KEW IN FAVOUR 53 



old man. A few days later there was a terrible 

 commotion in the family. It leaked out that 

 at dinner the King had broken into positive 

 delirium, seizing his eldest son by the collar 

 and pushing him against the wall. The Prince 

 is said to have burst into tears, while the Queen 

 had a fit of hysterics. Her husband could with 

 difficulty be persuaded to spend the night in a 

 separate room, from which all night long she 

 heard his ravings, now no secret to any one in 

 the house. 



The King's death being looked on as 

 imminent, the Prince of Wales at once took 

 command of the misery and confusion at 

 Windsor. His heartless conduct during his 

 father's illness is matter of history, as also the 

 bitter struggle between his faction and Pitt's 

 Ministry on the Regency question, the former 

 maintaining the very unwhiggish doctrine that 

 royal authority should pass, in the circumstances, 

 into the Heir Apparent's hands, while the Tories 

 would make him Regent only with the sanction 

 of Parliament, and under restrictions. The 

 rabble was now on the King's side ; and all 

 respectable persons, not being partisans or 

 place-hunters, were disgusted by the profligate 



