Four of the European monarchs of the first half of this century--Ludwig I. of Bavaria, Frederick William IV. of Prussia, Christian VIII. of Denmark, and this English Prince Regent--bear a strong resemblance to each other. They are the four reigning reactionary dilettanti. In England, as in Denmark, literary dilettantism succeeds patriarchal simplicity. In the case we are at present considering, it was combined with shocking morals and an almost incredible indolence. In March 1816, fifty-eight prisoners under sentence of death were lying in Newgate prison waiting until the Prince Regent's amusements and distractions should allow him time to sign their death-warrants or their pardons, and many of them had lain there since December. In vain did Brougham make his terrible attack in Parliament upon those "who, when the gaols were filled with wretches, could not suspend for a moment their thoughtless amusements to end the sad suspense between life and death." In connection with this subject, Moore's satires in _The Twopenny Post-Bag_ are well worth reading. They show plainly that the sweet Irish song-bird had beak and claws. In _The Life of Sir Walter Scott_ we read with what a good-humoured smile the Regent, in 1815, could refer to and quote the verses by Moore which describe his table as loaded with fashion-journals on the one side and unsigned death-warrants on the other. The satire of the verses was only too well deserved, but was of little avail. As early as 1812 Castlereagh had said, in a speech in Parliament: "It would be impossible for his Royal Highness to disengage his person from the accumulating pile of papers that encompass it." In "The Insurrection of the Papers," Moore puts it thus:-- "On one side lay unread Petitions, On t'other hints from five Physicians; _Here_ tradesmen's bills,--official papers, Notes from my Lady, drams for vapours-- _There_ plans of saddles, tea and toast, Death-warrants, and the _Morning Post_." Four years later, the Regent had actually allowed fifty-eight death-warrants to accumulate.