The eastern clarion. [volume] (Paulding, Miss.) 1837-1863, 1859-05-04
A Court FavOrite.

iHLO' Ilo COuEt ldFOFlIe OF NEORGE
THE FOURTH, which, being well told, pos
sesses all the interest of a romance:
To this hour, English history and Eng
liSh biography are silent upon the rise and
fall of the late Lord Bloomfield, for MANY
years the favorite of George the Fourth.
The particulars of their connexion remain
unrelated, though not unknown. We are
in a gossiping vein to-day, and shall give a
few of them:
Lord Bloomfield owed his rise to the ac-
cident of his having played well on a good |
violoneeIlo. and his fall was occasioned |
(of course) by woman. When we say |
''of course, we are bound to explain, and |
do it by anecdote. Every one who can |
read has read "The Arabian Nights En- |
tertainments," and every one must be ia |
miliar with the name of Haroun Alraschid, !
the Eastern monarch. ''Once upon a |
time" as the story-books have it, he was |
sitting in his Divan, when the intelligence |
arrived that his favorite builder, in re-
pairing one of the minarets OF the princi- |
pal Mosque, had fallen off the ladder and |
broken his neck. Haroun heard the in
telligence, and commanded his Vizier to
inform him, within four-and-twenty hours,
who she was by whom this fatal accident
had been caused. Monarchs in the East
are rather absolute, and as the Grand vi
zier knew that he would probably be a
head shorter if he did not supply the re-
| quired information within the stipulated
| time, he Quilted the DiVan with a very
| heavy heart. The morrow came, but he
was unable to satisfy the Caliph as to the
| She who had caused the builders death.
| As a special favor, he obtained a respite of
a week, and, at the expiration of that
| time, had been so successful in his inqui-
ries, that he was able to go before the Cal
| Jpn without apprehension. "Well?" said
Haroun. my Lord, " replied the Vizier,
the builder was on the ladder, and as
beautiful Georgian slave was passing in
the street beneath him, he turned round
to look at her,-his foot slipped,-he fell
down, and was found dead, when your
Highness's attendants picked him up"
Very good" said the Caliph. 81 knew
that my builders death must have been
caused by she, for there never yet has
occurred anything of Importance, in this
! world, but a lo0mGn ,raS at the bottom ofHp
Oddly enough, one woman indirectly
caused Lord Bloomfeld's elevation. and
another more directly caused his fall.
George ", when Prince of Wales, mar
ried, on the Sth of April 1895, to his cou-
sin, Caroline of Brunswick, had previous
ly been married, in 1887, to Mrs. Fitzher-
bert, who had at that time been already
twice a widow, and was then fat, fair, and
forty, At her suggestion he adorned
Brighton Ia petty fishing village when he
| first patronised it) with that tasteful erec-
| tiOn-the Pavilion. After his marriage
| to his cousin, his first and real wife, Mrs.
Fitzherbert discontinued more particular
intimacy with him for some time but
they sometimes met, in society, on the
simple terms of mutual friendship. The
| Prince of Wales was very fond of music,
and. indeed, was himself very fair anna
teur performer. He was fond of having
concerts at his residence, whether in town
or country, and-to the credit of his pat
riotism and good sense be it said-always
: preferred native to foreign talent.
1t happened that in 1906, when the
! Prince of Wales was at Brighton, he gave
! one of his amateur concerts, and, Just as
! the performance was about commencing,
the first viOloncello" was taken so sud
denly and dangerously i'll as to be COM
| PEELED to leave the Pavilion. The Prince
was exceedingly annoyed, because he
, should have to disappoint his friends, and
what to him was worse) to disappoint
himself At this crisis, Mrs Fitzherbert
! remembered that she had heard that there
was an artillery captain then at Brighton,
! who could play remarkably well on the
/. violoncello. One of the gentlemen-in-
waiting was sent to command his company
: and that of his bass fiddle. They came.
The artillery officer was an lrishman
named Bloomfield, and as he really did
Il play remarkably well. the Prince compli-
mented him upon his play, and was so
much pleased with his manner, that he
: invited him to dine at the Pavilion the
next day. Captain Bloomfield also play
i ed whist-a game in which the Prince de-
! lighted-and, having shown some skill, as
partner to the Prince, received an intima-
Il ton that his company was desired at the
Pavilion "every evening until further no
tice," as the play-bills say. In three weeks
= he was appointed gentleman-attendant to
u the Prince of Wales. When that person.
II age became Regent, Bloomfield was made
:, his Clerk Marshal and Chief-Equerry. In
= 1918, he was knighted, and afterwards re
- ceived the Grand Cross Of the Bath, and
'o also of the Guelphic order. In 1917, or
the resignation OF Sir John Mcmahon, ht
was made Eeceiver-General of the Duchy
y of Cornwall. and Private Secretary anC
= Keeper of the Privy Purse to his patron
- who was then Prince Regent.
All this time his military rank was run
ming on, and there appeared no man NOR
oI fortunate than Sir Benjamin Bloomfield
a. the Princes favorite. 1t seemed as if tn
= ball was completely at his foot. He wa
i in such favor that the Prince Regent wen
- = no where without him. Wealth flowed j
!; for, somehow or other, Royal favorite
n do get handsome presents from people VIII
~ sue for their good word, and the Prime
n was very liberal.
- - In January, 1920, poor George the Thir
-. departed this life. For ten years he ha
40 been in a state of confirmed lunacy, bl
ro there is no doubt that, even as early
- l765, he was visited with intermittent Fl
al of insanity, that most dreadful of all Wis
al tations. To this cause, no doubt, must
"a attributed that obstinacy, that wron
ho headedness, which precipitated the ind
~ pendence of the American colonies whiC
Il finally continued the war, with immen
w., and unjustifable sacrifice of blood al
-. treasure which hurried England into Il
in war with France, kept up bv that "heave
no born minister" Pitt, to keep himself
he office and exclude his rival, Fox whic
~ with untiring and unNccountable bigotr
L. refused equal political rights to the
70 man Catholics; which, in short, from Il
bo commencement to the end of his reig
an pursued the most narrow-minded polio
~. This unfortunate alteration ofmind-tl
49, alienation of all intellectual faculties
L. was induced, medical men tell us, by Il
IL dreadful complaint (scrofula in its wol
10 form) to which the present Royal Fami
~ Of England have long been subject.
o. George the Third, the bodily disease W
o. o. suppressed, and his mind suffered;
- George the Fourth, the disease manife'
nl h fhannn iuV
~ ton of the stock, which conceals the CLAN
l" 10 of the neck, where the disease breaks ou
as a substitute for the low neckcloth, pr
-. viously used, and his mind was Free
- To this complaint may be traced the ha
49, itual restlessneSs-the constant longil
q" t for new and varied excitement-the UNI
" pressible desire to move from place
All All place-the proverbial inequality of tel
"a Der. which have been noted as the ch,
'oi- acteristics of the Royal Family of En-
Al land.
gun The Prince of Wales became King
~ name; he had exercised the regal pow,
IoD as Regent, for ten years previous to
|, &c accession. Who but Sir Benjamin Bloc
- - field then? The new King was tax
" so i'll Immediately after his accessi
that the courtiers did not well KIN
: what to do. To worship the rising sun
lch a rule of practice with them, as 1t Is WI
pm the Persians. They were between I
lie +; horns of dilemma, They would fam
uld the favor Of the Duke of York, Her II
,all sumptive to the Throne, and they did ?
like to pay him any extra attention ,S mh
fa there was a chance that the King $ ilin'
-. would not terminate fatally. To who
r. then, could they apply for information
sanI 10 the Kings health, except to his triel
iii Sir BENJAMIN Bloomfield? He was lit
VIII VIII aiIv ali besieged with inquiries-and he q
Sset STered them. eractly as the hing told HI
& i.eS Perbaps the Duke of York himself was
re &c the secret. At last, it was understo
& sn' that George the Fourth, then only f
M - weeks King, was not likely to live me
90 than few hours. Away rushed the Coz
anJ aies to pay homage to the Duke of 70
the Frederick the First of their n
this idolatry. And when the parasites h
ode departed when he saw how very few
for the decency to remain until his dem
had really taken place George ~ dre
from Windsor 70 st. James's and nom
pro- James's through the fashionable streets
Hyde Park, with the Duke Of York by