gesture with which she said to us, in her miserable back drawing-room in Portman Street, I will be crowned.' Her popularity meanwhile continued to increase. The season of addresses set in. The Lord Mayor and Common Council filled Oxford Street with their long string of carriages, and were received with grace and dignity by the woman who occupied the highest rank in Europe in two mean drawing-rooms of an inferior ready-furnished house. When that body had retired, she greeted the populace assembled in that narrow street from a little railed balcony, on which Alderman Wood spread a shabby rug to distract the impertinent gaze of those who stood directly beneath. Frequently in the course of a day she was called to the window by the crowd and appeared. When she took an airing it was in a hired chariot and pair, driven by a post-boy, with Lady Ann Hamilton by her side within, and William Austen 13 and the black seated on the dicky. Popularity, indeed, was secured, but I have always thought that more of it, and of a better sort, might have been acquired by a very different line of conduct.

13 Child of a father of same name, a sailmaker in Deptford dockyard; adopted by Caroline in 1802. Brougham, however, says that the William Austen of 1820 was not the son of the sailmaker, but of Prince William Louis of Prussia, by one of Caroline's attendants in Germany: this lad, he states, had been substituted for the Deptford child a few years before 1820. ('Brougham's Memoirs,' vol. ii. p. 425.)

CHAPTER IX.

THE QUEEN'S TRIAL-EARLIER STAGES.

A.D. 1820. ET. 41.

Amicable arrangements attempted-Conference between Wellington and Castlereagh for the King, and Brougham and Denman for the Queen— First meeting on June 14-Conference broken off on the 19thDescription of the interview in the personal narrative-Attempts at mediation by House of Commons-Wilberforce's motion June 22Denman s speech, 'All that are desolate and oppressed'-Castlereagh avows that the striking the name out of the Liturgy was the King's own act-Hence the Queen's resolution to make no terms-Wood (and Denman too) opposed to her leaving England-Hesitation of the Queen -Brougham prepares answer accepting, Denman one rejecting, the House of Commons' address-How the Queen receives the House of Commons deputation-The address rejected-The Queen's answer to the address read in the House of Commons-Curious scene-Denman's view of the conduct at this crisis of ministers and the majority-The country gentlemen-Attempts at arrangement having failed the enquiry goes on-Petition at Bar of Lords to suspend proceedings of Secret Committee till arrival of witnesses, June 26-Denman's quotation: 'Some cogging, cozening slave,' &c.-Bill of Pains and Penalties introduced, July 5-Resolved that the trial should commence on August 17— Counsel for the Queen-Wilde brought into the case by WoodFeeling against him at first-Denman's testimony to his usefulness and ability-Pause in proceedings from July 10 to August 17Brougham and Denman on circuit-Denman's exertions and fatigue— Defends Major Cartwright-Presides at Nottingham election dinner -Return to London-The Queen at Brandenburgh House-Her distrust of Brougham as strong as ever-Parr discourses on the propriety of discarding Brougham-'If my head is on Temple Bar it will be Brougham's doing'-Proceedings resumed on August 17-Counsel heard against the principle of the bill-Denman's speech on the 18th -Its strong expressions of loyalty to the Queen-Denman's account of the effect of his speech against the principle of the bill-The Queen's

compliment, 'My God, what a beautiful speech!'-A most unbecoming familiarity-The Attorney-General (Giffard) opens for the Crown, August 19-Examination of witnesses from August 21 to September 7-Cross-examination of Majocchi and Louise Demont-The SolicitorGeneral (Copley) sums up-Further proceedings adjourned till October 3-The Queen's agitation at first sight of Majocchi-Her general demeanour at the trial-Denman, during the break in the proceedings, runs down to Cheltenham-His triumphal entry-The parson's windows broken-Denman appeases the mob-His letter to Merivale of September 24-Expresses surprise that the unanswered evidence against the Queen has not had more effect on the country-Certificate at Cheltenham to a foreign servant that he was not Majocchi.

WHILE the secret committee of the Lords were engaged in examining the Green Bag papers, various attempts at an amicable arrangement were unsuccessfully made. One of the earliest of these was the conference between the Duke of Wellington and Lord Castlereagh as representing the King, and Brougham and Denman as representing the Queen. The points to be discussed were; 1. The future residence of the Queen abroad; 2. The title to be assumed by her; 3. The nature of the patronage she was to exercise in England; 4. The income to be assigned to her for her life.

The first meeting of this conference took place on June 14 on the 19th the negotiations were finally broken off, the Queen wholly rejecting the conditions proposed with reference to the first point, viz. her foreign residence.

The circumstances connected with this meeting are thus related in the personal narrative:

We were received by Lord Castlereagh in his parlour, after he had entertained a party of foreign ambassadors. He was covered with diamonds, stars, and ribands; the Duke of Wellington was equally splendid. We two meagre lawyers

must have formed an amusing foil to the eye of a painter, but Lord Castlereagh answered our apologies about inferior rank by assuring us that it was their wish to meet us as men of business, rather than persons of high station and formality. He assumed an air of agreeable frankness, and contrived to place himself in a position which cut me off, as the left wing, from Brougham's main body. My leader showed great address in introducing the subject of the Liturgy, which had not at that time been brought forward in a manner at all proportionate to its importance. Speaking of some expedient to reconcile Her Majesty to a stipulation that she would reside on the Continent, to which he merely said that she had no insuperable objection (though, in fact, this was the basis of our negotiation), he suggested in a sort of hurried whisper that the restoration of her name to the Liturgy might answer that purpose. Lord Castlereagh promptly replied, 'You might as easily move Carlton House.'

The conference having come to nothing, the House of Commons, on June 22, passed a resolution, on the motion of Wilberforce, declaring their opinion that, when such considerable advances had been made towards an adjustment, Her Majesty, by yielding to the wishes of the House, and forbearing to press further the propositions on which a material difference still remained, would not be understood as shrinking from enquiry, but only as proving her desire to acquiesce in the opinion of Parliament.

In the debate that ensued on this motion of Wilberforce's, Denman made a powerful and impressive speech, in the course of which he pronounced a few memorable words, the sudden coinage of high-wrought emotion, which were soon current throughout all ranks of society. In reply to the suggestion that, though all

particular mention of the Queen's name was omitted from the Liturgy, she might yet be considered as being comprised in the general prayer for the royal family, he said, in a tone of the deepest and most solemn pathos, that if Her Majesty was included in any general prayer, it was the prayer for all that are desolate and oppressed.'

The personal narrative relates as follows the debate on Wilberforce's motion, the presentation of the House of Commons address, and its rejection by the Queen.

This important motion was introduced by Wilberforce in an excellent and most conciliatory speech, but in the course of the debate Lord Castlereagh avowed that Her Majesty's name had been deliberately excluded from the Liturgy with the intention of fixing a stigma upon her (he spoke of it as an act done by the King himself in his closet). This expression was conveyed to her by I know not whom, most probably by Wood, who privately told me of his great aversion to her quitting the country on any terms whatever, and Lady Ann Hamilton wrote me a letter, which was received by me during the debate, strongly announcing the Queen's determination not to enter into any further stipulation after such an avowal. Her Majesty had hesitated and continued to hesitate extremely, but was, I firmly believe, decided by the circumstance now alluded to. Without feeling confident that the advice of the House of Commons would have been followed if the minister had abstained from that ill-timed insult, I can distinctly declare that it was the decisive weight that actually turned the balance.

Many well-wishers of the Queen thought her rejection of the proffered mediation unwise. Wood's view of the matter was this,' If she leaves the country she confesses guilt; she will be hooted by the people to the shore; and I, for one, will