The National Register. — London, England, 1821-01-01 00:00:00

T 420 PERSECUTIONS OP THE QUEEN. The iidlowing touching recital of the continued aeries of persecutions, to which her Majesty bus been subjected—formed part of a speech delivered by the Rev. Mr. Slieplietd, at the recent anniversary Of the Concentric Soak,ty at Liverpool. Gentlemen. ir there es was a pi.' ' , rented female, that female is the (raven of Elielatel. tier w voiles are of 1111 early date. They commenced almost from the very meat of her first landing on these shores. It is one of the evils necessarily attached to the conaition of loyalty, that in that exalted rank the matrimonial union is rarely effected upon those principle's of inninal aft ection by which it is rendered a blessing to the subordinate ranks of the community, With respect to his present Majasty, it is a matter of public notoriety, that he entered into the state of matrimony with Caroline of Brunswick, not be cause lie was sniitten with her personal attractions, or because he held in esteem her character and accomplish ments, not because this Marl iage was stipulated by Mr. Pitt, as a condition for the payment of his daily accumu lating debts. When his intended bride landed in I.:De land, win was appointed as one of her ladies of horn-me to wait upon her person? Why Indy the Comitess of Jersey! To her was committed the task of initiating her Royal Highness iu English MIMICS 3, and of instnictilig her how to router herself pleasing and acceptable to her husband I What happiness voila he expected from a Simi i cage commenced under such auspices / It was scull whispered that her Royal ilialiness was suffering under much domestic vexation and uneasiness. And the sad truth was in a little Mile brought fully in:o the view of the public. Her Royal Highness unburdened her mind in detailing her grievances in a letter to her usether.— This letter she dorsi not send to ill 1111SYl irk by the com mon post, nor by the medium' of her lather's Envoy. She committed it to the care of a Rev. Divine, w in basely and foolishly betrayed her confidence, by delivering it to the late Queen. Alter this trawaction it may readily be believed that she could have no peace or tiatiquillity at home; and, very soon after she had given bitch to the late lamented Princess Charlotte, his Alajesty dismissed her from his palace. And what were the grounds of that dismissal ? Fortunately for her Majesty, the grounds of that dismissal are recorded in a letter from her illustrious spouse. In that letter, does he charge her with unchastity, with levity of conduct, with any vice, or will: any fully? " Nil aorata.° Her illustrious spouse was pleased to dis miss her whom lie had lately sworn to diet isli, ripen Me plea that "our inclinations are not in our pow er - -a pit a of which it has been joslly observed in au address to tier Majesty from the town of Chorley, that " it' it be available to a Prince of Wales, it is equally available to every eti tninal who suffers the judgment of the law." Being then banished from the palace of her husband, our Queen — then Princess of Wales—withdrew into nimbi' tisive retire ment. Dedicating herself to maternal duties—and how well she discharged those duties is evinced by the fond and constant attachment of her daughteraa-she was hardly ever heard of, except oil occasion of her attendance al Court. But, alter the lapse of many the most scam dalons reports %vele whispered to the disadvantage of tier character ; and during the Whig administration au inquiry was imaitnted item her conduct—au inquiry by a flagrant misnomer called the" Delicate Investigation." Whatever may have been the delicacy of that inquiry, it was eel tautly not deficient in siticitiess and seventy. Ni> drfcreuce was paid (I do affirm that it ought to have been paid) to her rank and station. Her servants were sttbmitted to interrogatories, without a moment's warning lias Mg been given to tier. Every point of her conduct was inioutely scrutinized. Witnesses were heard against bier, without her being apprized of the tetiour of their testimony at the time of their examination, so as to he enabled to rebut it. And what was the result of this celebrated impesii ? Why, her judges, without putting her ou her di liner, acquitted her of the mom turpitude which bad ioet o inc pilled to her, arid recommended the prosecivion for per jury of the principal of her calumniators. To tl!eir award, indeed, was annexed a recommendation to his late Majesty to advise her to be more circumspect i a her can duct. Bat this recommendation was made witliont her Royal Highness having been heard in rapt:illation or de fence, and on evidence which she ultimately moved to be so unworthy of credit, that, on her remonstratiag aeaMst this procedure, our late moniirch, who, in his private character, was well deserving of those endearing epi thets, "(food old King!" at length proclaimed his cooviction of her inoncence by publicly receiving her at his court. During this fiery ordeal, our Queen derived the most essential boleti' from the countenance and aid of Mr. Perceval, of Lord Eldon, lord Liverpool, and Mr. Canning. These cralty politicians woo anal themselves into her secrets : they became acquainted with all the particulars oilier history : they %%etc informed of all the grounds of complaint which she had, or fancied that she had, against her Iniehaud. And these they con trived to turn to vast profit to themselves. They put them carefully up into a greet' bag: and when, at the commencement of the Regency, thy were apprehensive of being turned out of office, Mr. Perceval Mailed on this Regent with this green bag under his crime:al said—" Sire, if you displace us, this green bag shall be elicited, and the whole nation shall know how yuu have treated your wife." I hesitate not to say that conduct like this is only to be paralleled by that of the villains who meets you at dusk iu SC. James's Park, and tells you that, it yuu will not give Min 201., he will accuse you of au abominable crime. it is strange that such a matiouvre should have succeeded; but we know, to our cost, that succeed it did. Mr. Pei emit and his friends were firmly seated in office. They then soon forgot the counsel they had &haled with the Princess of Wales, Bel cruelly cotinived at, or basely joined in, a series of indignities towards her, vshieh, whilst nosy were nut sufficically atrocious to alarm the public mind, were well calculated to wear down her spirits with mortification and disgust. When tier u,ni l was in this slate of 01 pl eSS,IOI.I she was appi6itrlict! liv Mr. Calming. of whom it way be :aid, as Lad Digby sail of the Earl of Stettin d, Baal the " tualiguiiy of his practices are hugely captivated by those rare :toddies of his, whereof God loon giveu him the use, but the Devil Me application." Like Snail whispering In the ear of Eve, he gave het most psi u.ic:ous counsel. He advised her to fix her reeitieure abi,atl. In an evil hour, trial in spite of the ploplietic :lugs./Air. itruigglialit, she acted upon Mr. Caimina'e e, 411.1 ip11:1..1 the blurts of !Sandhi. In the letter to stir hail ri vaned Iron her litihbatid, it bla teal unit Istlilltr putt:. " await: tie held ausweratda THE NATIONAL RECISTER • .• - to the other." Thnudh I catinot bring myself to subscribe to the opinions of these who construe this passage as license to her Royal Highness to adopt any line of cosidart she 111101 please, it might have atithoriSed all t'sitevtali" that she would be permitted to travel, or to remain in a used abode. free nom atm particular observation or our. 1T411./14CC. But it is now matter of evidence, that, by souse {dine' to unknown interferenee, her every tuotioti was watched by spit 3 and informers. Awl the nature of this species of vet rein we know ton well. We know that lilies estimate their own importance, and calculate their pro ble pruners, in the ratio of the atiocionsness of the tales %%Inch they co 1111 l tunicate. lletire they exaggerate tritlieg errot s into crimes; they 'Marvin esein innottent aetioes as grim ; and even forge di, ect lakehoods. wine!' they ate really to support by peritiry. Wlntt was likely to be the tote of a ft male who was dogged by bloodhounds of this desciiption, and whose hospitality was basely abused by a villain of rank, for the purpcse of purluining her papers? What is likely to be the fate of any mistress of a faintly, near whose dwelling an agency subsists, for the purpose of availing itself of the illdiumuur and malice of discarded and discontented servants, to pick tip anecdotes of her life and conversation? Whosoever is inclined to pay hattil scrawly for an evil report will not long tie ill wain of a vender. thence we need not be surmised at the scanda luts respecting her Majesty. which were collSey ell by the medium of inquisitive a aveliers from the ceniiiient, and which were accumulated and digested by the fainoes Milan commission. l'he documents which had been pro cured by that "pareutrik frairum," 'drown and VH1114( 6 .1111, it was not, however, thought prudent to act upon dining the lifetime of our late reveled Sovereign. Ergo in the awfill wreck of his i'.lcultitts, he was the r 'Brion, though mironscions, pi elector of his danginer-iii-law. But us 50011 as lie was laid in the grave—nay, I nut shocked to say it, before his seta:Sills were riviinsited in the tomb—actise operations were COl 1111 l nicer) against oar Queen. WllllOlll a trial, a Biota a heat Mg, site Was virtually degraded fa inn her exalted rank, by her name being struck out of the Liturgy—a riocre(ittig the legality of whice is extremely questionable, and which (aims and poisons the devotional services of England and Ireland will the suggestions of politieal differences and animosities. Housed by this Inuit, the Witeeti determined to repair to England to claim and assert her rights. At St. Oiner's she was met by Lord Hutchinson, with a threat in one 1141111 and a bribe in the other. By that Mite of eltivally she was i 11 1 .011113.11 that it she proceeded to England site would be met by an im peachment ; but that if she she would consclit to stay :throat), she should be indulged With an income of;t0,0001. a-year. Gentlemen, if the ministers had any real faith in the coctents of their green hag, what' was the 111Pallin 01 this hotel proposal / Why, its meaning was plainly tins —" Go, play the %anent iit 1141 y—disgrace the nation in your person, in Ein opt., Asia:, Alstriter, aid Amer lea, tf you please; and yen shall receive tram the hal d-earned pro perty of lie pen& of Lugland 50,0001. per autumn, os tried that cost will ant nista; b us in the possession of our places " Bot her Majesty despised the threat, and spin - tied the bribe; she heir, ied to Eitglasid "im breath less 11:13h•:" and never shall we ftaget the mode of her reeeptitni b to—the sraisenou which tin tiled through the whole coutory al the lies 3 01 her and the shone. of joy which greeted her an trel at the camtal. Bat why did the impel:tee of Etieiatirl 11111 s iitsiatifinvonsly take pint with the fateren ? knew cothiil.glt het conduct w lieu abroad ; they could not foresee whet es 'deuce would be brom,iii molt's% her. 11 lint they 11111 mend reported concerning her was entirely her dm:tient. WO their did they sit sealously adept net cause' Because they saw that she was weak, and that her foes were powentil. Becanse they counted her enemies as lilt in enemies. lieennse they a hot harged the Quiet's. Wall 1 0111 c lily, had not only taxed to the very teeth, but libelled, the commovalty of England. Becaust• they recitLectre: that, for a lung series of ytais, she haul beeti rue idiji et et unmerited persecution : and because, front the fact of her having been mice assailed by unpunished perjury, they drew the natni CO M:1113100, 111i11 by perjury she would be assailed again. Geinlemen, 110 sooner Was the Queen landed than the ministers were all in a bustle. Lord Liverpool ill rat Ocular was as busy as a certain personage is said to he in a high wind. He had imorediatelY as theey occupaiimis as Scrub in the Beaux Stratagem, who, hi displaying the versatility of his talents, says to tkrcher, "Ou smitilay s 1 draws warrants, and on Mondays I draws beer." Si, on one day Lord Liverpool was employed in dray. in; the indictment against the Queen ; on another in settling the brief of the Attorney General; on a died in canvassing ilie depositions of the aitnonies; and 011 a fourth, perchance, in trying how far their oral teeihnony was likely to agree with the written derbit anions—a pro- eess which, in cert ale cases (not in Lord Liverpool's), I believe the enemies denu ttt i t late drilling. And, after all this pains-takitig, his Lordship fur therittore snide, took the weighty task of sitting to try the cause as a jurer. Here, Gentlemen, is one of the main hinges of the Queest's case. Who were her accusers? The ministers. Who were the jurors that sate to toy her? The ministers, their relations and friends; and. what Was more alarming Mill, their political dependants. Butt Loud Liverpool solemnly mo lested. on behalf of himself and his conipeere, that they would wash nom their minds all witeceilent prejndices, and proceed to hear the et:it:ester., pro and con. with the most unimpeachable tallness and impartiality. Presuitip teens men Does lie imagine thet he ern reset the (4)11e plea wheels is Melt compose the fine anitritinery or the lonitait mind, and vOillilitos, ill a cause in which his nll of repetal ion and of political estrtence is at :daft., that self pat twiny which is a fixed law of human moue? If, in reference to the known laws of human nature, ally mum would be thus impeached as a judge its a matter of one hundred pounds, what must we think of the judger who sate to try the Queen, with power, len ttttt age, place, and trinutpli awaiticg them on ; 111111 political ruin, disgrace, and nem liticatioti dwelling them on an acquittal? Before such a Intranet, hawever, the Queen appeared to answer—alter a prep a ration of little suture, I think, than a nalhtth— to charges which held o'4-11 concoctiug fur yr 4114, and reser( Cog the parte tears of vehicle she Was, by a innrvellons atilteteoce to legal forms, kept entirely in the dark. [The Rev. Gentleman then took nit able review of the progress of the ti tat, and of the conduct of the Peers.) Grunt-wee, I ant a sine ,-re re and enthusiastic admirer of the lii.tish Cuti•diintion, as I find it described by the best It gal *mien likes ; and 11101401 I cannot agree with the celebra ted Air. stereo; in Ills opinion that the mourn chy of 80, , laill may subsist within', the Houses of Lipids and Cam mons, 1 regard the regal authordy its au integral 4101 intlispeeniatite portion of our Constitution. I knew it is my duty to lank up to the Stiveitign with leVerence ; and 1r..: .4f I am one of the old school, whit think it wholesome and conducive to the public gond that the throne should be regarded by the people at lure with a kind of mysterious awl'. 011110 • 50 points I trust von ogre.. with me in scn tiutent. What then aura[ ne think of those rash men who rudely tear away the veil suspended e th e tluone, mid reveal to the public e: e what cannot be beheld out pain? It is not the habit of the people of mll ..g.atit. to el;iieibC With severity the errors, or even the vices, of persous of exalted rack. They would be disposed to look upon the failings of a Sovereign with the emotions with which the failings of a rather are regarded by a ihniild son. Ii is a WiSe policy in these kingdoms to kema the personal proceedings and pi ejudiees of ilia Atonal - eh as taucit PS possible out of slot. But how can this be effected, if minis , ers garland upon these prejtidiees great and important transactions of state. In the case brfurc us, the politic at large had nothing to do, and had little inclination to intermeddle, with the uniu,rnt:iatedilfcrutces which have taken place between the King anti Its wife. But the moment the ministers called mum oar tepees( 1- ' tatives for a bill of degradation and divorce against the Queen, those differences, with their causes autl circum stances, became a legitimate subject of public discussion : for if any one, after the King's message was laid on the table of 1.1.0" House of Commons, had said to the people of England, " Tots is a matter a cielt, as it concerns the King, you most forbeer to CAW/Abs." the people of Eau had would have treated hint with contempt, autl would have said—s• If the King appiies to our represeittatiyfs to ti i hint or his %%lie, and 1' ida arm us to pry the expense of the process, we beware parties in the cause, and no ;tower on eat ilt shall prevent us from examining into its nature and beatings." Tiii• has, in fact, beet' the lan guage and the cooduct of the people of England. I lament the result of their investigatiotts i lint, for the evil which tias at tsell front the late imptiry, his Alajesty's miaisiets, and they alone, are severely responsible: I say that for these evils they me severely tespittisible, because they might have obviated them lay tin ordinary degree of spirit and decision. !FrO PII 9III--:- F r atl~u 1.11 , 11,1 Nob b ON THE " LICENTIOUS PRE .SS." The Country grows sick at heart—the Constitu. tion totters—the House of Brunswick is in danger; but where arc the authors of so much mischief? Let us see.—The loyalists, as they term themselves —too many of whom mean by loyally a saleable commodity, to be disposed of for their own advan tage—these loyalists attribute the evils under which the country labours to Me Press!—Not to the moon or the magnet—not to solar influence : or mysterious magic, but to the licentious Press! Did the licen tious Press increase taxation ? Does the licentious Press overload the sinews of the firmer ? Does the licentious Press support the Government by the sword? Does the licentious Press grind down the nerves of the mechanic and the labourer? Did the licentious Press suggest the infamous Gagging Bills? Did the licentious Press oppose the Holy Alliance against mankind? Did the licentious Press pro duce the tyranny of Ferdinand, or the despotism of Frederic? Did the licentious Press destroy Alex. ander's just opinions, and till their• place with the disgus sing notions lately instilled? Did the licen tious Press blow up the Spanish frigate in time of peace—bombard Copenhagen to prove our friend ship to the Danes—pay the Neapolitans for fighting Mr Murat, and the Sicilians ter fighting against him? Did the licentious Press teach Louis that he had been nineteen years King of France ? Did the licentious Press generate the loathsome herd of con. traetot s and sinecurists, which, like so many cancers, devour the body politic? Did the licentious Press draw from the suffixing nation its hard-earned treasures, to subsidise the banditti of Russia, Austria and Prussia? Did the licentious Press cut off the springs of trade? Did the licentious Press produce that host of political ills which make the people miserable, hopeless, and discontented ? Or, in truth and in fact, are not all the s e ills the fruits of the errors or of the crimes of Ministers ? Are they not the consequence of their tyrannical system—the re. sults of their mad efiiirts and base designs? To see the danger and conceal the incendiaries may be ley. ally, but it is not justice. To witness the wrongs and abuse the sufferers is cruelty: it is worse than the ignorance of old, which heaped upon some poor, but innocent woman, the curses of human brutes, fits the murrain of their cattle or the blights of their harvest; and just as wise and as rational as the witch-pursuers of past ages, we the equally be nighted i racers of the causes of national calamity to the use of the twenty-four letters! lf we examine all the precious declarations which have been hatched in bye places by the trumpeters of loyalty to deedve their Royal Maser, they strike the same string, and draw forth the same tone:—to the Li centiousness of the Press, and to Blasphemy, with their hair en end and uplifted hands, the devoted sons of cupidity and loyalty ascribe our danger. A cousin of the assassin Louvel, who hears dirt intionoto; name, and who belongs to a regiment of dragoons at Tidonville, having made some horrible propositions to a trumpeter of the regiment, which the latter rejected with shuddering, Louvel stabbed him dead. The murderer is in custody. Lord and Lady Curzon have, with the kindest regard for the comforts of the poor at this period of the year, made a most accepLable present of blankets and clothing, to the indigent families in the neigh. bourhood . of Guinan. V • , IN