Abbeville press. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1860-1869, 1866-07-13
a ROYAL BIGAMIsr.--sOMK SKETCHES OF
GEORGE FOURTH

George, Prince of Wales, afterward
King George w In 1895, at twenty-three
sam, and seeing loved, Mrs. Maria Fitzher
bert, r charming widow, six years bis
senior. In December Of the Same year
he secretly married her. The union wss
Was invalid, in consequence of the marri-
age act of l772, whi ioh prohibited the
formation Of any matrimonial alliance by
n,member of the royal family without the
reguing monarch,,s consent Yet no hu-
man statute could morally .nullify a
marriage to which there were no other
obstacles. Mrs. Fizherbert was lady Of
excellent family, high moral principle
and great refinement. She repelled the
princes attentions until the pro-
posed sentiments of his heart were ac-
companied by an offer Of his hand. In
entering upon this connection George run
risk far greater than the danger Of an
perng his father. He had-as all the
elder sons Of the House Of Brunswick had
done before hip-qnarrelei with the Sow
ereign, and with the Sovereign, was
keeping ups separate establishment. He
could hardly do any thing to widen the
breach in this quarter. But there WAS an
ugly statute, which declared that marriage
of the heir to the throne with a Roman
Catholic would operate as forfeiture
OF bis right to the succession. Mrs. Fifth
e,bert was Catholic; hence the necessity
of keeping the real condition ofaffaira from
the public. 1t is true that the lawyers
might declare that the wedding knot was
Improperly tied, but popular opinion might
differ from that Of the gentlemen Of the
long robe, on this, az Oh many other mat
teis.
Time passed on, the Prince of Wales
was pursuing career Of boundleas extrav.
agance, and debts began to rise mountain
high around him. There is limit even to
princely credit, and bills were pouring in
with far more rapidity than was agreeable.
The King was appealed to for relief
This he could afford only by asking Par
lament for an appropriation, and lie refused
to do 80 unless to the prince would prom
ise to marry and lead reputable domestic
life. The alternative wasa hard one, but
'cl6shness conquered principle, the condition
was compiled with.
Parliament had something 10 say on the
subject of the Princes debts rs we'll As his ia
iher; his debts were enormous, and prudent
legislators grumbled. 1t WAS good thing
for the heir apparent to marry if he
had not already one wife, and there
were ugly runors that such WAS his situa-
ton. 1t was not wholly certain, however,
that such was the case, and so some bold
representative OF the people raised the direct
question in the House Of Commons. The
scene was An exciting one, and all awaited
its answer with intense interst. We have
said that the truth was not entirely certain
but it was pretty generally suspected
The Honorable Charles James Fox, the
Princes chosen friend, WAS nevertheless rea.
dy for the emergency. He arose in his seat
and fatty coutradiotsd the !rumor that lis
Royal Hghness had wife. This was
rnfiicisnt for the loyal Commons; the
appropriation was made and the debts
paid.
The Prince WAS again solvent, but his
troubles were just beginning. The bride
selected for him was his cousin, Caroline
Of Brunswick, giddy, awkward and
;ndiscreet, though we'll ipte1ptioned German
girl. Her :carelessness in dress, free and
boisterous manners, and in short her
whole character totally unified her for
harmonizing with the jaded and tastidious
libertine who was 10 become her hus-
band.
Baron, afterward Earl Malmesbury;
paragon Of stiffness and etiquette, was sent
over to Brunswick to escort the betrcthed
Princess to England, the marriage ceremony
not taking place until after her arrival
The envoy, Judging from the accounts in
bis journals, appears to have done his best
to give Caroline good counsel, but his ad-
vice WAS as primly offered as II could have
been by any maiden lady Of fifty. He
even suggested to her that she should
wear cleaner ekirts 7 His lectures were of
very little benefit to their mercurial subject.
On reaching Windsor the "bappy bride
groom" was found laboring under the ef-
fects Of too copious libations, and, after
kissing his intended, according to court