Late in November 1810 King George had a severe recurrence of his malady, and it was necessary again to appoint the Prince of Wales as Regent. The Prince was not at all disposed to submit to the restrictions which had curtailed his authority during his first regency, and the Whigs, who had hitherto looked on him as the main support of their party, had naturally no wish that any restraint should be placed on his power. But the Prince ultimately gave the deathblow to Whig hopes by taking the oaths in accordance with the Bill restricting his authority framed by the Tory Ministers.
The Prince had, though after considerable delay, disregarded the Tory
Ministry, and sent for Lords Grey and Grenville and asked them to draw up replies to the addresses
from the two Houses on his appointment as Regent. Their drafts he returned with corrections
in Sheridan’s handwriting on the margins.
Lord Grey refused to accept the corrections or to frame another
reply; his opinion of the Prince’s answer being
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After most unsatisfactory interviews and communications between the Prince and Lords Grey and Grenville, they were able to announce on February 2 that the Prince would retain his Tory advisers. His excuse was that both Queen Charlotte and the physicians told him that the King was on the road to recovery, and, should he become convalescent, it would possibly throw him back if he found his old advisers out of power.
The Whig Party were completely dumbfoundered by the Prince’s change of front. They had staked all their hopes on him. Lord Albemarle had, under the impression that the Prince could be depended upon, written to Thomas Coke, Member of Parliament for Norfolk, to “quit again his own fireside to support the Prince in his last great struggle against the Regency Bill.”
Catholic Emancipation had been promised to the Roman Catholics as the price of their support of the Act of Union between Ireland and England in 1801. From George Ill’s unconquerable aversion to the passing of this measure, it had been perpetually defeated, but now in 1811 the Whigs concluded the measure would be passed should they come into power.
When Lord Albemarle learnt that the Prince had submitted to the will of the King’s Tory
1 The Bill curtailling his powers as Regent. |
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It is interesting to see how much the Whigs believed in the influence of Lady Melbourne over the Prince Regent, for Lord Albemarle wrote to Lady Melbourne in a way which would lead one to suppose that she was a frequent channel of communication with the Prince. He urged that the Prince should endeavour in some measure to restore the confidence of the Catholics. By opposing a Bill for Catholic Emancipation, he would gain no personal popularity, as Perceval was known to be hostile to them and would get the credit and not himself. Lord Albemarle writes:
“The chief, indeed the only point to press, if the opportunity should offer, is
that of the Catholicks; and to shew how much the reputation, and even the quiet, of his
future reign will depend upon his conduct towards them now: that
whether the Proclamation was right or wrong, it is no matter; but the circumstances of
its having been put forth and actually enforced, makes it still more incumbent on the
Prince than it was before to do something which may regain the
confidence of the Catholicks, which he must perceive is shaken by that measure: that he
must not suppose that matters during the next Session will go on so quietly as they
have done hitherto, and here it may be observed to him that the Catholick
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“It would also be most useful to point out to him that if he abandons the Catholicks, the whole disgrace will be his, as Perceval’s hostility to them is already known and pronounced, and that if the measure is defeated by Parliament (which is by no means certain) whatever credit may be obtained from the high-church party for so defeating it will belong solely to Perceval.
“It would be better to say nothing about persons unless he speaks first.”
Lady Melbourne on receiving this communication must have doubted how to act for the best. She was in the country, probably at Brocket, and she could hardly ask to see the Prince without some good reason, and had he suspected her of any attempt to influence him, he might have refused to see her.
She had an excellent reason to her hand. She felt that the time had come for her third son, Frederick, to rise in his career, and she wanted a step in Diplomacy for him as soon as possible; so she wrote a letter to the Prince which received the following reply:
I have not, until the present moment, had
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It happened fortunately that Lord William
Bentinck, son of the 3rd Duke of
Portland, who had been appointed Envoy and Commander-inchief of the British
forces in Sicily in 1811, suddenly returned for further instructions after about ten days
stay in the island, owing to a
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There is no record of the interview between the Prince and Lady Melbourne, and we only know that later she was rewarded by a letter from Albemarle, who said that Frederick, who was now with Lord William Bentinck in Sicily, had better remain where he was, as he would probably receive the Embassy in time, and it would lead to Dresden, and afterwards to Vienna or one other of the great Diplomatic posts. He then proceeded to suggest—
“Certainly there is no pretence for Frederick
coming away after the assurance you have re-
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“And now I will tell you something about myself. Lord Grenville’s speech makes me think it possible that Lord Grey may no longer object to my going to the Continent on the only terms on which I should myself agree to go, namely to consolidate a general alliance preparatory to negotiations for a general Peace. If this should be so (which it will not be long before I know) I intend making an offer of my services for that purpose; and I should in the first instance make that offer to the Prince, who is entitled to it from me considering what passed at our last interview. Neither the offer however, if successful, nor any arrangements to which it can lead, would interfere with Frederick’s future hopes for Vienna, on the contrary—in my present view of the subject, those hopes would rather be promoted by them. I will explain all this if what I have mentioned does not fall to the ground.
“I know by reputation the Baron Stein,2
1 The Hon. Frederick Lamb did eventually become Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of the two Sicilies in 1812. 2 Baron von Stein (1757-1831). |
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In 1812 the restrictions on the Regency expired. The state of the King’s health made it unlikely that he would ever be well enough to resume the duties of kingship.
The Whigs now expected with certainty to be called to power. Lords Grenville and Grey were indeed sent for, but when they demanded the right to nominate afresh the chief officers of the Household the Regent refused. An effort was made through the Duke of York to bring about a coalition with some of the Ministers in power. The Regent wrote to his brother expressing a wish that Lords Grey and Grenville should “strengthen his hands and form a part of his Government by joining the ministry of Mr. Perceval.” They replied “that the differences of opinion between them were too many and too important to admit of such a union.”
The fact was that the Prince had become
satisfied with his Tory advisers; it appears that he had ceased to care for Whig
surroundings from the day that the Duchess of
Devonshire
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In 1812 Lord Boringdon moved an address to the Regent, begging him to form an administration which would command the confidence of all classes. March 19 was fixed for its discussion, and the ladies of Melbourne House assembled with their most ultimate friends to learn the earliest tidings. Lady Holland and Miss Berry and many other ladies waited there till long after midnight for their friends from the House of Lords. When they came they bore the signs of a defeat, blaming Lord Wellesley for failing them in the hour of need by refusing to speak, though he voted on their side.
But in May 1812 Mr. Perceval was assassinated, and in the House of Commons a change of Ministry became necessary.
William, who was now Member for Portarlington, a pocket borough of his father-in-law’s, had been offered a place in the Treasury by the Prince, but refused it because of his political opinions, in a letter to his father so diplomatically and yet so sincerely worded that it is possible to imagine that his mother might have been at his elbow as he wrote.
She was very unhappy about him, for her love told her more about his
troubled spirit than even
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I have considered yr. commune, which you have this morng.
made to me by command of his R.H. the P[rince]
R[egent] of yr. gracious offer of a seat either now or at some
future time at the present board of Treasury. For his R.H. recollection of me
upon this occasion, for the flattering expressions he has been pleased to use,
as well as for his condescending kindness which I have experienced during the
whole course of my life, I entreat that you will humbly lay at his R.H. feet my
most grateful & dutiful acknowledgments. H.R.H. will not I trust think that
I intrude if I request you further respectfully to assure his R.H. of my
sincere attachment to his Person, of my anxiety for the success of his
Government & of my zeal in support of that Govemt. whensoever such support
shall be in my opinion consistent with my duty to my Country. It would be in
the highest degree indiscreet & presumptuous in me to obtrude upon his R.H.
anything so insignificant as my opinion upon public affairs—it will be
sufficient to observe that upon all the great questions of foreign &
domestic policy except upon the question of the War in Spain & Portugal my
opinion has either been expressed or manifested
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And to his mother from the same place:
I am very much obliged to you for your letter, & think
that you are probably right in supposing that the Prince is more anxious to strengthen the Ministry than the
Ministry are to strengthen themselves. He is, however, wrong in his notion, for
the more parties a Ministry is composed of, the weaker it is and the more
likely to break in the places where it is spliced. The name of Canning and Huskisson is something, but I have no opinion that the present
Cabinet will hold long together after they have been introduced into it. It
will go on much better and more surely as it stands at present. I can
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William’s seat at Portarlington was not very secure. His mother could not persuade him to take an interest in the future. George wrote to her from Durham on August 5, 1812:
“Without William means to visit his constituents to some purpose he had better not venture out of England this year, for any success in Spain or Russia will certainly produce an instant dissolution of Parliament.”
William seems to have contemplated this event, but in a
letter to his mother from Ireland, where he and his wife were staying with the Bessboroughs, he said that for want of money he could not
stand again. Should there be a dissolution his mother knew in any case he was unlikely to
be elected, owing to the speech he made in the
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I sent you back Frederic’s letters from Bessborough some time ago, & wrote to you at that time
fully upon that subject, as well as upon the dissolution of Parliament. The
latter, I apprehend, has by this time taken place, the signs of such an event
are more sure, than of any other. When it is very generally rumoured upon good
authority, that there is to be a dissolution, depend upon it, it is then coming
pretty quick,—as soon as it is certain, that it will take place, the next
scheme is to deceive as much as possible about the exact time, &
Beckets telling Giles, that it would be delayed until the first week in October
was a strong reason for believing that it would be before the end of September.
The reasons of all this are obvious. Ministers lose their advantage, if they
delay the step long after it is publicly known, that they have determined upon
it, & they in some measure puzzle and delude their adversaries by creating
uncertainty with respect to the Moment. You say that it is a thousand pities
that I have not contrived to make some interest somewhere. You know from my
former letter, which by this time you have probably received, my sentiments
upon this subject. It is impossible that any Body can feel the being out of
Parliament more keenly for me than I feel it for myself. It is actually cutting
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Lady Holland had written to Lady Melbourne asking her if anything could be done for William, and Lady Melbourne wrote thanking her and saying:
“Thank you very much Ldy. Holland for both
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Lady Holland had evidently, for the sake of the Whig Party and of the woman who had been one of the first to visit her and make her position in London easier, tried again, but Lady Melbourne’s reply was bitter and disappointing:
“It is quite impossible for me to answer yr. question. Ld. M. would do anything in his power to assist William, but to prove to you how impossible it is for us to know how to set about it I will copy some part of a letter I received from William yesterday”;
and she quoted the letter printed above, adding for herself:
“Now my opinion is, that all this is nonsense, & so I
shall tell him. But I do not see at ye same time, how I can act in contradiction to
sentiments so decidedly express’d. I shall be in as I wrote you word yesterday,
on Friday eveg & I should notwithstanding all this, like to know if there is a
possibility of doing anything—& still more to have some further conversation
with you when
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The Marquess of Wellesley, who had joined Perceval’s Cabinet in 1809, resigned in 1812. He was Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and disapproved of the want of support his brother Sir Arthur Wellesley received in the conduct of the Peninsular War. He also disapproved of the Regent’s persistent refusal to hear anything about a Bill for Catholic Emancipation.
His full statement on this subject was probably communicated to Lady Melbourne, and was found among her papers:
Ld. Wellesley expressed his intention to resign, because his general opinions for a long time past on various important questions had not sufficient weight to justify him towards the Public, or towards his own Character in continuing in Office, and because he had no hope of obtaining from the Cabinet, (as then constituted) a greater portion of attention than he had already experienced.
Lord Wellesley’s objections to
remaining in the Cabinet, arose, in a great degree, from the narrow &
imperfect scale, on which the efforts in the Peninsula were conducted. It was
always stated to him by Mr. Perceval,
that it was im-
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Ld. Wellesley had repeatedly, with great reluctance, yielded his opinions to the Cabinet on many other important points. He was sincerely convinced by experience that, in every such instance, he had submitted to opinions more incorrect than his own, and had sacrificed, to the object of accommodation & temporary harmony more than he could justify in point of strict public duty. In fact, he was convinced by experience, that the Cabinet neither possessed ability, nor knowledge to devise a good plan; nor temper and discernment to adopt what he now thought necessary unless Mr. Perceval should concur with Ld. Wellesley. To Mr. Perceval’s judgment, or attainments, Ld. Wellesley (under the same experience) could not pay any deference, without injury to the Public Service. With these views and sentiments, on the [blank in MS.] of January, Ld. Wellesley merely desired permission to withdraw from the Cabinet, not requiring any change in his own situation, and imploring no other favour than the facility of resignation.
This plain request was notified to the Prince Regent & to Mr. Perceval as nearly as possible at the same moment of time,
with the expression
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Mr. Perceval without any communication to Ld. W. instantly attempted to induce the P. Rt. to remove him before the expiration of the restrictions & repeatedly urged the attempt with great earnestness, severally proposing Ld. Castlereagh, Lord Moira, & Ld. Sidmouth or some of his party to supersede Ld. W., without an hour of delay. Mr. P. never gave any intimation to Ld. W. of these proceedings, nor even of his wish for Lord W.’s immediate retirement.
The P.R. still pressing Ld. W. to retain the Seals, he submitted to His Royal Highness’s commd. declaring at the same time his anxious desire to be liberated as soon as his R.H. should establish his Government.
When it appeared, at the expiration of the restrictions that
the P. Rt. intended to continue Mr. P.’s Government, Ld. W. again tendered the Seals to His R.H. with
encreased earnestness: on that occasion, being informed, that H.R.H. was still
at liberty, & was resolved to form his Cabinet, according to H.R.H. own
views, and being commanded to state his opinions on the
subject, Ld. W. declared, that in his judgment, the
Cabinet ought to be formed first on an intermediary
principle respecting the Roman Catholic claims, equally exempt from the
extremes of
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The P. Rt. commanded Ld. W. to continue until H.R.H. should have communicated with Mr. P. through the Ld. Chancellor. Ld. W. stated, that such a communication must prove useless, but submitted to H.R.H. earnest desire; in two days afterwards, Ld. W. received through the Ld. Chancellor, the P. Rt.’s acceptance of his resignation, & accordingly delivered the Seals to H.R.H. on the 19th Feby. 1812.
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