Читать книгу When William IV. Was King - John Ashton - Страница 5

Table of Contents

Illness of George IV. — His death — Sale of his clothes, etc. — The new King — His character.

In the Times of Friday, April 16, 1830, we have the following Court Circular:—

"His Majesty, we regret to state, has experienced, during the last few days, an attack of indisposition. The King took an airing for some time on Monday. During the night his Majesty became indisposed; Sir Henry Halford, who was in attendance at the Palace that evening, and who, according to his usual practice, slept there, left the Palace on Tuesday morning and came to town, but thought it advisable to return to Windsor in the evening. Sir Henry came to town on Wednesday morning, and again returned to the Palace; when, finding that the King's attack of illness had increased, Sir Henry sent for Sir Matthew Tierney at an early hour yesterday morning. Sir Matthew immediately left town: on his arrival at the Palace, the two medical gentlemen held a consultation on the state of the King, and, afterwards, issued the following bulletin, a few minutes before one o'clock:—

Windsor Castle, April 15.

We regret to state that the King has had a bilious attack, accompanied by an embarrassment in breathing. His Majesty, although free from fever, is languid and weak.

(Signed)Henry Halford. Matthew John Tierney.

"No alteration taking place in the state of the King, Sir Henry Halford, shortly after the issuing of the Bulletin, left the Castle in his carriage and four, for London. Sir Matthew Tierney remained in attendance on his Majesty during the whole of yesterday afternoon and evening, and it was arranged would sleep at the Palace. His Majesty remaining much in the same state during the afternoon, Sir Henry was not sent for, but would, it was expected, remain in Town during last night."

This was the first intimation, to the nation, of the serious condition of George the Fourth. He was paying the penalty for the irregularities of his life, by suffering from a complication of diseases; inflammation of the chest, gout in the stomach, dropsy, ossification of the heart, bile, and asthma. Latterly, he had retired to Virginia water, where he lived at the so-called "Cottage," solaced by the society of Lady Conyngham, and existing chiefly on brandy and curaçoa. His age (for he was in his sixty-eighth year) was against his recovery, and at 3.13 a.m. on the 26th of June, 1830, he expired. He was in bed when the stroke of death fell upon him. The page next him, instantly proceeded to raise his Majesty, according to the motion which he signified by his finger. The King was, at once, assisted into a chair at his bedside, and a great alteration struck the page, as overcasting the royal countenance; the King's eyes became fixed, his lips quivered, and he appeared to be sinking into a fainting fit. The physicians were instantly sent for, and the attendants at once assisted the King with sal volatile, eau de cologne, and such stimulants as were at hand on the table. At this moment his Majesty attempted to raise his hand to his breast, faintly ejaculating, "O God! I am dying;" and, after a pause of two or three seconds, he uttered the following words, which were his last: "This is death!"

So passed away George the Magnificent—and the Marchioness of Conyngham immediately began to pack up and hurry off, whither, no one exactly knew. What she took with her was never known; but, later on, she had to disgorge some very valuable jewels. Needless to say, there was a grand funeral; and then came the sale of his wardrobe and effects, of which Greville writes[1]:—

"August 3, 1830.—I went, yesterday, to the sale of the late King's wardrobe, which was numerous enough to fill Monmouth Street, and sufficiently various and splendid for the wardrobe of Drury Lane. He hardly ever gave anything away, except his linen, which was distributed every year. These clothes are the perquisites of his pages, and will fetch a pretty sum. There are all the coats he has ever had for fifty years; three hundred whips, canes without number, every sort of uniform, the costumes of all the orders in Europe, splendid furs, pelisses, hunting-coats and breeches, and, among other things, a dozen pair of corduroy breeches he had made to hunt in, when Don Miguel was here. His profusion in these articles was unbounded, because he never paid for them, and his memory was so accurate, that one of his pages told me he recollected every article of dress, no matter how old, and that they were always liable to be called on to produce some particular coat, or other article of apparel of years gone by."

The Times (August 18, 1830) says—

"The late King's wardrobe has been selling, for the last fortnight, at the warehouse of Mr. Bailey, the King's Upholder, in Mount Street, Grosvenor Square. The property was immense. It was the perquisites of the Pages of the Back Stairs, six in number; and we hear that the sale realized £15,000. The Earl of Chesterfield gave 200 guineas for a sable pelisse, which has since been valued at 600, and was a present from the Emperor Alexander. The Marquis of Hertford was among the purchasers. There were many pairs of boots and shoes, which were sold at 5s. per pair, one with the other, to a person in the trade. There were numerous pairs of silk stockings. The cambric and silk handkerchiefs produced a guinea each, although the pages said they were not worth more than 7s. each. The cellar of snuff was bought by Mr. Pontet, of Pall Mall, for £400."

This latter fact is scarcely correct. It was bought by Messrs. Freybourg and Treyer, of the Haymarket, who set apart a special room for its sale.

To finish up with the sale of the royal effects, we read in the Gentleman's Magazine, of June 9, 1831, that—

"A portion of his late Majesty's costly and splendid wardrobe, destined for public sale, including the magnificent coronation robes and other costumes, was sold by auction, by Mr. Phillips, at his rooms in New Bond Street. There were 120 lots disposed of, out of which we subjoin the principal, in the order in which they were put up—

"No. 13. An elegant yellow and silver sash of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order, £3 8s.—17. A pair of fine kid trousers, of ample dimensions, and lined with white satin, was sold for 12s.—35. The Coronation ruff, formed of superb Mechlin lace, £2.—50. The costly Highland costume, worn by our late Sovereign at Dalkeith Palace, the seat of his Grace the Duke of Buccleugh, in the summer of 1822, was knocked down at £40.—52.[2] The sumptuous crimson velvet Coronation mantle, with silver star, embroidered with gold, in appropriate devices, and which cost, originally, according to the statement of the auctioneer, upwards of £500, was knocked down at 47 guineas.—53. A crimson coat to suit with the above, £14.—55. A magnificent gold body dress and trousers, 26 guineas.—67. An extraordinary large white aigrette plume, brought from Paris by the Earl of Fife, in April, 1815, and presented by his lordship to the King, was sold for £15.—87. A richly embroidered silver tissue Coronation waistcoat and trunk hose, £13.—95. The splendid purple velvet Coronation mantle, sumptuously embroidered with gold, of which it was said to contain 200 ounces. It was knocked down at £55, although it was stated to have cost his late Majesty £300.—96. An elegant and costly green velvet mantle, lined with ermine of the finest quality; presented by the Emperor Alexander to his late Majesty, which cost upwards of 1000 guineas, was knocked down at £125."

These prices do not show that the people cared much to possess relics of their late sovereign; indeed, he was speedily forgotten, and all eyes were turned to the rising sun. The newspapers teemed with anecdotes of him, from his childhood upwards (mostly very sorry stuff), and, oblivious of his errors, inanity, and frivolity, the people hailed William (why or wherefore?) as "The Patriot King." Until the death of the Duke of York, he had excited no more public interest than any of the other royal princes; but when that event took place, he was looked upon as heir to the throne, had an increased grant from Parliament, and lived a somewhat retired life at Bushey Park, with his wife, Amelia Adelaide, eldest child of George, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Meiningen, whom he married on July 18, 1818.

His life, previous to his accession to the throne, is not within the province of this book—it is sufficient to say that at no time was he remarkable for his intellect, tractability, or social manners. Hear what Greville,[3] an acute observer, even if he were somewhat of a cynic, says about him at his accession—

"London, July 16.—I returned here on the 6th of this month, and have waited these ten days to look about me, and see and hear what is passing. The present King and his proceedings occupy all attention, and nobody thinks any more of the late King, than if he had been dead fifty years, unless it be to abuse him and rake up all his vices and misdeeds. Never was elevation like that of William IV. His life has, hitherto, passed in obscurity and neglect, in miserable poverty, surrounded by a numerous progeny of bastards, without consideration or friends, and he was ridiculous from his grotesque ways and little meddling curiosity. Nobody ever invited them into their house, or thought it necessary to honour him with any mark of attention or respect; and so he went on for about forty years, till Canning brought him into notice by making him Lord High Admiral at the time of his grand ministerial schism. In that post he distinguished himself by making absurd speeches, by a morbid official activity, and by a general wildness which was thought to indicate incipient insanity, till shortly after Canning's death and the Duke's[4] accession, it is well known, the latter dismissed him. He then dropped back into obscurity, but had become, by this time, somewhat more of a personage than he was before. His brief administration of the Navy, the death of the Duke of York, which made him heir to the throne, his increased wealth and regular habits, had procured him more consideration, though not a great deal. Such was his position when George IV. broke all at once, and after three months of expectation, William finds himself King."