1 66 THE PRINCESS OF WALES [1813. 



all its consequences, and to see her alone before she 

 saw her daughter. After she had read the letter she 

 appointed me to see her next day at Kensington Palace. 

 I then told her that she must make up her mind for 

 what would inevitably happen if the letter was sent to 

 the Prince. It would reopen all the former grounds 

 of complaint. She said that after the failure in 1806, 

 when the Prince's friends were in office, she could have 

 no apprehension of their being now repeated. I said 

 that very probably the same attempts would not be 

 made, but that others might ; and I besought her to 

 take into her serious consideration what I was about 

 to say, and not to answer me, or come to any decision, 

 for two days. I told her that she must review her 

 whole past life, and if there was anything in it which 

 would not bear the light not only anything criminal, 

 but any act of imprudence or indiscretion, examples 

 of which I took the liberty of suggesting instances of 

 things which, though not in themselves culpable, might 

 be made the grounds of suspecting something wrong, 

 or might be only much blamed then the letter must 

 not be sent to the Prince ; that whatever she most 

 apprehended, whatever she felt the most unpleasant, 

 to be brought forward, or even whatever she felt most 

 doubtful about, she must lay her account with it being 

 brought against her; that she must on no account rely 

 upon there not being evidence against her, or that 

 whatever had been done or said was without any 

 witness being present, for that even if it had passed 

 at the centre of the earth, she must calculate upon its 

 being proved ; and that, further, she would be charged 

 with having been the cause of the proof, or of the ac- 

 cusation, by having voluntarily called for the inquiry; 



