,
concerted with the Duke that English sentinels should be placed
on the bridge, and if any Prussian soldiers should approach to
injure it, these sentinels were not to retire. This they
conceived would gain time, as they thought that previous to
making any attempt on the bridge Blucher would apply to the Duke
to withdraw the English sentinels. This was of no avail. The
Prussians arrived, mined the arches, and attempted to blow up the
bridge, sentinels and all. Their design, however, was frustrated,
and the bridge received no injury. At length Muffling came to the
Duke, and said that he was come to propose to him a compromise,
which was that the bridge should be spared and the column in the
Place Vendome should be destroyed instead. 'I saw,' said the
Duke, 'that I had got out of the frying-pan into the fire.
Fortunately at this moment the King of Prussia arrived, and he
ordered that no injury should be done to either.' On another
occasion Blucher announced his intention of levying a contribution
of 100 millions on the city of Paris. To this the Duke objected,
and said that the raising such enormous contributions could only
be done by common consent, and must be a matter of general
arrangement. Blucher said, 'Oh! I do not mean to be the only
party who is to levy anything; you may levy as much for
yourselves, and, depend upon it, if you do it will all be paid;
there will be no difficulty whatever.' The Duke says that the two
invasions cost the French 100 millions sterling. The Allies had
1,200,000 men clothed at their expense; the allowance for this
was 60 francs a man. The army of occupation was entirely
maintained; there were the contributions, the claims amounting to
ten millions sterling. Besides this there were towns and villages
destroyed and country laid waste.

CHAPTER II.

Popularity of George IV.--The Duke of York's Racing
Establishment--Clerk of the Council--Lord Liverpool and Mr.
Sumner--Lady Conyngham--Death of Lady Worcester--Her
Character--Ball at Devonshire House--The Duke of York's
Aversion to the Duke of Wellington--The Pavilion at Brighton--
Lord Francis Conyngham--The King and the Duke of Wellington--
Death of the Marquis of Londonderry--His Policy--Sir B.
Bloomfield sent to Stockholm--Mr. Canning's Foreign Secretary--
Queen Caroline and Brougham--Canning and George IV.--Lord
William Bentinck aspires to go to India--His Disappointment--
The Duke