The Greville Memoirs, Part 1 (of 3), Volume 1 (of 3): A Journal of the Reigns of King George IV and King William IVGreville, Charles
History
The Greville Memoirs, Part 1 (of 3), Volume 1 (of 3): A Journal of the Reigns of King George IV and King William IV
Greville, Charles
Great Britain -- History -- George IV, 1820-1830; Great Britain -- History -- William IV, 1830-1837
Just before I set off to Windsor I heard from Ireland, and this
is an extract of the letter:--'Lord Anglesey received a letter
from Peel this morning to the effect "that as he had written and
published a letter such as no Lord-Lieutenant was justified in
writing, it was his Majesty's pleasure that Lords Justices should
be immediately appointed." Francis found him very smiling and
glorious, but angry, and declaring that he would do just the same
again if he had to choose his line of conduct.'
_À propos_ of Denman's silk gown, Mount Charles told me the other
day that Denman wrote a most humble apology to the King,
notwithstanding which the Duke of Wellington had great trouble in
mollifying him. At last he consented, but wrote himself on the
document that in consideration of his humble apology his Majesty
forgave him, as he thought it became the King to forgive a
subject, but desired this note might be preserved in the
Treasury, where Mount Charles says it now is.[25]
[25] [This curious correspondence has now been published in
the fifth volume of the Duke of Wellington's
'Despatches,' New Series, pp. 117 and 153. The cause of
the quarrel was a Greek quotation from Dion which
Denman had introduced into one of his speeches at the
Queen's trial. In the King's answer to the memorial
(which answer was drawn up by the Duke of Wellington)
the following passage occurs:--
'The King could not believe that the Greek quotation
referred to had occurred to the mind of the advocate in
the eagerness and heat of his argument, nor that it was
not intended, nor that it had not been sought for and
suggested for the purpose of applying to the person of
the Sovereign a gross insinuation.' Denman, however,
prayed his Majesty to believe that 'no such insinuation
was ever made by him, that the idea of it never entered
his mind,' &c.
The truth about this quotation is this:--During the
Queen's trial Dr. Parr, who was a warm supporter of the
Queen and an intimate friend of Denman, employed
himself in ransacking books for quotations which might
be used in the defence. Thus he lit in Bayle's
Dictionary, article 'Octavia,' upon the answer made by
Pythias, one of the slaves of Octavia, to Tigellinus,
when he was torturing the slaves of the Empress in
order to convict her of adultery. The same answer
occurs in substance in Tacitus' 'Annals,' book xiv.
cap. 60. This Parr sent to Denman, and Denman used it
in his speech. The fact is, therefore, that the
quotation had been 'sought for and suggested' for the
express purpose of saying something personally
offensive to the King. The King's resentment against
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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