COMPILED FROM AUTHENTIC SOURCES, AND DOCUMENTS IN THE KING'S LIBRARY IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM, &c. BY ROBERT HUISH, Author of Kelly's celebrated Memoirs of the Princess Charlotte, Life of George III., LONDON: PRINTED FOR T. KELLY, PATERNOSTER-ROW; FISHER, SON, AND OF THE MUSES, FINSBURY-SQUARE; AND G. VIRTUE, IVY-LANE. INTRODUCTION. THE demise of a British Monarch is an event of no ordinary interest; it breaks asunder one of the dearest ties of a civilized people, and is sometimes the forerunner of their decline in the scale of nations. It is a period accompanied with intense anxiety, for the time is then come when the veil is to be drawn aside which delicacy or state policy may have prudently thrown over certain transactions; the deeds which, during the lifetime of the Monarch, were concealed, from motives of personal interest or esteem, then stand forth exhibited in their genuine colours; and the historian becomes thereby enabled to bequeath to posterity a clear and faithful narrative of those momentous circumstances which possessed such a preponderating influence on the general relations of the country. The Royal Family of England, which, by the Act of Succession, includes all the members of the illustrious House of Brunswick, have long been regarded by the country as a species of public property, in which the humblest subject of the land claims a deep and lively interest. It is, therefore, a rational deduction, that whatever stands immediately connected with the honour and happiness of those exalted individuals, necessarily becomes a source of national concern; we feel ourselves identified with all that relates to them, and we revert to the scenes of their lives as if we were individually interested in them, and as being the source from which are to emanate the renown and glory of the kingdom. The reign of George IV. has been to this nation one of momentous import. In it our foreign and domestic relations have assumed a wholly new and enlarged character; the arts and sciences have been fostered and encouraged by a zeal unexampled in any former period of our history; and we may proudly point to it as an era which was distinguished by a constellation of genius in every branch of useful knowledge which can confer honour on the human race. It has been marked by events to which the historian points with exultation, and which, whilst they cemented the glory and prosperity of the country, contributed, at the same time, to exalt its character in every quarter of the globe, and to establish its ascendancy in the scale of civilized governments. Considered in a general point of view, it may, with propriety, be affirmed, that there is scarcely a monarch, who ever wielded the sceptre of this country, whose private and public life abounds with more extraordinary and interesting incidents than that of George IV. But it must be admitted, at the same time, that there are also some circumstances in it, over which has been suspended a dark panoply of mystery, and from which the public attention was, at the period of their occurrence, artfully diverted by the deep-laid manœuvres of crafty politicians, or the more zealous efforts of private and confidential friends; but the time is now come when that panoply will be removed, and that of which only a partial glimpse has been hitherto obtained, or which has been wholly concealed, from a sense of delicacy and respect to the feelings of the existing monarch, will now be fearlessly exposed, uninfluenced by party spirit, and unawed by personal considerations of the consequences which may result to some of the yet living characters who figured in the eventful drama, and who, now that the shield of royalty is taken from before them, must rise or fall in the estimation of the British people, according to the greater or less degree of virtue which they displayed. It may be considered premature to allude in particular to any of those circumstances, as they must, necessarily, form a part of the present work; but we will, as an example, allude to two-the marriage of the Prince of Wales with Mrs. Fitzherbert, and the death of the Princess Charlotte. In regard to the latter, some extraordinary things have crept out through the dark cranny of the night,' which require a deep and solemn investigation: the facts, as they have been disclosed to us, shall be fully and impartially related; and if we should be the means of clearing away some of the mysteries which attended that melancholy event, we shall have performed the part of the Patriot and the Christian. In regard to the publication of the following work, it has not been resolved upon from the sudden impulse of the moment, nor is it founded on any crude and undigested plan; several years have been occupied in collecting information from sources purely authentic and original; and the deepest researches have been made into the records and documents in the British Museum, on subjects of historical notoriety or of doubtful character, with the view of stamping that validity and importance on the work which can alone render it valuable to the historian, or useful to posterity. |