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drawing to a close. The will, that had been so strong and unbending, succumbed to disease; and a reign in which the king had been so resolute to govern, ended in a royal "phantom," and a regency.1

1 See Chapter III.

CHAPTER II.

Influence of the Crown during the Regency, the Reigns of George IV., William IV., and Her Majesty, Queen Victoria.

THE Prince Regent differed too much, in character and habits, from his royal father, to be inclined to ex- Character of ercise the influence of the Crown, with the same the Prince Regent. activity. George III., eager for power, had also delighted in business, to which he had trained himself from early youth. With greater abilities, and superior education, the prince was fond of ease and pleasure, and averse to business. His was not the temperament to seek the labor and anxieties of public affairs: nor had power devolved upon him, until the ambitious spirit of youth had ceased to prompt him to exertion. He loved the "pomp and circumstance” of royalty, without its cares. But though disinclined to the daily toils which his father had undergone for fifty years, and disposed, by indolence and indifference, to leave more discretion to his ministers, in the ordinary affairs of state; yet whenever his own feelings or interests were concerned, his father himself had scarcely been more imperative.

his court.

The very qualities, however, which disinclined the prince to laborious activity, exposed him the more readily Influence of to the influence of his court. His father's will was strong, and full of energy: his own, inconstant and capricious. The father had judged for himself, with rude vigo and decision: the son, impulsive, indolent, and without

1 See debate, 14th April, 1812, on Col. M'Mahon's appointment as Private Secretary to the Prince Regent. - Hansard's Deb., 1st Ser., xxii. 332

strength of principle or conviction, was swayed by the advice of those nearest to his person.

The early events of the regency displayed at once the preponderating influence of the Crown, over all other powers of the state, and the subjection of the regent to the counsels of the court.

His separa

tion from his political friends.

To politics, apart from their relations to himself, the prince was indifferent; and his indifference led to the same results, as the king's strong predilections. He readily gave up the opinions, as well as the political friends of his youth. As to his friends, indeed, he had been separated from them for many years, by the French Revolution: the death of Mr. Fox had more recently loosened the tie which had bound them together: the part taken by them against the Duke of York, had further relaxed it; and the proud bearing of the great Whig leaders, - little congenial to the lighter manners of the court, — had nearly broken it asunder. But lately they had exerted themselves strenuously against the restrictions upon the powers of the regent, which the Government, following the precedent of 1788, had proposed; and their general views of policy were supposed to coincide with his own.

Mr. Perce

Other circumstances pointed strongly to their being now called to office. The Perceval administration, val's adminis- which had owed its origin to the king's dread of tration. the Roman Catholic claims, was weak and disunited; and while the leading statesmen of all other parties were favorable to the Roman Catholic cause, the sole merit of this ministry lay in their opposition to it. Mr. Perceval himself had been personally obnoxious to the prince, as the friend and adviser of his detested princess, Caroline of Brunswick: nor had the chancellor, Lord Eldon, been free

1 Mr. Erskine, writing to Mr. Lee, 8th Feb. 1793, said: "We are now plunging, for nothing, or rather for mischief, into a calamitous war, in combination (not avowed) with the despots of the North, to restore monarchy in France. And as it is the cause of kings, our prince is drawn into it, and has taken his leave of all of us.”— Rockingham Memoirs, ii. 127. -*

from the same offence. The regent had also suspected the latter of keeping him at a distance from his father, and told his lordship afterwards "that there was no person in the whole world that he hated so much, as for years he had hated him."

"1

ville and

the com

The prince had further raised the expectations of the Opposition, by confiding to Lord Grenville and Lord The prince Grey the drawing up of his answer to the joint advice of neglects the resolutions of the two Houses on the conditions of Lords Grenthe regency; and he, as suddenly, repressed these Grey. expectations by rejecting their draft for another, position of himself and Mr. Sheridan. This proceeding, so contrary to the views of these noblemen as responsible advisers, drew from them a remonstrance, which, however constitutional in doctrine, was too lofty in its tone, and partook too much of the character of a lecture, to be altogether acceptable to the prince.

While the Regency Bill was passing through Parliament, the prince had frequent communications with the Hopes of the Opposition. The plan of a new administration Opposition. was concerted, and several of the principal places were allotted to the Whig leaders. So assured were they of their speedy accession to power, that, jealous of the influence of Lord Moira and Mr. Sheridan, they were already insisting that the prince should engage to consult none but his future ministers. Nor were ministers less persuaded of the impending change. The king himself, in his lucid intervals, was informed of it by his chancellor; and was prepared to restore his old servants when he recovered. But before the Regency Bill had received the royal assent, the queen ad- Their disapdressed a letter to the prince, suggesting the seri- pointment.

8

1 Twiss's Life of Eldon, ii. 197, 198.

2 Moore's Life of Sheridan, ii. 383, et seq.; Duke of Buckingham's Memoirs of the Regency, i. 21, et seq.

8 Rose Corresp., ii. 471–475.

4 Twiss's Life of Lord Eldon, ii. 197.

6 Ibid., 477.

that they

should join

ous consequences which a change of ministry might have upon the king's recovery. The prince accordingly acquainted Lord Grenville that the state of his Majesty's health prevented the removal of ministers; but that his confidence was entirely with his lordship, Lord Grey, and his other friends.1 When the restrictions upon the prince's powers, as regent, His proposal were about to expire, and the king's recovery had become more improbable, it was still believed that Mr. Perceval. he would, at length, form a new administration consisting of the Opposition leaders. He contented himself, however, with proposing, through the Duke of York, that some of those persons with whom the early habits of his public life were formed," should agree to strengthen Mr. Perceval's administration, a proposal which they could scarcely have been expected to accept.2 In suggesting this arrangement, he truly avowed that he had "no predilections to indulge;" having now become as indifferent to the principles, as to the persons, of the Whig leaders.

66

ment from

the Whig

Restrained for a time, by the possibility of the king's reHis estrange- covery,3 from making any changes, he had easily become satisfied with existing arrangements, — his aders. contentment being increased by a liberal civil list. This result was imputed to secret counsels, to the persuasion of the queen, the Hertford family, and the court. Parliament and the press resounded with denunciations of these covert influences. But the events of this influence of period had a deeper import than the intrigues of a court, and the disappointments of a party. They

Paramount

the Crown.

1 Rose Corresp., ii. 478, 479.

2 Hansard's Debates, xxii. 39, n. Duke of Buckingham's Memoirs of the Regency, i. 222. Lord Grenville, writing to the Marquess of Buckingham, Feb. 13th, 1812, said: "The whole will end, I doubt not, in the continuance of Perceval, with Castlereagh and Sidmouth to help him. And this, I believe, is what Lord Yarmouth means, whose intentions are those which are alone of any consequence." - Ibid., 225. Mr. T. Grenville, to same, 14th Feb. — Ibid., 228; Life of Sir J. Romilly, iii. 11.

8 Rose Corresp., ii. 478, 479.

♦ Debate on Lord Boringdon's motion, 19th March, 1812. Lord Darn

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