Memoirs of the Court of George IV. 1820-1830 (Vol 1): From the Original Family DocumentsBuckingham and Chandos, Richard Plantagenet Temple Nugent Brydges Chandos Grenville, Duke of
History
Memoirs of the Court of George IV. 1820-1830 (Vol 1): From the Original Family Documents
Buckingham and Chandos, Richard Plantagenet Temple Nugent Brydges Chandos Grenville, Duke of
Great Britain -- History -- George IV, 1820-1830
We cannot argue the question of the expediency of the original
omission, without consuming more paper and time than I can afford;
but it still appears to me--1st. That at that time Ministers had
not decided to bring the business forward, or to publish the
Queen's infamy; 2ndly. That though I am myself perfectly satisfied
of the King's prerogative, it was so far disputable as to render
such an exercise of it very unwise; 3rdly. That there could have
been no greater difficulty or impropriety in proceeding, if it
should afterwards be rendered necessary by her coming to England,
against "our gracious Queen Caroline," than against "the Princess
of Wales," prayed for the preceding Sunday. As to the phrase of
"gracious," it is a mere title of honour attached to the station,
and far less objectionable than "most religious," which _Charles
II._ was the first sovereign who assumed, and which produces little
sensation even when used as an epithet to _some_ of his successors.
Still, if they were mealy-mouthed, they might have inserted "Her
Majesty Queen Caroline." I should also have wished to have sent
a yacht, or suitable conveyance, to bring her over to her
trial,--just as, if she had been found guilty on an impeachment,
and sentenced to transportation, I would not have despatched her to
Portsmouth in the caravan, or to Botany Bay in a transport. To
neither of these, however, did I attach as much blame as to the not
notifying the death of the Princess Charlotte, which I think the
most brutal omission I ever remember, and one which would attach
disgrace in private life, even in a case where a divorce was
pending, or had actually taken place.
My great objection is to the spirit of irritation and provocation
which dictated the whole, as if they wished to goad her into the
course she has since pursued, instead of endeavouring by all means
in their power to avert what every other man in the kingdom felt to
be a most hazardous and perilous crisis.
I am much inclined to think that you are quite right as to the key
which explains Peel's conduct. Still, I hear from all sides how
_we_ are to come in after Easter. This may proceed either from
a desire to strengthen themselves by really combining us with Peel
in a new arrangement, or (which I think more probable) from a
design of cajoling us into present support.
An apology was transmitted to me from Castlereagh, through Lewis,
for his attack on the Commission of 1806, professing it to have
been quite _inadvertent_, and merely levelled at Erskine, without
_recollecting_ that Lord Grenville was equally implicated.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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