. The Princess will be very much obliged if Lord Eldon will do her the favour of losing no time for setting off for Windsor and of seeing the King. The Princess sends to his Lordship the letter to the King for his perusal. If he should wish to alter any part in the letter, the Princess desires that Lord Eldon would mark it down and send it back; the Princess would in less than an hour send it to him again.

"The Princess remains, with the highest esteem and regard, his Lordship's most sincere friend, "C. P."

The Report of the Commissioners to the King, dated the 14th of July, 1806, acquitted the Princess of the charge that she had given birth to a child long after her separation from her husband, but stated "that evidence had been laid before them of other particulars respecting the conduct of her Royal Highness, such as must, especially considering her exalted rank and station, necessarily give occasion to very unfavour

able interpretations."* On the 11th day of August a copy of this Report was sent to her by Lord Chancellor Erskine, with an intimation that "she was to be admonished by his Majesty to be more circumspect in her conduct." Under Lord Eldon's advice, she several times wrote to the King, complaining of the manner in which the proceeding against her had been conducted by his Ministers; solemnly denying the levities which the Report imputed to her, and praying "that she might again be admitted into the presence of her uncle-her father-in-law and her Sovereign-who had ever hitherto proved her friend and protector."

The King, melted by these expressions, and still exasperated against his son, was supposed to be favourably inclined towards her, although, as her conduct had been made an affair of state, he could not now, against the advice of his Ministers, receive her at Court as if free from blame.

Lord Eldon was prudent enough not to commit his sentiments on this subject to writing. The two following are the only other letters to him from the Princess which have been allowed to see the light:

"Blackheath, Oct. 13th, 1806. "The Princess of Wales, with the most grateful sense, is most sincerely obliged to Lord Eldon for his kind inquiry through Lady Sheffield.

66

Her body as well as her mind have naturally much suffered from the last melancholy catastrophe, having lost in so short a time, and so unexpectedly, a most kind and affectionate brother and a sincere friend. The afflictions which Providence has sent so recently to her are very severe trials of patience and resignation, and nothing but strong feelings of religion and piety could with any sort of fortitude carry the Princess's dejected mind through this. She puts her only trust in Providence, which has so kindly protected her in various ways since she is in this kingdom.

"The Princess also has the pleasure to inform his Lordship that the Queen has twice made inquiry, by Lady Ilchester, through Lady Sheffield, about the Princess's bodily and mental state. The Duchess of York, through her lady to Lady Sheffield, and the Duke of Cambridge in the same way, made their inquiries. The Duke of Kent wrote himself to the Princess, which of course she answered herself. The Duke of Cumberland, who has twice been with the Princess after the melancholy event took place, desired her to announce, herself, to his Majesty the unexpected event of the death of the Prince Hereditary of Bruns

* Sir S. Romilly says,-" The result of this examination was such as left a perfect conviction on my mind, and I believe on the minds of the four Lords, that the boy in question is the son of Sophia Austin; that he was born in Brownlow Street Hospital, on the 11th of July, 1802, and was taken by the Princess into her house on the 15th of November in the same year.”—Mem., ii. 144. Yet, although there is no pretence for the notion that "Billy Austin" was the son of the Princess of Wales, or that she was ever in a state of pregnancy after the birth of the Princess Charlotte, it is now ascertained that he was of totally different parentage, and born in Germany.