sed more men to follow and more to unite with
him than any person whom you can name among us. I do not deny the
objections arising from want of family and connexion, from the
irritability he has shown of late, and from the drubbing which
Brougham gave him last year; but still you must remember that you
can name no one who has not greater difficulties to encounter, and
fewer advantages to assist him. Phillimore tells me that he hears
that he has refused to connect himself with the Administration,
from disapprobation of their gross mismanagement during the late
business. If this were true, I should have more hope of the
possibility of forming a fresh Government, in the event of the
present falling, than I have yet entertained. I think he is not
ill-inclined to back out of the Catholic question, and that that
was the meaning of his proposed going abroad for a twelvemonth
after his marriage; but I have no personal acquaintance with him to
make my opinion on this subject worth anything.

Ever affectionately yours,

C. W. W.

"The King is improved in health and spirits," writes the Home Secretary
to Lord Exmouth, "and you may rest assured he will be firmly supported
by his Government, which, however, cannot serve him usefully unless
they are also firmly supported by Parliament. We have taken our
determination. The Queen will neither be harassed nor molested; but to
a palace, and to the insertion of her name in the Liturgy, we shall
never consent; and if Parliament should differ from us on these points,
the Government must fall. But the reports from our friends are
extremely satisfactory."[59]

[59] Dean's Pellew's "Life of Lord Sidmouth," vol. iii. p. 340.

CHAPTER IV.

[1821.]

LETTER FROM THE KING TO LORD ELDON ON LIBELLOUS PUBLICATIONS. CLAIMS
OF THE QUEEN. LORD CASTLEREAGH'S ATTACK ON LORD ERSKINE. POSITION OF
THE GOVERNMENT. CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION. FAMILY QUARRELS. SUGGESTED
JUNCTION OF THE GRENVILLES WITH THE GOVERNMENT. MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM
PROPOSED BY THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON AS LORD-LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND.
PREPARATIONS FOR THE CORONATION. NEGOTIATIONS. INFLUENCE OF "THE
LADY". QUEEN CAROLINE AT THE CORONATION.

CHAPTER IV.

During the late discussions respecting the Queen, the freedom of a
certain portion of the press had known no bounds. When the tide of
popular opinion began to turn, it was thought advisable that some