CHAPTER VIII
The Prince's debts – Appeal to the King – His retrenchments – 'The Jovial Crew, or Merry Beggars' – Satirical prints – Help from Parliament – Schedule of his debts
EARLY in 1786 matters financial came to a crisis with Florizel. Notwithstanding his income of nearly £70,000, he had managed in less than three years to get some £300,000 in debt. Harassed by his creditors, he had no resource left but to apply to his father, but from him he got naught but good counsel. In this dilemma Pitt was applied to, and asked to furnish £250,000. This not being forthcoming, the King was written to, who replied, asking for a detailed statement of liabilities. This was furnished, and so astonished the King that he declined the proposal, and declared that he would never sanction an increase to his son's income. Then Florizel wrote another letter to his father, announcing his determination to retrench violently, and set aside £40,000 a year towards the payment of his debts. To which the King replied, that if he chose to take a rash step, he must likewise take the consequences. Then the Prince once more took his pen in hand, and wrote a letter to his father, which closed the correspondence:
'Sir,
'I have had the honour of receiving your Majesty's written message, transmitted to me by Lord Southampton, and am greatly concerned that my poor sentiments cannot coincide with those of your Majesty, in thinking that the former message which I had the honour of receiving, in your Majesty's own hand, was not a refusal. After having repeatedly sent in various applications to your Majesty, for two years successively, representing that a partial reduction out of so incompetent an income as mine, was to no purpose towards the liquidation of a debt, where the principal and interest were so considerable, I, this year, humbly requested your Majesty that you would be graciously pleased (having previously laid my affairs before you, Sir, for your inspection, and painted them in the distressed colours which they so justly merited), whenever it suited your conveniency, to favour me with a decisive answer; as the various delays which have occurred, through the course of this business, have, in reality, proved more pernicious to me in the situation in which I have been for some time past involved, than the original embarrassment of the debt. To not only these, but to any future delays, would I have, most willingly, submitted, had they really rested upon my own patience; but the pressing importunities of many indigent and deserving creditors (some of them whose very existence depends upon a speedy discharge of their accounts), made too forcible an appeal to the justice becoming my own honour, and to the feelings of my heart, to be any longer delayed. Another consideration is, that any further procrastination might have exposed me to legal insults, as humiliating to me, as, I am persuaded, they would be to your Majesty. I, therefore, previously to my having the honour of receiving that message, had determined, that, should I not be so fortunate as to meet with that relief from you, Sir, with which I had flattered myself, and which I thought I had the greatest reason to expect, I would exert every nerve to render that just redress and assistance to my creditors, which I cannot help thinking is denied to me. These are the motives, Sir, that have actuated my conduct in the step I have taken, of reducing every expence in my family, even those to which my birth and rank entitle me (and which, I trust, will ever continue to be the principle and guide of my conduct), till I have totally liberated myself from the present embarrassments which oppress me; and the more so, as I am persuaded that such a line, when pursued with consistency, will meet with the approbation of every candid and dispassionate mind.
'I will not trespass any further on your Majesty's time, but have the honour to subscribe myself,
'Sir,'Your Majesty's most dutiful and obedient'Son and Subject,'George, P.'
'July 9, 1786.'
After the despatch of this letter he immediately acted on it; gave orders to curtail his household, to stop all building and decoration of Carlton House, and to sell his race and carriage horses, with a very few reservations, and go and ruralise at Brighton, which he reached on July 11. The newspapers and caricaturists, of course, immediately made capital out of it, vide the Morning Post, July 13, 1786: 'A morning paper of yesterday says that the Prince of Wales set off for Brighton in a hired chaise and hack horses; but we are informed by authority, which we trust will meet with equal credit, that his Royal Highness was an outside passenger by the Brighton Dilly.'
And the caricaturist followed quickly in the wake of the newspaper men with a satirical print published on July 15, called 'A Trip to Brighton, or the P – and his reduced Household returning for the summer season.' The Prince and Mrs. Fitzherbert are inside the carriage, and the latter is studying the 'Principles of Œconomy.' The carriage is laden with household effects, vegetables, meat, etc., and with small beer and raisin wine. One of the footmen is Fox, the other George Hanger, who is reading, 'For Sale, at Tattersall's, the Prince's Stud.' Weltje, 'Purveyor, Coachman, Cook and Butler,' is driving.
There is another, which, although not dated, is evidently of the same period, called 'The Brighton Stud,' in which is seen a groom leading three donkeys – George Hanger, Fox, and Sheridan. The Prince rides another donkey (Mrs. Fitzherbert), and Lord Derby (as another) looks on. This evidently refers to the sale of the Prince's stud, which realized somewhat over £7,000. Mrs. Fitzherbert went to Brighton immediately after the Prince.
There is a very amusing satirical print dated August 23, 1786, the best part of which is the verse attached. It is called 'The Jovial Crew, or Merry Beggars. A Comic Opera, as performed at Brighton by the Carleton Company.' The Prince and Mrs. Fitzherbert occupy the centre of the picture. The Prince has a hat full of money, '£7,586. By sale of the Stud,' and Mrs. Fitzherbert carries a child on her back. The other beggars, who are mostly on crutches, are on either side.
'1st Beggar,} I once was a poet at London,
Mr. S – . } I kept my heart still full of glee;
(Sheridan.) There's no man can say that I'm undone,
For begging's no new trade to me.
'2nd Beggar,} In London I once shone with eclat,
The – . } A Stud and brave Household could boast;
(Prince of Wales.) Give me a brisk wench in clean straw,
And I value not who rules the roast.
'3rd Beggar,} A widow I was, buxom and bold,
Mrs. F – . } So clos'd with a Royal attack;
(Fitzherbert.) Tho' 'tis said the marriage won't hold,
But, ecod, I'll stick to his back.
'4th Beggar,} Here comes a patriot polite, Sir,
Mr. F – . } Who flatter'd the K – to his face;
(Fox.) Now, railing is all his delight, Sir,
Because he's turn'd out of his place.
'5th Beggar,} I was a Jesuitical preacher,
Mr. B – . } I turn'd up my eyes when I pray'd;
(Burke.) But my hearers half starved their teacher,
For they believ'd not a word that I said.
'6th Beggar,} I still am a merry song maker,
Cap. M – . } My heart never yet felt a qualm;
(Morris.) Tho' poor, I can fiddle and caper,
And sing any tune but a psalm.
'7th Beggar,} Make room for a soldier in buff,
Col. H – . } Who valiantly strutted about;
(Hanger.) And, if the Peace should be breaking off,
Why, then he'll, most wisely, sell out.
'8th Beggar,} De Beggar vos I in Germany,
Mr. W – . } But alms vos here better agree;
(Weltje.) For, by begging in coot company,
Begging vos de making of me.
'9th Beggar,} Since, Beggars, then, we are happy and free,
L. N – . } Pray talk no more of state axes;
(North.) For, by the War, you'll surely agree,
That, all, I have beggar'd with Taxes.'
There is a very clever satirical print which refers to the breaking up of the Prince's establishment. It is called 'The School for Scandal,' and parodies the scene from Sheridan's play, in which Charles Surface helps to knock down the portraits of his ancestors. George Hanger is the auctioneer, and Lot 1 is a picture of the King and Queen, 'Farmer George and his Wife.' Hanger cries out, 'Going for no more than one Crown!' and the Prince thus encourages the Colonel, 'Careless, knock down the Farmer.' One of the audience bids five shillings for the royal pair. Lot 2 is a portrait of Mrs. Fitzherbert, and Lot 3 one of Perdita. Through the open door is seen Tattersall's, where the Prince's stud, etc., were sold. A carriage is numbered Lot 1,000 to show the extravagance of the Prince's stable arrangements.
A piece of gossip about the Prince at Brighton appears in the Morning Post of September 25, 1786: 'We hear that the Prince of Wales, a few days since, was suddenly indisposed at Brighthelmstone; and, at the same time, several gentlemen who had dined with the Prince at a friend's table, the preceding day, were seized with symptoms similar to those of his Royal Highness. They were all more or less affected, according to the quantity each eat of a particular dish at table. Happily for his Royal Highness, he eat but moderately; and we have the pleasure to add, he has now quite recovered. Mr. Keate, the Prince's surgeon, has been sent for from London; and the business terminated so favourably, no other assistance was called in.'
During his stay this year he was very quiet, only going to the races, and superintending the alterations to his house, which were completed the ensuing spring. He left Brighton for the season on October 17.
The Prince kept his promise of retrenchment for nine long months, and was sorely put to it for money – a fact of which the caricaturist took full advantage. Thus, on January 18, 1787, we have 'The Prodigal Son,' in which the Prince is depicted as seated on the bare ground, feeding swine; his coat is out at elbows and breeches unfastened; his Garter has gone, and his three feathers lie on the ground.
Then, on February 26 there is 'Love's Last Shift,' which represents the Prince and Mrs. Fitzherbert in the last stage of poverty. The Prince sits before a fire, turning a sheep's head, which hangs by a string, and rocking a cradle in which a child lies sleeping, an event which, happily, did not occur during his connection with Mrs. Fitzherbert. He has no breeches on, because Mrs. Fitzherbert is mending them. Weltje has just brought in some potatoes, and George Hanger has a small measure of beer.
The Prince's friends felt that this could not go on longer. It was resolved to appeal to Parliament for aid, and Mr. Nathaniel Newnham, a merchant, Alderman, and an M.P. for the City of London, was chosen to open the matter, which he did on April 20, 1787, by asking Mr. Pitt whether it was his intention to bring forward any proposition to rescue the Prince of Wales from his embarrassed and distressed situation. Being answered by the Minister that he had no commands to that purpose from the King, the Alderman gave notice that, on Friday, May 4, he would bring forward a motion upon that subject for the consideration of the House.
As a matter of fact, the motion was brought before the House on April 27, and again on April 30, when Fox supported the Prince, and in the course of his speech, referring to the rumour of the Prince being married to Mrs. Fitzherbert (a Roman Catholic), said: 'With respect to the allusion to something full of "danger to the Church and State," made by the hon. gentleman, one of the members of the County of Devon, till that gentleman thought proper to explain himself, it was impossible to say with any certainty to what that allusion referred; but he supposed it must be meant in reference to that miserable calumny, that low, malicious falsehood, which had been propagated without doors, and made the wanton sport of the vulgar. In that House, where it was known how frequent and common the falsehoods of the times were, he hoped a tale, only fit to impose on the lowest order of persons in the streets, would not have gained the smallest portion of credit; but, when it appeared that an invention so monstrous, a report of a fact which had not the smallest degree of foundation, a report of a fact actually impossible to have happened, had been circulated with so much industry, as to have made an impression on the minds of the members of that House, it proved, at once, the uncommon pains taken by the enemies of his Royal Highness to propagate the grossest and most malignant falsehoods, with a view to depreciate his character, and injure him in the opinion of his country… The whole of the debt the Prince was ready to submit to the investigation of the House; and he was equally ready to submit the other circumstance to which he had alluded, to their consideration, provided that the consideration of a House of Parliament could, consistently with propriety and decency, be applied to such a subject. Nay, his Royal Highness had authorised him to declare that, as a Peer of Parliament, he was ready in the other House to submit to any of the most pointed questions which could be put to him respecting it, or to afford his Majesty, or his Majesty's ministers, the fullest assurances of the utter falsehood of the fact in question, which never had, and which common sense must see, never could have happened.'
In a later part of the debate 'Mr. Fox answered, that he did not deny the calumny in question merely with regard to the effect of certain existing laws, alluded to by the hon. gentleman; but he denied it in toto, in point of fact, as well as of law. The fact not only never could have happened legally, but never did happen in any way whatsoever, and had, from the beginning, been a base and malicious falsehood.'
The debate was again resumed on May 4, when Mr. Alderman Newnham rose, and said: 'Sir, I am extremely happy that the motion which I was to have had the honour of making, this day, is no longer necessary; and it is with the most sincere and heartfelt satisfaction that I inform the House that I decline bringing it forward.'
The following is a note to p. 1074 of vol. xxvi. of Hansard: 'On Sunday the 29th, or Monday the 30th of April, an intimation was given at Cumberland House, that, if the Prince had no objection, Mr. Dundas would be glad to have an interview with his Royal Highness. On this being communicated to the Prince, he sent back word that he was ready to see him whenever he should call at Carlton House. Accordingly, on Wednesday, the 2nd of May, late in the evening, Mr. Dundas had a long general conversation with the Prince, which ended with Mr. Dundas requesting that the Prince would permit Mr. Pitt himself to wait upon him. To that, his Royal Highness assented; and Mr. Pitt, in conformity, was with the Prince at Carlton House, the next day, for more than two hours: in this long conversation, the Prince stated all his circumstances to Mr. Pitt, who then promised to lay the same before his Majesty, and to return an answer as speedily as possible.
'Mr. Pitt thence went immediately to the King, and the same evening a Cabinet Council was held at nine o'clock, which sat until midnight; when an answer in writing, by his Majesty's command, was dispatched by Mr. Pitt to the Prince, informing him in general terms, that, in case his Royal Highness thought proper to withdraw the motion intended to be made, the next day, in the House of Commons, everything should be settled to his Royal Highness's satisfaction. Agreeably to this, the motion was, the next day, withdrawn by Alderman Newnham, as being no longer necessary; after which, to the infinite surprise of the House, the Minister rose up in his place, and said that he could not see, for his own part, that the motion was then either more or less necessary, than it ever had been; and added, in answer to Mr. Rolle's question, that no terms of any kind were settled, but that matters remained in statu quo.
'This proceeding, being related to the Prince, his Royal Highness, the same night, wrote a letter, with his own hand, to Mr. Pitt, requiring an immediate explanation of the extraordinary speech delivered that day in the House of Commons. Mr. Pitt, in answer, requested leave again to wait upon his Royal Highness. Accordingly the Minister went on Saturday, at noon, to Carlton House, and had another long conference with the Prince, in which his Royal Highness (in order to prevent any more mistakes) gave to Mr. Pitt, in writing, his proposals, which were in substance: – 1. The Prince of Wales to have his debts paid off, in part, at least. 2. To have a sum granted sufficient to finish Carlton House. 3. To have such moderate increase made to his annual income, as may be sufficient to prevent his running in debt in future.
'With these propositions Mr. Pitt took his leave, and on Sunday, despatched them by a special messenger to Windsor, to the King; who, on Monday last, returned his answer, signed in form by his Majesty's own hand. This answer was on the same day delivered by Mr. Pitt to the Prince at Carlton House, and is nearly to the following effect: – 1. That his Majesty was glad to find the Prince of Wales ready to submit his accounts to inspection. 2. That it would be necessary for the Prince, not only to ascertain the whole amount of his debts, but, also, the particulars thereof, with an exact account of how each debt was incurred. 3. That the Prince shall engage not to run in debt in future. 4. That, upon the specifications above required, would depend his Majesty's determining upon whether he should agree to the payment of the whole, or any part of the Prince of Wales's debts. 5. That his Majesty cannot think any increase of income necessary, so long as the Prince of Wales shall remain unmarried. This answer cannot be supposed to have been, in any way, satisfactory to the Prince of Wales.
'However, nothing was said upon the business in the House, either on Monday, or Tuesday, and nothing on those days was done farther than that the Prince, on Tuesday, sent his commissioners, Colonels Lake and Hulse, with Mr. Lyte, his Treasurer, to Mr. Pitt, with all his accounts, etc., etc., for the inspection and information of his Majesty.'
The account of the Prince's debts which was furnished to the House is as follows:
SCHEDULE OF DEBTS
Expenditure from July, 1783, to July, 1786
On May 21 the King sent a message to the Commons, in which he says, 'His Majesty could not, however, expect, or desire the assistance of the House, but on a well grounded expectation that the Prince will avoid contracting any new debts, in future. With a view to this object, and from an anxious desire to remove every possible doubt of the sufficiency of the Prince's income to support amply the dignity of his situation, his Majesty has directed a sum of £10,000 per annum to be paid out of his civil list, in addition to the allowance which his Majesty has hitherto given him; and his Majesty has the satisfaction to inform the House that the Prince of Wales has given his Majesty the fullest assurances of his firm determination to confine his future expences within his income; and has, also, settled a plan for arranging those expences in the several departments, and for fixing an order of payment under such regulations as his Majesty trusts will effectually secure the due execution of the Prince's intentions.'
The King's message was considered on the 24th, and part of the Commons' reply runs thus: 'That his Majesty may depend on the zeal and affectionate attachment of his faithful Commons, to afford his Majesty the assistance he desires for the discharge of his Royal Highness's debts, and that, in full reliance on the assurances which his Majesty has received, this House humbly desires that his Majesty will be graciously pleased to direct the sum of £161,000 to be issued out of his Majesty's Civil List for that purpose, and the sum of £20,000 on account of the works of Carlton House, as soon as an estimate shall be formed, with sufficient accuracy, of the whole expence for completing the same in a proper manner, and to assure his Majesty that his faithful Commons will make good the same.'
Of course there was the inevitable satirical print, 'The Prince in Clover' (June 2, 1787). The Prince has his hands full of purses, with which he is, somewhat theatrically, paying his creditors. Three Ministers – Pitt, Dundas, and Thurlow – are abjectly grovelling behind him, to the intense delight of Fox, Sheridan, Burke and Lord North.