m with
any mark of attention or respect; and so he went on for above
forty years, till Canning brought him into notice by making him
Lord High Admiral at the time of his grand Ministerial schism. In
that post he distinguished himself by making absurd speeches, by
a morbid official activity, and by a general wildness which was
thought to indicate incipient insanity, till shortly after
Canning's death and the Duke's accession, as is well known, the
latter dismissed him. He then dropped back into obscurity, but
had become by this time somewhat more of a personage than he was
before. His brief administration of the navy, the death of the
Duke of York, which made him heir to the throne, his increased
wealth and regular habits, had procured him more consideration,
though not a great deal. Such was his position when George IV.
broke all at once, and after three months of expectation William
finds himself King.

July 18th, 1830 {p.002}

[Page Head: KING WILLIAM'S ACCESSION.]

King George had not been dead three days before everybody
discovered that he was no loss, and King William a great gain.
Certainly nobody ever was less regretted than the late King, and
the breath was hardly out of his body before the press burst
forth in full cry against him, and raked up all his vices,
follies, and misdeeds, which were numerous and glaring enough.

The new King began very well. Everybody expected he would keep
the Ministers in office, but he threw himself into the arms of
the Duke of Wellington with the strongest expressions of
confidence and esteem. He proposed to all the Household, as well
as to the members of Government, to keep their places, which they
all did except Lord Conyngham and the Duke of Montrose. He soon
after, however, dismissed most of the equerries, that he might
fill their places with the members of his own family. Of course
such a King wanted not due praise, and plenty of anecdotes were
raked up of his former generosities and kindnesses. His first
speech to the Council was well enough given, but his burlesque
character began even then to show itself. Nobody expected from
him much real grief, and he does not seem to know how to act it
consistently; he spoke of his brother with all the semblance of
feeling, and in a tone of voice properly softened and subdued,
but just afterwards, when they gave him the pen to sign the
declaration, he said, in his usual tone, 'This is a damned bad
pen you have given me.' My wo