Chapter IV, of Cassells Illustrated History of England, Volume 7 page 2

"You will tell Mr. Hieronimus that John is quite well, and that Mr. ______ is very well pleased with him in all respect. His board is not paid for; and tell Mr. Hieronimus on the receipt of this letter, I beg he will immediately send an order to Mr. _____ for six months' pay, and address it to me. He must not delay, for I have no money. You will not do wrong if you send me, at the same time, the two napoleons, to make up the twenty-five, if you can. It is I who send you the gown instead of lace; you should trim it with muslin. Make my compliments to Mr. _______, and tell him the first time I write again I will give him more particulars respecting his son, because I expect to have more room. I wish very much to know how ink is made with that powder which he gave me, and what he has done with the two pictures I sent him at the Villa d'Este? Adieu, dear and good sister; we embrace you cordially. A reply at once, if you please. Your sister, "Louise Dumont. "A mademoiselle, "Mademoiselle Mariette Bron, " A Pesaro."

These extraordinary letters gave rise to some discussion in the house. On the 4th of September lord Kenyon moved that all the correspondence between his majesty's ministers and her majesty should be laid before the house; he also moved for an account of the sums of money advanced to her majesty in aid of her defence. Lord Liverpool opposed the motion, and characterised the conduct of lord Kenyon as unfair and indecent, in having taken him by surprise; and all he should reply was, that unlimited sums were allowed to her majesty. Lord Kenyon replied with spirit, and hoped the premier would see the impropriety of the expression he had used. The noble lord explained, and said he meant nothing offensive by it. Lord Kenyon postponed his motion, but brought it forward on the 6th, and stated that he considered that the country should have the fullest information on the subject. Lord Kling said that they should also require the amount of money distributed on the side of the prosecution. They had heard witnesses more than once state at the bar, in the course of this inquiry, that they were to receive, in the shape of remuneration for their losses in coming here, very large sums of money. Their lordships had heard from witnesses of such a thing as a double entendre in written communications. He hoped this was not the case with the communications sent by his majesty's ministers to their agents abroad.

At a subsequent stage of the proceedings, Mr. Brougham called the attention of their lordships to the various and insuperable difficulties against the further prosecution of her majesty's defence. It was manifest that they could go no further with any chance of equal justice to the parties in this suit. Their lordships had seen that the grand duke of Baden did at least not compel the baron d'Ende to make his appearance at their bar. He had, indeed, given him a congé - a word of ominous sound in the ears of a courtier - a word the fair import of which must strike a painful sensation into the hearts of some of their lordships; for a congé was, as many of their lordships knew, not so much a permission to go as a permission never to come back. It was tantamount to saying "Never see my face again." It was the word appropriated to the resignation of ministers, for ministers were of course never turned out. It was the word which in France sent a man to his country-seat, never to return, and, no doubt, was of similarly dreadful import in a German ear. No wonder, then, that the chamberlain, as soon as he saw the terrific expression written in plain German characters, was taken extremely ill; and he (Mr. Brougham) verily believed that the sickness was not feigned, and that if Mr. Leman could have felt on this occasion also that part of his frame where his heart was lodged, he would have found a more violent palpitation there than when the worthy baron had invited him to feel its throbs. But it was somewhat strange that none of the reasons which restrained the baron from coming over had operated to prevent Kress, a witness for the prosecution, from leaving the territories of the grand duke. She was forced to come - that is, forced under the compulsion of Berslett. This, too, was done at the instigation of the Hanoverian government, the second branch amongst the authors of this prosecution, and the active employer of the Munsters, the Badens, and the Grimms, and all that crew. But he had already said he threw no blame on any of these parties; they had laboured in their vocation as well as others, and they were under a necessity of acting as they did. He had therefore now, seriously and solemnly, to appeal to their lordships' justice to consider this subject as no light or trivial matter. It was in evidence before them that the minister and agents of the British government abroad had not the power of running into places and extracting evidence, material evidence, for the vindication of her majesty, although it was with perfect ease that evidence against her might be obtained in the same quarters. He felt obliged again to repeat that he threw no blame on any person; but he submitted that, from causes beyond the control and jurisdiction of that tribunal which he had now the honour of addressing, it was impossible to proceed further with any justice to the case of the defence. Undoubtedly, their lordships must be of the same opinion; and sure he was that the august monarch who now filled the English throne would be the last to desire any conclusion that should not work perfect justice to his royal consort.

The lengths to which the king and his unscrupulous agents abroad went, in fabricating evidence against the queen, in getting her excluded from foreign courts, in thwarting, mortifying, and degrading her majesty, so as, if possible, to break down her spirit and crush her utterly, are painfully detailed in the following letter, dated at Rome on the 16th of March in this year: -

"During my residence at Milan, in consequence of the infamous behaviour of Mr. Ompteda (he having bribed my servants to become the traducers of my character), one of my English gentlemen challenged him; the Austrian government sent off Mr. Ompteda. I wrote myself to the emperor of Austria, requesting his protection against spies, who employed persons to introduce themselves into my house, and particularly into my kitchen, to poison the dishes prepared for my table. I never received any answer to this letter. After this I was obliged to go into Germany, to visit my relative the margravine of Baden, and the margravine of Bareuth. The shortest road for my return to Italy was through Vienna, and I took that road with flattering hope that the emperor would protect me. Arrived at Vienna, I demanded public satisfaction for the public insult I had experienced in Lombardy; this was refused me, and a new insult was offered. The emperor refused to meet me, or to accept my visit. Lord Stewart, the English ambassador, having received a letter from me, informing him of my intention of returning by Vienna, and of taking possession of his house there (as it is the custom for foreign ambassadors to receive their princesses into their houses, when travelling), absolutely refused me his house, left the town, and retired into the country. Lord Stewart afterwards wrote a very impertinent letter to me, which is now in Mr. Canning's hands, as I sent it to England. Finding the Austrian government so much influenced by the English ministers, I sold my villa on the Lake of Como, and settled myself quietly in the Roman estates. I there met with great civility for some time, and protection against the spy, Mr. Ompteda; but from the moment I became queen of England all civility ceased. Cardinal Gonsalva has been much influenced since that period by the baron de Rydan, the Hanoverian minister, who succeeded Mr. Ompteda, deceased. The baron de Rydan has taken an oath never to acknowledge me as queen of England, and persuades every person to call me Caroline of Brunswick. A guard has been refused me as queen, which was granted to me as princess of Wales, because no communication has been received from the British government announcing me as queen. My messenger was refused a passport for England. I also experienced much insult from the court of Turin. Last year, in the month of September (I was then travelling incognito, under the name of the countess of Oldi), I went to the confines of the Austrian estates, to the first small town belonging to the king of Sardinia, in my way to meet Mr. Brougham, at Lyons, as the direct road lay through Turin. I wrote myself to the queen of Sardinia, informing her that I could not remain at Turin, being anxious to reach Lyons as soon as possible, and also that I was travelling incognito. I received no answer to this letter. The postmaster at Bronio, the small post town near the country villa where I then resided, absolutely refused me post horses. In consequence of this refusal I wrote to Mr. Hill, the English minister at Turin, demanding immediate satisfaction, and the reason for such an insult. Mr. Hill excused himself upon the plea of its being a misunderstanding, and told me that post horses would be in readiness whenever I should require them. I accordingly set out, and arranged to go through the town of Turin at night, and only stop to change horses; but I received positive orders not to go through the town, but to proceed by a very circuitous road, which obliged me to travel almost the whole night, in very dangerous roads, and prevented me from reaching the post town (where I should have passed the night) till five in the morning, when, by going through Turin, I might have reached it by ten o'clock at night. Finding so much difficulty attending my travelling, I thought the most proper mode for me to pursue would be to acquaint the high personages of my intention of passing the winter at Lyons, or in the neighbourhood of Lyons, previous to my intended return to England in the spring. I addressed a letter to the French minister for foreign affairs, informing him of my intentions, and also that I wished to preserve the strictest incognito. No notice was taken of this letter; and one addressed to the prefect of Lyons met with like contempt. In fact, from the 7th of October to the 26th of January, the day I embarked from Toulon for Leghorn, I received so much insult from the governors and prefect, that I almost considered my life in danger, unprotected as I then was, in such a country. Another motive induced me to leave it. Mr. Brougham could not fix the period for meeting me anywhere in France. I have written to lord Liverpool and lord Castlereagh, demanding to have my name inserted in the liturgy of the church of England, and that orders be given to all British ambassadors, ministers, and consuls, that I should be received and acknowledged as the queen of England; and after the speech made by lord Castlereagh in the house of commons, in answer to Mr. Brougham, I do not expect to experience further insult. I have also demanded that a palace may be prepared for my reception. England is my real home, to which I shall immediately fly. I have dismissed my Italian court, retaining only a sufficient number of persons to conduct me in England; and if Buckingham house, Marlborough house, or any other palace is refused me, shall take a house in the country, till my friends can find a palace for me in London. I have sent a messenger to England to make the proper arrangements for that purpose."

The queen feelingly alludes to the same subject in her reply to the address from Westminster, presented by its representatives, Sir Francis Burdett and Mr. Hobhouse, She said: -

" It is now seven years since I received an address from the inhabitant householders of Westminster, in which they congratulated me upon my escape from what they truly described as a nefarious conspiracy against my honour and my life. Upon that occasion my character was exonerated from the load of calumny with which it had been oppressed, though my conduct had undergone only an ex-parte examination, and though I had no means of facing my accusers, or of being heard in my defence.

" The people of England then, almost universally, expressed their approbation of what they considered as the triumph of rectitude and innocence over perfidy and falsehood. From that hour to the present I have been the victim of a similar conspiracy, which has been incited by the same motives, and prosecuted with the same views; though with increased violence, and with aggravated malignity. New and more appalling efforts have been made to destroy that character which had resisted so many former attempts; but I rejoice that I now find, as I at the time found, the people of Westminster uninfluenced by the powerful machinations of my enemies, and animated by the same sentiment which they then expressed, that every subject, until convicted of guilt, had an undoubted right to retain the reputation, the rights, and immunities of innocence.

"In the present perilous crisis of my fate, I am supported by that courage which arises from the consciousness of rectitude; and I feel that the English people will never suffer an injured queen to appeal in vain either to their justice or to their humanity. I am convinced that, in this land of liberty, no oppression can be practised, and that to be upright is to be secure.

" In the warm desire which the people of Westminster have expressed for the consideration of my honour, they have exhibited a striking testimony of their loyalty to the king; for the honour of his majesty must for ever be identified with that of his queen.

" My first wish is to prove that my character has been unjustly traduced; my next is to terminate my days among the high-minded people of this country, to whose affectionate sympathy I am, at present, indebted for so much of the cheerfulness which I feel, and of the support which I possess, under the pressure of such complicated wrongs, and such accumulated persecutions."

In a letter which she addressed to the king himself, on the 20th of August, she urged the same topic with great force. Alluding to the separation, she said: -

" A sense of what is due to my character and sex forbids me to refer minutely to the real causes of our domestic separation, or to the numerous unmerited insults offered me previously to that period; but, leaving to your majesty to reconcile with the marriage vow the act of driving by such means a wife from beneath your roof, with an infant in her arms, your majesty will permit me to remind you that that act was entirely your own; that the separation, so far from being sought for by me, was a sentence pronounced upon me, without any cause assigned other than that of your own inclinations, which, as your majesty was pleased to allege, were not under your control."