"My lord, I dare not make myself so guilty, To give up willingly that noble title

Your master wed me to nothing but death

Shall e'er divorce my dignities."-King Henry VIII.

And so they sent a MESSENGER,

To meet the Queen halfway;

And give her FIFTY THOUSAND POUNDS

If she abroad would stay;

And never more be call'd a Queen,

Or any such a thing,

But leave them with their dainty dish
To set before the King.

The offer of compromise was indignantly refused by the Queen, and she made a triumphal entry into London, on the 6th of June. Whereupon the Government instituted proceedings against her for adultery, which commenced on the 17th of August, 1820, and continued until Friday, 10th of November, when Lord Liverpool, the Prime Minister, withdrew the Bill of Divorce, on the double ground of the majority (nine) and the unconstitutionality and inexpediency of the Bill. Still she was virtually found guilty, inasmuch as she was not allowed to share in the coronation of his Majesty, George IV., being turned away from the door of Westminster Abbey. This was a grievous disappointment to her, and a great blow to her pride, the Whig portion of the community having pretended to regard her as an ill-used innocent woman more for the purpose of enlisting the sympathy of the commonality, to be twisted into indignation against the King and Tory government of the day.

There emanated from the press, chiefly during the progress of the trial, numerous caricatures and political squibs, songs, &c., illustrated by Cruikshank and others, most of which have now become very rare. Although these were mostly on the part of the Queen, others on the King's side were in every respect superior in point of merit. It is a remarkable fact that one man in his way, by his infinite wit, did more on behalf of the Crown, than the combined efforts of the democratic party against it. We allude to Theodore Hook, who opened his campaign against the Queen by a thin octavo, which at the time made considerable noise. It was entitled, "Tentamen; or, an Essay towards the History of Whittington and his Cat," by Dr. Vicesimus Blinkinsop, LL.D., F.R.S., A.S.S., &c. The Whittington, of course, was no other than Alderman Wood, and Caroline was the Cat. "Throughout the whole libellus," says Lockhart, "there was a prodigious rattle of puns and conundrums, but the strong points of the case against

Whittington and Co., were skilfully brought out nevertheless. Hook being as yet quite in obscuro, nobody suspected him. It was pretty generally ascribed to the manufacturers of the 'New Whig Guide.""

"Tentamen " was followed by several similar pamphlets, chiefly in verse, all directed against Alderman Wood and other supporters of the Queen, and all published in the year 1820, by Wright, of Fleet Street. They are also to be distinguished by a caricature likeness of the celebrated. Alderman, which appears on the whole of them.

This was the prelude to "John Bull." The most important event with which the name of Theodore Hook stands connected is unquestionably the establishment of the " John Bull" newspaper, at the close of 1820. The universal, instantaneous, and appreciable effect produced on the

H

great political movements of the day by its appearance, is perhaps unparalleled in the history of periodical literature.*

Many of the "John Bull" songs, in construction and even in execution, were very little different from those which Hook used to improvise in the course of a festive evening. It has been said, by one who knew him, that a person who never witnessed that marvellous performance could not take a better notion of what it was than from such a piece as "Mrs. Muggins' Visit to the Queen," in thirty-one stanzas, commencing :

"Have you been to Brandenburgh,-Heigh, Ma'am, ho, Ma'am?

You've been to Brandenburgh, ho?

- Oh, yes, I have been, Ma'am,

To visit the Queen, Ma'am,

With the rest of the gallanty show-show;

With the rest of the gallanty show.

And who were attending her-Heigh, Ma'am, ho, Ma'am? Who were attending her, ho?

Lord Hood, for a man,

For a Maid, Lady Anne,

And Alderman Wood for a beau

And Alderman Wood for a beau.

-beau,

There were several other clever attacks by Theodore Hook, in the pages of "John Bull," upon the Queen and her friends, which covered them with ridicule. One of them in particular, entitled "Hunting the Hare," was very severe :— "Would you hear of the triumph of purity?

Would you share in the joy of the Queen?
List to my song; and, in perfect security,
Witness a row where you durst not have been.

* Works of Theodore Hook. Chatto and Windus: Piccadilly.

All kinds of Addresses,
From collars of S.S.'s
To vendors of cresses,

Came up like a fair;
And all thro' September,
October, November,

And down to December,

They hunted this Hare.

*

Verdant green-grocers, all mounted on Jack-asses
(Lately called Guildfords, in honour of Fred),
Sweet nymphs of Billingsgate, and tipsy as Bacchuses,
Roll'd in like porpoises, heels over head!

And better to charm her,
Three tinkers in armour,

All hired by Harmer,

Brave Thistlewood's friend;

Those stout men of metal,

Who think they can settle

The State, if a kettle

They're able to mend."

This political squib, which is in fourteen stanzas, had such an effect on the female portion of the Queen's friends as actually, in a great measure, to cause to be put down those absurd exhibitions, which under the name of levées and under the auspices of "Absolute Wisdom "-i.e. Sir Matthew Wood-her Majesty was so injudicious as to countenance.*

While Theodore Hook was writing on the side of the "King and Constitution" in the columns of the "John Bull"

* The Queen has given notice that addresses will still be received at Brandenburgh-house; but, on account of the lateness of the season, she requests they may be accompanied by small deputations only.-The News, Nov. 5, 1820.