The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1875-03-18
The Greville Memoirs.

Greville, whose memoirs of George
~. and William nv. have created such
a sensation in the literary world, was
great grandson of the earl of Warwick
and grandson of the third duke of
Portland. His family connection in
snred him the post of clerk of council,
which office he filed nsarly forty years.
The position brought him in close con-
tact with the nobility and the royal
family, and She pcn.pictures no gives
Of the everyday life Of these person.
ages has cansed the greatest excitement
throughout England.
GEORGE ".
or the greater vices Of George the
Fourth the world has heard enough :;
bat it seems incredible that any king OF
England should have been such small
creature az this man was. lnordinately
vain OF his person, he had perfect
mania for buVing clothes in great qlan-
titles, the bills Tor which he invariably
left 10 be paid by the nation tthrough
the master OF tue robes) Yet he never
forgot or gave away an article, and
would from time to time require his
Wallets to produce some garments which
had been out Of use for some years
When he died it was said Of his ward
robe thatit was large enough to fiji Mon
month street, aud gorgeous enough for
Drnry Lame theater
Another of the kings peculiartos
was that he always profeesed to have
| n NJ "a I,In vat Lot t,,l
death no less than five hundred
pocket. books of variaus dates, each Of
which contained number of gnineaS
or bank notes.
HIS ONE GOOD QUALITY.
Mr.. Greville relates many incidents
ard anecdotes illustrating the kings
character, md very admirably sums it
up, indicating at the same time the one
good quality the fourth George pos
sessed, md which occasionally led him
to act like a gentleman and prince.
Alluding TO certain discr creditable stories,
Mr.. Greville says
"This account corresponds with all | |
nave before heard, aud confirms the
opinion | have long had that a more |
contemplate, cowardly, selfish, unfeel
ing dog does not exist than this king, on
whom such hattery is constantly law
ished. He has sort of capricious good
nature, arising, however, out of no good
principle or GOOD feeling, but which IS
of use to him, as it cancels in a moment
and at small cost long score of mis-
conduct. Princes have only to behave
with common deccncy and prudence,
and they are sure to be popular, for
there is q great and general disposition
to pay cou,t to them. There
have been good and wise kings, but not
many OF them. Take them one with
another they are OF an inferior charnc
ter, and this / believe to bs one of the
worst of the kind. The littleness of his
character prevents his displaying the
dangerous faults that belongs to great
minds, but with the vices and weak
nesses of the lowest and most contempt
ible order it would be difficult TO find
q disposition more abundantly fur.
nished.
MS PERSONAL HABITS
The statement Of The kings personal
habits certainly iustities the authors
opinion
"Hc leads most extraordinary life |
never gets up till six in the afternoon. |
They come to him and open the win
dow curtains at six or seven O'Clock III
the morning; he breakfasts in bed,
does whatever business he can be
brought to transact i'll he'd, too; he |
reads every newspaper quite through,
dozes three or four hours, gets up in
time for dinner, and goes to bed be.
tween ten and eleven. He sleeps very
i'll, and rings his bell forty times in the
night if he wants to know the hour,
though watch hangs close to him, he
will have his Udia de ch0mbrc down
rather than turn his head to look at it.
The same thing if he wants Il glass OF
water he won't stretch out his hand to
get it. His Wallets are nearly destroyed
and at last Lady Conyngham prevailed
on him to agree to an arrangement by
which they wait on him on alternate
days. The service is still most severe,
rs on the days they are in waiting their
labors are incessant, and they cannot
take off their clothes at night, and
hardly lie down"
WILLIAM ".
was man who, coming to the throne
At the mature age of sixty.iive, was SO
excited by the exaltation that he nearly
went mad, and distinguished himself
by thousand extravagances of Ian
gnage and conduct, to the alarm and
amusement of all who witnessed his
strange freaks and though he was
shortly aftelward sobered down into
more becoming habits, he always con-
tinued to be something If II black
guard and something more of builOOn.
II in Int lair to his memory at the
same time to say that he wss good
uatnred, kind. hearted and well mean
lug man, and he always ac;ed an hon.
orable and straightforward, if not al
ways sound and discreet part.