Excerpt from Memoirs of George the Fourth: Descriptive of the Most Interesting Scenes of His Private and Public Life, and the Important Events of His Memorable Reign

Considered in a general point of view, it may, with propriety, be affirmed, that there is scarcely a monarch, who ever wielded the sceptre of this country, whose private and public life abounds with more extraordinary and interesting incidents than that of George IV. But it must be admitted, at the same time, that there are also some circumstances in it, over which has been suspended a dark panoply of mystery, and from which the public attention was, at the period of their occurrence, artfully diverted by the deep-laid manoeuvres of crafty poli ticinos, or the more zealous efforts of private and confidential friends; but the time is now come when that panoply will be removed, and that of which only a partial glimpse has been hitherto obtained, or which has been wholly concealed, from a sense of delicacy and respect to the feelings of the existing monarch, will now be fearlessly ex posed, uninfluenced by party spirit, and unawed by personal cousi derations of the consequences which may result to some of the yet living characters who figured in the eventful drama, and who, now that the shield of royalty is taken from before them, must rise or fall in the estimation of the British people, according to the greater or less degree. Of virtue which they displayed. It may be considered pre mature to allude in particular to any of those circumstances, as they must, necessarily, form a part of the present work; but we will, as an example, allude to two - the marriage of the Prince of Wales with Mrs. Fitzherbert, and the death of the Princess Charlotte. In regard to the latter, some extraordinary things have crept out through the dark cranny of the night, ' which require a deep and solemn investigation: the facts, as they have been disclosed to us, shall be fully and impartially related; and if we should be the means of clearing away some of the mysteries which attended that melancholy event, we shall have performed the part of the Patriot and the Christian.

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